Orochi, the Eight-Headed Dragon (1994)

Well, I must say the design for Orochi was pretty nice. The movie however? Not so much. I felt more like I was watching a historical fiction, then I felt like I was watching an episode of power rangers. The movie focused too much on the "evil gods" and "sacred powers" and such much more than the creature. The movie had three main monsters (not including the phoenix) which included a Lava creature, a sea monster, and of course Orochi, the eight headed dragon. The movie title and even the cover of my VHS copy (call me old school) focus on the dragon, but the dragon doesn't even make his appearance until after 80% or more of the film is already over. Not to mention the fact that when Yamato takes his Godly giant samurai robot thing form, he finishes the dragon off within all of 2 minutes. I mean, this movie is extremely hard to come by these days and I was interested in seeing it ever since I was a kid. It was a real disappointment for me, but hey, that's not to say for everyone. I will mention though that this movie drags, oh god does it drag, it was one of the longest Toho films I think I've seen. Well, maybe it just felt longer because I was bored. Who knows?

It's more than just the 8-headed dragon! This is a GREAT movie, not just a "monster movie"! It has great action with (laser)swords and walking and fighting in the air and against walls! There's also a lot of magic present in this movie and there is more than only the 8-headed dragon! (I would call this movie: Magic,Monsters and Orochi-the 8-headed Dragon). A nice reference to the (new)Gamera movies is the amulet of the prince, it's the same as the girl who can talk to Gamera. In conclusion: good story, great action/monsters and magic, good colours, good acting.

I enjoyed this movie quite a bit. It had some really nice special effects. It was a fun fantasy movie in the same vein as the US Sinbad movies complete with a Dragon. I first saw this as a Japanese import with English subtitles and was glad when it was released here in the US last year on video with English dubbing. The US video title is "Orochi: The Eight Headed Dragon". A fun way to waste a few hours and get lost in your imagination.

This movie starts out with a great plot and lots of action, it has good special effects, character development isn't all that good. But you still seem to get a bit of "presence" toward each character. This movie would have been one of the best movies I have ever seen, that is if it didn't fall into a "slump". This "slump" beginning after the return from their quest, the movie takes a unseen turn into space, and starts going downhill from there. But still a great movie.