by Shokara » Fri Feb 20, 2015 5:12 am
Sorry for dragging a very old thread from the message board grave, but I just recently was finally able to see Prophecies of Nostradamus (the uncut 114 min. version with English subtitles), this oh so rare movie I'd heard so much about. I won't go as far as saying the movie is a masterpiece, but overall it is one of Toho's best crafted special effects laden event movies. It is certainly hands down one of their darkest and bleakest movies, many of its images and events being haunting, although a lot of the supporting cast of characters are rather underdeveloped and seem to just exist to react to the disasters as they occur.
Comparison to The Last War is certainly unavoidable as both movies share many similarities (even footage). Which one do I like more? It's hard to say, because both movies have their strengths and weaknesses over each other. The Last War is definitely the more sentimental of the two which is both its strength and weakness depending on one's point of view. Some may say it aims to celebrate the warmth and hope that simple family life cherishes in the face of oppressive crisis while others may say that it goes too far with it, lacking any subtlety and becoming schmultzy in the process. Another weakness is the depiction of the world superpowers using fantasy nation states to avoid offense and the often amateurish acting from the foreign actors in the movie.
Prophecies of Nostradamus is a bleaker story and is decidedly more subdued with its depiction of ordinary people doing their best to face catastrophe with their heads held high. Its use of foreign actors with limited acting ability is also at a much lesser degree than The Last War, and these scenes are pulled with somewhat better finesse. However, some of the supporting characters aren't quite given enough screentime or development to truly make us care for their hardships as the world faces chaos.
I guess what it all boils down to is that while Prophecies of Nostradamus gave me the shudders several times, The Last War made me cry. At the end of the latter, I was also much more thankful that the movie's scenario never actually happened, because history clearly shows us that it very well could have happened if things turned out a little differently. The prophecies of Nostradamus are a much more subjective matter as his writings are very open to interpretation and have been manipulated by many over the years. Despite whatever flaws it has, Prophecies of Nostradamus is still one of the better apocalyptic movies I've seen in some time. I recommend it to any fan of Toho special effects movies.
The 114 minute original cut is just amazing, most certainly one of my all time favorite Japanese scifi/fantasy movies.
