SciFi Japan » DVD Reviews http://www.scifijapan.com/articles Wed, 08 Feb 2012 17:05:24 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Review: PSYCHO SHARK http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/11/26/review-psycho-shark/ http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/11/26/review-psycho-shark/#comments Fri, 26 Nov 2010 15:17:29 +0000 Keith Aiken http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/?p=18882 Miki (Nonami Takizawa) comes fact-to-face with the title character in PSYCHO SHARK. © 2009 Ace Deuce Inc. Spoiler Free Review of the 2009 Japanese Horror Movie Author: A. David Conway When I think of the distribution company Jolly Roger, I usually think of the Japanese equivalent of a SyFy Channel original movie, the likes of MEGA SHARK VS GIANT OCTOPUS, or any direct to DVD release from Asylum, but director John Hijiri surprised me by focusing at least as much on the idea of suspense as spectacle in the form of horror. I am known for my preference for low-budget movies over blockbusters, but PSYCHO SHARK did not take the path I expected. For a change, this was a good thing. The premise of the secluded island being covered in hidden cameras creates an act of voyeurism on part of the audience, and a question persists through the course of the film: through whose eyes are the cameras truly looking? The majority of this film consists of very little plot, which is not surprising, but it contains quite a collection of subtle imagery to coincide with its blatant visuals. Continued...
]]> http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/11/26/review-psycho-shark/feed/ 0 DVD Review: GAMERA THE GIANT MONSTER http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/07/28/dvd-review-gamera-the-giant-monster/ http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/07/28/dvd-review-gamera-the-giant-monster/#comments Wed, 28 Jul 2010 12:14:03 +0000 Keith Aiken http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/?p=16248 Gamera (literally) looks down on the disturbed young boy, Toshio (Yoshiro Uchida). © 1965 Kadokawa Pictures, Inc. The First Release From Shout! Factory’s Gamera DVD Series Will Please Fans Author: John “Dutch” DeSentis Official Site: Shout! Factory Special Thanks to August Ragone and Cliff Macmillan
DVD cover art for GAMERA, THE GIANT MONSTER. Photo courtesy of Shout! Factory. © 1965 Kadokawa Pictures, Inc.
While Gamera’s popularity has never been quite on the level of Godzilla, the giant flying turtle has no doubt enjoyed his share of accolades in Japan and in the 1960’s was very much a competitor of Toho’s monster king. Gamera’s popularity was revived in the 1990’s with Shusuke Kaneko’s acclaimed Heisei trilogy of films. While most fans prefer that particular incarnation of the titan terrapin, many still look fondly upon the friendlier movies of yesteryear. While most of the films in the classic Gamera series are geared towards children, GAMERA THE GIANT MONSTER (Daikaiju Gamera, 1965) is quite serious and depicts the title character as a menacing, deadly beast. In this first entry into the series, Gamera attacks Tokyo and kills countless citizens by trampling, crushing buildings, and incinerating them. Oddly, Gamera also rescues the main child character in the film from a fall to certain death (caused by the monster no less!). This leads to the child’s affection for the kaiju turtle; so much so that the social misfit completely ignores all the death and destruction caused by the fire-breathing beast! Shout! Factory has acquired the rights to release all eight Showa-era Gamera films produced by Daiei from 1965-1980 and has begun to issue those classics on DVD with a deluxe treatment. If this first title is any indication, these discs will be incredibly done and should (hopefully) satisfy the giant turtle’s fans here in America. Continued...
]]> http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/07/28/dvd-review-gamera-the-giant-monster/feed/ 0 DVD Review: TOKYO SONATA http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/07/20/dvd-review-tokyo-sonata/ http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/07/20/dvd-review-tokyo-sonata/#comments Tue, 20 Jul 2010 19:34:27 +0000 Keith Aiken http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/?p=15757 Kyoko Koizumi, Kai Inowaki, Teruyuki Kagawa, and Yu Koyanagi portray a dysfunctional, middle-class Japanese family in director Kiypshi Kurosawa's TOKYO SONATA. The film is now available on Region 1 DVD from E1 Entertainment. © 2008 Entertainment Farm and Fortissimo Amsterdam BV Author: Kyle Byrd Official Movie Site: tokyosonatamovie.com (US), tokyosonata.com (Japan)
US poster art for TOKYO SONATA. © 2008 Entertainment Farm and Fortissimo Amsterdam BV
Kiyoshi Kurosawa is one of the most interesting filmmakers working today. Unfortunately he has yet to get the attention he deserves in the States. His films are admittedly an acquired taste. I must admit, I didn’t know what to make of them at first. I checked them out after reading an article that fellow fan Martin Scorsese wrote about his films for his blog on DirectTV’s site. And with each film I watched and the more I watched them, the more I liked them. Usually they are very abstract, bizarre and rely on very subtle story telling (at times even too subtle). They usually give the viewer just enough information to piece together what the films are truly about, which really isn’t straightforward enough for a lot of people. The man is mostly known in the States for his horror films such as the critically acclaimed CURE (Kyua, 1997), PULSE (Kairo, 2001), and RETRIBUTION (Sakebi, 2006). Kurosawa’s latest film, 2008’s family drama TOKYO SONATA is his first non-genre film since 2003’s BRIGHT FUTURE (Akarui Mirai), and it’s by far the man’s most accessible and straightforward film thus far. And with E1 Entertainment’s Stateside DVD release of TOKYO SONATA, maybe Kurosawa can get some of that credit that the West owes him. Continued...
]]> http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/07/20/dvd-review-tokyo-sonata/feed/ 0 DVD Review: MEGA MONSTER BATTLE: ULTRA GALAXY – MEMORIAL BOX http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/05/30/dvd-review-mega-monster-battle-ultra-galaxy-memorial-box/ http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/05/30/dvd-review-mega-monster-battle-ultra-galaxy-memorial-box/#comments Sun, 30 May 2010 13:00:58 +0000 Jim M. Ballard http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/?p=13536 Contents of the DVD Memorial Box © Mega Monster Battle ULTRA GALAXY Film Partners / Bandai Visual. Photo by Jim M. Ballard Author: Jim M. Ballard Official Movie Site: Mega Monster Battle: Ultra Galaxy Director Koichi Sakamoto's MEGA MONSTER BATTLE: ULTRA GALAXY (Daikaiju Batoru Urutora Ginga Densetsu THE MOVIE) was released on home video in Japan on April 23rd. Three different editions were released; a single disc DVD, a double-disc "Memorial Box" DVD collection, and a single disc Blu-ray. All three editions include English subtitles. While playback of the DVD editions are restricted to Japan, Europe and other Region 2 DVD countries, the Blu-ray edition is compatible with all Region A Blu-ray players, including North America. Continued...
]]> http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/05/30/dvd-review-mega-monster-battle-ultra-galaxy-memorial-box/feed/ 0 Review: Toho SFX DVD Collection by DeAgostini http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/02/22/review-toho-sfx-dvd-collection-by-deagostini/ http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/02/22/review-toho-sfx-dvd-collection-by-deagostini/#comments Mon, 22 Feb 2010 15:17:21 +0000 Keith Aiken http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/?p=11991 Japanese bookstores are now selling the Toho SFX DVD Collection which packages classic movies with a collectible booklet. © 2009 Toho Co., Ltd. © 2009 KK DeAgostini Japan Author: Ed Godziszewski Official Site: KK DeAgostini Japan
Cover for Toho SFX DVD Collection Vol 2: MOTHRA VS GODZILLA. © 1964 Toho Co., Ltd. © 2009 KK DeAgostini Japan
One of the recent trends in Japan is take movie and TV series that have long been marketed on video, LD, and dvd and repackage them a new way to sell them yet again to the public. The preferred approach is to produce a bare bones DVD, bundle them with an A4-size booklet, and introduce a new volume every 3-4 weeks, thus bypassing video sales arrangements and allowing the product to be sold as a book in bookstores. Always one to look for ways to sell the same movies to collectors many times over, Toho jumped on this bandwagon recently and intends to sell 55 titles from their special effects film catalog. Sold by a company named DeAgostini starting in September of 2009, the Toho SFX DVD Collection has been a huge seller in its first few months, moving well over 200,000 units of each of the 11 titles released to date. Not bad for films, many of which have had at least at least 6 different home video releases over time. So what do you get for your ¥1990 (roughly $22 at today's exchange rate) per volume? Continued...
]]> http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/02/22/review-toho-sfx-dvd-collection-by-deagostini/feed/ 0 DVD Review: GEHARHA on Region 2 http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2009/11/10/dvd-review-geharha-on-region-2/ http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2009/11/10/dvd-review-geharha-on-region-2/#comments Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:31:08 +0000 Keith Aiken http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/?p=9642 The giant monster Geharha faces off with mankind's new superweapon in GEHARHA: THE DARK AND LONG HAIR MONSTER. The film is now available on Japanese DVD and Blu-ray. © 2009 NHK 'Geharha' Project. 2009 TV Kaiju Movie on Japanese DVD and Blu-ray with English Subtitles Author: James Bonney Official Site: Geharha (Japan) Special Thanks to James Ballard GEHARHA: THE DARK AND LONG HAIR MONSTER (Chouhatsu Daikaiju Gehara, 2009), the short, shot for television film that tells the bizarre story of a mysterious monster that rises up from the depths to wreak havoc on Japan has been released onto DVD in it's native country. It is a treat for kaiju fans worldwide... that is if you can get past region code blockage and the rather expensive conversion rates and shipping, which is a typical situation amongst foreign buyers of Japanese DVDs. Continued...
]]> http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2009/11/10/dvd-review-geharha-on-region-2/feed/ 0 X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE on DVD http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2009/09/16/x-men-origins-wolverine-on-dvd/ http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2009/09/16/x-men-origins-wolverine-on-dvd/#comments Wed, 16 Sep 2009 18:06:27 +0000 Keith Aiken http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/?p=9076 X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE is now available on DVD in both a single-disc edition (left) and a 2-Disc Special Edition. Photos courtesy of Fox Home Entertainment. © 2009 20th Century Fox Film Corporation and Dune Entertainment III LLC. Author: Keith Aiken Source: Fox Home Entertainment, Click Communications, Bender/Helper Impact Special Thanks to Scott Neumyer
Half-brothers Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) and Sabretooth (Liev Schreiber) have an intense sibling rivalry. Photo courtesy of Fox Home Entertainment. © 2009 20th Century Fox Film Corporation and Dune Entertainment III LLC.
Experience the very first chapter of the exciting X-Men saga through the eyes of a true Marvel legend with X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE, an epic adventure that pits Wolverine and all mutants against powerful forces determined to eliminate them. Spanning over 150 years, X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE chronicles Logan's tortured past… from conflicts with his half brother Victor Creed – aka Sabretooth, his membership in Team X, his infamous adamantium rebirth and the total memory loss that ultimately fuels his angry quest. On September 15th, Fox Home Entertainment released the box office hit X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE on DVD and Blu-ray. The film is the fourth in the X-MEN movie series based on Marvel Comics' hugely popular comic book franchise, and the first is a planned series of films detailing the backstories for various X-Men characters. Continued...
]]> http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2009/09/16/x-men-origins-wolverine-on-dvd/feed/ 0 Sneak Peek: Sony’s ICONS OF SCI-FI: TOHO COLLECTION http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2009/08/05/sneak-peek-sonys-icons-of-sci-fi-toho-collection/ http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2009/08/05/sneak-peek-sonys-icons-of-sci-fi-toho-collection/#comments Thu, 06 Aug 2009 06:05:50 +0000 Keith Aiken http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/?p=7186 Sony Pictures Home Entertainment's new ICONS OF SCI-FI: TOHO COLLECTION features three classic films directed by Ishiro (often billed as "Inoshiro") Honda. Photos courtesy of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. © 1958-61 Toho Co., Ltd. First Look at New 3 Disc DVD Collection of THE H-MAN, BATTLE IN OUTER SPACE, and MOTHRA Author: Keith Aiken Source: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Special Thanks to Kai Saari and Oki Miyano SPOILER WARNING: This article contains screen shots from several movies made half a century ago.
Back cover for the DVD packaging. Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. © 2009 Toho Co., Ltd.
On August 18, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment will release ICONS OF SCI-FI: TOHO COLLECTION, a three-disc DVD set containing THE H-MAN (1958), BATTLE IN OUTER SPACE (1959), and MOTHRA (1961). These three films were produced during what is known as the "Golden Age of Toho" by the same creative team responsible for GODZILLA (Gojira, 1954); producer Tomoyuki Tanaka, special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya, and director Ishiro Honda. Honda in particular seems to be the focus of this ICONS collection, with Sony's advertising materials referring to him as "the Father of Japanese Sci-Fi Movies" and "the Father of GODZILLA". The TOHO COLLECTION has a suggested retail price of $24.96. THE H-MAN, BATTLE IN OUTER SPACE, and MOTHRA were all released theatrically in the United States by Columbia Pictures between 1959 and 1962. The studio— now a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment— has maintained the US rights ever since, following up the theatrical runs with television syndication for all three movies. Beginning in the 1980s, Columbia also released both THE H-MAN and MOTHRA on home video. The new TOHO COLLECTION release marks the premiere of THE H-MAN and MOTHRA on Region 1 DVD, and the first time BATTLE IN OUTER SPACE will be commercially available on video in any format in the United States. Sony's ICONS OF SCI-FI: TOHO COLLECTION presents both the Japanese and US versions for each film in their original Toho Scope 2.35:1 theatrical aspect ratio. The DVD set has its faults, but the pluses so far outweigh the minuses that most fans should be very pleased. Continued...
]]> http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2009/08/05/sneak-peek-sonys-icons-of-sci-fi-toho-collection/feed/ 0 DVD & Blu-ray Review: SUPERIOR ULTRAMAN 8 BROTHERS http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2009/02/04/dvd-blu-ray-review-superior-ultraman-8-brothers/ http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2009/02/04/dvd-blu-ray-review-superior-ultraman-8-brothers/#comments Wed, 04 Feb 2009 08:26:21 +0000 Jim M. Ballard http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/?p=2756 Contents of the Memorial Box ©2008 Superior Ultraman 8 Brothers Production Consortium. Photo by James Ballard The latest Ultraman feature arrives on DVD and Blu-ray Author: James Ballard Official Website: http://ultra2008.jp Released to theatres on September 13th last year, director Takeshi Yagi's motion picture debut SUPERIOR ULTRAMAN 8 BROTHERS (Daikessen! Chou Urutora Hachi Kyoudai, lit. Great Decisive Battle! The Super 8 Ultra Brothers) has gone on to become the most successful entry in the Ultraman movie series, with a box office take of over 800 million yen. Now, the hit film also has the distinction of being the first Japanese kaiju production to be released on the new Blu-ray Disc format. Three different editions were released on home video on January 23rd; a single disc DVD edition, a limited edition 2-disc "Memorial Box" DVD collection, and a single disc Blu-ray edition. Continued...
]]> http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2009/02/04/dvd-blu-ray-review-superior-ultraman-8-brothers/feed/ 0 DVD Review: POWER RANGERS JUNGLE FURY http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2009/01/17/dvd-review-power-rangers-jungle-fury/ http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2009/01/17/dvd-review-power-rangers-jungle-fury/#comments Sat, 17 Jan 2009 18:20:21 +0000 Keith Aiken http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/?p=2471 Cover art for the first two DVD volumes of POWER RANGERS JUNGLE FURY. Photo courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, Inc. © 2008 BVS Entertainment, Inc. and BVS International N.V. Let’s Rumble in the Jungle! Author: Aaron Cooper Source: Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, Inc. Official Site: Jungle Fury It is hard to imagine that the Power Rangers franchise is 16 years old! There are really not a lot of kid’s shows out there that can lay that type of claim for constant original programming. Us old fogies at SciFi Japan realized we’ve been ignoring this particular area of Japanese-influenced action for a little too long, so I took a look at the first two volumes of POWER RANGERS JUNGLE FURY entitled “Into the Jungle” and “Way of the Master”, which comprise the first 12 episodes of the series as seen on Jetix through Toon Disney in 2008. Continued...
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