Kaiju Tuesday: original Daimajin trilogy (1966) (1966)
January 21, 2025 5:29 PM - Subscribe
The vengeful stone warrior god, Daimajin (a.k.a. Majin), comes to life to rescue peasants and his faithful, who are brutalized by violent warlords.
A trio of movies, all shot in 1966 by Daiei Studios, officially known as Daimajin, Return of Daimajin, and Wrath of Daimajin. While a series, each movie is a stand alone story, more or less following the same overall setup and resolution, and without much continuity other than the giant stone statue of the warrior god who comes to life when things get desperate enough for the faithful.
A bit unusual in that the setting for these movies is feudal Japan, the movies feel as much samurai drama as kaiju flick, and the the Daimajin kaiju is relatively small as far as kaiju go (about the size of a three story building).
The first two movies, Daimajin, and Return of Daimajin, were shown on American TV in the 70s dubbed in English, with the titles, Majin, the Monster of Terror, and Return of the Giant Majin.
Available on DVD and streaming via several services. The two Englished dubbed Majin movies can be found on youtube, appear to be ripped from VHS.
A trio of movies, all shot in 1966 by Daiei Studios, officially known as Daimajin, Return of Daimajin, and Wrath of Daimajin. While a series, each movie is a stand alone story, more or less following the same overall setup and resolution, and without much continuity other than the giant stone statue of the warrior god who comes to life when things get desperate enough for the faithful.
A bit unusual in that the setting for these movies is feudal Japan, the movies feel as much samurai drama as kaiju flick, and the the Daimajin kaiju is relatively small as far as kaiju go (about the size of a three story building).
The first two movies, Daimajin, and Return of Daimajin, were shown on American TV in the 70s dubbed in English, with the titles, Majin, the Monster of Terror, and Return of the Giant Majin.
Available on DVD and streaming via several services. The two Englished dubbed Majin movies can be found on youtube, appear to be ripped from VHS.
Daimajin was one of my favs when the Creature Double Feature showed it. haven't revisited it since i was a kid... maybe it's time.
posted by kokaku at 5:11 AM on January 22
posted by kokaku at 5:11 AM on January 22
A friend of mine who shares my love of kaiju gave me the DVD trilogy as a birthday present years ago. I need to rewatch these movies soon.
posted by Gelatin at 6:00 AM on January 22
posted by Gelatin at 6:00 AM on January 22
One of the things I always liked about these was the art direction and the cinematography on all three (as they were made in quick succession the films share a lot of the same crew though different directors). They have a vibe that is very different than their largely goofy kaiju films like the Gamera series and are more like Daiei's classier supernatural films (for instance like the later Snow Woman or The Snake Girl and the Silver-Haired Witch) and even their prestige stuff like Gate of Hell or even An Actor's Revenge. They have much more in common thematically with the Japanese costume dramas of the era and less of the special effects spectacles of the more pointedly genre films - in fact in some Japanese sources they don't think of these as kaiju films. Which I can see, if you're going in expecting Gamera vs Guiron, you're gonna find these slow and disappointing. Of the three I think the second one directed by Kenji Misumi, who directed Lonewolf and Cub films and the first Zatoichi film, is the strongest. But personally I enjoy all three.
Arrow Films (who released the most recent box set of these films) has an interesting essay on the films, their context and legacy. They make a lot of his appearances in the 2 Miike directed Yokai films and having seen them, Maijin makes only a cameo appearance in both.
posted by Ashwagandha at 8:13 AM on January 22 [2 favorites]
Arrow Films (who released the most recent box set of these films) has an interesting essay on the films, their context and legacy. They make a lot of his appearances in the 2 Miike directed Yokai films and having seen them, Maijin makes only a cameo appearance in both.
posted by Ashwagandha at 8:13 AM on January 22 [2 favorites]
Thanks for bringing this up! I watched the first of the series last night on this post's suggestion and enjoyed it a lot. This kind of dramatic cosmic justice is pretty welcome in my imagination right about now.
I can see why it isn't really considered part of the kaiju genre - it takes a lot of things seriously that those movies don't, in terms of theme and craftsmanship. The desperate human story that builds up to the giant monster situation is actually pretty compelling. I could very much see myself getting caught up in the story on late night TV without knowing what movie I was watching and fully losing my shit when Majin shows up at the end.
posted by Phobos the Space Potato at 9:17 AM on January 23 [1 favorite]
I can see why it isn't really considered part of the kaiju genre - it takes a lot of things seriously that those movies don't, in terms of theme and craftsmanship. The desperate human story that builds up to the giant monster situation is actually pretty compelling. I could very much see myself getting caught up in the story on late night TV without knowing what movie I was watching and fully losing my shit when Majin shows up at the end.
posted by Phobos the Space Potato at 9:17 AM on January 23 [1 favorite]
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In his stone form, he resembles a 6th century Haniwa warrior. In his live form, I thought he kind of looked like John Wayne, but apparently, the creators of the series were inspired by Kirk Douglas's cleft chin.
Daiei Studios were known for Gamera, but the Daimajin movies aren't really as kid friendly, with the third movie, Wrath of Daimajin, features children in some pretty perilous situations, and one even dying.
In any event, the stories are satisfying, with the god vanquishing the bad guys in dramatic fashion despite their best efforts. The special effects generally good, maybe because the kaiju isn't especially gigantic.
posted by 2N2222 at 6:03 PM on January 21 [3 favorites]