Japanese Sci-Fi Movies: StuOz Top 10
Link to a video I made about Japanese Sci-Fi movies:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bLZ4Oo8Nn4
My love of Japanese Sci-Fi started as recently as 2022 when I was aged in my 50s! It is never too late to get into this stuff! Note: many will not agree with my Top 10.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bLZ4Oo8Nn4
My love of Japanese Sci-Fi started as recently as 2022 when I was aged in my 50s! It is never too late to get into this stuff! Note: many will not agree with my Top 10.
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10 titles
- DirectorIshirô HondaStarsAkira TakaradaJoseph CottenCesar RomeroA journalist is saved by a giant submarine captained by a 200-year-old man who takes him to an underwater paradise city where no one ages. That's when monsters and mutants sent by the captain's rival, a 200-year-old scientist, attack.My favourite Japanese movie ever made! An American/Japanese co-production. Strong shades of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and Captain Nemo. A touch of Adam West Batman as Cesar Romero is playing the villain. The later sections of the flick turn into oddball horror! No obnoxious characters. The below nine films are listed in order of preference.
- DirectorYoshimitsu BannoIshirô HondaStarsAkira YamanouchiToshie KimuraHiroyuki KawaseA toxic, ever-evolving alien life-form from the Dark Gaseous Nebula arrives to consume rampant pollution, threatening to destroy all life in its wake unless Godzilla is able to stop it.Goofy, weird, strange in a good way, impressive special effects, funny, unique musical score - my favourite Godzilla movie. No obnoxious characters. Added screen time for the monsters. First viewed in 2022. Note: Hedorah made a five second cameo in Godzilla Final Wars (2004).
- DirectorIshirô HondaJun FukudaStarsAkira KuboJun TazakiYukiko KobayashiIn 1999, a race of aliens, the Kilaaks, brainwash the Earth's monsters into attacking major cities, prompting a team of astronauts to stop them as the monsters face the return of Ghidorah.Epic. As the title suggests, this is "All Monsters" - which adds to the epic element. This film contains a bit too much non-monster footage for my tastes but the viewer just gets swept away by the production - so I can forgive the flaw.
- DirectorIshirô HondaStarsRhodes ReasonMie HamaLinda MillerThe evil Dr. Who captures King Kong to dig for Element X when his robot duplicate, Mechani-Kong, is unable to do the job, but Kong soon escapes and battles his doppelganger.A Japanese/American co-production with a grand musical score. I often bash the human characters in Japanese Sci-Fi movies but I can proudly report - the people here are all great! This film has a connection to one of my all-time favourite movies ever made: The Island Earth (1955). Enough said.
- DirectorIshirô HondaTom MontgomeryStarsTadao TakashimaKenji SaharaYû FujikiA UN reporter covers the appearance of a prehistoric monster that emerges from hibernation, while a pharmaceutical company seeks publicity with a monster of their own.An epic that begins with a touch of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. It contains one very obnoxious human character but the viewer is basically swept away by the production so I can forgive the flaw. First viewed in 2022.
- DirectorIshirô HondaStarsAkira TakaradaYuriko HoshiHiroshi KoizumiWhen greedy entrepreneurs refuse to return Mothra's egg to Infant Island, its people must decide if they are willing to answer Japan's own pleas for help when Godzilla arises near Nagoya.This Sci-Fi epic is generally regarded as one of the very best Godzilla movies ever made! Mothra also appeared in Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.(10th on my list). First viewed in 2022.
- DirectorJun FukudaStarsTadao TakashimaAkira KuboBibari MaedaA reporter stumbles upon weather experiments on a tropical island, discovering giant mantises, a castaway woman, and an infant monster that Godzilla must learn to raise as his son.Nice ending. The end of Godzilla Final Wars (2004) has a scene with Godzilla's son that resembles the ending here but the Final Wars footage is pathetic. Outstanding musical score (I don't mean the opening title music). Nice island setting. No obnoxious characters.
- DirectorJun FukudaYoshimitsu BannoIshirô HondaStarsHiroshi IshikawaYuriko HishimiMinoru TakashimaAfter a manga artist and his friends uncover a plot by his employers at an amusement park to lure aliens Ghidorah and Gigan to Earth, Godzilla and Anguirus set out to defeat them.The next Godzilla movie produced after my favourite Godzilla movie (1971's Hedorah). Made in the same quirky tone. Amusing talking monsters movie...."something funny going on". Contains stock footage from 1960s monster movies. ...but it still feels like the 1970s.
- DirectorJun FukudaYoshimitsu BannoIshirô HondaStarsKatsuhiko SasakiHiroyuki KawaseYutaka HayashiMegalon, the monster god of the vengeful undersea nation Seatopia, is aided by Gigan in attacking the surface world, until android Jet Jaguar teams up with Godzilla to fight them.Funny fight sequence, youthful tone and no obnoxious characters! This was produced around the same time as Toho's Zone Fighter TV series and the two productions do indeed resemble each other.
- DirectorMasaaki TezukaKoji HashimotoTakao OkawaraStarsNoboru KanekoMiho YoshiokaMickey KogaMothra and her fairies return to Japan to warn mankind that they must return Kiryu to the sea, for the dead must not be disturbed. However Godzilla has survived to menace Japan leaving Kiryu as the nation's only defense.First seen in 2024. This was the end of old school Godzilla. Some would say there is still one more to come (Final Wars) but I say Tokyo S.O.S. was the end of it all. Complete with less human footage and more monster footage. Very limited CGI. Miniatures and great miniatures. The Toho Big Pool water tank. No obnoxious characters.