View Larger Image |
Onmyoji (Special Edition) Actors: Mansai Nomura, Hideaki Ito, Hiroyuki Sanada Director: Yojiro Takita Number of Items: 1 Format: Color, Widescreen, Dolby Audience Rating: R (Restricted) Running Time: 176 minutes Studio: Geneon Entertainment Product Group: DVD Release Date: 2003-08-12 Buy from Amazon |
 "..."Onmyoji is kind of a campy supernatural action movie. The acting is pretty terrible but tolerable, the story likewise, and the sfx and editing are a bit worse. It's a bit sad because it has an interesting premise and lots of interesting myth to draw from. The early scenes have a nice casual, slightly episodic flow, but get gunked up pretty quickly with forced plot movements and cliche scenarios and characters. Despite the disappointemnt, it's an ok way to kill two hours, and maybe a bit more interesting than the typical action movie, but iwouldn't recommend purchase or even rental. "Campy rendition of legendary subjects"The question here is if you can get past the campiness of this particular rendition. I originally purchased this while at Kinokuniya because I loved the miniseries version of the whole Abe no Seimei legends from (I think) Fuji Television. Although that production had a lower budget, I found that it was better written and soundly produced with better acting for an overall rather good retelling of these fun and compelling sword & sorcery epics from the Heian period. I had several problems with this rendition. Overall I liked it mostly because I love old tales of the Onmyoji, and I felt that although the treatment of the story was almost Godzilla featurette-esque. Seimei appears here as a omniscient superhero complete with smiling arms-akimbo stance a la those old black & white Superman serials save for the foppish, girlish demeanor given to Seimei by the actor who plays him. Overall, if you're not looking for a Kurosawa-esque voyage of cinematic mastery, you might like Onmyoji as long as you liked "Creature Double Feature" on Channel 56 when you were younger.  "A wonderful fairy tale"Onmyoji is an awesome movie if you go at it in the way of a fairy tale. The plot is great, there is also a lot of storylines to follow to keep the audience busy. The special effects aren't great, but the battle between good and evil is enough to keep you interested. "Cool flick"I have no idea what these people are complaining about. This movie is exactly what it was meant to be. Saying this is campy is like saying Excalibur was campy. It's a fantasy movie. I thought the wire acting was a little old-school and the butterfly woman was goofy but it was a pretty good movie through and through. I would only recommend buying it to true lovers of fantasy and Japanese movies but most other could rent it and enjoy it. "Great learning"In order to appreciate this movie, you have to know that the whole Onmyoji story is not just written by someone for this time. It is based on a true story(!) in 8th Century Japan. The charactors and stories are from the one of the oldest records written in Japanese. Those guys were existed then, doing those miracles in daily life. It is so interesting to learn about Japanese beliefs and religious activities in old times, which lead us to understand what the bases of them today. Also, you should know that the main actor is a "prince" of "NOH Dance" which is one of the most ancient art forms in Japan. This is why his movment is not at all like other actors but with a special NOH technique. Overall, this is really a great Japanese movie. Should be more introduced to foreign countries since it represents depth and difference of their culture. |
