Monday, November 5, 2012

GUNHED: Toho's High-Concept SFX Film Is Feted in Tokyo

Open your wallets, folks, there's plenty of opportunities to buy, buy, buy!

November 3 may have been Godzilla's birthday, but the festivities were shared with another Big G from Toho Studios. Following the events of Godzilla's birthday celebration (which -- I promise! -- I will eventually get to), a bonus event celebrating Koichi Kawakita's upcoming Gunhed book (due out in January) took place at the Cine Pathos Theater in Ginza.

I had to resist my immediate urge to buy this Gunhed shirt. Say what you will about the movie, but that's one cool shirt!

Prior to the screening of the film, a talk show featuring SFX director Makoto Kamiya, Gunhed composer Toshiyuki Honda, and Koichi Kawakita (who directed the special effects for Gunhed) was held. One thing I noticed that I certainly wasn't expecting was that the crowd for the Gunhed event was a bit larger than the one for Godzilla! The Big Guy just can't catch a break in Japan.

Makoto Kamiya, Toshiyuki Honda, and Koichi Kawakita talk about all things Gunhed.

An interesting bit of Gunhed history was briefly on display. Honda-san brought with him the master tape of the Gunhed soundtrack, a picture of which is below.


The talk show lasted quite a while, which was followed by an autograph signing. By this time, I had already gone over-budget, so I didn't purchase any autographs. During this time, I went with my friend Yasushi to an Italian restaurant for some food before the film started.


Ultimately, I arrived back a bit late, so I missed the first few minutes. Overall, I was impressed by the SFX (they've held up very well over the years), I enjoyed the soundtrack, and Brenda Bakke did an excellent job as Sgt. Nim. That said, I still have no idea what the heck is going on in this movie! Granted, I did miss the beginning, but I've never been able to follow the story in any of the times I've seen it. If I'm not mistaken, I think this is the first time I've watched the movie in its entirety (more or less) since the late '90s. It's a very flawed film, but there is interesting stuff in there.

2 comments:

  1. Seems "Gunhed" is getting a lot of attention at many of this year's events... :)
    I haven't seen the movie, but getting an "Alan Smithee" means that something went wrong?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Trust me, even after you see it, it'll still feel like you haven't seen it!

    ReplyDelete