Starring - Miwa Takada (Killer in the Night Mist, Fencing Master), Yoshihiko Aoyama (Zero Fighters, Black Trump Card), and Jun Fujimaki (Devil's Flute, Demon Spies)
Release Date - 1966
Genre - Fantasy/Horror
Tagline - "Behind the mask of stone, the fire of vengeance burn!"
Format - Bluray (Personal Collection) (Screener)
Rating (out of 5):
When I was younger I was no stranger to kaiju films. I would often watch Godzilla and Gamera movies with my grandmother along with any other Japanese produced kaiju film that may air late at night on cable. This, like many of other films I love now, carried over to adulthood. I still seek out and watch as many as I can with many of them finding their way into my collection. Many years ago a friend of mine gave me a DVD set, that was possibly a bootleg, of The Daimajin Trilogy. A few years later I upgraded the set to blu when Mill Creek Entertainment released it. I've watched these films several times now and when Arrow Video announced that they would be putting their touch on a Daimajin box set I knew it was the perfect time to revisit the three films. I reached out to MVD who was handling the release and they were kind enough to send a copy my way. Thanks guys!
The film follows a Japanese village that is under siege by an evil lord and his army. Their lord is murdered and the evil lord takes the throne. He orders the dismantling of a giant stone statue that they worship but once they begin they soon learn that their god is not one to be messed with.
Daimajin is a fun mash of fantasy, period drama, and kaiju. Films like Gamera, Godzilla, and so on is more focus on the kaiju mayhem but Daimajin is mostly a period piece with fantasy elements before spilling into kaiju fun. It still works but it is a little misleading if you go into it expecting one kind of film. However, if you know it's connections to the Yokai Monsters film series then you will know exactly what the film is and can fully appreciate it. The acting in this one is pretty solid. I like the wide array of characters and how far the cast went to bring them to life. The characters fit the film very well and the cast makes each and every scene very enjoyable. Some do stand out a little more than others but it's nothing too drastic. The story for this one is a fun period piece featuring a village being overrun by an evil lord and his army. The film could have easily followed this story until the end and been just as enjoyable. However, the last 15 or 20 minutes of the film gives us some kaiju fun which does give the film a change of pace but oddly still fits the style of film. It really is a lot of fun but the dialogue heavy scenes during the first two thirds of it does affect pacing. Finally, this film has a little blood but no real practical effects or carnage. However, the kaiju scenes are fucking beautiful. We get some classic camera tricks, overlaying images, and great use of miniatures. It's a lot of fun visually for a mid-60s kaiju film. Overall, Daimajin is criminally underrated. It's a gorgeous film and the kaiju action at the end is icing on an already delicious cake. I highly enjoy this one and I'm sure most fans of these types of films will really enjoy it.
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