Orochi's eight-headed dragon and other ancient Japanese kaiju Folk Japanese folklore, one of the most famous myths about the hero Yamato Takeru in the 1994 version is very different from its previous film adaptation in 1959. Films even have different narrative concepts, not to mention endings and a number of changed details. Due to the level of special effects of the nineties and the fact that the studio has already filled a hand in various Kaiju paintings, the new film adaptation has a spirit of adventure and includes a whole ton of various monsters.
Takao Okawara had made two great Godzilla films at the time, but turned down the third, which came out in December of the same year, to stage the epic. Yoko Kanno wrote beautiful music, for the most part perfect for the picture, except for some controversial scenes, where the melodies still lack either sensual drama or combat energy of battle.
The main role was again taken by Masahiro Takasima, who played Kazuma in Godzilla vs. Mehagodzilla 2, and the main female role was taken by Yasuko Sawaguchi from The Return of Godzilla, Princesses from the Moon and Godzilla vs. Biollante.
If the picture of 1959 was divided into two equivalent parts - about gods and about people, then the new film, having a much smaller timekeeping, but much more budget, leaves the divine vicissitudes almost behind the scenes, retelling more ancient mythology in passing, but the human adventures of the prince bringing to the foreground in all its glory.
Fans of paintings about the exploits of Hercules and the travels of Sinbad will certainly be delighted with the heroic adventures of Yamato Takeru, even if they do not know anything about Japanese mythology and Asian culture in general.
The most beautiful thing is that even differing from the much more cruel, harsh and tragic first film, the new film adaptation about Prince Yamato is not a children's and not a family movie. Although at first it will seem that staging combat scenes with conditional murders gives a bit of a slob, but the further - the more blood, violence, pierced body parts and deaths. Sometimes, however, with resurrection.
Based on mythology, the plot would hardly allow to go beyond the archetypes of fabulous patterns. Therefore, from a nasty sorcerer and an angry god is hardly worth waiting for motivation and detailed study. However, within the framework of their images, the actors squeeze a real maximum of charisma, proper pathos and emotional intensity. So after watching, the viewer will surely remember all the main characters from the emperor to Tsukiomi.
As for special effects, the historical surroundings are perfectly conveyed, the dynamics of the scenes and excellent scenery create the appropriate atmosphere. There is a lot of action, fights in the halls, on the roof, fights and more massive battles against a bunch of enemies, as well as direct fights with monsters will please not only with technique and pitch, but also with a variety of spectacular weapons.
There are more than enough monsters in the picture. Perhaps because of the bloated budget, the picture was not picked up at the box office. In “Three Treasures” 1959, there was one small skirmish with the dragon Orochi (Oroti), from the tail of which the key sword was mined, in the new film Yamato encounters a much larger number of different creatures, and some, like the White Bird of the goddess Amaterasu, also help him.
The bird, by the way, is more like a robot - a mechanical giant creature carrying the main character and the high priestess on its back. And thanks to the mixing of energy types, he turns the prince into a Warrior of the Gods - also a mechanized giant, somewhat reminiscent of Mecha Godzilla from Okawara's past work. The samurai has an abundance of various weapons, so the final battle will fully meet all expectations.
The studio does not save on monsters and does not regret practical effects - the dragon's heads are cut off in the most realistic way, in a couple of scenes even frame-by-frame animation is used, not characteristic of Japanese special effects, computer graphics in scenes of magic and magic successfully complements the video sequence, and for one scene, a dragon's head was even made in life size!
Yamata no Orochi is an eight-headed legendary dragon, appears many times in the picture at its mention and appears live for the decisive battle. The main monster is performed flawlessly, and is shown from various sides. The mouths breathe fire, shoot scarlet zippers from the eyes, except that their studded tail with a prickly knob, so significant in the first film adaptation, here for some reason the dragon never uses. But externally executed quite canonically, believable for a giant monster and no complaints in movements and filing does not cause.
The lava god Kumaso is perfectly executed: eerie, spectacular and quite naturalistic. Moreover, it is not even clear whether it was performed by an actor in a suit or whether puppeteers and animatronics were responsible for all movements (plus frame-by-frame animation of the model). Even the element of breathing is included in its appearance, and the transformation of limbs into bows, arrows, sword is flawless and impressive in full program!
But the best made underwater monster - a kind of Japanese Kraken, sea dragon with tentacles - Kaishin Muba. Truly formidable, awe-inducing and fierce delight, bringing diversity to the plot thanks to the sea and underwater scenes, and in itself is simply magnificently made! Although it can only be seen under water in all its glory, even episodes on the surface are staged and performed simply grandiosely due to qualitative practical effects, in which, as in a living giant monster, you believe with all your heart.
So they tried their best with monsters. The stone deity with lava streaks, the sea monster, the robot bird, the giant samurai and the multi-headed dragon definitely deserve the attention of all fans of the kaiju genre due to its amazing quality of study and presentation on the screen. In addition, no one is particularly deprived of attention, not to mention bright moments such as launching arrows, a magic shield or saving a basket with a baby. Each has its own important plot value in addition to all successful visual solutions and simply entertainment program.
Unfortunately, sometimes the convention of a number of mythological plot moves still goes beyond the boundaries of any logic - a sword flying from the Earth to the moon, the main characters talking in outer space. Trying to seem not a children's fairy tale, but a serious adventure epic, the film still does not hide a number of frankly ridiculous assumptions that are more important visually than plot-based and so urgently necessary.
Such a film can not be called an open masterpiece, it is still not perfect, no matter how you spin it. It was possible to try a little more in the musical part, and instead of a robot bird to come up with something better, not to mention logical assumptions, but to fantasy pictures, where the magic and magic of the gods is a key plot core, it is useless to find fault, in general.
The picture is worthy, Okawara is a great Kaiju director, and a new reading of “Yamato Takeru” is always better than the tractor from “The Birth of Japan”, which was worth watching only because of the scene with the dragon. Here the monsters are full, special effects at a height, the cast copes perfectly, and the story was fascinating and entertaining.
9 out of 10
Original