3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
not the best in the series, but still worthwhile, March 15, 1999
By A Customer
Probably the weakest of the Daimajin trilogy, this is still pretty good. Shifting the focus to a group of children travelling through the mountain of the god to resuce their fathers could have been much more cloying and irritating than it actually is.The kids themselves are nowhere near as annoying as, say, Kenny of Gamera fame, and the fact that the film puts them in very serious peril instead of treating everything with a Speilbergian sense of hollow awe. One of the children does die actually. Clearly this is still far from kids' stuff, and the presentation in the original Japanese helps considerably (think how loathsome these kids would be with high pitched, dubbed English voices). Of course, everything in this film becomes irrelevant once Daimajin is resurrected. These scenes, as always, are excellent and nicely comparable with the other two, superior, films. Here Daimajin's revival is heralded by the death of a bird, which seems to be an extension of his spirit, and the willing self sacrifice of one of the children. From this point, the film is wonderful, as Daimajin embarks on his snow swept rampage, with little regard for anything in his path. There's a great scene in which the villain tries to stop Daimajin by cutting loose several bundles of logs. Just as he thinks he has succeeded, the smoke clears, and Daimajin stands undeafeted. He then proceeds to use the logs as weapons against those who would stop him. Amazing.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Return's Review, January 16, 2002
By A Customer
I must agree with everyone who has said that of the three, this was not the best in the series, although still good. This second installment takes a different style however. Instead of lots of samurai action, it follows four young boys who seek to free their fathers and brothers from a forced labor camp. Along the way they must evade the samurai of the evil lord responsible and furthermore, do that which is forbidden......Cross over Majin's Mountain. They find the statue god on the summit and stop to pay respects. Things do not go smoothly for them however and they wonder if his curse is on them. Just as all seems hopeless for both them and the slaves, the Majin emerges and "set's things right". The effects were once again good and the music also good. It has more of a classic horror movie sound to it. The visual effects of Majin's wrath in the beginning is eyecatching. The pace in this movie is slower with much less action but still very entertaining. You just need to put your mind frame in a position to follow four young children as the stars of this movie...........as they face many trials and dangers along their way to rescue the slaves. A good movie.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
The weakest entry in the series, but still worth a look., June 22, 1999
By A Customer
Not bad, but not quite as good as either _Daimajin_ or _Wrath of Daimajin_.
Four young boys journey to a distant valley to rescue relatives who have been enslaved by an Evil Warlord bent on conquering the region (boo, hiss). En route they strive to placate the warrior god Majin, whose mountain they must traverse. This the children do, but without avail: winter storms and the warlord's henchmen stop them just short of their destination. Is all lost for our diminutive heroes? Fear not: it's Majin to the rescue!
_Return of Daimajin_ is technically superb: the sets are meticulously crafted; the special effects require little suspension of disbelief to convince; the cinematography is breathtakingly lovely; Akira Ifukube's score--his best of the series--is alternately haunting and rousing.
To their credit, the filmmakers have the guts to put the plucky little tykes in truly dangerous situations. Soon after they discover the children trekking to their valley, a trio of the despots thugs unshoulder their rifles and start shooting! Later, one of the boys drowns in a boating accident. (This scene, plus others of brief but fierce violence, would likely earn the film a PG rating.)
The film has its share of weak points. The camerawork is too brightly pretty to capture the magic and menace of Majin's mountain, something _Daimajin_ conveyed so elegantly. Worse, the four leads have too little dialog to develop any degree of individuality, much less depth, as characters.
Still, the giant Majin effects look great, and that's all were really interested in, isn't it?
A good, but not great, kaiju eiga (giant monster movie).
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