Paul Magne Haakonsen Only in Japan......Would something as obscure and crazy like this see the light of day!"Big Man Japan" ("Dai-Nihonjin") is about a rather plain middle-aged man named Masaru Daisatô (played by Hitoshi Matsumoto) who is capable of turning into a giant in order to fight the monsters that threaten Japan. However, the giant, despite his efforts to help people, is disliked and openly ridiculed by the people he is supposed to be protecting and helping.The only thing more surreal than Masaru Daisatô's hair, were the monsters that he was fighting. I will say that the Japanese have a weird sense of imagination. These monsters were funny and actually well enough made. Some very bizarre creations here that you are guaranteed not to see anywhere else."Big Man Japan" has some good enough effects, although the CGI could be spotted a mile away. But still, it worked out well enough. And to bring the movie from strange and bizarre into being just downright absurd was the ending, where the superheroes showed up. And just when you thought you had seen it all...The good thing about "Big Man Japan" is that it is a spoof on the monster genre that has been making its way out of Japan. And not taking itself serious, in the regards as monster sightings have been less and less in recent years, as they said in the movie.I didn't really enjoy "Big Man Japan" and found it to be somewhat of a struggle to get through. But I am sure that a movie as odd and bizarre as this would have instantly found a following of fans, because the movie is unique, I will say that much. I have seen worse Japanese movies, and as such, then I am rating this a mediocre 5 out of 10 rating.

dragokin After watching the trailer i really wanted to see Big Man Japan. However, it quickly turned out that i was a victim of advertising. Not that the best moments were used, but the only moments worth watching were in that trailer.Although i'm curious and ready to explore the Seventh Art, it was difficult to find anything that would attract my attention. The situation was even more sensible, since i talked in some people around me to watch the movie and had to explain that we're watching a comedy.In a way, i'm giving two stars to the trailer. The movie itself is not watchable.

mr-chirpsky No skill went into any aspect of this incredibly stupid excuse for a movie. There were no actors, assuming an actor is someone who actually acts.The dialog, as evidenced by the subtitles (which I eventually had to turn off), must have been a transcript of a fight between severely mentally retarded pituitary cases. Finally, the animation was utterly unbelievable. The one star I gave this movie was for the little bit of creativity spent thinking up these comic book rejects. Don't waste your time on trash of this sort.Confucius say, "Plenty of worthwhile movies you're time will be better spent watching."

MartinHafer This idea of a mockumentary about a giant Japanese super-hero who fights giant monsters sounds like a sure-fire winner. Oddly, however, the film is highly uneven and in parts amazingly dull. As a result, I give it a very qualified recommendation--very qualified.The main problem with the project is that the first 2/3 of the film moves at a glacial pace. Hitoshi Matsumoto (who also directed the film) plays a depressed and totally uninteresting hero who fights mostly dumb and uninteresting monsters. It's nothing like the exciting monster fights of the 1950s and 60s in Toho's Godzilla/Mothra/Rodan/Gamera films. In fact, the whole thing is so dull that the Japanese public hate this hero and think he's a joke. The idea of this being the case isn't bad--but it just goes on and on and on with no letup until the last 20 minutes or so of the film. Then, the film perks up considerably when a decent monster arrives---and so do some BIG surprises. In fact, had the rest of the film been like the last portion, it would have earned a 9 or 10.My advice is that if you are looking for a totally kooky Japanese film, this is not a good place to start. Try Miike's "Happiness of the Katakuris"--which is probably the funniest film of its kind you could ever see. It's every bit as strange as "Big Man Japan" but consistently funny throughout. "Big Man", sadly, just has funny moments and could have used a serious editing.