Any good Japanese movies to watch?

hi all, i just finished watching 'Cyborg She 2008' and found it awesome. i really liked the style of it. it's the first time i've ever seen a Japanese movie and was wondering if there are any other Japanese sci-fi movies i could check out?

thanks

 

The film is actually called "Cyborg She" in English. 2008 is the year in which it was released.

 

Not Sci Fi but pretty much any movie directed by Akira Kurosawa is a good bet. Ran, Yojimbo, and The Seven Samurai stand out off the top of my head.

 

I have seen all of these and will rate them to my tastes (1 thru 10):

Gunhed, a stylistically cool, but medicore story and acting action movie(1989):6.5 for style

Gantz, live action version of the anime(2011). Violent: 6

Battleship Yamato(2010) Better than the Star Wars prequels. 8.5

Avalon(2001)In a future world, young people are increasingly becoming addicted to an illegal (and potentially deadly) battle simulation game called Avalon. 7

Returner(2002) After an alien invasion threatens to annihilate the human race, a young Japanese girl, named Milly (Anne Suzuki), travels back in time from 2084 to October 2002, and enlists the reluctant aid of skilled Tokyo gunman, named Miyamoto (Takeshi Kaneshiro), to discover and prevent the start of the war. 7.5

Casshern(2004)Live-action sci-fi movie based on a 1973 Japanese animé of the same name: 7

Solar Crisis(1990) Japanese financed production epic with many US stars. It sounds better than it is. 4

Death Note(2006)A battle between the world's 2 greatest minds begins when Light Yagami finds the Death Note, a notebook with the power to kill, and decides to rid the world of criminal. 6

TO: Elliptical Orbit & Symbiotic Planet(2009) CGI http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/rev...t-and-symbiotic-planet/dvd/blu-ray-combo-pack 8

Planzet(2010): Some of the best mecha CGI ever seen. 6.5

Vexille: Japan, 2077: A female agent named Vexille is dispatched to Tokyo to investigate whether Japanese are developing robotic technology, which has been banned by the U.N. due to its potential threat to humankind. 7

 

thanks a lot bro. i'll make sure i check them out soon. i'll probably watch 'battleship yamamoto' first. really appreciate your post!

 

One worth watching with a Philip K. Dick slant to it is

Ikigami: Death Notice.

It's about a world where to keep society on the straight and narrow, at a certain point between the age of 18 and 24, one in 1000 of Japan's citizens is randomly selected for death. They get 24 hours notice to settle their affairs, and the film follows one of the civil servants who delivers the Death Notices as he goes about his work, and the people he encounters.

K-20: The Legend of the Black Mask

Superhero movie set in an alternate forties Japan where WWII never happened.

Fish Story

An obscure 7" single links four time periods together, the story of a failed punk band in 1975, a ghost story in 1982, a hostage crisis in 2009, and the end of the world looming in 2012.

The 20th Century Boys Trilogy

Brilliant apocalyptic manga adaptation set across several decades.

Casshern

Pure style over substance, digital backlot pretentiousness in the style of Sky Captain and 300.

Battle Royale

Classic movie, a class of schoolkids taken to an island and set to kill each other till only one is left standing as a disciplinary measure.

The Sinking of Japan

The Japanese can do apocalyptic movies too Mr Emmerich!

The Time Traveller

A recent Live Action remake of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, I think you'll like this if you liked Cyborg She

Tetsujin 28

Live action giant robot movie, cheesy, crap, but fun.

Not sci-fi, but fantastic movies well worth watching from Japan...

Kamikaze Girls
Confessions
Cold Fish
Ping Pong
Dororo
Villain
Turtles Are Suprisingly Fast Swimmers
Sawako Decides
Quirky Guys and Gals
Memories of Matsuko
Confessions of a Dog
Kakera: A Piece of Our Life
Instant Swamp
Lala Pipo
Love Exposure
Fine, Totally Fine
Funuke, Show Some Love You Losers
Memories of Matsuko
Survive Style 5+
Cutie Honey (live action)
9 Souls
Bright Future
Bullet Ballet
Death Note and Death Note 2: The Last Name
Mushishi
Kikujiro
Wild Life
Azumi and Azumi 2
Chaos
Ichi
Kitaro
Kitaro and the Millennium Curse
Black Belt
Higanjima: Escape From Vampire Island
Chaos

b-movies, shit but good, a * next to ones I really like

Robogeisha
252 - Sign of Life
Alien vs. Ninja*
Chanbara Beauty
Chanbara Striptease
Hard Revenge Milly*
Hard Revenge Milly Bloody Battle*
Rogue Ninja
Ninja Girl*
Pandemic
Samurai Commando
Tokyo Gore School
Yoyo Girl Cop

Tell me if you want any anime movies recommended...

 

I was going to mention Space Battleship Yamato, but I see that you beat me to it. This is the live-action version of the animated show which was known in the US as Star Blazers. ( There are certain changes to the plot and some of the characters. )

Though they are not science fiction, I would also cite Akira Kurosawa films such as Yojimbo and The Hidden Fortress ( Kakushi-toride no san-akunin ), both of which influenced the original Star Wars.

 

Its not a Japanese film, but South Korean, but i heartily recommend 'The Host'.

 

Besides the Kurosawa and Miyazaki films already mentioned, I'd recommend the following:

Kore-eda Hirokazu: After Life, Nobody Knows, Hana, Still Walking and Air Doll.

Aoyama Shinji: Eureka

Nakano Hiroyuki: Samurai Fiction

Masaki Mori: Barefoot Gen

None of them are scifi, however.

 

No mention of either version of Grave of the Fireflies?
And what about the various chapters of the Kerberos saga (e.g. The Red Spectacles, StrayDog, Jin Roh, ...)?

 

Try "Tampopo". You'll never look at food the same way again. And then you'll be famished for noodles.

Mark

 

Watch the very first "Godzilla" movie from 1954. It's a masterpiece. I've always had a soft spot for the "Tetsuo The Iron Man" films also.

 

Anything by Miyazaki - Grave of the Fireflies and Spirited Away are at the top of my list. Castle in the Sky has especially mind-bending visuals.

Most of the Japanese movies I like are not sf/f, go figure...

After Life - oddball movie about life after death, but not in an sf/f way.

Departures - another excellent movie about death.

Kwaidan - four stories based on Japanese ghost stories, very cool movie (and thanks for reminding me of this, I'm due for a rewatch.)

The Twilight Samurai and The Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi - two very different take on the genre.

Tampopo - really different.

Akira Kurasawa's Dreams - really really different.

Ugetsu, Ikiru, Harakiri - intense human drama.

Hidden Fortress, Ran, Rashomon, Seven Samurai, Yojimbo - obvious suggestions, but just in case you haven't seen these already, they should be at the top of your list.

 

is 'the time traveler' an animated movie?

i'm mainly looking for 'real' movies.

 

Outlaw Star.

The adventures of an outlaw crew of an advanced starship. Its a sci fy-fantasy starring a pirate-smuggler crew and unlike many japanese sci fi it has different alien species in it, like Farscape or Andromeda.

8 out of 10.

 

Godzilla vs the Smog monster, how the Oscars missed it I don't know

 

I thought it was nice to look at. Subtitles made no sense at all though, and in places were just totally missing, I couldn't understand half of what was going on.

There's a few good sci-fis come out of South Korea as well. I recommend The Host (monster movie), and Natural City (Blade Runner - esque sci-fi).

 

Yeah, it's live action

Here it is in Amazon. Apparently it's out next year in the US.

I watched the UK release last year.

All the movies I mentioned are live action, although some are based on manga, and have anime equivalents too. It's easy to get mixed up with the Death Note movies for instance.