Legend of Dinosaurs and Monster Birds (1977)

Japanese monster mayhem, but the 70s cool is the real winner.

A young woman falls down a hole and ends up discovering dinosaur eggs. A geologist with an interest in palaeontology discovers that a plesiosaur is terrorising his old home town, soon there are pterodactyls as well! And the humans are their prey...

Somewhat different for a kaiju film, with a bit more graphic violence than the usual cartoon like mass destruction of model buildings. 

It isn't a very good film though with a confusing, slow moving but rather generic storyline. The best parts about the film are it's late 1970s cool feel (at times) and a Japanese funk soundtrack.

The Revenge of Doctor X (1967)

A bizarre monster movie where a carnivorous mobile plant creature wreaks havoc.

Dr Bragan (James Craig), the angriest NASA scientist ever, goes to Japan to calm down. However, his assistant Noriko (Atsuko Rome) takes him to a weird looking building next to an active volcano where the caretaker plays dark gothic organ and creeps around so i'm not sure how well this helps his mental health. 

Bragan is any case is busy with his new project, cross breeding a Venus fly trap with another strange plant he found in the US after talking to a man with mud all over his face. Bragan creates a new kind of monster with a taste for human blood, obviously it soon it all going wrong...

This is not a good film, it is very shoddily made, very strange and makes little sense (well Ed Wood Jr was one of the writers so what can you expect?) The monster looks ridiculous of course and the film overall is all kinds of cheese.

Time of the Apes (1985)

A rather confusing rip-off of Planet of the Apes.

Catherine (Reiko Tokungaga), Caroline (Hiroko Sato) and Johnny (Masaaki Kaji) are having a look around an advanced cryogenic facility when an earthquake occurs and they get accidentally frozen and put into suspended animation (as you do!) When they awaken they find thousands of years have passed and now the world is run by ape men controlled by UFOs and a super computer!

The ape men are rather inept and the three humans manage to escape their execution. They flee to the hills where they discover Godo (Tetsuya Ushio) who is one of the last humans left alive...

This isn't a very good film, little of it makes any sense especially the ending and how our humans manage to return to their time. The science nonsense makes Star Trek Voyager technobabble seem scientifically coherent. The film has some campy fun, especially the ridiculous ape men but is all a bit too weird to really enjoy. Two of the humans are small children and their annoyance factor does not help matters.

Gamera vs. Giron (1969)

The rocket firing giant turtle who protects children is back!

Ako (Nobuhiro Kajima) and Tomoko (Miyuki Akiyama) chance upon a landed flying saucer and naturally, being small boys, go on board. The saucer takes off and goes into space. Aliens kidnap the boys to find out what is in their brains, and if they don't find anything interesting they'll eat their brains instead. 

Gamera heads into space to rescue the boys and has to fight the monster Giron who has a gigantic knife sticking out of his nose...

So, this is quite an odd film and definitely aimed at children. The plot is nonsense and it includes the usual destruction of model buildings by people in monster suits. Giron with his big knife is an interesting foe for Gamera for sure and pretty menacing too.

Mighty Jack (1986)

A TV movie made out of the first and last episodes of the Mighty Jack Japanese TV series from 1968. It isn't very coherent though is decent enough sci-fi action.

Mighty Jack is not a person but an organisation formed to combat a mysterious criminal organisation called Q. Atari is abducted by Q, Mighty Jack set off in their advanced submarine to rescue him before he will reveal the location of Mighty Jack's HQ under torture (and they succeed). Instead, Q launch an attack on Earth using hot ice which can't melt and to steal the Mighty Jack submarine...

Or something like that. At times it wasn't that clear what exactly was going on. The film is reasonable enough fun with plenty of Japanese model weapon action and furious running between perils though ultimately is a little dull overall. Hot ice must also be the worst super villain weapon ever.

Fugitive Alien (1986)

Japanese sci-fi battle nonsense, it is undeniably fun but...

A powerful alien race attack Earth with space ships and alien soldiers with big helmets (though the aliens look completely human which is handy budget wise). Alien soldier Ken (Tatsuya Azuma) baulks at killing a human child and his comrade is killed instead. 

Ken is condemned as a traitor by his people and ends up working with the humans to fight the aliens, and is hunted by the wife (Miyuki Tanigawa) of his former comrade...

Space soap opera froth for sure. This is a TV movie made out of a Japanese TV series and the limited budget really shows at times. However, as a bit of relentless space battle fun it can't be beat even if the plot is a bit basic. Just don't ask why the alien soldiers were bright wigs under their helmets in battle.

Invasion of the Neptune Men (1961)

This is a very strange and rather creepy science-fiction film.

Cone helmet wearing invaders from the planet Neptune have landed on Earth. The world can only be saved from these slow moving and clumsy invaders by cape wearing Space Chief (Shin'ichi Chiba) and a bunch of Japanese schoolchildren...

This is pretty weird and awful stuff, the cheese factor is high though. Space Chief drives a rather suspicious looking "rocket car" and fights the invaders with a series of energetic though flimsy looking chops and judo throws. 

The Street Fighter (1974)

One of the most violent films ever made, a brutal martial arts epic.

Terry (Shin'ichi Chiba) is a master of karate and kung fu who trades his skills for evil. He is hired to kidnap the daughter (Yutaka Nakajima) of a business man by the yakuza and mafia in order to secure a lucrative oil deal. However, when the mobsters refuse his price they try and kill him. Terry instead switches sides to protect the daughter after all...

And much bloody violence ensues. The film goes out of it's way to portray the savagery of the violence including in one scene where we switch to an x-ray view to see how Terry's fist caves in his victim's skull! 

The story is rather simple but also confusing in the best tradition of 1970s martial arts film and of course ends with a final showdown. Exhilarating and also with some heart with Terry's rocky but ultimately doomed friendship with Goichi Yamada quite touching.

Gamera vs Viras (1968)

Every Japanese child's favourite rocket propelled giant turtle battles a bizarre space monster, as usual.

Aliens plan to conquer the Earth, however the mighty Gamera spoils their plans by destroying their ship. The aliens (in another ship of course) instead use two annoying cub scouts in a submarine to trap Gamera and put him under their control. 

Gamera then destroys Tokyo, which has probably only just been rebuilt after the last time Gamera destroyed it. Finally, Gamera is released from the alien spell but then has to battle Viras the giant space squid...

This is the usual Japanese monster fare but includes little you have not seen before (sometimes literally as this is padded out with footage from earlier films). Its OK but there are better monster films out there.

Attack of the Super Monsters (1982)

These arn't just any old monsters, these are super monsters!

Evil Lord Tyrannos leads the Dinosaurs back to the surface of the Earth, having been living deep underground in secret all these years. He unleashes his monsters and waves of terrestrial mammals mutated by his evil powers on Earth to destroy mankind. He starts with a wave of red dogs. The only thing that can save humanity is, of course, four teenagers! Two of which have the Gemini power which means they merge using cyber power to become a super flying machine with drills.

You might have guessed by now that this is Japanese. The monsters are played by guys in rubber suits, destroyed cardboard buildings. The rest of the footage is anime and it can be a bit jarring at times switching between the two.

This film is made up of four episodes of a TV series (Dinosaur War Izenborg), each episode following the same formula so we get quite a bit of repetition. It is great fun though doesn't make a lot of sense, Tyrannos sounds terrific, though he it does seem like he needs something for his sore throat.

Assignment: Outer Space (1960)

Wobbly rockets in space in this rather odd space opera.

Ray (Rik Van Nutter) is a journalist who is blasting out into outer space to see what is going on out at the space station, his arrival does not please George (David Montresor), the space station commander who seems to be hiding something. We soon find out what, a space ship is returning to Earth out of control and, unless it can be stopped, will wipe out all life! To save Earth, Ray, George, Lucy (Gabriella Farinon) and the cool Al (Archie Savage) must head out in an apparent suicide mission in a desperate attempt to save everything...

The idea is good as is the ambition, though the budget and ability unfortunately falls pretty short. The space ships literally wobble on the end of strings and the film is full of oddness and many of the common 1950s/60s science fiction tropes including weird codenames for people. A fun film though.

Tokyo File 212 (1951)

A rather tedious early Cold War drama though offers some interesting views of early post-war Japan.

Jim (Lee Frederick) is a US agent posing as a reporter in Japan looking for the communist gang leader which is passing on information to the Reds during the Korean War. He links up with the rather unusual, and suspicious, Steffi (Florence Marly) - who rather annoying refers to herself in the third person. Jim is looking for his old school friend Taro (Katsuhiko Haida) who is now a communist and part of the gang...

The film is rather dreary and slow, the acting quite basic. At times the actors seem to need their lines dragged out of them. Not a good film but the period footage of Japan getting back on it's feet is undeniably interesting.

Warning from Space (1956)

A rather strange, sometimes charming but ultimately a bit dull science-fiction film.

Aliens visit Earth, their flying saucers flying over Tokyo. Unfortunately the aliens find, as they look like giant walking starfish with a single eye, cannot approach humans without sparking panic. The aliens indeed do want to desperately contact humanity as a giant meteor is heading to the Earth...

One of the starfish aliens therefore decides to disguise herself as a popular Japanese singer (Toyomi Karita)! Mankind is finally warned about the meteor and scientist Dr Kamura (Bontaro Miake) scrambles to develop a weapon to deflect it before it's too late. Things are complicated by enemy agents who want to use the weapon for themselves...

The film has a fair amount of Japanese whimsy though is a bit slow at times. The story is interesting if a bit vague at times, the aliens being the good guys a nice twist for a 1950s science-fiction film. 

Gamera vs. Barugon (1966)

Has the mighty flying turtle met his match in a creature from New Guinea which has a freeze ray?

Hirata (Kojiro Hongo) and Onodera (Koji Fujiyama) head to New Guinea to retrieve a massive opal hidden during the war. They head into a scorpion filled cave despite the warnings of native girl Karen (Kyoko Enami) and indeed find the huge gem. However, Onodera decides he doesn't want to share anymore and tries to kill Hirata. He heads to Japan on his own. But the opal actually isn't, it is an egg. It hatches in Japan, the huge monster Barugon begins to wreck the usual kind of havoc.

Gamera is attracted by the mayhem and fights Barugon though is defeated by it's freeze ray. Hirata and Karen are now in Japan and help the military with various schemes to try and defeat Barugon, despite the treachery of Onodera. The schemes fall short but Gamera is revived just in time to fight Barugon in an epic final battle.

This is the usual Japanese monster movie fare, plenty of destruction, plenty of waddling monsters destroying buildings and tanks. Barugon's rainbow ray is a rather lovely effect. The jungle scenes and Onodea's antics add a bit more interest beyond the usual monster battles.

Gamera vs. Gyaos (1967)

Although featuring the B-team of Japanese monsters, this is a perfectly decent film. A vile pterodactyl like monster called Gyaos emerges during construction of a motorway in the mountains and wrecks havoc. The boy Eiichi (Naoyuki Abe) is captured by Gyaos but is saved by the turtle monster Gamera. Unfortunately Gyaos possesses  many fiendish powers including a cutting ray that can slide objects like planes or cars in half, and also cuts Gamera's arm forcing a retreat.

The military effort is led by Dr Aoki (Yoshiro Kitahara) and Tsutsumi (Kojiro Hongo) but mankind's weapons fail over and over again against Gyaos. The beast has a number of flaws including an aversion to sunlight but he manages to thwart the human's plans. Finally, Gamera is able to bring his A-game and finally defeats Gyaos...

A decent kaiju film. Gyaos is an excellent villain, with it's harsh looks and merciless arsenal of weapons it has a real sense of menace. A sub-plot of greedy villagers trying to stop a road construction project as they want more money is a bit of a bore but fills out the running time.

Atragon (1963)

The ancient Mu Empire, from under the seas, is launching an attack on the world above. They are trying to seize engineers and experts, which brings them to the attention of Japanese photographer Susumu (Tadao Takashima) and retired Admiral Kusumi (Ken Uehara). The agents of Mu also try to kidnap Kusumi and Makato (Yoko Fujiyama), the daughter of the Admiral's former comrade Jinguji. Makato thinks her father was lost in the war but Mu seems to think he is alive and building a new super submarine...

Kusumi admits it is true and they go to find Jinguji, taking along in tow a reporter (Kenji Sahara) who is so overtly a Mu agent it is ridiculous! On a remote island in the Pacific they find Jinguji (Jun Tazaki) and he shows them the incredible flying submarine he has developed in secret. However, as Mu begins it's attacks on the world above and turns a big chunk of Tokyo into a crater... Jinguji won't help! He says his submarine is only for the glory of the Japanese empire! Can Kusumi and Makato persuade Jinguji to change his mind before the mighty forces of Mu led by the Empress (Tetsuko Kobayashi) conquers the world?

Very good Japanese sci-fi / monster nonsense (Mu has a living god sea serpent though it is beaten rather easily). The film drags at times and some of the storyline doesn't make a lot of sense but this is a fun film overall full of terrific special effects and mayhem. Jinguji's tension, torn between duty and his love for his daughter adds a welcome bit of depth to the film.

Pulgasari (1985)

The North Korean Godzilla film. Considering the fact the director Sang-ok-Shin and lead actress were South Koreans kidnapped by the North to make movies... and the Japanese Toho studio were tricked into helping by thinking they were filming in China... and the undoubted propaganda nature of the film... this isn't that bad a film at all!

In Ancient Korea the evil (imperialist no doubt) King (Yong-hok Pan) is starving his population. Villagers rise up and the King orders a new army formed, weapons to be made by Takse (Gwon Ri) using iron seized from the villagers. He refuses and dies in prison, before hand he gives a strange little figure of a monster to his daughter Ami (Son Hui Chang). She accidentally drips blood on it and the monster, Pulgasari, comes to life. Pulgasari eats iron to grow and is soon a huge monster... however he obeys Ami and helps Inde's (Ham Gi Sop) rebel army fight the King...

This is an interesting mixture of period drama and monster movie. The special effects are quite poor and Pulgasari doesn't get to destroy as many buildings as usual in these kinds of film, however when he does it is pretty spectacular. The film has lots of action, though can get a bit repetitive after awhile. The twists in the story, the monster being the hero and then the enemy, keep your interest. The sheer novelty and strange nature of this film makes it well worth a watch and it certainly isn't the worst monster movie made by any means.

Yongary, Monster from the Deep (1967)

The South Korean Godzilla, bought to life by a nuclear explosion. A mysterious earthquake travels across South Korea before Yongary finally emerges and starts doing the usual monster thing of destroying flimsy model buildings. 

It is quite some time until we get to Yongary though, the first part of the film can drag a bit and includes a couple of newly weds menaced by Icho (Kwan Ho Lee), an annoying child, who borrows secret technology from the lab which has a conspicuous lack of security. For some vague reason the wedding night is ruined by the groom being ordered into space. While he is up in orbit radio contact is lost and the earthquakes begin. Finally, Yongary emerges from the Earth. Yongary is largely immune to conventional firepower, though doesn't like a certain chemical...

The film is great fun once Yongary makes his appearance and we get the usual scenes of destruction, terrible looking tank and helicopter models, and people running in terror. The film doesn't make a great deal of sense (for example the scientist Illo (Oh Yeong-il) taking his girlfriend (Nam Jeong-im) along with him on a helicopter flying above the fire breathing monster as if its some kind of day trip!) however is a decent entry in the genre.

Dogora (1964)

A rather confusing film. Although this is a Toho movie and involves a monster destroying perfectly made minature buildings, the main focus of the film is a crime story involving diamonds. Though the monster, a giant jelly fish from space, likes eating diamonds (and coal) so the stories are linked!

The crimes (and monster) is being investigated by Inspector Kommei (Yosuke Natsuki) and gaijin Mark Jackson (Robert Dunham), as well as bearded scientist Dr Munakata (Nobuo Nakamura).

The problem with the film is that is it neither one thing or the other. Most of the film is taken up with the diamond case, which is rather confusing though the actual crimes are well done. The monster seems a bit tacked on and doesn't take up much of the film, those does provide for the opportunity for some special effects... and destruction. Not a great film but it looks good.

City Hunter (1993)

Not one of Jackie Chan's best films though still worth investigating. A comic book adaptation where Jackie plays a rather lazy private investigator called Ryu. He, along with his assistant Kaori (Joey Wang), are hired to find the missing daughter of a Japanese businessman. The search takes them to a cruise ship, which then gets hijacked. Ryu gets drawn into the fight against the hijackers led by MacDonald (Richard Norton)...

It is all a bit silly though not without some good moments including a great Street Fighter scene. Some of the fights are pretty good too, including one that draws upon Game of Death, and the film has a rather anarchic feel.

Unfortunately the silliness is a little too over the top. The film is made as a live action anime and if approached in that way it does entertain. There is some Jackie magic but other films showcase it much better.