Daimajin

I was expecting a decent film due to the ratings on IMDb, but what I experienced, was much greater than that. This period piece forces us to be an active participant by enveloping us with its desperate atmosphere. It's melodramatic set up brings the pacing down, so don't expect monster mashing anytime soon. It's tone is fierce and foreboding throughout. The tension is wonderful, and the anticipation of a reluctant savior slow to awaken, is as brutal as the wrath it releases! DaiMajin is like a freight train, slow to get going, and hard to stop! 8/10.

**By the way I always recommend the Japanese versions with their acting and English subtitles.**

In late Edo Japan, a wicked chamberlain betrays his lord, enslaves the local villagers, and desecrates their god, an enormous statue of a warrior, which ultimately comes to life as 'Daimajin' (roughly: 'giant demon'). As Japanese monster movies go, this one is pretty subtle and the titular monster doesn't show up until the final reel, but the sometimes grim 'samurai' story leading up to the tokusatsu climax is actually quite good. The film is very well made (I watched a reasonably well-done subtitled version) with an excellent score by Akira Ifukube (reminiscent of his iconic Godzilla and Mothra themes). Worth tracking down for fans of the fanciful (I found it on YouTube). As a cautionary tale about the dangers of iconoclasm, I only wish something similar had happened when the Taliban destroyed the Buddhas of Bamiyan.

I saw the American version of "Daimajin" which was dubbed and released by American-International...a company known for bringing us a lot of crap. And, I assumed it would be another Godzilla-style film...which, fortunately, it turned out not to be. Instead, it's more a samurai movie...and a pretty good one as well.

Early in the story, Samanosuke murders his master,, the local warlord. And, to make sure none of the dead man's family could reclaim the territory, he orders his men to track down all his family and kill them as well. Fortunately, his two children escape and time passes. During this time, Samanosuke has increased his power--and he's done that by tormenting his people and making them his slaves. In addition, he's blasphemous and eventually orders his men to destroy a giant statue of a god in the hills. After all, the local priestess said it would come to life and destroy him...and the idiotic man decides to incure the wrath of the gods. Not suprisingly, eventually the giant statue comes to life...but there seems to be no controlling it and it appears ready to kill everyone!

The giant is actually NOT cheesy looking and I think it helped to make him big but not Godzilla big. That way, there wouldn't need to be any cheesy sets to destroy...and it looked much more realistic. Overall, an exciting and watchable film...more a movie for samurai movie fans.

I have to admit, I'm a bit of a sucker for the giant monster on a rampage flicks that came out of Japan in the late 60's/70's, and picked this up expecting more of that. After the opening scene, showing just how powerful Daimajin actually is (let's just say, he's more a force of nature than a giant monster), I was completely hooked. The entire series is fairly grim, and I loved the fact that Daimajin isn't necessarily a good or bad guy. He does what he does because he wants to, for whatever reason, be it that the villain offended him, or he felt sorry for one of the people who suffered over the course of the movie. They're not exactly art films, but they're not quite the kitsch of the later Godzilla movies, either. Highly recommended.

With its rerelease by ADV Films, I've had a chance to watch "The Giant Majin" for the first time without the deep cuts and unkind words of a late night Horror Chiller Theaters. Guess what? It's a pretty damn good movie!

The sets are authentic, the acting in subdued and believable, and the giant Majin is stately, powerful, and unstopable. I loved the subtle fantasy touches (the enchanted wood, luck charm, etc), and the potrayal of the god as a little less than 'good'.

This movie is begging for a remake in the new century!