2 posts tagged “japanese movies”

Could this be revenge for Hollywood's godawful Memoirs of a Geisha?

Sukiyaki Western Django is being released in Japan this September. I must see this movie.  Genji vs. Heike in a balls-to-the-wall shoot-it-up Wild West extravaganza!  And it's in English.  Kinda.  Not all the actors could speak English, so they got a dialect coach out from Hollywood to teach it to them phonetically.  Which might explain the misuse of the word "Ain't" in the second trailer.  Quentin Tarentino, who is always up for a good time, has a small guest-starring role.  One can only hope that he's speaking Japanese.

The director is Miike Takashi, best known in America for ultra-violent films like Ichi the Killer and Audition.  He has, however, made other films in different genres, so Sukiyaki Western Django may not be a splatterlicious gore-fest, although odds are good there will be a lot of gunslinging because, duh, it's a western.

That enka theme song looks to be a classic, although to my mind nothing can match Frankie Laine's rendition of Blazing Saddles.  (Then again, that theme song is so funny because Mel Brooks forgot to tell Mr. Laine that the movie was a spoof.)

There are two trailers out on Youtube for Sukiyaki Western Django: here and here.  One can only hope that Tarentino uses his considerable influence to have the movie released here in America.

PS: Looks like my boy Sakai Masato is in it, albeit in a minor role.

Finally got around to watching Sengoku Jieitai 1549 (aka Samurai Commando Mission 1549) last night!  I've had the DVD for quite a while now, but haven't much felt in the mood for a war movie.  Now I'm wondering why I waited.

Sengoku Jieitai 1549 isn't just any war movie...it's a time travel, samurai with tanks and helicopters war movie!!  What could be better, I ask you?  Heck, there's even a ninja thrown in for the heck of it.  (A real one, which means he looks normal and doesn't wear the black mask or anything.)  It is sort-of a sequel to 1979's Sengoku Jieitai  (GI Samurai), which starred the great Sonny Chiba.

The plot is quite simple: two years ago, during a top-secret experiment, a troop of JSDF soldiers went missing. The entire squadron just disappeared into thin area, leaving a field full of grasses and plants that dated back to the 1500's.  And one wounded samurai.

Forward to current day.  Former lieutenant, Kashima Yosuke (played by Eguchi Yosuke, who has been in a ton of dramas--folks here might remember him as Sakamoto Ryouma in Shinsengumi) has left the force and lives quietly, managing a restaurant.  However, the government decides to ask him to come help with a "rescue mission" to save the members of the lost expedition, since he had been a close associate of the captain, Matoba (played by Kaga Takeshi, best known for his portrayal of "Chairman Kaga" on Iron Chef).  Kashima, however, refuses, saying it is none of his concern.  However, he is later approached by a long-haired man who speaks in a strange dialect--Iinuma Shichibe, the samurai who had been pulled from the past two years ago.  Shichibe chides Kashima for forgetting what it is to protect others.

(This is a short scene, but kinda cool.  Shichibe really does speak in an archaic fashion, and although he is wearing modern clothes, they look strange on him because he isn't wearing them "correctly".  Also, his posture is perfect, which looks odd nowadays.  Very nice touch there!)

After Shichibe's scolding, Kashima decides to come along on the mission as an observer.  It turns out the JSDF wants his help not only because he knew Captain Matoba, but because he is a brilliant strategist.  It turns out that the mission is more important than just saving some lost soldiers--the previous mission evidently affected time, and now there are rifts showing up all over Japan.  If nothing is done, the world as they know it will disappear into time.

There is a neat premise talked about in this movie: even if it is messed with, Time tends to correct itself.  However, whatever Matoba is doing in the distant past is too extreme to be corrected.  Hence the new mission.

So the scientists work their magic, and the squadron arrives in the distant past.  And is instantly attacked!  Turns out Captain Matoba has been busy changing history, to the point where he assassinated warlord Oda Nobunaga and took his place.  He is a man with a plan:  that plan being that he wants to change history so that Japan does not become isolated in the 17th century (which he feels is in part responsible for Japan's role in WWII).  He wants Japan to become a great power in the world, and is willing to do whatever it takes to make it happen.  Including dropping a nuclear missile into Mt. Fuji and blowing up the Kanto Plain.

Obviously, Captain Matoba's sanity went AWOL some time ago.

So, in the past, the troop is captured by Matoba/Nobunaga's men.  However, they are not without friends.  Shichibe, it turns out, was in service to Nobunaga's rival, Saito Dosan, and while Dosan has bowed his head to Nobunaga's obviously overwhelming power, he is chomping at the bit and wouldn't mind having an opportunity to stab Nobunaga in the back.  Also, a young man that the troop rescues when they first arrive turns out to be some sort of ninja, and he proves very helpful as time goes on.

The rest of the film deals with a lot of fighting and things blowing up.  Good fun to be had by all! 

This wasn't a great movie by any means, but it was amusing.  Not sure why it hasn't been licensed for US distribution, considering that the 1979 version was released here?  And everybody loves samurai with tanks, right?  ;-D There are some copies on Ebay that are subtitled in English--the one I have looks to be a Malaysian release?  Anyway, well worth watching if you have the opportunity.