After losing his battle with King Kong, Godzilla swam off to lick his wounds in shame. So, while he's gone, let's take a look at a couple of movies which feature some other slimy critters from the depths of the ocean -
Atragon (1963)
Long, long ago, in the center of the Pacific Ocean, there existed a vast continent called Mu. The people of Mu were very powerful and their influence could be felt across the entire globe. They also like to dance around in grass skirts and create elaborate musical numbers. Then, one day, the entire continent was swallowed up by the ocean, and Mu was no more. Traces of their civilization could still be found here and there (like the statues of Easter Island, or Stonehenge, or the home of Mothra - Infant Island) but, for all intents and purposes, they were extinct.
Cut to the present day (of 1963). A couple of doofus photographers (played by Tadao Takashima and Yu Fujiki, the wacky duo who captured Kong in "King Kong vs Godzilla") are shooting a sexy bikini model alongside the harbor when suddenly a weirdo pops out of the sea wearing a scaly black diving suit. Then, suddenly, a taxi cab drives off the pier and sinks beneath the waves. Turns out there was a geologist in the backseat of the cab - lots of prominent scientists in the field of geology and vulcanology (the study of Mr. Spock) have been disappearing lately. Then the government of Japan receives a cheap looking audio tape - it's an ultimatum, sent by the people of Mu. They survived the sinking of their continent and have kept their civilization running by using geothermal power. Now they want to rise to the surface and enslave mankind. Their ultimatum - surrender, or they will sic their giant serpent god, Manda, on the good people of up-top! Well, we refuse their demands, so they destroy Venice and Hong Kong - without using Manda, funnily enough. Oh, and they want one other thing on their list of demands - stop the construction of Atragon, or else! "What the shit's an 'Atragon'?" asks the U.N.
Glad you asked. . .
(clears throat) Ahem. Near the end of World War II, when Japan's defeat seemed imminent, a highly respected submarine captain named Jinguji hightailed it to the high seas in order to build, in secret, a powerful new submarine-like weapon called Atragon (it's also called Gotengo, which roughly translates as "Roaring Heaven") which will turn the tide of the war to Japan's favor. Unfortunately for him, Japan surrendered to the West, so Jinguji hid in shame, keeping Atragon well hidden from the world. Okay, not that well hidden - Mu captured his original sub, which contained blueprints for the construction of Atragon, and something about Atragon scares the Mu-ians to death, so they want it destroyed.
An old friend of Jinguji steps forward and reveals to the U.N. what the shit Atragon is. So they send him, Jinguji's daughter, the two previously mentioned doofus photographers, and some other guys to find the lost captain and use Atragon/Gotengo against Mu. They also send along an odd reporter who threatens to break the Atragon story to the public if they don't let him come along. He always wears sunglasses, has a freaky beard and likes to stand around looking suspicious all the time. Yeah, take him along suckers. That's a great idea.
So they find Jinguji but are unable to convince him to give up the super sub. He thinks that Japan has lost its way and doesn't deserve to be saved. Then his daughter steps forward, accuses him of being a prideful old codger who can't let go of the past, and yells at him. He is shamed, again, and decides to use Atragon for the good of all mankind. HOWEVER - the shifty looking reporter reveals himself to be an agent of Mu (say it ain't so!), then blows up the submarine dock and kidnaps the daughter and the doofus reporters, taking them to Mu. Immediately afterward, Mu kamikaze drones and ships with laser beams begin ravaging the cities of the world.
Let me take this moment to offer up a theory I have regarding the motivations of the people of Mu. It's never explained in the movie why Mu wants to conquer the world, but, using clues from the movie, I have come up with my own explanation for their actions. During the scenes set in Mu, we see lots of tremors and minor geologic events. Clearly, the environment of their underground world is unstable. Also, they've been kidnapping geologists and whatnot from the surface. Why? To help figure out why they're underground world is collapsing, I think. This being a Japanese kaiju movie from the 1960's, it seems safe to assume that the instability of their kingdom was caused by atomic testing in the Pacific. They need a new home, quickly, so they have no choice but to force their way onto the surface. That's my theory, anyway.
So Atragon, being the powerful machine that it is, busts its way out of the destroyed sub dock. Not only is it a submarine, but it can fly, it has a front-mounted drill for digging underground, and can fire a powerful freeze ray. The people of Mu have extremely high temperatures, so they are not fans of freeze rays, hence the request for the destruction of Gotengo.
Jinguji heads off to Mu, defeats their serpent god Manda (easily), rescues the kidnapped surface dwellers, and destroys Mu's power source, blowing up the entire sunken continent and killing millions of innocent Mu children. Yay!
"Atragon" was based on a popular Japanese adventure novel, which was heavily inspired by Jules Verne's "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea". It was a huge hit in Japan, and the Gotengo itself would become one of the most famous "mecha" (high tech weapon vehicles) in Japan movie history. Gotengo would make many appearances in film and T.V. over the decades, but would not reappear in the movies of Toho Studios until "Godzilla: Final Wars" in 2004, where it would practically be the main character (after Godzilla, of course). The sea serpent Manda (kind of a wuss), would return in "Destroy All Monsters" (1969) and also "Godzilla: Final Wars".
This movie was made by the same team who made almost all of the movies I've reviewed so far - Honda/Ifukube/Tsuburya, and featuring another appearance by Akihiko Hirata (Dr. Serizawa) as Mu Agent 23. All said, I find this movie to be rather slow. The first hour really drags for me. It picks up a bit in the movie's final third, however. Funny side note - there's a sequence in the movie featuring a U.S. submarine which is named - get this - "Red Satan".
Space Amoeba (1970)
I love that title! "Space Amoeba!" How great! The original Japanese title actually translates as "Gezora, Ganime, Kamoeba: Decisive Battle! Giant Monsters of the South Seas". Just rolls off the tongue, huh. But it's also a cheesy/cool title. "Space Amoeba", though - way cooler.
The American title is "Yog - Monster From Space".
Yog? Really, America? That's the best you can do?
A space probe heading for Jupiter is hijacked by a sentient glowing blob from outer space - the SPACE AMOEBA! The probe does a 180 and crash lands in the South Seas, witnessed by Japanese photographer Kudo (Akira Kubo) from his window seat on a commercial airplane. When he gets back to his office, Kudo (who comes across as a world-weary slacker) is assigned by his boss to take some PR pictures for a construction firm who are building an "underwater hotel" on distant Selgio Island. Selgio Island is where Kudo saw the probe crash - what a coincidence!
Kudo heads out with a lady who works for the hotel company and a scientist who's been to the island before. On the transport ship, they hook up with supposed scientist Obata, a shifty looking guy who always wears sunglasses, has a freaky beard, and likes to stand around looking suspicious all the time. Yeah, do it!
When they reach the island, they discover that one of the construction engineers has been killed by "something large" from the ocean, and the natives claim that it's their island god Gezora, come to kick out the outsiders. Gezora (a giant cuttlefish) soon shambles out of the sea, kills another engineer, and is driven off by a random swarm of bats. Native guide Rico sees this and is promptly knocked unconscious, waking up with a bad case of memory loss. His GF, a highly cute native girl named Saki, shows up and escorts our heroes into the village. It's here that shifty Obata is revealed to be (gasp!) a jerk - he's a corporate spy for the hotel company's rival, and thinks that the whole "giant monster" thing is fake.
The scientist and the reporter head underwater to find Gezora. They run across the crashed probe. Gezora attacks, but is driven off by a pod of helpful dolphins. Gezora, pissed off, attacks the village. With the help of the outsiders, they burn Gezora with gasoline, who wanders into the ocean and dies - the SPACE AMOEBA leaves its body to find another host.
The good guys explore the island, feeling safe, and discover an old Japanese ammo depot from WWII. The scientist concludes that Gezora was controlled by a parasite from outer space who wants to conquer the Earth. How he comes to make such a bold (yet correct) leap, given what little evidence he's actually obtained, is beyond me. He's just that good.
Obata makes his move and tries to escape, but his dinky canoe is capsized by new monster Ganime, a giant rock crab, who then goes after our heroes. After an exciting game of cat-and-mouse, Kudo blows up the Japanese ammo depot to kill Ganime, blowing him into little crab chunks. The SPACE AMOEBA leaves Ganime and takes over Obata, who's still alive. The SPACE AMOEBA reveals his evil plot to Obata - it wants to assassinate all the leaders of Earth and conquer the planet. Why, you ask? I have no theory this time. The SPACE AMOEBA is just a downy-clowny. It used to be a humanoid life form, so maybe it's just jealous of our limbs.
Cute native girl Saki thinks that marriage cures amnesia, so she marries Rico. Whaddaya know, it works! He remembers that Gezora was driven off by bats, and the scientist concludes that ultrasound is the key to defeating SPACE AMOEBA. The good guys round up all the islanders and hide them in nearby caves, hoping the bats will protect them from any further monster menaces. Unfortunately, OBATA AMOEBA has been using gas to burn up all the bats. Two more monsters appear - another Ganime, and Kamoeba, a giant Matamata turtle with a super extend-o neck. SPACE AMOEBA, in human form, is apparently able to mutate and control other life forms. Alright, I'm just making excuses now.
OBATA AMOEBA is about to burn up the last of the bats, but the hotel employee woman appeals to Obata to fight the alien creature within him, and he runs off like a scared child. The good guys release the bats, which cause Ganime and Kamoeba to go crazy and fight each other. At one point, Ganime hock a big fat loogie on Kamoeba, for no reason. It's pretty funny.
A volcano conveniently erupts nearby. Gamine and Kamoeba tumble into it and fry. Obata, still possessed by the alien, but in control, leaps into the volcano as well, killing the SPACE AMOEBA. Our heroes then pause and reflect quietly while a volcano erupts about ten feet away from where they're standing.
We've jumped ahead a little bit (to 1970). Godzilla was pretty much the only giant monster in town at the time, but Toho wanted to try and make a Godzilla-less kaiju movie - hence "Space Amoeba". It didn't do so well at the box office back then, but has gained a rabid cult following over the years, primarily because it's such a bat shit crazy movie. It's colorful, extremely fast-paced, and makes absolutely no sense - it's a big slice of campy fun. Akira Ifukube also contributed a weird, but memorable score to this one. This is one of Ishiro Honda's last kaiju films, and special effects master Eiji Tsuburya had died not long before, so his apprentice Sadamasa Arikawa took over the job, doing a fine job.
This is the only appearance of the monster Ganime, and ugly but memorable critter. Turtle Kamoeba (who, I think, was supposed to be Toho's answer to Gamera, the giant monster star from their rival studio, Daiei) would appear, albeit as a corpse, in "Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S." (2003). Cuttlefish Gezora would make a cameo in "Godzilla: Final Wars" and have a prominent role in the "Godzilla: King of the Monsters" video game for the classic Nintendo Entertainment System.
In "The Wrath of Godzilla, Part 6", witness as the world's greatest villain becomes the world's greatest hero!
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Sunday, September 18, 2011
The 2011 Summer Movie Season: Final Chapter
What a great summer movie season we've had! With a few notable exceptions (stinking "Pirates"), the filmmakers from both Hollywood and Independentville have kept me highly entertained. Here's my final, lengthy wrap-up of Summer 2011, brought to you in bite-sized chunks, and ending with my favorite movie of the summer-
Troll Hunter
Shot in the "found footage" style of "The Blair Witch Project" and it's many ripoffs, "Troll Hunter" tells the more fantasy-oriented tale of a government employee who's occupation involves tracking down and killing trolls who've wandered out of their hidden "troll preserves" in rural Norway. He lets a trio of curious Norwegian film students tape his exploits, merely because he's sick of the low-paying, high-stress job and wants the government-suppressed truth about the existence of trolls exposed once and for all. While it's somewhat limited by the whole shakey-cam "found footage" conceit, it also manages to play with the cliches, creating a funhouse atmosphere of laughs, scares, and wonder. The special effects are fantastic, the scenery is gorgeous (I want to go to Norway, now), and the mythology is interesting and humorous, and yet manages to feel "real". I would have preferred a more traditional narrative movie rather the the whole "Blair Witch"-y thing, but this is still one of my favorite movies of the summer.
Fright Night
The original 1985 "Fright Night" is one of my favorite horror-comedies of all time, so I wasn't at all looking forward to seeing a remake. As it turns out, it's not bad. But not as good as the original, either. Charlie Brewster lives in a suburban enclave just outside of Las Vegas. He has a new neighbor named Jerry. Jerry is vampire, and he suspects that Charlie knows. Now Charlie must go face-to-fang with his neighborly nemesis, and must recruit a famous Vegas magician named Peter Vincent to help him. Laughs, scares, it's a fun movie about vampire killin'. The cast is great, especially Colin Farrell as Jerry the vampire, sleazeballing it to the hilt. David Tennant (my favorite "Doctor Who" of all) plays a great "jerk-who-eventually-grows-on-you", going from A-hole to loyal sidekick with hammy aplomb. The original Jerry from 1985, Chris Sarandon, even makes a fun appearance. While there are some major plot contrivances at play here, and the 3-D was mostly useless (90% of the movie takes place in dark environments), it's worth a look.
30 Minutes or Less
A couple of slack-jawed jerks need money to hire a hitman to kill their jerk father. So they force a jerk pizza delivery kid to to rob a bank and bring them the money. Jerk pizza delivery kid gets his best friend involved in the heist (he's not much of a jerk). It turns out that the slack-jawed jerks are getting played by the jerky hitman and his jerky stripper girlfriend. In a summer full of great R-rated comedies, well, they couldn't all be winners. This one bored me. And pissed me off, because it's from the director of "Zombieland", one of my favorite movies of 2009. Is it because most of the characters are unlikeable, uninteresting jerks who scream most of their dialogue? Is it because the plot is too complicated for its own good, shooting itself in the metaphorical foot? Is it because most of the jokes are funnier in the 3-minute trailer than they are within the context of the actual movie? All of the above. A snoozefest.
Attack the Block
In London, after a gang of urban street punks kill a nasty little critter that emerges from a meteorite impact, a dozen more creatures rain down on the rundown streets and attack, forcing all of the residents of the block, upstanding citizens and drug dealers alike, to band together to fend off the vicious space beasties. Alright, I must confess - I saw this movie last weekend, but since it was released in most other cities during the summertime months, I'm counting it as a summer movie. And, as a summer movie, it's real good. Essentially a classic monster movie at heart, it has some real characterizations and lots of laughs and scares. From the producers of "Shaun of the Dead", it treats its villains with 100% seriousness - when they attack, it's vicious and scary. And the monster design is rather original - bear/wolf critters covered blacker-than-black fur with a mouthful of sharp, neon-green teeth. Sounds silly, but it works. Although there were many times that I could've used some subtitles (darn London street slang), I didn't mind. It's great monster movie fun. And I think Mayhem and Props should get their own spinoff movie.
Rubber
A car tire with psychokinetic abilities becomes obsessed with a lovely French lady and stalks her. Meanwhile, a group of people out in the desert watch the proceedings through binoculars, commenting on everything that happens. This is, by far, the weirdest movie of the year. And I like it. Although it sometimes feels like a student film stretched out to feature length, at least it's a damn good student film. This movie is a mix of David Lynch, Richard ("Donnie Darko") Kelly, and Terry Gilliam, with a dash of Fellini for good measure. It's crazy, and runs the fine line between pretentiousness and good fun, thankfully never crossing the line into pretentiousness and never taking itself seriously. After watching movie after movie with the same exact general screenplay structure (courtesy of screenwriting guru Syd Field), this movie comes as a breath of fresh air. With an inventive musical score, a cast full of cult film actors (the tire acting is also wonderful), a great sense of "the visual", and an overwhelmingly welcome atmosphere of weird, I recommend this movie to anyone who's looking for something different. It's not perfect, but it'll do nicely
Don't Be Afraid of the Dark
A remake of the cult hit 1970's T.V. movie of the same name, "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark" follows the plight of a family, the architect father, the new step mom, and the father's disaffected young daughter as they move into a newly renovated century-old mansion. The daughter soon begins hearing little voices coming from the basement, and after opening up the sealed fireplace at their behest, tiny light-hating creatures begin causing torment and chaos throughout the house. See, they like to eat the teeth of children, and occasionally they will pull someone down into their world to become one of them and replenish their numbers. These are they creepiest little critters I've seen on film since those little demon guys in "The Gate" (1987). Realized extremely well via digital animation, these little monkey spiders love to torment little children and creep out moviegoers by skittering around in the dark. The theater I saw this movie at had an awesome sound system, so when the little bastards would skitter around behind you or talk to you from all corners of the theater, it seemed like they were all around you in the dark, waiting to strike. (shiver) The cast was good, especially the young actress who plays the main character. And while the plot has a couple of holes that you could drive a semi truck through (the father must be the most stubborn, hardest to convince character in all movie history), the creepy atmosphere (and good jump scares) and the well-realized little critters more than make up for it. (shiver)
Conan the Barbarian
Ugh. Like Edgar Rice Burrough's "Tarzan of the Apes", no one can seem to do Robert E. Howard's most famous creation justice. Sure, the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie from 1981 is a classic, but it wasn't the best adaptation of the source material. And now, in 2011, we get another attempt. Fail. Once again, they tried to give Conan a stereotypical revenge back story. His family was wiped out by an evil warlord who's ultimate goal is to reunite the pieces of a magical mask which will grant him ultimate power and resurrect his long-dead sorceress wife, who was. . . aw, screw it. Don't care. See, Conan is a force of nature, the ultimate barbarian. In the novels, he has no back story, he just does whatever he feels like. If he wants riches, he steals a magical artifact. He wants a woman, he gets one. If he wants to fight, he starts one. Often this puts him at odds with the forces of civilization, who want nothing less than to control their surroundings. Barbarianism versus civilization - that's Robert E. Howard in a nutshell. Instead, in this movie, we have a crappy revenge story merged with a crappy fantasy story. It's nice that the filmmakers included some of the locations and races from the novels, as well as bringing back sex and violence to the fantasy genre, but it's all so repetitive and boring. And the 3-D was lamely done, too. Jason Momoa, as Conan, plays him as more of a swarthy rogue than an unstoppable slab of beef, and isn't too bad in the role, but the movie lets him, and us, down. And the musical score is generic and dull. Oh well, maybe in 20 years or so, they'll try remaking this again. As least it's better than that lame "Conan the Barbarian" T.V. series.
Final Destination 5
Every generation needs it's grand guignol show. Grand guignol - it's a back alley stage show (originating in 19th century Paris and spreading worldwide) which features modern retellings of classic stories, reveling in gore and gruesome, over the top deaths, with an undercurrent of dark humor, intended as a cathartic, safe exploration of death, a kind of outlet for dealing with the horrors of modern day life. Grand guignol moved to the movie screen when film was invented. My generation's grand guignol was "Friday the 13th" and "A Nightmare on Elm Street". Today you have "Saw" and "Final Destination". People who look down on "gore films" fail to realize that it's a storytelling genre that goes back to the earliest storytelling times, a genre that's as necessary to the human psyche as comedy, romance, heroics, and good old-fashioned horror. But it can be done badly, too. "Final Destination 5" does it good. It's the second best movie in the series after "Final Destination 2". After a busload of employees survive a terrible bridge collapse thanks to their co-worker's handy psychic premonition, death begins to come for them one by one. Same old story, but the strength of this series lies in the buildup of tension and in the ultimate, hopefully unexpected, payoff of the inevitable deaths, which are spectacularly done here. Emma Bell is in this movie (from "Frozen", "The Walking Dead"), as is Tony Todd, reprising his creepy morgue character from "Final Destination" 1 and 2. The twist ending is a great place to leave the series, and the use of the 3-D in this movie is well done (the director of "Final Destination 5" is a protege of James Cameron). It's a gory good time.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Here it is, probably my favorite movie of the summer. While searching for the cure for Alzheimer's disease, Dr. James Franco's experiments lead to the birth of Caesar, a super intelligent chimpanzee. After going nuts and getting locked away in an ape shelter, Caesar begins to ignite rebellious instincts in his fellow apes. But when he gets his paws on some canisters of that anti-Alzheimer's drug, whoo-boy, look out - smart apes, coming through. This movie could have gone very, very wrong, but in the hands of director Rupert Wyatt it goes very, very right. Everything's solid on this movie. The casting, the music, the action sequences, the moving drama, the photography, the special effects. James Franco is quickly becoming this generation's best actor, but it's Andy Serkis (Gollum in "Lord of the Rings", King Kong in the 2005 remake), as Caesar, who steals the show and gives the best acting performance of the year. While he's playing a digital character, you quickly forget that he's a special effect and just believe that he's real. It's quite extraordinary. This is apparently a prequel to the 1967 original (forget that awful 2001 Tim Burton/Mark Wahlberg remake), but it feels more like a reboot. Either way, doesn't matter. It's emotional, it's good, it features lots of loving nods to the original movie, and that kid who plays Draco Malfoy in the "Harry Potter" movies gets the comeuppance here he never received in "Deathly Hallows Part 2". Simply awesome.
Troll Hunter
Shot in the "found footage" style of "The Blair Witch Project" and it's many ripoffs, "Troll Hunter" tells the more fantasy-oriented tale of a government employee who's occupation involves tracking down and killing trolls who've wandered out of their hidden "troll preserves" in rural Norway. He lets a trio of curious Norwegian film students tape his exploits, merely because he's sick of the low-paying, high-stress job and wants the government-suppressed truth about the existence of trolls exposed once and for all. While it's somewhat limited by the whole shakey-cam "found footage" conceit, it also manages to play with the cliches, creating a funhouse atmosphere of laughs, scares, and wonder. The special effects are fantastic, the scenery is gorgeous (I want to go to Norway, now), and the mythology is interesting and humorous, and yet manages to feel "real". I would have preferred a more traditional narrative movie rather the the whole "Blair Witch"-y thing, but this is still one of my favorite movies of the summer.
Fright Night
The original 1985 "Fright Night" is one of my favorite horror-comedies of all time, so I wasn't at all looking forward to seeing a remake. As it turns out, it's not bad. But not as good as the original, either. Charlie Brewster lives in a suburban enclave just outside of Las Vegas. He has a new neighbor named Jerry. Jerry is vampire, and he suspects that Charlie knows. Now Charlie must go face-to-fang with his neighborly nemesis, and must recruit a famous Vegas magician named Peter Vincent to help him. Laughs, scares, it's a fun movie about vampire killin'. The cast is great, especially Colin Farrell as Jerry the vampire, sleazeballing it to the hilt. David Tennant (my favorite "Doctor Who" of all) plays a great "jerk-who-eventually-grows-on-you", going from A-hole to loyal sidekick with hammy aplomb. The original Jerry from 1985, Chris Sarandon, even makes a fun appearance. While there are some major plot contrivances at play here, and the 3-D was mostly useless (90% of the movie takes place in dark environments), it's worth a look.
30 Minutes or Less
A couple of slack-jawed jerks need money to hire a hitman to kill their jerk father. So they force a jerk pizza delivery kid to to rob a bank and bring them the money. Jerk pizza delivery kid gets his best friend involved in the heist (he's not much of a jerk). It turns out that the slack-jawed jerks are getting played by the jerky hitman and his jerky stripper girlfriend. In a summer full of great R-rated comedies, well, they couldn't all be winners. This one bored me. And pissed me off, because it's from the director of "Zombieland", one of my favorite movies of 2009. Is it because most of the characters are unlikeable, uninteresting jerks who scream most of their dialogue? Is it because the plot is too complicated for its own good, shooting itself in the metaphorical foot? Is it because most of the jokes are funnier in the 3-minute trailer than they are within the context of the actual movie? All of the above. A snoozefest.
Attack the Block
In London, after a gang of urban street punks kill a nasty little critter that emerges from a meteorite impact, a dozen more creatures rain down on the rundown streets and attack, forcing all of the residents of the block, upstanding citizens and drug dealers alike, to band together to fend off the vicious space beasties. Alright, I must confess - I saw this movie last weekend, but since it was released in most other cities during the summertime months, I'm counting it as a summer movie. And, as a summer movie, it's real good. Essentially a classic monster movie at heart, it has some real characterizations and lots of laughs and scares. From the producers of "Shaun of the Dead", it treats its villains with 100% seriousness - when they attack, it's vicious and scary. And the monster design is rather original - bear/wolf critters covered blacker-than-black fur with a mouthful of sharp, neon-green teeth. Sounds silly, but it works. Although there were many times that I could've used some subtitles (darn London street slang), I didn't mind. It's great monster movie fun. And I think Mayhem and Props should get their own spinoff movie.
Rubber
A car tire with psychokinetic abilities becomes obsessed with a lovely French lady and stalks her. Meanwhile, a group of people out in the desert watch the proceedings through binoculars, commenting on everything that happens. This is, by far, the weirdest movie of the year. And I like it. Although it sometimes feels like a student film stretched out to feature length, at least it's a damn good student film. This movie is a mix of David Lynch, Richard ("Donnie Darko") Kelly, and Terry Gilliam, with a dash of Fellini for good measure. It's crazy, and runs the fine line between pretentiousness and good fun, thankfully never crossing the line into pretentiousness and never taking itself seriously. After watching movie after movie with the same exact general screenplay structure (courtesy of screenwriting guru Syd Field), this movie comes as a breath of fresh air. With an inventive musical score, a cast full of cult film actors (the tire acting is also wonderful), a great sense of "the visual", and an overwhelmingly welcome atmosphere of weird, I recommend this movie to anyone who's looking for something different. It's not perfect, but it'll do nicely
Don't Be Afraid of the Dark
A remake of the cult hit 1970's T.V. movie of the same name, "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark" follows the plight of a family, the architect father, the new step mom, and the father's disaffected young daughter as they move into a newly renovated century-old mansion. The daughter soon begins hearing little voices coming from the basement, and after opening up the sealed fireplace at their behest, tiny light-hating creatures begin causing torment and chaos throughout the house. See, they like to eat the teeth of children, and occasionally they will pull someone down into their world to become one of them and replenish their numbers. These are they creepiest little critters I've seen on film since those little demon guys in "The Gate" (1987). Realized extremely well via digital animation, these little monkey spiders love to torment little children and creep out moviegoers by skittering around in the dark. The theater I saw this movie at had an awesome sound system, so when the little bastards would skitter around behind you or talk to you from all corners of the theater, it seemed like they were all around you in the dark, waiting to strike. (shiver) The cast was good, especially the young actress who plays the main character. And while the plot has a couple of holes that you could drive a semi truck through (the father must be the most stubborn, hardest to convince character in all movie history), the creepy atmosphere (and good jump scares) and the well-realized little critters more than make up for it. (shiver)
Conan the Barbarian
Ugh. Like Edgar Rice Burrough's "Tarzan of the Apes", no one can seem to do Robert E. Howard's most famous creation justice. Sure, the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie from 1981 is a classic, but it wasn't the best adaptation of the source material. And now, in 2011, we get another attempt. Fail. Once again, they tried to give Conan a stereotypical revenge back story. His family was wiped out by an evil warlord who's ultimate goal is to reunite the pieces of a magical mask which will grant him ultimate power and resurrect his long-dead sorceress wife, who was. . . aw, screw it. Don't care. See, Conan is a force of nature, the ultimate barbarian. In the novels, he has no back story, he just does whatever he feels like. If he wants riches, he steals a magical artifact. He wants a woman, he gets one. If he wants to fight, he starts one. Often this puts him at odds with the forces of civilization, who want nothing less than to control their surroundings. Barbarianism versus civilization - that's Robert E. Howard in a nutshell. Instead, in this movie, we have a crappy revenge story merged with a crappy fantasy story. It's nice that the filmmakers included some of the locations and races from the novels, as well as bringing back sex and violence to the fantasy genre, but it's all so repetitive and boring. And the 3-D was lamely done, too. Jason Momoa, as Conan, plays him as more of a swarthy rogue than an unstoppable slab of beef, and isn't too bad in the role, but the movie lets him, and us, down. And the musical score is generic and dull. Oh well, maybe in 20 years or so, they'll try remaking this again. As least it's better than that lame "Conan the Barbarian" T.V. series.
Final Destination 5
Every generation needs it's grand guignol show. Grand guignol - it's a back alley stage show (originating in 19th century Paris and spreading worldwide) which features modern retellings of classic stories, reveling in gore and gruesome, over the top deaths, with an undercurrent of dark humor, intended as a cathartic, safe exploration of death, a kind of outlet for dealing with the horrors of modern day life. Grand guignol moved to the movie screen when film was invented. My generation's grand guignol was "Friday the 13th" and "A Nightmare on Elm Street". Today you have "Saw" and "Final Destination". People who look down on "gore films" fail to realize that it's a storytelling genre that goes back to the earliest storytelling times, a genre that's as necessary to the human psyche as comedy, romance, heroics, and good old-fashioned horror. But it can be done badly, too. "Final Destination 5" does it good. It's the second best movie in the series after "Final Destination 2". After a busload of employees survive a terrible bridge collapse thanks to their co-worker's handy psychic premonition, death begins to come for them one by one. Same old story, but the strength of this series lies in the buildup of tension and in the ultimate, hopefully unexpected, payoff of the inevitable deaths, which are spectacularly done here. Emma Bell is in this movie (from "Frozen", "The Walking Dead"), as is Tony Todd, reprising his creepy morgue character from "Final Destination" 1 and 2. The twist ending is a great place to leave the series, and the use of the 3-D in this movie is well done (the director of "Final Destination 5" is a protege of James Cameron). It's a gory good time.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Here it is, probably my favorite movie of the summer. While searching for the cure for Alzheimer's disease, Dr. James Franco's experiments lead to the birth of Caesar, a super intelligent chimpanzee. After going nuts and getting locked away in an ape shelter, Caesar begins to ignite rebellious instincts in his fellow apes. But when he gets his paws on some canisters of that anti-Alzheimer's drug, whoo-boy, look out - smart apes, coming through. This movie could have gone very, very wrong, but in the hands of director Rupert Wyatt it goes very, very right. Everything's solid on this movie. The casting, the music, the action sequences, the moving drama, the photography, the special effects. James Franco is quickly becoming this generation's best actor, but it's Andy Serkis (Gollum in "Lord of the Rings", King Kong in the 2005 remake), as Caesar, who steals the show and gives the best acting performance of the year. While he's playing a digital character, you quickly forget that he's a special effect and just believe that he's real. It's quite extraordinary. This is apparently a prequel to the 1967 original (forget that awful 2001 Tim Burton/Mark Wahlberg remake), but it feels more like a reboot. Either way, doesn't matter. It's emotional, it's good, it features lots of loving nods to the original movie, and that kid who plays Draco Malfoy in the "Harry Potter" movies gets the comeuppance here he never received in "Deathly Hallows Part 2". Simply awesome.
Monday, September 12, 2011
The Wrath of Godzilla, Part 4: What Rough Beast
After seven years, Godzilla returns. And he's not alone. . .
King Kong vs Godzilla (1962)
A normally cold ocean current near Japan is warming up and peppered with icebergs, so the U.N. sends a nuclear submarine to investigate. The dumbass sub captain runs the ship into one of the icebergs and frees Godzilla, who's been trapped beneath the arctic ice since the climax of "Godzilla Raids Again". No doubt his body temperature was responsible for the warming of the ocean currents. Now, frostbitten and royally pissed off, Godzilla stomps towards Japan to exact some righteous revenge.
Meanwhile, a pharmaceutical company has discovered a new kind of berry which produces narcotic effects when eaten. This berry can only be found on Faro Island, located somewhere near the Soloman Islands (and just to the left of Mothra's home base, Infant Island). The local natives use the berry to placate a giant "monster god" named Kong (a big ape, duh). Tokyo Television exec, Mr. Taco (yeah, I know it's supposed to be "Mr.Tako" but "Taco" is more amusing) sends out two of his goons to find Kong and bring him back to the mainland, you know, to boost T.V. ratings. After the goons make good with the natives by giving them transistor radios and cigarettes ("It's okay! They're all smoking!"), a giant octopus slurps up out of the ocean and tries to sip on some of the natives' supply of red berry juice. Kong ain't havin' none of that, so he busts into the village and beats the snot out of the octopus, who then slurps away in shame. Kong sees the free juice and goes on a bender, sucking down barrels of the stuff like grandpa's old cough medicine. Drunk off his ass, he passes out. The goons see their chance, so they tie Kong to a giant raft and haul him back to Japan.
Godzilla continues to blaze through Japan, and the military can't seem to stop him. Government officials, understandably nervous, forbid Kong from being brought ashore. That's alright, though. Kong frees himself from the raft anyway. After briefly meeting Godzilla (who shoots his radioactive breath at Kong), the big ape says "screw this" and lopes off to Tokyo, where he monkeys around for a while, even managing to pick up a cute local girl. The goons, in league with the authorities, come up with a plan. They explode berry-filled bombs over Kong's head. He sniffs the happy happy berry smoke and passes out, again, so the government lifts him up with a couple of helicopters, flies him over to Mt. Fuji, and drops him on Godzilla's head. A battle royale ensues, famous landmarks are destroyed, wrestling moves are stunningly executed, and, after an unseen climactic underwater skirmish (Spoiler Alert), Kong rises from beneath the water and swims out to sea, apparently victorious.
The story of how this movie came to be is somewhat labyrinthine and convoluted, so I'll do my best to sum it up. After the success of "King Kong" (1933) and its successful sequel "Son of Kong" (1933), Willis O'Brien, the special effects master who brought the monster to life via stop motion animation, acquired the rights to the character and tried to get a third movie off the ground called "King Kong vs Frankenstein". He had a script written and some production sketches, now all he needed was a movie studio to provide the backing to get the picture made. No luck in Hollywood, so the guy O'Brien hired to help shop the project around went behind his employer's back and sold the rights to Toho Studios. Much litigation followed, but Toho now had the legal rights to the characters and a first draft script to go with them. With 1962 being Toho's 30th anniversary, they decided to replace Frankenstein's monster with their own homegrown beast - Godzilla (don't worry, Toho would make a couple of movies about a giant Frankenstein's monster a few years down the road - keep watching this blog). They also brought in the same production team who made the original "Gojira" (the guys - Honda, Tsuburya, Ifukube - who've made all of the films I've reviewed so far, except "Godzilla Raids Again").
Goofy and cheesy, with the funniest looking King Kong you've every seen, "King Kong vs Godzilla" is a masterpiece of camp. Toho injected "Mothra"-style fun and adventure into this flick, no doubt trying to recapture that movie's success - and succeed it did! It was the most profitable Godzilla movie of all time! Well, to this day.
Funny bits - during the course of the movie, Kong is rejuvenated a couple of times by infusing himself with electrical energy, no doubt a holdover from when Frankenstein was meant to be in the film. And there was a long-standing rumor that Toho had shot two different endings for the movie: an American version where King Kong wins, and a Japanese version where Godzilla wins. This is false - (Spoiler Alert) there is only one version, and in that version, Kong wins. And it's kind of funny how the hometown boy (Big G) gets so soundly defeated by a big goofy American ape.
King Kong Escapes (1967)
King Kong now lives the quiet life on Mondo Island, with only a crazy old man and a bunch of dinosaurs to keep him company. Unbeknownst to our simian hero, a mad scientist named Dr. Hu (not Doctor Who) has been commissioned by the gorgeous agent of an unnamed Asian country to mine something called Element X out of the arctic. This unnamed Asian country plans to use Element X to develop powerful weapons and become THE dominant world superpower. So how does Dr. Hu plan on mining this dangerous element for our evil lady agent? Weeeeelll, using detailed studies of Kong taken by a Kong expert, Hu has created a robot version of Kong (Mecha Kong!) to mine Element X. What a simple solution! Unfortunately, Mecha Kong sucks. He breaks down on the first day of the job. Curses! Time for Plan B. . .
Meanwhile, a U.N. submarine (the Explorer) is looking for oil in the South Pacific. It sustains some rudder damage and needs to be repaired, so the sub docks near Mondo Island. The sub's captain is the aforementioned Kong expert named Nelson (played by American actor Rhodes Reason), who decides to take his fellow crewmates (a spunky nurse played by Wanda Miller, and Japanese actor Akira Takarada, a Godzilla movie veteran) on a little sightseeing tour. This little tour turns disastrous when Kong fall for the cute blond nurse and has to defend her from a giant T-Rex (called Gorosaurus) and an enormous water moccasin. In the end, though, the woman just tells Kong to go away, so he walks back home, head down, shoulders slumped. What's an ape gotta do? The sub gets repaired and the humans leave.
Dr. Hu shoots Kong's crazy old man companion, apenaps Kong and hauls him to the arctic. Nelson and his cronies return to Mondo Island, having received official permission from the U.N. to study the place. They find the dying old man and discover that Dr. Hu is the culprit.
Dr. Hu, by the way, wears a Dracula cape, has terrible teeth and is referred to, in the movie, as an "Oriental skeleton".
Using a mind control device, Dr. Hu sends Kong to dig for Element X. Being in proximity to the element, however, disables the mind control device, and KING KONG ESCAPES from Dr. Hu's arctic base. Of course he has help from the evil agent lady (played by Mie Hama, who was also in "King Kong vs Godzilla", playing a totally different character), who has a change of heart and assists the big gorilla. Hu shoots her, then sends Mecha Kong after the escaped ape.
Kong, naturally, heads directly for Tokyo (from the North Pole?). Mecha Kong steals the cute nurse from the sub and climbs Tokyo Tower. Kong follows, rescues the girl, and knocks the robot off the tower, who hits the ground and smashes to pieces. Next Kong heads over to Dr. Hu's control boat and goes apeshit on it, killing our villain. Then he throws his arms in the air, jumps into the ocean, and (Spoiler Alert) swims the hell away from all these stupid humans, never to be seen again. And he wasn't, at least not in the Toho universe. The only monster from "King Kong Escapes" who would return was Gorosaurus. He'd show up again in "Destroy All Monsters" (1969). Technically, it's probably a different Gorosaurus, since the one in "King Kong Escapes" probably didn't survive getting its jaws ripped open, original King Kong ('33) style.
This is another fun slice of camp from the makers of "King Kong vs Godzilla". There was a heavy James Bond influence on this movie, since Bond mania was in full swing in 1967, especially evident in the character of Dr. Hu, who resembles an over-the-top Bond villain, like Dr. No. Heck, actress Mie Hama was officially a Bond Girl when she co-starred in "You Only Live Twice", which came out the same year (1967). And Rhodes Reason is kind of a Bond-ish hero, as well. Well, Bond-ish looking. He doesn't really do much to advance the plot of "King Kong Escapes", he's just there to add an American flavor to the film. He's kind of lame, actually.
Kong himself is the real hero. I totally identify with the big ape. You break your neck to impress a lady by fighting dinosaurs, giant robots, and mad scientists, but she just leaves you in the dust to go hang out with some square-jawed lame-o who stands around in a submarine and does absolutely nothing except go on sightseeing tours in a government funded vehicle when he should be performing his jobly duties. It's the same old story, over and over again. Sometimes I want to "pull a Kong" and just swim out to sea, maybe find my own private island full of dinosaurs and dancing native girls. That sounds like the life.
Next time - nasty beasties from under the sea!
King Kong vs Godzilla (1962)
A normally cold ocean current near Japan is warming up and peppered with icebergs, so the U.N. sends a nuclear submarine to investigate. The dumbass sub captain runs the ship into one of the icebergs and frees Godzilla, who's been trapped beneath the arctic ice since the climax of "Godzilla Raids Again". No doubt his body temperature was responsible for the warming of the ocean currents. Now, frostbitten and royally pissed off, Godzilla stomps towards Japan to exact some righteous revenge.
Meanwhile, a pharmaceutical company has discovered a new kind of berry which produces narcotic effects when eaten. This berry can only be found on Faro Island, located somewhere near the Soloman Islands (and just to the left of Mothra's home base, Infant Island). The local natives use the berry to placate a giant "monster god" named Kong (a big ape, duh). Tokyo Television exec, Mr. Taco (yeah, I know it's supposed to be "Mr.Tako" but "Taco" is more amusing) sends out two of his goons to find Kong and bring him back to the mainland, you know, to boost T.V. ratings. After the goons make good with the natives by giving them transistor radios and cigarettes ("It's okay! They're all smoking!"), a giant octopus slurps up out of the ocean and tries to sip on some of the natives' supply of red berry juice. Kong ain't havin' none of that, so he busts into the village and beats the snot out of the octopus, who then slurps away in shame. Kong sees the free juice and goes on a bender, sucking down barrels of the stuff like grandpa's old cough medicine. Drunk off his ass, he passes out. The goons see their chance, so they tie Kong to a giant raft and haul him back to Japan.
Godzilla continues to blaze through Japan, and the military can't seem to stop him. Government officials, understandably nervous, forbid Kong from being brought ashore. That's alright, though. Kong frees himself from the raft anyway. After briefly meeting Godzilla (who shoots his radioactive breath at Kong), the big ape says "screw this" and lopes off to Tokyo, where he monkeys around for a while, even managing to pick up a cute local girl. The goons, in league with the authorities, come up with a plan. They explode berry-filled bombs over Kong's head. He sniffs the happy happy berry smoke and passes out, again, so the government lifts him up with a couple of helicopters, flies him over to Mt. Fuji, and drops him on Godzilla's head. A battle royale ensues, famous landmarks are destroyed, wrestling moves are stunningly executed, and, after an unseen climactic underwater skirmish (Spoiler Alert), Kong rises from beneath the water and swims out to sea, apparently victorious.
The story of how this movie came to be is somewhat labyrinthine and convoluted, so I'll do my best to sum it up. After the success of "King Kong" (1933) and its successful sequel "Son of Kong" (1933), Willis O'Brien, the special effects master who brought the monster to life via stop motion animation, acquired the rights to the character and tried to get a third movie off the ground called "King Kong vs Frankenstein". He had a script written and some production sketches, now all he needed was a movie studio to provide the backing to get the picture made. No luck in Hollywood, so the guy O'Brien hired to help shop the project around went behind his employer's back and sold the rights to Toho Studios. Much litigation followed, but Toho now had the legal rights to the characters and a first draft script to go with them. With 1962 being Toho's 30th anniversary, they decided to replace Frankenstein's monster with their own homegrown beast - Godzilla (don't worry, Toho would make a couple of movies about a giant Frankenstein's monster a few years down the road - keep watching this blog). They also brought in the same production team who made the original "Gojira" (the guys - Honda, Tsuburya, Ifukube - who've made all of the films I've reviewed so far, except "Godzilla Raids Again").
Goofy and cheesy, with the funniest looking King Kong you've every seen, "King Kong vs Godzilla" is a masterpiece of camp. Toho injected "Mothra"-style fun and adventure into this flick, no doubt trying to recapture that movie's success - and succeed it did! It was the most profitable Godzilla movie of all time! Well, to this day.
Funny bits - during the course of the movie, Kong is rejuvenated a couple of times by infusing himself with electrical energy, no doubt a holdover from when Frankenstein was meant to be in the film. And there was a long-standing rumor that Toho had shot two different endings for the movie: an American version where King Kong wins, and a Japanese version where Godzilla wins. This is false - (Spoiler Alert) there is only one version, and in that version, Kong wins. And it's kind of funny how the hometown boy (Big G) gets so soundly defeated by a big goofy American ape.
King Kong Escapes (1967)
King Kong now lives the quiet life on Mondo Island, with only a crazy old man and a bunch of dinosaurs to keep him company. Unbeknownst to our simian hero, a mad scientist named Dr. Hu (not Doctor Who) has been commissioned by the gorgeous agent of an unnamed Asian country to mine something called Element X out of the arctic. This unnamed Asian country plans to use Element X to develop powerful weapons and become THE dominant world superpower. So how does Dr. Hu plan on mining this dangerous element for our evil lady agent? Weeeeelll, using detailed studies of Kong taken by a Kong expert, Hu has created a robot version of Kong (Mecha Kong!) to mine Element X. What a simple solution! Unfortunately, Mecha Kong sucks. He breaks down on the first day of the job. Curses! Time for Plan B. . .
Meanwhile, a U.N. submarine (the Explorer) is looking for oil in the South Pacific. It sustains some rudder damage and needs to be repaired, so the sub docks near Mondo Island. The sub's captain is the aforementioned Kong expert named Nelson (played by American actor Rhodes Reason), who decides to take his fellow crewmates (a spunky nurse played by Wanda Miller, and Japanese actor Akira Takarada, a Godzilla movie veteran) on a little sightseeing tour. This little tour turns disastrous when Kong fall for the cute blond nurse and has to defend her from a giant T-Rex (called Gorosaurus) and an enormous water moccasin. In the end, though, the woman just tells Kong to go away, so he walks back home, head down, shoulders slumped. What's an ape gotta do? The sub gets repaired and the humans leave.
Dr. Hu shoots Kong's crazy old man companion, apenaps Kong and hauls him to the arctic. Nelson and his cronies return to Mondo Island, having received official permission from the U.N. to study the place. They find the dying old man and discover that Dr. Hu is the culprit.
Dr. Hu, by the way, wears a Dracula cape, has terrible teeth and is referred to, in the movie, as an "Oriental skeleton".
Using a mind control device, Dr. Hu sends Kong to dig for Element X. Being in proximity to the element, however, disables the mind control device, and KING KONG ESCAPES from Dr. Hu's arctic base. Of course he has help from the evil agent lady (played by Mie Hama, who was also in "King Kong vs Godzilla", playing a totally different character), who has a change of heart and assists the big gorilla. Hu shoots her, then sends Mecha Kong after the escaped ape.
Kong, naturally, heads directly for Tokyo (from the North Pole?). Mecha Kong steals the cute nurse from the sub and climbs Tokyo Tower. Kong follows, rescues the girl, and knocks the robot off the tower, who hits the ground and smashes to pieces. Next Kong heads over to Dr. Hu's control boat and goes apeshit on it, killing our villain. Then he throws his arms in the air, jumps into the ocean, and (Spoiler Alert) swims the hell away from all these stupid humans, never to be seen again. And he wasn't, at least not in the Toho universe. The only monster from "King Kong Escapes" who would return was Gorosaurus. He'd show up again in "Destroy All Monsters" (1969). Technically, it's probably a different Gorosaurus, since the one in "King Kong Escapes" probably didn't survive getting its jaws ripped open, original King Kong ('33) style.
This is another fun slice of camp from the makers of "King Kong vs Godzilla". There was a heavy James Bond influence on this movie, since Bond mania was in full swing in 1967, especially evident in the character of Dr. Hu, who resembles an over-the-top Bond villain, like Dr. No. Heck, actress Mie Hama was officially a Bond Girl when she co-starred in "You Only Live Twice", which came out the same year (1967). And Rhodes Reason is kind of a Bond-ish hero, as well. Well, Bond-ish looking. He doesn't really do much to advance the plot of "King Kong Escapes", he's just there to add an American flavor to the film. He's kind of lame, actually.
Kong himself is the real hero. I totally identify with the big ape. You break your neck to impress a lady by fighting dinosaurs, giant robots, and mad scientists, but she just leaves you in the dust to go hang out with some square-jawed lame-o who stands around in a submarine and does absolutely nothing except go on sightseeing tours in a government funded vehicle when he should be performing his jobly duties. It's the same old story, over and over again. Sometimes I want to "pull a Kong" and just swim out to sea, maybe find my own private island full of dinosaurs and dancing native girls. That sounds like the life.
Next time - nasty beasties from under the sea!
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
The Wrath of Godzilla, Part 3: The Face of the Deep
In between Godzilla's last appearance in "Godzilla Raids Again" (1955) and his reappearance seven years later, Toho Studios tried their hand at immortalizing other giant movie monsters. In America in the 1950's, movies about invaders from space were incredibly popular, so Toho decided to create their own alien bastards with which to torment the good people of Earth.
The Mysterians (1957)
Dr. Shiraishi has a theory. He believes that the asteroid belt located between Mars and Jupiter was once a highly populated planet named Mysteroid, but the warlike inhabitants blew themselves up with powerful nukes almost 1,000 years ago. The survivors escaped to Mars, where they managed to eek out a living for a time while wearing large, colorful helmets. Then the population began to die off - exposure to massive radiation has left the Mysterians sterile, and now they must look to a neighboring planet to halt the extinction of their species. This was Dr. Shiraishi's theory, thought to be nonsense by the scientific community - until he disappears after an entire Japanese village sinks into the earth. He soon reappears as a figurehead for his new friends - the Mysterians, who demand a tiny tract of land and a few Earth women. If their demands aren't met they will send their giant utilitarian robot, Moguera, to cause untold havoc, and then they will take the women by force!
Well, we aren't going to stand for something like that, so the nations of the Earth (under Japan, of course) unite to battle the Mysterians. Based out of the "Defence Force of the Earth Head Quarter" (actual spelling), we send out the military en masse to deal with the invaders - turns out the Mysterians also have a space station in orbit ready to lay down some holy hell on us. But, wait! Guess what we have! Marcalite Farps!! Yeah, you heard me! Marcalite Farps (a.k.a. giant electricity guns)! Damn straight! Soon enough, Dr. Shiraishi realizes what a dillweed he's been and sacrifices himself to help the people of Earth kick those horny alien jerks back to Mars.
Made by the exact same filmmakers who made the original "Gojira" (Honda, et al) and featuring nearly the same exact cast (plus Kenji Sahara from "Rodan"), "The Mysterians" is a preposterous but fun little sci-fi flick. Inspired heavily by such films as "War of the Worlds" and "The Day the Earth Stood Still" (with a high dose of Japaneseness), the story is admittedly a hodge-podge of deja-vu, but the addition of a kaiju (giant monster) flavor gives it that special Toho feeling. Moguera, the giant robot chicken with drill arms and spinning antennae, would appear again in "Godzilla vs Space Godzilla" (1994), where he would only be 37% less silly.
Battle in Outer Space (1959)
Okay, this one isn't technically a kaiju film, but I'm quite fond of it nonetheless. Plus, it's kind of a sequel to "The Mysterians", and the musical themes composed by Akira Ifukube for this film would become signature themes used in the later Godzilla entries. So it counts. Yes. It does.
The film opens with the Mysterians' old space station, still in orbit but now under human control, getting blown away by a new batch of alien A-holes. Soon enough, other disasters occur around the planet, caused by a reverse-magnetism weapon. Well, fellow Earthlings, it's time to unite! Again! Aliens from the planet Natal want to enslave all humanity. Supposedly their attacks originated from the Moon, so the united people of Earth (accidentally referred to, one time, as the "Untied Nations") build two high-powered rocketships to do a little lunar recon. They soon discover the aliens' secret Moon base, as well as the aliens themselves (diminutive, squeaky toy-sounding dudes) and take it out, but not before one of their fellow crewmen (under alien mind control) takes out one of the rocketships. With the help of his friends, the traitor breaks the alien control and sacrifices himself so that the last rocketship can escape. Barreling towards Earth at high speed and followed closely by the alien armada, a couple of brand spankin' new super Earth-made spaceship prototypes swoop to the rescue and engage the fleet from Natal.
The characters in this movie are absolutely inconsequential, though solidly played by the cast. Having said that, it's a hell of a lot of fun, one of my favorite alien invasion movies from the 50's. There's a definite "Star Wars"-like feel to the space battles, and lots of energy to the (okay, yes, silly) narrative which makes for a great party movie. Plus, the Ifukube score is just plain classic. It's the same filmmakers who made "The Mysterians" (that pesky Ishiro Honda guy, again), and the effects work by Tsuburya is pretty stellar for the time period. And, like I said earlier, there are no giant monsters in this movie, but many elements from "Battle in Outer Space" (originally released in Japan as "The Great Space War") would turn up in future Godzilla movies. One of my favorite of all Toho movies. Here's a trailer (it's in black and white, unfortunately) -
Join me next time for the triumphant return of the king himself - Godzilla!
The Mysterians (1957)
Dr. Shiraishi has a theory. He believes that the asteroid belt located between Mars and Jupiter was once a highly populated planet named Mysteroid, but the warlike inhabitants blew themselves up with powerful nukes almost 1,000 years ago. The survivors escaped to Mars, where they managed to eek out a living for a time while wearing large, colorful helmets. Then the population began to die off - exposure to massive radiation has left the Mysterians sterile, and now they must look to a neighboring planet to halt the extinction of their species. This was Dr. Shiraishi's theory, thought to be nonsense by the scientific community - until he disappears after an entire Japanese village sinks into the earth. He soon reappears as a figurehead for his new friends - the Mysterians, who demand a tiny tract of land and a few Earth women. If their demands aren't met they will send their giant utilitarian robot, Moguera, to cause untold havoc, and then they will take the women by force!
Well, we aren't going to stand for something like that, so the nations of the Earth (under Japan, of course) unite to battle the Mysterians. Based out of the "Defence Force of the Earth Head Quarter" (actual spelling), we send out the military en masse to deal with the invaders - turns out the Mysterians also have a space station in orbit ready to lay down some holy hell on us. But, wait! Guess what we have! Marcalite Farps!! Yeah, you heard me! Marcalite Farps (a.k.a. giant electricity guns)! Damn straight! Soon enough, Dr. Shiraishi realizes what a dillweed he's been and sacrifices himself to help the people of Earth kick those horny alien jerks back to Mars.
Made by the exact same filmmakers who made the original "Gojira" (Honda, et al) and featuring nearly the same exact cast (plus Kenji Sahara from "Rodan"), "The Mysterians" is a preposterous but fun little sci-fi flick. Inspired heavily by such films as "War of the Worlds" and "The Day the Earth Stood Still" (with a high dose of Japaneseness), the story is admittedly a hodge-podge of deja-vu, but the addition of a kaiju (giant monster) flavor gives it that special Toho feeling. Moguera, the giant robot chicken with drill arms and spinning antennae, would appear again in "Godzilla vs Space Godzilla" (1994), where he would only be 37% less silly.
Battle in Outer Space (1959)
Okay, this one isn't technically a kaiju film, but I'm quite fond of it nonetheless. Plus, it's kind of a sequel to "The Mysterians", and the musical themes composed by Akira Ifukube for this film would become signature themes used in the later Godzilla entries. So it counts. Yes. It does.
The film opens with the Mysterians' old space station, still in orbit but now under human control, getting blown away by a new batch of alien A-holes. Soon enough, other disasters occur around the planet, caused by a reverse-magnetism weapon. Well, fellow Earthlings, it's time to unite! Again! Aliens from the planet Natal want to enslave all humanity. Supposedly their attacks originated from the Moon, so the united people of Earth (accidentally referred to, one time, as the "Untied Nations") build two high-powered rocketships to do a little lunar recon. They soon discover the aliens' secret Moon base, as well as the aliens themselves (diminutive, squeaky toy-sounding dudes) and take it out, but not before one of their fellow crewmen (under alien mind control) takes out one of the rocketships. With the help of his friends, the traitor breaks the alien control and sacrifices himself so that the last rocketship can escape. Barreling towards Earth at high speed and followed closely by the alien armada, a couple of brand spankin' new super Earth-made spaceship prototypes swoop to the rescue and engage the fleet from Natal.
The characters in this movie are absolutely inconsequential, though solidly played by the cast. Having said that, it's a hell of a lot of fun, one of my favorite alien invasion movies from the 50's. There's a definite "Star Wars"-like feel to the space battles, and lots of energy to the (okay, yes, silly) narrative which makes for a great party movie. Plus, the Ifukube score is just plain classic. It's the same filmmakers who made "The Mysterians" (that pesky Ishiro Honda guy, again), and the effects work by Tsuburya is pretty stellar for the time period. And, like I said earlier, there are no giant monsters in this movie, but many elements from "Battle in Outer Space" (originally released in Japan as "The Great Space War") would turn up in future Godzilla movies. One of my favorite of all Toho movies. Here's a trailer (it's in black and white, unfortunately) -
Join me next time for the triumphant return of the king himself - Godzilla!
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen (2010) - The Good Parts
This movie sucks. It's haphazard, utterly non-engaging, and just plain dull. However, as The Bard himself, William Shakespeare, once said: "The fight scenes are totally swank."
So, as a public service to you, my long-suffering readers, I have decided to post links to the best parts of the movie. This way you don't have to sit through all the crap to get to the good stuff.
First, a short history lesson. Chen Zhen is a fictional Chinese hero who lived during the Japanese occupation of China and fought to protect his fellow countrymen and preserve Chinese culture. He originally appeared in the blockbuster film "Fist of Fury" (retitled "The Chinese Connection" for America), where he was played by the one-and-only Bruce Lee. There was a sequel in 1976 called "New Fist of Fury" (featuring a young Jackie Chan), as well as numerous novels, movies and T.V. shows based on his legend. Jet Li played him in 1994's awesome "Fist of Legend". And now Donnie Yen plays him in "Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen".
Donnie Yen is currently the number one martial arts star in the world. His movies make more bank than those featuring superstars Jackie Chan and Jet Li. Funny, since he first started making a name for himself by playing villains opposite Jet Li in films such as "Once Upon a Time in China 2" (1991). His breakthrough role came in 1993 when he starred in "Iron Monkey" (prequel to the "Once Upon a Time in China" series), yet he still couldn't make it to "leading man" status. It wasn't until recently that he's managed to become a major box office draw. Of course now he's 47 years old and only has a few more ass-kicking years left in him, but better late than never!
So here's the opening action sequence, set in France during WWI, where Chen Zhen becomes an inspiration to his fellow countrymen. Subtitles are in French, because French is funny.
Andrew Lau directed this movie. He also directed one of my favorite trilogies, the "Infernal Affairs" gangster trilogy (the Leonardo DiCaprio/Jack Nicholson movie "The Departed" was a remake of the original "Infernal Affairs"). This is his first all-out action movie, and while it's a good looking movie, it just doesn't work. I don't know what happened. Donnie Yen choreographed and directed the fight scenes, which explains why the fights are so much more engaging than the drama.
Here are the rest of the fights, including the scene where Chen Zhen beats up a bunch of Japanese martial arts students (a staple of Chen Zhen movies since Bruce Lee first did it back in the day). Zhen even pilfers a black suit and mask from a storefront window display to become a masked avenger, an addition to the story that was intended, no doubt, to appeal to our masked hero-crazy culture.
So there you have it. The good parts. You're welcome.
If you want to see some really good Donnie Yen movies, I recommend "Ip Man" 1 and 2. Also look up "Flash Point", "An Empress and Her Warriors", or "Kill Zone". He's pretty cool.
So, as a public service to you, my long-suffering readers, I have decided to post links to the best parts of the movie. This way you don't have to sit through all the crap to get to the good stuff.
First, a short history lesson. Chen Zhen is a fictional Chinese hero who lived during the Japanese occupation of China and fought to protect his fellow countrymen and preserve Chinese culture. He originally appeared in the blockbuster film "Fist of Fury" (retitled "The Chinese Connection" for America), where he was played by the one-and-only Bruce Lee. There was a sequel in 1976 called "New Fist of Fury" (featuring a young Jackie Chan), as well as numerous novels, movies and T.V. shows based on his legend. Jet Li played him in 1994's awesome "Fist of Legend". And now Donnie Yen plays him in "Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen".
Donnie Yen is currently the number one martial arts star in the world. His movies make more bank than those featuring superstars Jackie Chan and Jet Li. Funny, since he first started making a name for himself by playing villains opposite Jet Li in films such as "Once Upon a Time in China 2" (1991). His breakthrough role came in 1993 when he starred in "Iron Monkey" (prequel to the "Once Upon a Time in China" series), yet he still couldn't make it to "leading man" status. It wasn't until recently that he's managed to become a major box office draw. Of course now he's 47 years old and only has a few more ass-kicking years left in him, but better late than never!
So here's the opening action sequence, set in France during WWI, where Chen Zhen becomes an inspiration to his fellow countrymen. Subtitles are in French, because French is funny.
Andrew Lau directed this movie. He also directed one of my favorite trilogies, the "Infernal Affairs" gangster trilogy (the Leonardo DiCaprio/Jack Nicholson movie "The Departed" was a remake of the original "Infernal Affairs"). This is his first all-out action movie, and while it's a good looking movie, it just doesn't work. I don't know what happened. Donnie Yen choreographed and directed the fight scenes, which explains why the fights are so much more engaging than the drama.
Here are the rest of the fights, including the scene where Chen Zhen beats up a bunch of Japanese martial arts students (a staple of Chen Zhen movies since Bruce Lee first did it back in the day). Zhen even pilfers a black suit and mask from a storefront window display to become a masked avenger, an addition to the story that was intended, no doubt, to appeal to our masked hero-crazy culture.
So there you have it. The good parts. You're welcome.
If you want to see some really good Donnie Yen movies, I recommend "Ip Man" 1 and 2. Also look up "Flash Point", "An Empress and Her Warriors", or "Kill Zone". He's pretty cool.
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