Big Man Japan (2007)
"Dai-Nihonjin" (original title)

An eccentric man aged about 40 lives alone in a decrepit house in Tokyo. He periodically transforms into a giant, about 30 meters tall, and defends Japan by battling similarly sized ... See full summary »

Director:

Hitoshi Matsumoto

Writers:

Hitoshi Matsumoto, Mitsuyoshi Takasu

Stars:

Hitoshi Matsumoto, Riki Takeuchi, Ua

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Hitoshi Matsumoto	...	Masaru Daisatô / Dai-Nihonjin
Riki Takeuchi	...	Haneru-no-jû
Ua	...	Manager Kobori
Ryûnosuke Kamiki	...	Warabe-no-jû
Haruka Unabara	...	Shimeru-no-jû
Tomoji Hasegawa	...	Interviewer / Director
Itsuji Itao	...	Female Niou-no-jû
Hiroyuki Miyasako	...	Stay With Me
Takayuki Haranishi	...	Male Niou-no-jû
Daisuke Miyagawa	...	Super Justice
Takuya Hashimoto	...	Midon
Taichi Yazaki	...	Daisatô's Grandfather
Shion Machida	...	Daisatô's Ex-wife
Atsuko Nakamura	...	Bar Proprietress Azusa
Daisuke Nagakura	...	Daisatô's Grandfather - Younger

Storyline

An eccentric man aged about 40 lives alone in a decrepit house in Tokyo. He periodically transforms into a giant, about 30 meters tall, and defends Japan by battling similarly sized monsters that turn up and destroy buildings. The giant and the monsters are computer-generated.

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Plot Keywords:

monster | giant | japan | daughter | life | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Sci-Fi

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sci-fi action and crude humor

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [us] Shochiku [jp]

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

2 June 2007 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Big Man Japan

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$7,133 (USA) (15 May 2009)

Gross:

$40,257 (USA) (7 August 2009)

Company Credits

Production Co:

RealProduct, Yoshimoto Kogyo Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min 113 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Featured in The Rotten Tomatoes Show: Star Trek/Rudo y Cursi/Next Day Air (2009)

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Soundtracks

"Fureai"
Music by Taku Izumi
Lyrics by Keisuke Yamakawa
Performed by Masatoshi Nakamura

User Reviews

Serious Satire

It's weird that this movie is portrayed as a comedy because this is actually a serious film for the most part. It's a mockumentary, but it's played as completely serious, not like Spinal Tap. The movie takes its premise very seriously. It's actually a pretty sad film, despite its comedic portrayal in the trailer. It's a very quiet film, almost introspective at times. It's an observance of Japanese culture and how they don't really like giant monsters anymore...but in this world, the giant monsters still exist. And Daisuke is unappreciated as such. Very cool film, but I didn't find it quite as uproariously hilarious as it's portrayed. That's what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn't what I got. Not that that was a bad thing! I just didn't get what I was expecting at all.

All in all a good film. The ending is pretty ridiculous and it moves slowly at times, but it was a rather deep film, and when it tried to be funny, it definitely hit its mark.