For It Is Man's Number: akira takarada

Showing posts with label akira takarada. Show all posts

Thursday, 29 August 2024

Latitude Zero (1969)

Stop me if you have heard this one already. Two scientists and a journalist are stuck in a submarine, trapped underwater until they are rescued by another submarine. Okay, it's not actually the start of a joke. It's the beginning of Latitude Zero, another film directed by Ishirô Honda, with a screenplay written by Shin'ichi Sekizawa (based on source material by Ted Sherdeman).

Dr. Ken Tashiro (Akira Takarada), Dr. Jules Masson (Masumi Okada), and Perry Lawton (Richard Jaeckel) are the three men rescued by Captain McKenzie (Joseph Cotten). They end up on a super-sub, Alpha, which is apparently much older than it looks, as are the captain and crew. While that seems difficult to believe, Captain McKenzie soon proves what superior technology can do for the health and lifespans of those on board the Alpha. There's a rival trying to destroy them though (Dr. Malic, who has a super-sub named Black Shark), and Tashiro, Masson, and Lawton find themselves in the middle of an ongoing undersea battle.

While certainly not on a par with other films from Toho in this era, Latitude Zero is a fun adventure film, helped by a decent cast and a selection of crazy creatures that liven up the second half of the film. You get giant bat-humans, giant rats, and a winged lion with a human brain placed inside it. There are also the scenes that just show off the subs moving around underwater, a real treat for those who enjoy practical effects and model work (even if it's far from the best examples of either).

While the cast has a good mix of both Japanese and American players, it's the latter getting to have more fun here. Cotten is as stolid and decent as you'd expect in the role of Captain McKenzie, and his crew is brightened up considerably by Linda Haynes in the role of Dr. Barton. Takarada, Okada, and Jaeckel are largely used as witnesses, they have the information conveyed to them that is therefore also conveyed to the audience, but they're fine. The Black Shark is more fun though, with Cesar Romero playing Dr. Malic in a very fun performance, accompanied by his lover (Patricia Medina) and the captain of the sub (Hikaru Koroki). The film moves back and forth between the two subs in a way that helps the pacing of the whole thing while it punctuates the dry science chat with scenes of Romero growing impatient and irate as he aims to close in on his prey, not entirely dissimilar to the way he would perform his most iconic villain role on a show that also featured at least one Batman.

Honda remains as capable behind the camera here as he was on so many other projects, and the screenplay maintains a consistent "boys adventure" tone throughout that will allow most viewers to know whether or not they are going to be able to relax and have fun with this in the first 5-10 minutes. I thought this was great, even if the very last scene seemed a little bit abrupt and lazy, and it's got me hankering for a deep dive (no pun intended) into many other submarine movies I have neglected to watch/rewatch over the past decade. So don't be surprised if you start seeing more reviews from me that are sent up from the watery depths of various ocean trenches.

8/10

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Friday, 26 July 2024

King Kong Escapes (1967)

This film is ridiculous, but if you think that's a bad thing then you're someone who hasn't ever watched anything like King Kong Escapes. The winning combination of writer Takeshi Kimura and director Ishirô Honda should be enough to get people excited about this, but there's also the fact that the plot involves both King Kong and a robot duplicate (Mechani-Kong). What more could you want?

This is where I'd usually put a plot summary, but King Kong and Mechani-Kong is really all you need to know. There's a villain named Doctor Who (Hideyo Amamoto), a secondary villain named Madame Piranha (Mie Hama), and something about valuable radioactive material being excavated. Basically . . . the clock just keeps ticking until we get to a finale that promises some worthwhile Kong vs. Kong action.

Although many of these movies look a bit silly and tame nowadays, King Kong Escapes was designed that way to appeal to younger viewers. It's a children's film co-produced by Toho and Rankin/Bass Productions, and you could easily imagine this working even better in traditional animation. The crudity feels even more endearing than it does in other kaiju movies I have watched recently, giving the whole film a feeling of playtime where the imagination is just as important as the actual visuals. Someone watched this at a very young age and thought it was the most magnificent thing they would ever see, which is the best thing about movies (in my view anyway).

Kimura's script is weak, but it at least tries to pace things well enough to keep younger viewers interested. Honda does well enough with the creatures, but there's nothing truly devastating or threatening here, considering the overall tone of the thing. People and places are put in jeopardy, as expected, but not in the full-on way we've seen elsewhere.

Amamoto and Hama are both great fun, and they're enjoyably obvious in their villainy in a way that keeps children able to know who they should be rooting for and against. The main goodies are played by Rhodes Reason and Linda Miller, but the real hero is King Kong, of course, and he is showcased like the star he is.

This pales in comparison to films like King Kong and Mighty Joe Young, it also pales in comparison to most of the other kaiju movies from this period, but it's a cute and entertaining bit of monkey melee madness for younger audiences (and those who can watch films while recapturing that feeling of being young at heart).

6/10

Friday, 5 July 2024

Ebirah, Horror Of The Deep (1966)

In my ongoing journey through some of the classic kaiju films, and the word classic is being asked to do a fair bit of heavy lifting there, I have already grown accustomed to being a bit disappointed. The highs are really high, but there have been quite a few low points, especially over the past few weeks. Ebirah, Horror Of The Deep, also known as Ebirah, Terror Of The Deep, is not a low point. In fact, it's a new favourite, and I'm sure that many fans of these movies will already be exasperated every time I offer an opinion that is ridiculously late to the kaiju party.

The story concerns a group of men who steal a yacht. One of them has recently had a brother go missing at sea and he's determined to find him. They end up on a mysterious island, controlled by terrorists, and the waters surrounding the island are home to, as if you couldn't guess already, Ebirah, a creature that looks very much like a giant lobster. Perhaps Godzilla can be called upon to help. Or maybe another one of the gigantic creatures that we've encountered in previous movies.

Written by Shin'ichi Sekizawa, this is a fun adventure film that feels more like Mysterious Island at times than a standard Godzilla movie (and it's worth noting that Big G only really appears for a short period of time during the third act). While the characters are as forgettable as usual, as individuals, there are at least various factions interacting with one another. Yata (Tôru Ibuki) is the missing man, Ryôta (Tôru Watanabe) is his brother, the terrorists are standard baddies, and Daiyo (Kumi Mizuno) is a young woman trying to maintain her freedom on an island that has been turned into a prison. Sekizawa does well to keep bringing things back to these main players, ultimately allowing them to interact with one another until it's time to bring on the monster battles.

Director Jun Fukuda does a decent job, although the island setting means that he doesn't have the opportunity to show any truly impressive destruction, there is no major cityscape to be stomped on here. He keeps everything moving well enough though, helped by the plotting of Sekizawa's screenplay, and proves to be a very solid stand-in for/successor to the legendary Ishirô Honda.

There's no point in mentioning the performances of the cast members. They do what is needed, and Mizuno once again adds some glamorous beauty to the proceedings, but they're really just moving set dressing until the big beasties come along, and those big beasties will keep the fans happy. Godzilla is a delight when onscreen, but Ebirah is definitely one of my favourite creations from the list of many supporting kaiju that I'd never previously heard of. It looks impressive and dangerous, and the practical effects team all work hard to make it feel like a plausible oceanic threat.

A real joy from start to finish, even if it could have done with a bit more screentime for Godzilla, this is one I am glad to have finally seen. And I'd happily rewatch it any time.

8/10

Thursday, 18 April 2024

Invasion Of Astro-Monster (1965)

Right, someone should have really kicked my butt years ago to get me making my way through all of the Godzilla films. Each new favourite seems to be equaled by another new favourite lately, and I am just loving it.

The plot this time around concerns some spacemen who find alien life on Planet X. These aliens are humanoid, and have to shelter whenever the surface of their planet is being attacked by King Ghidorah. Knowing how he was defeated before, the aliens would like to “borrow” Godzilla and Rodan, only requiring them until Ghidorah is no longer a threat to them. That’s the starting point anyway, but there may be another reason for wanting access to the kaiju residing on our planet.

We’re back in the safe and capable hands of director Ishirô Honda here, working once again with writer Shin’ichi Sekizawa, and the end result is as much fun as you could hope for. Okay, some may prefer these movies to feel a bit more tense, the large scale of the threat somehow makes it all seem less likely to end badly for the main characters, but this is well-paced and full of unexpected delights, whether it is seeing Godzilla and Rodan airlifted through space or watching Godzilla shuffle around in front of Ghidorah like a fleet-footed boxer.

Akira Takarada and Nick Adams play the two astronauts who encounter alien life on a far planet (located on the other side of Jupiter), and the two men do a decent job of looking bemused while remaining determined to do whatever is in the best interest of humanity. Yoshio Tsuchiya is the apparent leader of Planet X, a role he plays well enough as he is viewed with suspicion, eventually accepted, and then in charge of the grand plan that relies on controlling the kaiju. Jun Tazaki is the requisite scientist, and Kumi Mizuno does a great job as the lovely, but perhaps untrustworthy, Namikawa.

The effects displaying the moments of destruction are perfectly fine, neither the best nor the worst seen in these movies, but this works as well as it does because of the personality of the creatures. Following on from the depictions we saw in the last movie, a slight softening of Godzilla and Rodan to make them more acceptable reluctant “heroes”, this underlines why so many of us film fans will always maintain a soft spot for the performers in the rubber suits who brought these creatures to life.

Perhaps it will slide down my rankings as I continue to make my way through the main Godzilla movie series, but I am happy, for now anyway, to rate Invasion Of Astro-Monster as another fantastic monster mash.

8/10