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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
One of a Kind, February 2, 2007
This review is from: Tetsujin 28 - The Movie (DVD)
I just want to write this review in case, like me, there is someone who really wants to see it but was put off by bad reviews. Because I was expecting bad by some external reviews, I was surprisingly surprised... by the effort put in all round - the drama, the build up, the awesome intros of the robots. That someone made this is a treat and plenty for me to get it and I'm glad I did. Great in these days they kept the robot designs purely simple, not changing or detailing, with shiny reflective surfaces. It makes me think why haven't they made more GIANT ROBOT films, preferably CG but even otherwise? Just that makes this unique. For me, the CGI was almost always real - unlike REPTILIAN, the only other Eastern CGI monster I can think of, who was too cartoony looking. These bots are solid, and the sound effects are impressive, just right. Aample part-of-building destruction is perfect. I never understand or agree when people say the CG is bad in movies where it's the best. I think, maybe if those people saw a REAL monster/robot/dino roaming the street - they'd have to say it looks unreal. Get what I mean? The robots have a generous amount of screen time. The reactions of people are all real too, though the boy seems to have taken his cue from the Jurassic Park kid, he certainly tries hard. But yes, he does get too sobby after the whole film. And the later robot fights leave lots to be desired, overall I am pleased to compromise more than normal. And guess what? This is the first film in history that I know of since Close Encounters that actually had lightning well BEFORE thunder instead of simultaneously! At least half the time it did, lol. It was a dream come true for me.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Giant robot movie suffers from weak hero and dull fights, March 22, 2009
This review is from: Tetsujin 28 - The Movie (DVD)
TETSUJIN 28 is a Japanese live-action film based on Mitsuteru Yokoyama's manga series best known in the west for its 1963 black-and-white animated adaptation that played on U.S. television in 1966 under the title, "Gigantor." There are some pretty spectacular scenes here of two giant robots, Tetsujin 28 and Black Ox, trudging around the streets of Tokyo and making a dent in its skyline, including one harrowing move where Black Ox bends back the top of the Tokyo Tower. There's even a great bit where Black Ox hurls the disabled Tetsujin into the Diet (Parliament) Building. These sequences are quite exciting and well-done, as if cameras were on the scene and caught the action as it was unfolding. Unfortunately, the two subsequent robot battles don't deliver the goods. The punches thrown are pretty weak and there's not a lot of movement in the fights. The robots never fly up and fight each other in the air, even though, by the final encounter, they both indeed have that power. The original animated series had far more satisfying giant robot action than we get here. Even worse, the young boy, Shotaro, who's been designated to operate the remote device that controls Tetsujin, never really seems to want to do it. He's weak and scared for most of the film. When he finally steps up to the plate and accepts his role at the 90-minute mark--way too long for us to have to wait--he's not particularly effective. While the boy playing Shotaro may be offering a realistic portrayal of how an actual ten-year-old would react under the circumstances, I must confess I wasn't exactly looking for realism. I wanted the boy to be gung ho all the way and eager to control that powerful robot and send it into furious combat to put an end to Black Ox's depredations. Exactly how Shotaro (or "Jimmy Sparks" as he was known in "Gigantor") behaved in the original manga and anime. Or the boy heroes in "Johnny Sokko and His Flying Robot" and the 1960s Gamera movies. These new Japanese boy heroes are really wimpy when put to the test (see also Toru in GAMERA THE BRAVE and Tadashi in THE GREAT YOKAI WAR, two films also made in 2005, and both also reviewed on this site). What does this say about the next generation of Japanese heroes? At least Ash from "Pokémon" still knows what to do in the face of a threat. I did like one aspect of the movie, though. I enjoyed seeing two Japanese pop music idols in the cast. The older one is Hiroko Yakushimaru who was popular in the 1980s and starred in a film I remember called SAILOR SUIT AND MACHINE GUN (1981). She plays Shotaro's mother and she's quite a beauty. The other is one of my all-time favorite J-pop singers, Yuko Nakazawa, one of the founding members of Morning Musume, here playing a young police detective assigned to the case. They give her short dark hair and a rather plain navy blue suit, clearly an attempt to play down her usual glamour, but she has plenty to do and it's always a thrill to see her in action. Another key female character is Mami Tachibana (played by Yu Aoi), a robotics expert from MIT recruited to help refurbish Tetsujin 28 after a disastrous battle early on. She's young and spunky and looks sharp in a uniform and beret as she befriends young Shotaro. The music score by Akira Senju is nice and melodic and keeps things upbeat when the film slows down (which it frequently does). I actually have the soundtrack CD as well. The end music segues into a replay of the male chorus singing the "Tetsujin 28" theme song from 1963, accompanied by shots from the original manga, which looks a lot more action-packed than anything in this movie. The Pioneer/Geneon DVD offers no English credits anywhere, except what's on the DVD case.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Giant Robot Movie, November 18, 2008
This review is from: Tetsujin 28 - The Movie (DVD)
My favorite TV show when I was young was Johnny Sokko and his Flying Robot, which was based on Mitsuteru Yokoyama's Tetsujin manga. When I found out about this movie, I had to check it out. I really enjoyed it, even more than the Giant Robo anime series. This story line was very straight-forward. I've never seen the original manga, but it appears this movie was pretty faithful to it. I'm assuming that's why the robot battles weren't very exciting by today's standards. Sure there was collateral damage, but Tetsujin has no weapons, so he couldn't fight like the Giant Robo I grew up with. I'd recommend this movie to Giant Robot fans everywhere. See a modern movie based on the manga that started it all!
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