Audience Member
Before I begin, I just want to acknowledge that this is a VERY confusing movie and difficult to recommend to average Western viewers. It's based on a long and complicated novel released only in Japan known as "Teito Monogatari" ("Tale of the Imperial Capital") by bibliophile and part time scholar Hiroshi Aramata. The original novel is basically a huge retelling of the history of Tokyo from the turn of the century all the way up to the next millennium, but done from a fictional occultist viewpoint. It was notable for being a pioneer of the "fantasy occult boom" that dominated Japanese pop culture in the late 80's and early 90's and was hugely influential (see the ONMYOJI films, which were based on books written in the wake of this novel's popularity).
The novel is composed of 12 volumes each around 250--500 pages in length. But that's not all. There is an unofficial 13th volume which serves as a side story (and was also made into a movie). Is that it? No. There are also prequel, several spin-off works (such as THE GREAT YOKAI WAR, made into a film by Takaashi Miike) and "series analysis" books, and a another huge retelling in the form of "Shin Teito Monogatari" ("New Tale of the Capital"). So yeah...this series has its roots in Japanese literature far more than it does in films.
The movie is very ambitious in that it attempts to adapt the first four books of the series (1000 pages covering 20 years of history) to the screen in only a 2.5 hour time span! So if the story feels like it's moving along too fast; it's because there's WAY too much ground to cover. For example the characters that populate the story will not have much identity unless you know their historical origins (many of them are based on real famous people who lived during that time period) and their roles in the original novel.
The main problem is the film is that it wants to be a profoundly entertaining blockbuster, but doesn't know how to properly balance the exposition and entertainment value. From the moody overblown intro sequence with its stirring Wagner-esque orchestral score to the explosive pyrotechnics filled finale, it's clear the movie was looking to cash in on big budget Hollywood SPFX extravaganzas like ALIENS and POLTERGEIST. But the source material it's adapting is extremely dense and simply unfit for such a production. The world the story is creating is too big, and the film simply does not give enough time or background introducing the audience into it. The only way this movie can be really enjoyed is as a supplement to the original novel, but since that has never been translated, English speakers are kind of screwed. And despite the budget, the SPFX also really need some refinement too; even for the time, some of the effects were terribly primitive. Thus, I cannot lie, but to many people the movie simply will NOT be a satisfying experience.
But I love it.
For one thing, it's a unique film. When it comes to evaluating Japanese live action films, there seems to be a "curse" in the standards of evaluation that the people always evaluating always insist upon looking at them through the lens of strickly defined categories. A Japanese movie must either be a cheesy special effects monster movie romp, a gorgeous period piece intended for the artsy crowd, a disturbing slice of J-horror, etc. When a film attempts to be more than one of these things, the combination generally proves too much for Western viewers and the movie has trouble finding an audience outside of Japan. This is part of the reason why movies like Hiroshi Inagaki's THE THREE TREASURES or Kon Ichikawa's PRINCESS FROM THE MOON have trouble justifying English releases despite having box office appeal in their native land...Western audiences simply don't know how to categorize them. Are they cheesy fantasy films or artsy period pieces?
TOKYO: THE LAST MEGALOPOLIS commits to the ultimate task tries to be all three of the aforementioned genres. Many of the guys responsible for this flick also were responsible for other classic J-horror and Japanese SPFX flicks, but here they're dealing with something quite different. Although advertised as a horror flick by misleading Western advertising, I should assert that it's really a genre-bender of a movie: a horror, fantasy, science fiction, and historical fiction film all at once. Thus you get a few scares, a lot of whimsical fantasy, and even some education to boot. It really tries to be different from its kin with its anachronistic mixture of the historical, mythical, and scientific; which is part of the reason why it has major trouble finding a Western audience (again partly accounting for the low rating here on Flixster). Regardless of the execution, you can't deny that the production is an incredibly ambitious one that tries to separate itself from the crowd and that's why I love it.
A lot of money was spent on this movie, and that's no more apparent than the meticulously constructed costumes and sets (an entire 150 meter avenue was reconstructed, buildings, people, cars and all, for use in the movie). The movie just goes to great lengths to recreate Tokyo as it was during the 1920's.
I'm also quite serious about the parallels I find with this film and John Boorman's Excalibur--both are fantasy films helmed by directors with uneven track records and stylistic eccentricities (John Boorman and Akio Jissoji), both feature epic stories which take place over several years, both feature some great classical actors (Nicol Williamson, Patrick Stewart, Shintaro Katsu, Ko Nishimura, etc.) in primary and supporting roles, both films have make heavy use of classical music for key dramatic points, both feature stories which are darker modern representations of classic mythology, and both are visually sumptuous, romanticized views of the past.
The horror is borrowed from classic vampire movies such as F.W. Murnau's NOSFERATU and the Hammer films. There is also some influence from more modern supernatural thrillers such as EXORCIST. Kyusaku Shimada, the actor who plays the main villain, became famous overnight due to his performance here. Imagine Christopher Lee's "Dracula" with a monstrous chin and bodily movements reminiscent of Max Schreck and you will get something akin to his portrayal of the villain in this movie.
And apparently I wasn't alone. The movie itself was a box office hit in Japan when in it was released. Some magazines even went so far as to call it the "best Japanese science fiction production of all time" (wow...) Many contemporary stars of Japanese cinema got their start here and owe a lot to this movie.
But that doesn't translate into immediate recommendation over here. For various reasons (especially the lack of the source material's availability), the film is quite difficult to recommend to Westerners and I would not pressure anyone to watch it.
On the other hand, if you want something different...an uneven historical fantasy epic that challenges you with an overabundance of modern Japanese history and classic Japanese (and Chinese) folklore references, then by all means give this film a try. :)
*originally posted on IMDB
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
02/11/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Japanese fantasy horror set in the early 20th century about an evil sorcerer hellbent on destroying Tokyo. It's an ok film and was Japan's biggest movie production in its day with its elaborate sets and special effects. The big problem here is that it tries to fit the content of four novels into a two hour film and it all feels rushed and compressed. The story takes place over a 20 year period but it felt like it was only 5 days! It entertains at times though, but it could have been better overall.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
02/24/23
Full Review
Audience Member
A great old fashioned supernatural good vs evil movie of a dark wizard Kato is trying to awaken a sleeping warrior Lord Masakado through magic to destroy Tokyo as people are moving away from ancient religion towards modernity. A group of white wizards and scientists band together using magic and technology to save their city from this evil. The special effects may look dated compared to today (very Ray Harryhausen) but the sets showing Tokyo in the 1920's look fantastic. The only problem with the story is it tries to cover too much and there are various side plots which may confuse the viewer but overall I throoughly enjoyed this movie.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
01/20/23
Full Review
Audience Member
A great old fashioned supernatural good vs evil movie of a dark wizard Kato is trying to awaken a sleeping warrior Lord Masakado through magic to destroy Tokyo as people are moving away from ancient religion towards modernity. A group of white wizards and scientists band together using magic and technology to save their city from this evil. The special effects may look dated compared to today (very Ray Harryhausen) but the sets showing Tokyo in the 1920's look fantastic. The only problem with the story is it tries to cover too much and there are various side plots which may confuse the viewer but overall I throoughly enjoyed this movie.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
02/19/23
Full Review
Audience Member
A rambling epic of Japanese-ness with awful picture quality and dated special effects. I'm sure if I knew what was going on, it would be more enjoyable.
It's sort of like The Dark Crystal combined with The Exorcist overlaid onto a Harryhausen historical epic.
Rated 2/5 Stars •
Rated 2 out of 5 stars
01/19/23
Full Review
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