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Shinkaiju Raiga
Raiga: God of the Monsters
Raiga: The Monster from the Deep Sea
Japan 2009
produced by Yutaka Arai, Shinpei Hayashiya, Atsuko Iwai (executive) for Crossroads
directed by Shinpei Hayashiya
starring Yukijiro Hotaru, Miyu Oriyama, Mao Urata, Manami Enosawa, Hanji Yanagiya, Tokimatsu Sanyutei, Makoto Inamiya, Ryan Davis, Kazuo Egumi, Tamanosuke Gomeiro, Hanahei Hayashiya, Kimpei Hayashiya, Kyuzo Hayashiya
written by Shinpei Hayashiya, music by Keiichiro Kitazono, special effects by Shuichi Kokumai, visual effects by Kazuya Hayashi
Raiga
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Available on DVD! To buy, click on link(s) below and help keep this site afloat (commissions earned) |
Always make sure of DVD-compatibility!!!
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Mysterious carnivorous flying fish are witnessed in Tokyo-district
Asakusa who tend to kill and eat people should they come too close to the
waterfront. Then the area is plagued by lightning, and finally a giant
dinosaur-like monster, Raiga, emerges from the sea and starts to lay the
city into ruins. The military under Commander Kito (Makoto Inamiya) reacts
as the military would and bombs the beast, laying even more of the city
into ruins in the process, and at first it seems to work, as the monster
goes down and perishes ... but two months later Raiga re-emerges, and it's
not in a good mood. Again, the military bombards the monster, but this
time Raiga isn't that easily deterred, destroys tanks and fighter jets by
the dozen and even Japan's ultimate weapon, the super-tank Kamikaze. It's
only when another giant monster shows up to mark its territory and the two
get into a fight that Asakusa is freed of its monster problem - but
there's little of Asakusa left ... A "human" (and rather
comical) subplot revolves around a bumbling father and widower (Yukijiro
Hotaru) who tries (but often fails) to be a good dad to his three
daughters (Miyu Oriyama, Mao Urata, Manami Enosawa) while trying to hide
his new girlfriend from them, and his two equally bumbling best friends
(Hanji Yanagiya, Tokimatsu Sanyutei). Made independently on a
fairly low budget, this is actually a surprisingly entertaining kaiju
movie which of course has been inspired by the Godzilla-series
(down to the monster design, really), but on the plus side it doesn't take
itself too seriously without ever going full moronic, its monster effects
are mostly enjoaybly old school (think man in monster suit and lots of
miniature work), and its human subplot, even if of no consequence to the
monster saga, is light-weight and relatable enough to not stand in the way
of the main action. Not a great movie mind you, but great fun for all old
school kaiju fans.
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