Review by Brett Homenick

Shortly after Classic Media’s poorly-received DVD releases of five popular kaiju titles hit the shelves of video stores nationwide, anime distributor ADV Films unleashed its own DVD treatment of three Daiei fantasy films on the market. Unlike Classic Media’s unsatisfactory handling of its quintet of Toho extravaganzas, ADV Films’ presentation of the Daimajin trilogy is markedly more professional and respectful, and it even manages to top every other tokusatsu DVD the company has released. Fans who were turned off by the Classic Media debacle will likely find renewed hope in Western companies’ ability to market kaiju eiga once they see for themselves ADV’s quality approach to the Daimajin trilogy.

The three-disc set presents the uncut, letterboxed versions of Daimajin, Return of Daimajin, and Wrath of Daimajin (all 1966) in their original Japanese language with competent English subtitles. Each film comes on its own disc, and the discs proper boast impressive and relevant photographs from the trilogy with suitably-eerie red and black coloring for each. The extras are at a minimum, and aside from the requisite chapter selections, the only special feature is a handful of trailers for various ADV releases. The first disc only contains ADV’s outdated advertisement for its VHS Daimajin releases; the second disc comes complete with four trailers, including ones for Destroy All Monsters and Gamera: Guardian of the Universe; and the third disc, regrettably, is devoid of coming attractions of any kind. The set’s three chapter menus, on the other hand, are arguably the best any stateside company has ever produced for an Asian monster movie. In lieu of simple screen shots to differentiate one chapter from another, ADV goes the extra mile to showcase actual movie clips with each chapter stop in order to allow the viewer to sample a portion of the film from each section.

Although there are several scratches and other minor but recurring flaws in the film print used for Daimajin, the picture quality for the remaining two films is about as perfect as one can realistically hope.  ADV’s widescreen format, in the trilogy’s original aspect ratio, successfully accentuates all three films’ stunning cinematography. In terms of sheer visual quality, only distributors that specialize in film restoration, such as the Criterion Collection, could rival ADV’s impeccable results.

On the negative side, however, the handling of the trilogy’s cast and crew credits leaves much to be desired. For Daimajin and Wrath of Daimajin, ADV’s English-language opening credits are artlessly superimposed on a black screen with no attempt whatsoever made to incorporate them into either movie’s original credits. Conversely, the credits for Return of Daimajin are handled more admirably. Rather than at the beginning, the credits appear at the end of the film, and they scroll across a still shot of the film’s closing view of a snow-capped mountain scape.

The retail price for the set is a bargain, considering that ADV could have conceivably charged the same amount for any one Daimajin DVD and gotten away with it. The three Daimajin movies are among Japan’s most underrated special-effects films, and it’s encouraging to see that ADV Films, through the unfortunately-titled Rubbersuit Pictures, has elected to market the trilogy with due respect. Though you’ll find very little in the way of bonus features, the high-grade presentation of all three films compensates for the lack of supplemental material.

Classic Media, you’ve been warned. The bar has been officially raised!