SYNOPSICS
Daimajin ikaru (1966) is a Japanese movie. Kenji Misumi has directed this movie. Kôjirô Hongô,Shiho Fujimura,Tarô Marui,Takashi Kanda are the starring of this movie. It was released in 1966. Daimajin ikaru (1966) is considered one of the best Drama,Fantasy movie in India and around the world.
After conquering a village, an evil warlord sets his sights on another by the lakeside. He kidnaps village local Katsushige Nakoshi (Kôichi Uenoyama) and offers an ultimatum to the villagers to hand over one of their protectors, Lord Juro (Kôjirô Hongô), in exchange for the release of Katsushige. But, Lord Juro and the brave people defy the evil doers and decide to fight for their freedom and their homeland themselves. When their sacrifices seem in vain, they pray to their stone god to awaken and fight for them.
Daimajin ikaru (1966) Reviews
A retelling of Daimajin with some interesting additions.
Basically this is the "Daimajin" plot done with a few subtle differences. There are some interesting Christian motifs here; parting of the Red Sea, crucifixion... that I wasn't expecting being that Majin is a "kami". Visually it is very satisfying. Misumi went on to direct the incredible "Kozure Okami" or "Lone Wolf with Cub" movies. Daimajin has some interesting parallels with "King Kong". It's always a woman who ultimately commands the Majin with her prayers and tears.
Bad guys are in trouble now ! - Part 2
This is the second installment of the Daimajin trilogy although the three stories are not connected. Daimajin is a talismanic 50 ft stone statue embodied with the spirit of local god. It normally sits idle with a peaceful face, but when the people are oppressed, it wakes up and changes to fierce expression to protect the innocent. The settings is in samurai era Japan. Country of Chigusa is invaded by the neighboring warlord of Mikoshiba. What the warlord of Mikoshiba doesn't know is that Chigusa is protected by Daimajin. He wreaks havoc on the people of Chigusa until - you guessed it - he pisses off the Daimajin ! Even seen as samurai movie, this movie has one of the best cinematography showing Daiei's experience in making samurai movies. Special effects are one of the best for '60s Japanese movie as well. Kojiro Hongo who was the star of '60s and '90s Gamera series also stars in this movie. Supporting casts are good too, and they deliver superb performance. The movie is an interesting mixture of samurai and giant monster movie, but it works. The recent TV mini-series "Daimajin Kanon" is a direct homage to this series and features the Daimajin in modern settings.
Majin smashes more samurai and their evil warlord
Not much different from the first film except that Majin now resides on the top of a mountain instead of the side. Great art direction, nature photography and overall excellent special effects elevated what is essentially the same story as the first film. Evil warlord enslaves and kills innocent townspeople and Majin rises up and kills all the samurai. The warlord even dies the same way as in the warlord in the first film. The middle of the film is beautifully photographed but really boring as the children travel over Majin's mountain to rescue their fathers from the warlord. Akira Ikufube's score is really good too but you can't help but notice it's almost an exact copy of his work for the Toho monster films at the same time.
Don's mess around with the gods!
Daiei Studios' Return of Daimajin is the first sequel to the movie featuring the giant stone god. In this plot, villagers defy an evil warlord's order to turn over one of their protectors, Lord Juro (Kôjirô Hongô), and end up seeing their people being brutally attacked by the warlord and his soldiers. As a result, the villagers pray upon Daimajin, the great stone god, to fight for them. The plot, I thought, was not as suspenseful and solid as the original movie, as it has more of a general "turn over your hero to us or we'll screw your village over" story line. But, there is plenty of sword-wielding and good guy vs. bad guy action to keep the film engaging, and the nastiness of the villains will make you want to root for the god to awaken and teach them a lesson they'll never forget - showing them that they shouldn't mess with the faithful. The acting was pretty good, cinematography was brilliant and special effects were neat. Also, you really can't go wrong having the great Akira Ifukube score the music soundtrack to this film, though, much of the music is reused or reworked from the scores of past Toho films. Overall, it's a rather entertaining feature that fans of Japanese sci-fi/fantasy films could enjoy. Grade B-
Even better than the first one!
Better in the first in that there is a fun adventure story included and the writers aren't afraid to make a few sacrifices along the way to give the story some extra weight. The Majin's vengeance is better thought out than it was in the first film, and He is much more of a hero to the villagers this time out.