Search - Daimajin, Vol. 3: Return of Daimajin on DVD

Craig S. (InnerMacro) from WAUSAU, WI
Reviewed on 9/10/2023...

Disagreeing with other reviewers, Daimajin 3 is the best of the three movies. Usually, movie plots involving children tend to serve up irritating protagonists that complain a lot and bicker. Yet the four youths in this film are surprisingly capable of outdoor survival and evading pursuit. Their story of a journey over inhospitable, mountainous terrain is more interesting than the previous films' repetition of the same 'abused-villagers-suffer-until-saved' theme over and over. These kids demonstrate heroic bravery and skills that are absent from the heroes of the first two films. This is not one of those films where the children are all safe and happy by the end either! As before, the established formula is used wherein one must wait a full hour before the kaiju makes his appearance. But when he does, the effects are better conceived, and they look really good with the snowstorm backdrop. If I were to pick one of the three movies to watch, this would be it for those reasons. All three contain a foolish feudal warlord trying to expand his domain by enslaving local villagers and disrespecting the demon-god. Each warlord meets a similar end of course, but the bad guy in #3 gets 2x destroyed :^D

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The weakest entry in the series, but still worth a look.

06/23/1999

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Not bad, but not quite as good as either _Daimajin_ or _Wrath of Daimajin_.Four young boys journey to a distant valley to rescue relatives who have been enslaved by an Evil Warlord bent on conquering the region (boo, hiss). En route they strive to placate the warrior god Majin, whose mountain they must traverse. This the children do, but without avail: winter storms and the warlord's henchmen stop them just short of their destination. Is all lost for our diminutive heroes? Fear not: it's Majin to the rescue!_Return of Daimajin_ is technically superb: the sets are meticulously crafted; the special effects require little suspension of disbelief to convince; the cinematography is breathtakingly lovely; Akira Ifukube's score--his best of the series--is alternately haunting and rousing.To their credit, the filmmakers have the guts to put the plucky little tykes in truly dangerous situations. Soon after they discover the children trekking to their valley, a trio of the despots thugs unshoulder their rifles and start shooting! Later, one of the boys drowns in a boating accident. (This scene, plus others of brief but fierce violence, would likely earn the film a PG rating.)The film has its share of weak points. The camerawork is too brightly pretty to capture the magic and menace of Majin's mountain, something _Daimajin_ conveyed so elegantly. Worse, the four leads have too little dialog to develop any degree of individuality, much less depth, as characters.Still, the giant Majin effects look great, and that's all were really interested in, isn't it?A good, but not great, kaiju eiga (giant monster movie)."

Not the best in the series, but still worthwhile

03/16/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Probably the weakest of the Daimajin trilogy, this is still pretty good. Shifting the focus to a group of children travelling through the mountain of the god to resuce their fathers could have been much more cloying and irritating than it actually is.The kids themselves are nowhere near as annoying as, say, Kenny of Gamera fame, and the fact that the film puts them in very serious peril instead of treating everything with a Speilbergian sense of hollow awe. One of the children does die actually. Clearly this is still far from kids' stuff, and the presentation in the original Japanese helps considerably (think how loathsome these kids would be with high pitched, dubbed English voices). Of course, everything in this film becomes irrelevant once Daimajin is resurrected. These scenes, as always, are excellent and nicely comparable with the other two, superior, films. Here Daimajin's revival is heralded by the death of a bird, which seems to be an extension of his spirit, and the willing self sacrifice of one of the children. From this point, the film is wonderful, as Daimajin embarks on his snow swept rampage, with little regard for anything in his path. There's a great scene in which the villain tries to stop Daimajin by cutting loose several bundles of logs. Just as he thinks he has succeeded, the smoke clears, and Daimajin stands undeafeted. He then proceeds to use the logs as weapons against those who would stop him. Amazing."

Return of Daimajin

Christopher Joyce | N. Billerica, MA United States | 08/18/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Possibly the worst(still worth 5 stars)in the trilogy.I dont remember this film from my "Creature Feature" days as a kid but I still got a nostalgic feeling from it.Majin is once again imprisoned in his mountain(completely different from the first film but really cool)& another evil warlord is forcing his people into slavery.Four children cross the forbidden mountain to ask the god for aid in destroying the warlord & freeing their fathers from his oppresion.The god sends Majin & the warlord gets crushed of course.This film,released the same year,(1966)has even more spectacular FX than "Daimajin".The story moves a little slower at times but it still is a great video.I wish it was dubbed,I prefer even a bad job(most are,can we ever forget Kenny from "Gamera"?)to sub-titles"