Product Details

• Actors: Toshiyuki Nagashima, Hiroshi Abe, Yûko Moriyama, Uchiyama Zeeko, Chisato Kawamura
• Format: Animated, Color, Dubbed, NTSC
• Language: Japanese
• Rated: Unrated
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Tokyo Shock
• VHS Release Date: July 31, 2001
• Run Time: 90 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00005IBWA
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #603,403 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sci Fi and Samurai!, November 20, 2003

By 

P. A Clark "pacanime" (San Jose, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Moon Over Tao (DVD)

Moon Over Tao is yet another Sci Fi film by Ketia Amemiya staring Yuko Moriyama and it's a good one at that.

The film starts when a Shogun assigns the task of aquiring some extremely powerful swords to a samurai, Sir Hayate, and a wondering monk, Suikyo. The swords happen to be in the hands of a group of bandits run by Lord Kakugyo, who can also use magic. On their journey, they rescue a young girl named Renge, who happens to be an orphan living on her own in a forest. Prior to meeting the two men, Renge is given a device by an alien female, which is used to stop a creature called the Makaraga.

The three eventually make it to the bandits hideout where they battle the bandits, as well as the Makaraga. They also have a showdown with Lord Kakugyo. The three are aided by two different aliens played by Yuko Moriyama. In fact, there are three aliens in the film, all of whom are played by Yuko Moriyama. However, the aliens are in a dispute over the use of the Makraga as a weapon on their own world and are also in battle with one another. I'll let you find out the rest of the story when you see the film.

Moon Over Tao is an excellent balance between a Samurai film, and a Sci Fi film. There are tradtional Samurai battles, as well as some B movie special effects which come across well. Ketia Amemiya creates an intersing world and adds some nice action scenes between both the humans, and the creature. Yuko Moriyama does a nice job of playing all three aliens. They are easily distinguished by threir hair styles. And the film is shot in a way that dos'nt make it confusing. The film also has a catchy soundtrack which is a cross between modern and traditonal Japanese music. (Unlike any soundtrack I've heard) To be fair I will say that the creature looks a little strange at times, due to some lower grade CGI effects, but not every film can be a Hollywood budgeted film. Once you get used to it, it's not a big deal.

Tokyo Shock is the release company on this film, and they have both Japanese and English dubbed language tracks on the disc. The English version is actually pretty good. But that is about the extent of the special features, except for some trailers of other films.

Overall I would say this is one of my favorite Japanese films, due to the freshness of the story and the creativity of the film. (A nice break from Hollywood releases) The film got a 4 only becuase the begining of the film was a tad bit slow.(a minor inconvienence though)

If you're into films outside the scope of Hollywood, Samurai films, or Sci Fi Films, give Moon Over Tao a try. It's worth a watch, and in my case, it was worth buying.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Better expected from a film about aliens in 13th cent. Japan, February 18, 2000

By 

Steve Miller - See all my reviews

This review is from: Moon Over Tao [VHS] (VHS Tape)

"Moon over Tao--Makaraga" has everything... a spell-casting monk, a hard-bitten samurai, and a plucky roguish girl sidekick on a quest to stop an evil sorcerer and uncover the secret behind a magical sword; a pair of superpowered, sexy alien women on a quest to retrieve a weapon forged by their hyper-advanced culture before the evil sorcerer uses it; and a giant rampaging monster that threatens to destroy Earth if our heroes can't stop it.

I'm not much for having bizarre monsters like the one here in live-action movies (hence the 4-star rating), but everything else in the flick is perfect! The script is well-crafted, featuring excellent pacing, interesting characters, and witty dialogue. The fight scenes are equally well-staged. This film also does quite well in the special effects department... which is where many Asian films fall down when compared to American standards. Heck, even that goofy giant monster is tolerable because of the well-done costuming and animation work. The cinematography was also well above average for what I have come to expect from this kind of movie. Last, but far, far from least, "Moon over Tao" sports an excellent cast of actors. Everyone gives top calibre performances, even the woman playing the aliens... a remarkable feat since she hardly shows any emotion. She radiates presence, though.

"Moon over Tao--Makaraga" is a fine merging of several Japanese film genres and well worth a look. It features *some* graphic violence, just enough to earn it an R rating--I don't recall anything beyond what I've seen in "slasher flicks"--so it's probably not appropriate for kids.

Oh, one final note... this film was directed by Keito Amemiya, who (according to the liner notes) also directed the "Zeriam" films. If you've seen those and enjoyed them, you should definately pick up this one. I for one did not even know that "Zeriam" had been made into live-action features... all I'm familiar with are the "Iria--Zeriam: The Animation" series.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beware Metorites Bearing Gifts, June 16, 2004

By 

Marc Ruby™ "The Noh Hare™" (Warren, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Moon Over Tao (DVD)

Moon Over Tao is samurai science fiction. On a quest for the source of a magical sword Suikyo, a warrior monk, and Hayate, a samurai, meet Renge, a young girl. At night she sees lights in the sky and witnesses the landing of three alien women, all played by Yuko Moriyama. An evil stone (the Makaraga) has crashed on the Earth and fallen into the hands of Kakugyo, a dark priest. The Aleans seek to recover the stone but they are not in agreement about what to do with it and have a falling out.

In the meantime Suikyo, Hayate, and Renge seek a bandit hideout whre the swords came from. By a twist of fate, the swords were made from the meteoric metal that protected the Makaraga on its trip through space. Thus, everyone converges on Kakugyo as he works his plans for conquering Japan. Renge bears a secret weapon - the Tao - a gift from one of the alien women who died of her wounds in Renges arms.

There is quite a bit more to the story that is surprisingly rich for an action film. Amemiya spends a great deal of attention to making the setting a believable 16th century Japan, and then overlays a science fiction flavor, and does this without sounding a false note. Character development gets a surprising amount of attention. Of course there's plenty of sword fighting and flying parts. All of these compontents are carefully balanced.

Of the three major Kieta Amemiya films, Moon over Tao has become my favorite. Admittedly, It lacks the space opera silliness of Zeiram II, and the non-stop special effects of Kakaider. But on the plus side is the well crafted plot plot and believable acting. For those of us who like special effects, there's magical spellwork, alien costumes, and a superb monster. Amemiya demonstrates that, given the necessary resources, he can produce a superior product.