Search - The Giant Majin Collection on DVD

Avoid this Retromedia version at all cost!

Badwolf | Collinsport, Ma | 01/12/2007

(1 out of 5 stars)

"Retromedia strikes again with another quickie release. These movies are already available from ADV as a THREE MOVIE box set..(count them)..THE COMPLETE MAJIN COLLECTION and remastered unlike this dvd release. These versions are not letterboxed nor subtitled. If you want to enjoy the AIP dubbed releases that we all watched as kids then buy this disc....BUT if you are a serious collector looking for definative versions..AVOID this dvd at all cost.

This reviewer honestly wonders why Retromedia takes such pride in releasing these movies that aren't much better quality than the VHS tapes we seek to replace. Retromedia's asking price should be under 10 bucks for this stuff. Being a Kaiju fan, the Majin movies do not rank highly with my personal tastes but they deserve more than what this company has done with them."

Close Enough...

Robert H. Knox | Brentwood, NH United States | 01/15/2007

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Being a huge Kaiju Eiga fan, and (unlike the previous reviewer) crazy about the Daimajin films, I had to have this, even though I do own the ADV set AND the Japanese Laserdisc set. It's rather nostalgic to see these in the English-dubbed versions I first saw in the 1960s. Obviously, these films suffer greatly from the Pan-and-Scan treatment, and the dubbed dialogue is a bit silly at times. Print quality is watchable if far from ideal, and there is one ridiculous moment in MAJIN in which there is a reel change, and the leader is actually left in there...for a split-second, an upside-down photo of a woman can actually be seen! Come on, guys- how difficult would it have been to edit that out? Is Retromedia trying to recreate the "UHF Experience" with such goofs? We may never know...if you must see the dubbed versions of these films, get this, but be advised of its inherent inferiority to the real deal. By the way: it's a dirty shame that the proposed DAIMAJIN remake was cancelled, as I know that Takashi Miike would have done a great job. Someday..."

A Serious Kaiju Film Brought Down by Dubbing

Steven Fujita | Long Beach, CA | 10/11/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"There were three Majin movies all together, but these are the two that were released for US television viewing. As a kid, I thought these movies was boring because the "monster" doesn't come out until the end. Well, the robot didn't come out until the end of Johnny Sokko, but that was a half hour tv show so I only had to wait 20 minutes each day. It was all about the action. Which is also why I thought the original Godzilla was boring as a kid, and now I think it's a quality drama with a serious message.

As an adult, it's not all about the monster scenes. The plots are pretty formula, but good. Evil lord terrorizes his people or invades a neighboring kingdom and the victims pray for their "God" to save them, which it does at the last minute. I felt for the victims and I couldn't wait for the giant to answer their prayers. This DVD is the dubbed version and I wish the movies were in Japanese and sub-titled. I would have gotten a lot more out of it emotionally and appreciated the acting more if I heard the voices of the original actors.

What was kind of frustrating and fun for me was trying to figure out the time period the movies takes place. They are unrelated so they might take place during different time periods. Based on what appears to be an Ainu community that is still somewhat independent from Japanese rule, I thought it might be Heian period, but then they brought out muskets, so it could have been Sengoku (Warring States)and the second movie is most likely Sengoku since one kingdom is invading two others, and muskets are used.

What's the DVD like. Well, it's just like watching the movies on an old rabbit-eared tv, complete with a break between reels and the dubbed dialogue. It's as if someone took a video off a broadcast and copied it onto a dvd.

For nostalgia sake, this version does the job, but if you want a more serious experience, it's probably better to get the original Japanese language version by ADV films.
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