S.Q. Eries's Blog, page 52

Japanese Live Action DVD Review: Godzilla vs. the The Sea Monster

Japan’s most famous monster is back on the big screen in Warner Brothers and Legendary Pictures’ Godzilla. What better time to revisit some of the original movies starring the giant lizard?

Kraken Releasing has just released the Toho 1966 film Godzilla Versus the Sea Monster: Ebirah – Horror of the Deep! on DVD, and you can read on for the review.

Back Cover Blurb

When Ryota’s brother Yata disappears at sea, the intrepid youth and his friends join forces with a slightly trustworthy bank robber, steal a boat and go after him! Of course, there’s the little problem that Yata may be lost on a mysterious island where the evil terrorist organization Red Bamboo has enslaved natives to make heavy water for nefarious purposes. And that means dealing with the island’s monstrous, 164 feet tall guardian Ebirah, as well as Red Bamboo’s arsenal of super advanced weaponry. On the plus side, help may be at hand in the form of a nubile island girl, two tiny fairies, their giant protector Mothra and the big G himself, the mighty Godzilla. Surviving the results of all that “assistance” may not be guaranteed, but Red Bamboo will never want to tangle with teenagers AND Godzilla at the same time again! Take a South Seas cruise to non-stop mayhem and giant monster destruction with EBIRAH- HORROR OF THE DEEP!

Audio:

The audio options are English mono and Japanese mono with English subtitles. I noted no issues with the film audio or subtitles, but the voice acting of the English-speaking cast has a cartoonish flavor which isn’t necessarily a bad fit for this film.

Video:

The DVD is presented in 2.35:1 aspect ratio, and the images are relatively crisp.

Packaging:

The front cover features a promotional poster for the original film, showcasing the monsters Godzilla, Ebirah, and Mothra along with the human cast. On the back are a few screen shots and a movie summary. No inserts are included inside the case.

Menu:

Various stills from the film are used for the DVD menu backgrounds. There aren’t many options, so it’s easy to navigate.

Extras:

The only extra included with the DVD is the original Japanese film trailer.

Content

The subtitle for this film is Ebirah – Horror of the Deep! But there’s nothing horrific about it. This is partly due to its dated special effects. Modern viewers, even young ones, will likely find Godzilla as played by a guy in a lizard costume and the destruction he wreaks upon miniature sets either cute or funny. But clunky effects aside, the script is hard to take seriously.

It starts off when a young man Yata is lost at sea, and his mother refuses to believe he is dead because a mystic says he’s alive. So her younger son Ryota goes to the city to convince the police to search for his missing brother. But instead of recruiting their aid, he teams up with a couple teenagers he meets at a go-go dance marathon and hijacks a luxury yacht from a safecracker thief. While they’re searching the South Seas for his brother, a giant lobster claw rises out of the water and wrecks them on an island inhabited by the nefarious military group Red Bamboo and the natives they’ve enslaved. It’s a bizarre hodgepodge of goofy teen misadventure, spy flick, and Polynesian cultural act. Oh, and giant monsters. Can’t forget about the monsters.

Although it’s called Godzilla Versus the Sea Monster, the monsters don’t actually show up until halfway through the film. Plus, they are a lot sleepier than I remember. Mothra spends most of the film snoozing on Infant Island as its inhabitants strive to wake her up to rescue their captured kin. When Ryota and his friends stumble upon Godzilla in the island caves, they don’t think he’s even alive. Later, there’s a scene where Godzilla corners the heroine, and all the guys can say is, “We’ll have to wait until [Godzilla] falls asleep.” And the big lizard does actually start dozing off!

However, when the monsters catch sight of one another, the destruction begins, though it’s more laughable than the stuff of nightmares. Godzilla’s first match with Ebirah looks more like a game of catch as they whack a giant rock back and forth. When the Red Bamboo’s Air Force takes off against Godzilla, the big monster looks like he’s doing a dance amid the attacking planes, and there’s even upbeat go-go music in the background to complete the effect.

It’s hardly a terrifying film, but that doesn’t mean it’s not enjoyable. The random plot and old-school effects give it a campy charm. And while the Infant Islanders’ pseudo-Polynesian dance to Mothra does drag, there’s something fun about watching a guy dressed as a lizard stomp apart a blinking model of a military installation.

In Summary

The plot for Godzilla Versus the Sea Monster is flimsy at best. It’s beyond a stretch how it flings a random group of teens, a safe cracking thief, an enslaved Polynesian group, and a terrorist organization with nuclear weapons onto a tropical island guarded by a giant lobster. But if what you’re after is a kind of WWF featuring guys in old-school monster suits, the second half of Godzilla Versus the Sea Monster won’t disappoint.

First published at The Fandom Post.

Research Ramblings: The Spartan Citizenry, Part 3

As noted in my May 2, 2014 post, Spartan warriors were an interesting bunch, and I’m continuing my series on them with today’s fact:

The first test of a Spartan citizen came at birth.

Male babies were taken by their fathers to be examined by the tribal elders to see if they were worthy of being reared. If the child was deemed weak or sickly, he was doomed to the Apothetae, a chasm-like place at the foot of a mountain. Obviously, this was a matter the Spartans took seriously. And though women weren’t part of the official evaluation, they supposedly bathed newborns in unmixed wine to test their constitutions. The practice was supposed to give healthy ones a stronger constitution while throwing sickly ones into a convulsion.

Tune in next week for more about the Spartans!

Japanese Live Action DVD Review: Godzilla Vs The Smog Monster

Japan’s most famous monster is due to return to the big screen May 16 in Warner Brothers and Legendary Pictures’ Godzilla. What better time to revisit some of the original movies starring the giant lizard?

Kraken Releasing has just released the Toho 1971 film Godzilla Versus the Smog Monster: Godzilla Versus Hedorah on DVD, and you can read on for the review.

Back Cover Blurb

Forget about acid rain and global warming! The worst ecological nightmare is actually Hedorah, which starts off small but quickly mutates into a giant flying monster capable of wiping out all life on whatever unfortunate planet it lands on! And since Hedorah grows by consuming the toxic gases and chemicals mankind has spilled into the air and water, in the early 1970s that means that its potential growth is unlimited! Fortunately for the human race, the Earth has an ultimate green defender who doesn’t need to sing protest songs or try to enact new laws to get things done. Because nobody, and nothing, can stop Godzilla when he decides to push an environmental issue, and while Hedorah may be the dirtiest opponent Godzilla has ever faced, his name is going to be mud by the time he’s been stomped into the whole Earth a few dozen times. Get ready for the wildest Godzilla film ever as the social concerns and way out fashions of the seventies collide head on with the ultimate in big monster brawls in GODZILLA VS. HEDORAH!

Audio:

The audio options are English mono and Japanese mono with English subtitles. I noted no issues with the film audio or subtitles.

Video:

The DVD is presented in 2.35:1 aspect ratio. The video is satisfactory for the most part but does get grainy in certain scenes.

Packaging:

The front cover features a promotional poster for the original film, featuring the monsters Godzilla and Hedorah along with the human cast. On the back are a few screen shots and a movie summary. No inserts are included inside the case.

Menu:

Various stills from the film are used for the DVD menu backgrounds. There aren’t many options, so it’s easy to navigate.

Extras:

The only extra included with the DVD is the original Japanese film trailer.

Content

Not every Godzilla movie has a message, but Godzilla Versus the Smog Monster does, and it is: Stop polluting or it will come back to haunt you! In this case, the consequences of environmental destruction are personified by the monster Hedorah.

The film begins as a kind of mystery. Something off the shore of Japan is sinking ships, and a professor studying the fish affected by polluted waters discovers a strange mineral life form. That life form is Hedorah. He starts as a small tadpole-like creature, but a diet of ocean sludge and smog beefs it up to a tentacled-terrestrial monster and finally to its ultimate flying form. Able to emit sulfuric acid mist and disgusting slime, Hedorah wastes no time wreaking havoc on Japan. As the monster disintegrates structures and vaporizes people into piles of bones, the professor’s dilemma quickly goes from what Hedorah is to how to stop him.

The solution, as the professor’s son Ken insists, is Godzilla. Although the little boy deems the giant lizard a hero on the order of Superman, Godzilla’s not exactly at humanity’s beck and call. Still, when Hedorah starts shaking things up, Godzilla appears with the aura of a gangster ready to oust an invader from his turf. Unfortunately, Hedorah’s a tough opponent, one constantly gaining in size, until he’s actually bigger than Godzilla.

Although Hedorah makes a formidable enemy, killing thousands and forcing Godzilla to chase it all over the Japanese countryside, the film actually drags. This is partly because the film gets preachy with its environmental message, inundating viewers with images of polluted waters and belching smoke stacks along with animated sequences of how human (and Hedorah) activities are killing the planet. Probably the most bizarre example of this is when the professor’s younger brother is at a disco club and starts hallucinating that everyone is a fish. While I commend Director Banno’s efforts to increase awareness, it bogs the pace of the film.

When Hedorah finally does go down, it’s the result of a joint effort between human and lizard. It’s interesting to see Godzilla and people working toward a common goal, but the final battle goes overlong. Not only does it include an extraneous hippie disco-party anti-Hedorah protest on the mountain, but Hedorah turns out to be the type of monster that needs to be killed multiple times. So when he (and the film) finally reaches the end, it’s a relief.

In Summary

While I commend Director Banno for his efforts to warn against environmental destruction, the entertainment value of Godzilla Versus the Smog Monster suffers as a result. There are some good action sequences as Godzilla struggles to defeat an enemy capable of squirting his eye with acid, but between the professor’s plodding investigation and excessive images of air and water pollution, the pace gets bogged as if mired in Hedorah’s own sludge.

First published at The Fandom Post.

Research Ramblings: The Spartan Citizenry, Part 2

As noted in my May 2, 2014 post, Spartan warriors were an interesting bunch, and I’m continuing my series on them with today’s fact:

It was possible for a man to lose his citizenship.

 There were a number of ways this could happen, but I’ll just name one for today. One of the requirements for a Spartan citizen was to pay citizenship dues. These dues generally came in the form of produce from the lands owned by that citizen. If a citizen couldn’t deliver his share, he’d be demoted to a subcitizen status.

Tune in next week for more about the Spartans!

Novel Review: Noah: Ila’s Story

The Bible has provided the inspiration for many a Hollywood movie, and the latest of these is Paramount’s Noah. I had the opportunity to review the book Noah: Ila’s Story, which is based off the movie, and you can read on for my thoughts about it.

Back Cover Blurb

The ancient world. A young girl, Ila, is found, injured after a violent raid. She is taken in by Noah and his family and grows up strong and happy – she even finds love with her soulmate, Shem, Noah’s son. But when devastation comes to the world in the form of a huge flood, Ila and her new family are responsible for saving not only themselves but all life on earth. Against all odds they set off in the Ark, but all is not as it seems…

As events unfold, Ila has to find the power within her to help Noah in his epic quest, and ultimately save humanity.

The Review

The front cover touts Noah: Ila’s Story as a novel, but it’s sparse for a novel. The book is only 108 pages long. In addition, the storytelling style and vocabulary seem more suited for a middle grade audience, and I found punctuation and formatting errors scattered in the text, which give it the feel of a rush job.

Noah: Ila’s Story, like the Mark Morris Noah novel, is based off the Aronofsky film and covers the same plot, beginning with Ila’s adoption and concluding with the rainbow blessing upon Noah’s family. Unlike Morris’ book, Ila’s Story stands poorly on its own. Unless you’ve seen the movie or read Morris’ novelization, following the plot in Ila’s Story would be difficult. This is due to the fact that the book follows the events of the Noah movie from Ila’s point of view only. As such, several pivotal moments, including the trips to Methuselah’s cave, Noah’s horrific visit to the refugee camp, and the battle with Tubal-Cain within the ark get recounted secondhand, sometimes long after the fact.

To be honest, the book reads like a weak fanfiction. Korman doesn’t go nearly as deep into Ila’s thoughts as she could. We only get a little bit of extra details on Ila’s birth family and some of her reflections after the flood recedes. I had expected more about her relationship with Shem, like the how and why of them falling in love, but the descriptions of their romance remain on a very shallow level. The pair are in love just because they are, and Korman spends most of her efforts trying to relate all the major events of the movie, a task the Morris novelization does a much better job at.

The book includes eight full-color stills from the movie as extras.

In Summary

With Emma Watson’s face gracing the cover and her character’s name in the title, Noah: Ila’s Story seems a not-so-subtle effort to capitalize on Emma Watson fans. If what you want is a brief retelling of the Noah film from Ila’s point of view along with five color stills showcasing or including Watson, you’ll get that but not much else. Restricting the story to Ila’s point of view results in a weak and oftentimes confusing narrative, and if you haven’t seen the film or read the Morris novelization, I’d caution against picking up this title.

First published at The Fandom Post.

Research Ramblings: The Spartan Citizenry, Part 1

Having finished a series of posts about the Spartan women, I thought it only fair to do something similar for the Spartan men. After all, they were rather unique in their own right. So I’ll kick it off with this is fun fact:

Spartan citizens could only occupy themselves with the business of war.

Like the Athenians, only the sons of citizens could claim citizen status in Sparta. Unlike the Athenians, whose citizens could pursue any number of occupations, there was only one job description for a Spartan citizen: warrior.

This was due in large part to another people group that lived within Spartan’s borders: the helots. See, the Spartans were actually descendants of Doric invaders. They conquered the land that became Sparta and turned the native population into serf-slaves. The helots weren’t too keen on that, so revolt was always a problem for their conquerors. To solve the problem, the Spartans spent all their efforts ensuring their military superiority. And they had the time to do it, because they had the helots to take care of mundane things like growing food.

But even though the purpose of the warrior citizen class was to prevent uprisings at home, their abilities came in really handy when foreign invaders encroached on their borders.

Tune in next week for more about the Spartans!

Graphic Novel Review: A Game of Thrones Vol. 3

HBO’s wildly popular Game of Thrones series is well into Season 4 and, not surprisingly, regaling fans with bloodshed and debauchery aplenty. The  Random House graphic novel based on the series is also chugging along with its recent release of Volume  3, and you can read on for my review. (For my review of Volume 2, click here.)

Back Cover Blurb

In King’s Landing, Lord Eddard Stark of Winterfell—the Hand of King Robert Baratheon—is surrounded by enemies. Some are openly declared, such as Ser Jaime Lannister and his sister, Queen Cersei. Others are hidden in the shadows. Still others wear the smiling mask of friends. But all are deadly, as Eddard is about to discover.

The Review

A Game of Thrones: The Graphic Novel: Volume 3 is a hardcover compilation of the bimonthly Game of Thrones comic Issues 13 through 18. This volume’s narrative begins with King Robert traipsing off to his ill-fated final hunt and ends with Sansa pleading Joffrey for her father’s life.

In the TV series, Eddard seemed soft in the head for not telling Robert about Cersei’s bastards. While he still seems stupid for confronting Cersei directly about her twincest, the volume provides some background and flashbacks that explain why he’s so determined to spare her. However, his failure to include the pride and power of the Lannister family in his calculations make him look like an idiot. The lack of emotional nuance in Patterson’s artwork doesn’t help. Cersei looks like she’s constantly PMSing, and in the pivotal scene where she declares, “You win or you die,” her expression is so blatantly murderous you have to wonder if Eddard’s blind not to notice.

His sons and Arya fare much better. Jon demonstrates compassion when he speaks up on Sam’s behalf, bravery in a tussle against a White Walker, and heart-wrenching anguish when he gets news of his father’s imprisonment. The Rob Stark that rode to battle in the TV show looked a born leader, but the comic shows the lengths he went to convince his bannermen to follow him. As for Arya, you can smell her fear as she escapes the Lannister’s clutches.

As for the level of violence in this installment, there’s plenty of bloodshed and dismembered limbs between the walking dead attacking the Night’s Watch and Eddard getting sacked at King’s Landing, but probably the most disturbing illustration is Drogo (bloodlessly) dispatching Viserys. As for sex and nudity, there are a couple of post-lovemaking scenes, but the most provoking is a full frontal illustration of Hodor.

The actual cover is plain white with the title in shiny blue letters on the spine beneath the dust cover that features Patterson’s pencil art. Speaking of pencil art, Volume 3 also includes “The Making of A Game of Thrones: The Graphic Novel: Volume 3″, where Editor Anne Groell explains the character design process for the comic series. So those who do enjoy Patterson’s illustrations will probably want to pick up this volume for its character pencil sketches.

In Summary

Volume 3 continues to provide flashbacks and insights not included in the TV show. While Eddard still seems an idiot when he confronts Cersei about her bastard children, you get a better idea of what motivates him to do so. However, as in the series, everyone gets scattered after Eddard’s imprisonment. With Arya on the run, Sansa with Joffrey, Jon at the Wall, Rob and Cat on the march, and the boys at Winterfell (to say nothing of the Lannisters or Daenerys), it will be interesting to see how the graphic novel handles the dispersion of characters.

First published at the Fandom Post.

Novel Review: Noah: The Official Movie Novelization

The Bible has provided the inspiration for many a Hollywood movie, and the latest of these is Paramount’s Noah, which was released last month. I had the opportunity to review the movie novelization, and you can read on for my thoughts about the book.

back cover blurb

When he has a vision about a flood sent to destroy all life on earth, Noah knows what he must do. Together with his family, he must save two of every living animal. He must build an ark. Noah has to evade the many dangers that would see him fail and leave the world to ruin, and overcome his own struggles to fulfill his mission. This is the epic story of one man’s attempt to preserve life for a new world.

The review

The story of Noah’s ark is often showcased in Children’s Bibles and storybooks, but when you really think about it, it’s not a G rated story. Mankind so corrupt and evil as to induce its Creator to wipe it out? Destruction so absolute the 2011 Japanese earthquake and tsunami look like nothing in comparison? That’s hardly kiddie fare.

Indeed it’s a bleak world Morris lays out in his novel adaption of the recently released Noah movie (which, by the way, I have not yet seen). With the exception of Noah’s family and bad guy Tubal-Cain, humanity seems incapable of rational thought, let alone compassion. Their squalor, desperation, and hopelessness make this antediluvian past look more like an apocalyptic future. That atmosphere is heightened by environmental destruction on a massive scale. For Noah’s contemporaries, tzohar is the all-purpose energy source. It sparks fire, blows apart rocks, put animals into hibernation, and comprises the bodies of fallen heavenly beings. Of course, extracting it comes at a price, and the descriptions of polluted lands and denuded forests are a not so subtle commentary on our present-day efforts to secure energy.

Of course, our leading man Noah stands for everything corrupt humanity is not. Unfortunately, he comes off more as an uber-militant vegan than God’s agent of change. In the second chapter, he defends an animal from three starving hunters. He kills the men without compunction but gives the mortally wounded animal a funeral. For Noah, killing and eating animals is a worse crime than murder. It’s ironic that the back cover touts the story as “One man’s quest to save mankind.” When he realizes that a flood is coming, his concern is solely for the animals, forget about his fellow man.

Noah’s point of view is somewhat understandable at first given his father’s tragic end, but he becomes increasingly unsympathetic as the story progresses. In the biblical account, God speaks to Noah in almost painfully detailed terms, but in this novel he’s silent. The only communications Noah receives are nightmarish prophetic visions. However, none of these visions are so specific as to say, “The ark must have these dimensions,” or “Bring two of each animal,” and Noah’s inclination is to use the harshest interpretation possible. He’s all divine wrath and judgment, and while he goes on (and on and on) about humanity’s evils, he hypocritically withholds mercy from even the members of his family.

As for those family members, they’re a rather flat bunch. Ham is the strongest personality, but he acts and speaks more like an eight-year-old than a fifteen-year-old. Japheth has hardly any presence, and Shem’s only purpose is to be Ila’s husband. As for Ila, she, not Noah, seems to be the remaining righteous person in the world, but she’s too much a victim, just as Ham is too overtly the family’s rebel.

Perhaps to make up for its less than compelling character development, the novel’s packed with action. As if a planetwide flood wasn’t epic enough, the story includes a battle for the ark, followed by fistfights at sea. Unfortunately, while ruthless warlords, tzohar pipe guns, six-armed stone giants, and the worst storm ever probably serve up a visual feast when rendered in CG, it gets a bit tedious and repetitive in print.

In summary

Not surprisingly, Noah takes liberties with the original biblical account. The addition of gross environmental destruction to mankind’s corruption provides an interesting vision of the antediluvian world, but the underlying premise that violence against animals and ecosystem is man’s greatest evil is a bit harder to swallow. While Noah does stand apart from the rest of fallen humanity, his own misanthropic self-righteousness make him a less than inspiring figure.

First published at The Fandom Post.

Research Ramblings: Spartan Women Part 15

As noted in my January 9, 2014 post, the lives of Spartan women were completely unlike those of their Greek sisters, and I’m finishing up my series on these differences with today’s fact:

Spartan women could drink wine as part of their daily fare.

Apparently other city states did not approve of women drinking wine although I’m not sure why. I should also note that drunkenness was severely frowned upon in Sparta. Spartan men did drink wine as part of their military regimen but in severe moderation (whatever that means). So maybe the Spartan men were simply more willing to share their wine with the women?

And that concludes this series on the Spartan women! For those interested in learning more about them, these are the sources I used in my research:

Women in Ancient Greece by Sue Blumdell

Spartan Women by Sarah B. Pomeroy

The Spartans by Paul Cartledge

Manga Review: Voice Over! Seiyu Academy Vol. #04

For hard core manga and anime fans, the voice acting world has the same kind of glamor and mystique as Hollywood. So it’s no surprise that the world of Maki Minami’s manga Voice Over! Seiyu Academy portrays it as such. Viz Media has just released Volume 4 of the series and you can read on for the review. (To see previous reviews of the series, click here.)

Back Cover Blurb

After days of grueling training at Yamada’s special voice acting retreat, Hime can finally bring forth her prince voice! Now she’s ready to start her next job as a recurring character in an exciting new anime. But her first day on the set doesn’t go as she’d hoped. Why do her costars and the producers seem to hate her when they just met her?!

The Review

The focus remains on Hime’s rapid entry into the voice acting world. Thanks to Producer Yamada’s training retreat, she finally finds a way to use her Prince Voice consistently. It requires the use of Mizuki’s glasses so she likens it to a magical girl transformation. The comparison is fairly appropriate as the “transformation” has a time limit and works only with one set of glasses. I’m predicting that these restrictions will come back to haunt Hime at some point (i.e. she’ll lose the glasses at a critical moment), but for now, she’s passed the test and moves on to the next stage – a new voice acting role!

Two challenges arise the instant she takes the job. One, the cast and crew are giving her the cold shoulder. Two, though she’s using her Prince Voice, her recordings are deemed unusable by the studio. Part of this is Yamada’s doing. Instead of having Hime audition for the role, he gets her the part by stipulating it as a condition in Mizuki’s contract with the production company. No one wants to deal with someone they’re forced to hire, especially a newbie, so the production crew’s attitude is understandable. But Hime’s obliviousness to her inability to act, not so much. (She is in a voice acting school, after all.) However, her terrible acting provides an opportunity to showcase another aspect of the craft: getting into character.

Her quest to breathe personality into her characters leads her back to Senri Kudo’s apartment of cats. Thus, Hime has one hot guy (Mizuki) openly supporting her on the front lines, and a second hot guy (Senri Kudo) unwittingly supporting her behind the scenes. Their cat-centric friendship is pretty bizarre, especially when Hime (dressed as Shiro) rubs noses with Senri. However, this provides Hime an excuse to interact with her standoffish classmate as well as observe the voice acting techniques that she obviously isn’t picking up at school.

By the end of the volume, Hime’s making progress. What I hope this means is that she starts living up to the promise Yamada and the school principal see in her. Thus far, Hime’s main enemy has been her own lack of skill and awareness, and it’s time she faces a challenge that’s not herself.

Extras include embedded author’s remarks, translation notes, another mini-Mitchy manga, and the bonus mini-manga Catherine’s Diary.

In Summary

Hime finally manages to bring forth her Prince Voice and gets rewarded with a recurring anime role. However, she lives up to her “super amateur” title with her appalling acting skills. Again, Minami-sensei has Hime blundering in the recording studio in a manner that’s hard to stomach, and I find myself wondering why anyone bothers with her rather than cheering along with her supporters.

First published at the Fandom Post.