Double the Makai
Title: Makai Tensho
AKA: Samurai Reincarnation
Director: Kinji Fukasaku
Actors: Shin'chi (Sonny) Chiba, Kenji Sawada, Ken Ogata
Year Released: 1981
Genre: Samurai, Action, Horror
See Also: Legend of the Eight Samurai, Ninja Wars
Otaku Alert: Screenwriter Tatsuo Nogami co-wrote a number of films with Kinji Fukasaku, including Shogun's Samurai and Sure Death Revenge.
Title: Makai Tensho
AKA: Samurai Resurrection
Director: Hideyuki Hirayama
Actors: Yosuke Kubozuka, Kumiko Aso, Koichi Sato
Year Released: 2003
Genre: Samurai, Action, Horror
See Also: Samurai Commando 1549, Shinobi, Ashura
Otaku Alert: Screenwriter Satoko Okudera wrote Hideo Nakata's (Ringu) upcoming Kaidan (no relation to Masaki Kobayashi's film of the same name—it's the same in Japanese).
In the interview that accompanies the US release of Kinji Fukasaku's 1981 horror samurai epic, Makai Tensho, Shinichi (Sonny to his American fans) Chiba gushes that this film is in the top three samurai films of all time. All time. So, assuming Seven Samurai and Harakiri are the top two, that makes Makai Tensho better than Yojimbo and Chushingura and… You get the point. What's got Chiba-sama all excited is the fan-fiction-like sword battle between his character, Jubei Yagyu, and Ken Ogata's Musashi Miyamoto, legendary swordsman also portrayed by Toshiro Mifune in the Samurai trilogy (and also, apparently, excluded from the top three). This was undoubtedly also part of the appeal of the source novel, written by Futaro Yamada, who also wrote the novels on which both Shinobi and Ninja Wars are based.
For Kinji Fukasaku, who had pretty much spent 10 years making ultra-pessimistic yakuza movies, the opportunity to have a little fun with some fantasy material probably seemed like a welcome break. The break-neck pace of his '70s films like Battles Without Honor and Humanity has been slowed down to a deliberate, operatic tempo, one that lingers on scenes and allows the special effects—of which there are plenty—to play out. The flying, severed head of Shiro Amakusa Tokisada, fallen leader of the Christian Shimabara rebellion; each of the back stories of the legendary figures that the Satanic Tokisada resurrects to help him take down the shogun; various political machinations—all unspool at a slow, Noh-like pace.
Actually, Makai Tensho is pretty slow. But when it decides it wants to kick ass, kick ass it does. That Sonny Chiba-endorsed fight between Jubei Yagyu and Miyamoto Musashi is worth the price of admission alone, plus you get an unheard of confrontation between Jubei and his father, played by Tomisaburo Wakayama of Lone Wolf and Cub fame—in a burning castle, no less!
The 2003 remake ups the amount of characters as well as the special effects budget, employing computer effects to approximate the Buffy the Vampire Slayer dissolving vampire bit to maximum use. Where the 1981 film took its time, the 2003 version can't seem to get to the end fast enough, with a never-resting soundtrack to prove it.
In its rush to get through the myriad of supporting characters and side plots, however, the film has forgotten two things: to let us in on the story, and to be good. The former first. Great portions of the narrative have seemingly been omitted, assuming (I'm assuming) that the viewer is familiar with the source novel. I've seen the first movie a few times but was still lost while watching the second one. Entire scenes seem to have been cut out; one minute people are walking down a hall, the next they're dying on horseback. As for my latter contention, that the film isn't very good, well, I think I just made my point.
A few noteworthy differences:
Sonny Chiba is a way better Jubei than Koichi Sato, even if Koichi's Jubei is too bad ass to carry a sword. Score for 1981!
The 1981 evil monk Hozoin Inshun is a better pervert than the 2003 one, who only accidentally kills a little girl. Another score for 1981!
The 1981 Tokisada is much more gay than the 2003 Tokisada, obviously in love with Hiroyuki Sanada's (Twilight Samurai) character, while the 2003 Tokisada is much more visual-kei. Check out the white lipstick! Equal points to both teams.
2003 has hotter girls. 1981 has hotter fire. Score, 2003!
1981 has better ninjas. 2003 has better Satanic Christians. Score, 2003!
1981 has Sonny Chiba, Ken Ogata, Tetsuro Tanba, Hiroyuki Sanada, Kenji Sawada, and Tomisaburo Wakayama. 2003 has no one really worth mentioning. Multiple points to 1981!
Verdict: Kinji Fukasaku's film wipes the floor with the 2003 version, except when it comes to Satanism and hot girls. I guess you can't have everything.
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