The Daimajin Trilogy (Yasuda/Misumi/Mori, 1966)

[HerrSchreck]

I am in absolute heaven... I'm walking through a store I won't name (it's filled with similar oop's) and all of a sudden right there before me is a brand new set of the out of print ADV COMPLETE DAIMAJIN by Rubbersuit. All three films spread over three discs.. In widescreen in subbed original japanese (granted it's not anamorphic but you could do far worse, and with cruddy Retromedia signalled to be releasing the AIP letterboxed 16mm tv dub of the first two, and that supposedly being all we're going to get on this for the time being at least, I'm overjoyed).

The original trilogy is probably the Kaiju film I remember most from my childhood (beyond the GODZILLA stuff, of course), and perhaps the Japanese film that haunted me the most. The films are far more stylized than your typical tokyostomping fare from the time, and hold up quite well. The legendary Akira Ifukube provides some of the best work of his career here, embellishing the supernatural proceedings with figures as haunting as the original GOJIRA (did any composer write for bass clarinet, tuba & trombones anywhere near as well as this dude?).

Get those bastards Daimajin!

Ahhhhhh....

EDIT: These discs also do something with the subtitles I've never seen before which is quite interesting-- the subs are yellow (I know), but whenever two people are speaking at the same time (or one right after another) and the subs have to overlap, whereas most co's would put little bullet points to distinguish between speakers i e

-"speaker one"
-"speaker two"

these discs will have the new speakers words come in colored white while the other speakers yellow subs are still up onscreen, so you don't mix up who's who. Color coded subs: Not bad, actually.

[Michael Kerpan]

This set is a great bargain. My wife and I watched _one_ of these films many decades ago -- dubbed, and panned and scanned -- on a tiny black and white TV -- and yet were still surprised and impressed. Se4eing thse now (subbed, widescreen, in coilor, on a far biffer TV), we're not even sure which of the three films we saw so long ago. ;~}

Another bargain 3-film set -- Kaneko's neo-Gamera films (especially Gamera 3, Revenge of Iris). Also with great scores -- by O'otani Kou (one of the best of the younger generation of film composers).

[colinr0380]

These discs also do something with the subtitles I've never seen before which is quite interesting-- the subs are yellow (I know), but whenever two people are speaking at the same time (or one right after another) and the subs have to overlap, whereas most co's would put little bullet points to distinguish between speakers i e

-"speaker one"
-"speaker two"

these discs will have the new speakers words come in colored white while the other speakers yellow subs are still up onscreen, so you don't mix up who's who. Color coded subs: Not bad, actually.

That sounds like a good purchase! That colour coded subtitle thing is something that has been going on for a long time on anime releases. I even remember seeing it on some subtitled VHS tapes in the late 90s (this is when Tartan Video were still using burnt-in subtitles on cinema prints for their videos and early DVDs, with white subtitles that completely disappeared against white backgrounds!)

Since the DVD set you got is from ADV, it looks like they've just applied their anime subtitling methods to other films. The Neon Genesis Evangelion discs do the same thing, which is great as that series is full of overlapping dialogue and on screen text!

[J Wilson]

You're talking about the trilogy contained in the dark red box, right? ADV re-released these some time ago, finally making use of Daiei's anamorphic transfers from their beautiful R2 box (now sadly OOP, it seems). The third film was incorrectly framed somehow by ADV (1.78 vs 2.35), but the first two are correct as I understand it.

Also, if you're a fan of Ifukube's work on the films, a limited edition CD sees release on March 21 in Japan, for the bargain price of 1200 yen (about $10 and change). First time on CD, according to this CD Japan listing.

[tryavna]

That colour coded subtitle thing is something that has been going on for a long time on anime releases. I even remember seeing it on some subtitled VHS tapes in the late 90s (this is when Tartan Video were still using burnt-in subtitles on cinema prints for their videos and early DVDs, with white subtitles that completely disappeared against white backgrounds!)

Since the DVD set you got is from ADV, it looks like they've just applied their anime subtitling methods to other films. The Neon Genesis Evangelion discs do the same thing, which is great as that series is full of overlapping dialogue and on screen text!

Animeigo uses color-coded subtitles on all their live-action releases, too. At least, I know they do for both Japan's Longest Day and Portrait of Hell. It takes a little getting used to at first, but it really helps during dialogue-heavy films, as in Japan's Longest Day.

[colinr0380]

It takes a little getting used to at first, but it really helps during dialogue-heavy films, as in Japan's Longest Day.

I think it works very well for the action-oriented overlapping fast paced dialogue types of films where people are throwing information about ("The ship's off the starboard bow!" "Reactor temperature reaching critical level!" etc), not really for the attention of one character in particular. When people get involved in one to one conversations where the question and answer are both included in the subtitle stream at the same time I prefer the notational dashes "-" a bit more.

[tryavna]

It takes a little getting used to at first, but it really helps during dialogue-heavy films, as in Japan's Longest Day.

I think it works very well for the action-oriented overlapping fast paced dialogue types of films where people are throwing information about ("The ship's off the starboard bow!" "Reactor temperature reaching critical level!" etc), not really for the attention of one character in particular. When people get involved in one to one conversations where the question and answer are both included in the subtitle stream at the same time I prefer the notational dashes "-" a bit more.

Yeah, that's actually what I meant. I should have written "dialogue-dense" rather than "dialogue-heavy," I suppose. Japan's Longest Day is still a good example, as it contains a lot of that barking back-and-forth between actors portraying army officers.

[HerrSchreck]

You're talking about the trilogy contained in the dark red box, right? ADV re-released these some time ago, finally making use of Daiei's anamorphic transfers

Well, maybe not dark red, but perhaps more a "wine dark pink".

But yes, that's the set. Having worked my way through discs 1 & 3 (which are in reality most likely one and two as released) these films are without question some of the highest quality fantasy/horror films made in any era, and light years beyond 95% any eras "kaiju" flicks... hell, most flicks period (you think I'm kidding or high? watch these films..) I recall one reviewer dsscribed his initial reaction to watching these films somewhere along the lines of "it's like the cast & crew of KWAIDAN wandered onto the sets of Daiei and decided to make a giant monster movie," and it's really true believe it or not. There's been a rumor floating around Japan that Takashi Miike was set to direct a remake of this trilogy, but so far I don't know anything either way.

Lastly, these transfers don't look anamorphic to me, but owing to the rarity (this set went oop in 05 I believe so I was thrilled to find the original widescreen, well-subbed versions of all three-- the AIP english versions in 4/3 OAR are only the first 2, third never came to US tv-- brand new and sitting on shelves in a retail chain store) I'm not anywhere near complaining.

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

There's been a rumor floating around Japan that Takashi Miike was set to direct a remake of this trilogy, but so far I don't know anything either way.

Not a rumor anymore -- he's named as the director on Kadokawa's website (三池崇å

[HerrSchreck]

I asked this over on the Takashi Miike thread in the Filmmakers section, but got no response:

Does anyone-- one of our Japanese friends, perhaps-- know whether or not this film project, the remake of the Daimajin cycle.. with Miike as director... is still on deck as an Active Project?

I know it was formally announced by Kadokawa (and I actually think Miike was a fantastic choice to produce a modern day equivalent of such unique & highly original films from Japans "golden era" of Kaiju) but havent seen or heard any more about it.

I just rewatched the trilogy last weekend, and-- just like the first time I saw the full trilogy in color, in original Japanese, and in widescreen-- was no less impressed. They're just so unique, so well executed, and so wonderfully unclassifiable in terms of genre... Sure the god comes to life at the end and engages in his ineviatble townstomping, but the first 2/3 of the film resemble in tone and art direction and execution a very well done "arthouse" jidai-geki. ANd when the majin comes to life, that qualitative "arthouse" tone is maintained, creating a genre atmosphere more along the qualitative lines of something like Kuroneko rather than a Rodan or Mothra or Gamera (the latter being from Daiei, Daimajin's home studio).

I think Daimajin could, in the right hands, translate well to today's screen. And the Japanese are not slouches (as are Americans, at least over the past decade) at updating old classics.

[J Wilson]

The last I read was that due to the box office failure of GAMERA THE BRAVE, Daiei pulled the plug on DAIMAJIN as they figured it was likely to bomb as well.

[HerrSchreck]

Dang it.

That sucks.. and although I understand the corporate thinking, I don't agree with it. Gamera has been run into the ground, like Gojira-- whereas Daimajin is a rare delicacy not anywhere near the level of title-saturation or audience fatigue.

This is why Daimajin is such an unlikely fit into the "kaiju" realm of cinema.

Oh well.. someday I'm sure.