Free Resources of Rare Movies
Japanese
Wicked City / Yôjû tosh (妖獣都市) (1987)
Dec 31st
There has been peace between the worlds of the mortals and the supernatural for centuries, but the balance is now being threatened. The Radical elements from the Supernatural world are crossing over into the mortal universe for the purpose of destroying the peace forever!
Wings of Honneamise (Ôritsu uchûgun Oneamisu no tsubasa) (1987)
Dec 31st
On a far-off planet, a Kingdom tries to launch the planet’s first manned spacecraft. This ten year old project not only faces funding and technical problem, but also is subject to political conspiracy and the neighboring Republic’s aggression. It’s all up to Shilo, the first spaceman to be, his friends and their faith to make the space program a success.
A Taxing Woman / Marusa no onna (マルサの女) (1987)
Dec 31st
Ryoko Itakura is a government tax agent who has just landed a big promotion. Her first assignment is to catch wheeler-dealer Hideki Gondo. She has a tough job, since in Japan tax evasion is an art and Gondo is, in effect, Rembrandt. Her job is complicated by a growing sympathy for the rogue and by political pressure to lay off.
Purojekuto A-ko (プロジェクトA子3 シンデレララプソディ) (1986)
Dec 31st
Project A-ko is the typical love triangle of three school girls and their confrontations with aliens, giant robots, and women who look like burly men.
Fist of the North Star / Hokuto no Ken (北斗の拳) (1986)
Dec 31st
After a nuclear holocaust tears the world apart, mankind is forced to the harshness of not only the oppression of others who are much more powerful, but the dead earth which seems to be getting worse with every passing moment. But a savior has risen from the ashes, a man who will defeat those who would torment the weak and make the world a livable place once more. A man named Kenshiro…..
Koneko monogatari (子猫物語) (1986)
Dec 31st
The story of two animals and their adventures. Milo, the cat, and Otis, the dog, are two animals who grew up together on the same farm. One day, the two are separated and begin a journey to find each other. The adventurous, and often perilous quest finds the two animals traveling across mountains, plains, and snow-covered lands searching for one another.
Castle in the Sky / Tenkû no shiro Rapyuta (天空の城ラピュタ) (1986)
Dec 31st
A young boy stumbles into a mysterious girl who floats down from the sky. The girl, Sheeta, was chased by pirates, army and government secret agents. In saving her life, they begin a high flying adventure that goes through all sorts of flying machine, eventually searching for Sheeta’s identity in a floating castle of a lost civilization.
Lonely heart / Sabishinbō (さびんしんぼう) (1985)
Dec 30th
Lonely and love-struck, high-school student Hiroki pursues one girl but another one mysteriously appears in his life. Is she a figment of his lonely psyche, or real? An intricate triangle develops, and the viewer can’t quite be sure what is happening until the whole story is neatly resolved at the end.
Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985)
Dec 30th
A fictionalized account in four segments of the life of Japan’s celebrated twentieth-century author Yukio Mishima. Three of the segments parallel events in Mishima’s life with his novels (The Temple of the Golden Pavilion (Kinkaku-ji), Kyoko’s House, and Runaway Horses), while the fourth depicts 25 November 1970, “The Last Day”…
Tampopo (タンポポ) (1985)
Dec 30th
In this humorous paean to the joys of food, the main story is about trucker Goro who rides into town like a modern Shane to help Tampopo set up the perfect fast-food noodle restaurant. Woven into this main story are a number of smaller stories about the importance of food, ranging from a gangster who mixes hot sex with food to an old lady terrorizing a shopkeeper by compulsive squeezing of his wares.
Ran (1985)
Dec 30th
A story of greed, a lust for power, and ultimate revenge. The Great Lord Hidetora Ichimonji has decided to step aside to make room for the younger blood of his three sons, Taro, Jiro, and Saburo, the Lord’s only wish now being to live out his years as an honored guest in the castle of each of his sons in turn. While the older two sons flatter their father, the youngest son attempts to warn him of the folly of expecting the three sons to remain united; enraged at the younger son’s attempt to point out the danger, the father banishes him. True to the younger son’s warning, however, the oldest Son soon conspires with the second son to strip The Great Lord of everything, even his title.
Angel’s Egg (天使のたまご) (1985)
Dec 30th
A young girl is the sole protector of a very precious, large egg. her lair is near a large, abandoned, decaying gothic city inhabited by restless shadows. a mysterious young man arrives one day, and eventually wins her trust. they converse sparsely about obscure philosophical and theological topics, and she shows him some astonishing fossils and works of historic and scientific art. the ending is a bit shocking, and very ambiguous, leaving many unanswered questions and tons of room for interpretation.
Urusei Yatsura 2: Byûtifuru dorîmâ (1984)
Dec 30th
Lum is a cheerful alien who now lives with her human fiancée, Ataru and her goods friends on earth. The night before the school festival, the world begins to change, things seem to be repeating themselves. Gradually, all necessary functions come to a stop, people disappearing, streets deserting, buildings decaying except Lum and her friends who live ever happier. When they begin to probe the truth, they find out it’s somebody’s dream that is changing the world…
Macross: Do You Remember Love? (超時空要塞マクロス 愛・おぼえていますか) (1984)
Dec 30th
In the next century, a reconfiguring ship (think “Transformer” with a pilot) called Macross carries fifty thousand refugees within its hold as it returns to Earth pursued by giant humanoid warriors. A young pilot in the military named Hikaru rescues his idol, the beautiful singer Lynn Minmay, from the giants as they break through the ship’s hull during a concert-during which the giants are shocked to see females on a male vessel-and they are trapped for days in an aft hold of the ship. After their rescue, Hikaru and Minmay continue on good terms until a joyride in a fighter trainer gets Hikaru, his squadron leader, Minmay’s brother, Minmay herself and the tough female operations controller captured by the giants, who grill them on how males and females can survive together without fighting. The giants’ female counterparts arrive to wreak havoc on their male foes, and in the ensuing confusion…
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (Kaze no tani no Naushika) (1984)
Dec 30th
In the far future, man has destroyed the Earth in the “Seven Days of Fire”. Now, there are small pockets of humanity that survive. One pocket is the Valley of Wind where a princess named Nausicaä tries to understand, rather than destroy the Toxic Jungle. Note that the old US release titled Warriors of the Wind is an entirely kiddiefied version which edits the original movie heavily, thus creating an entirely different story. -Andre
W’s Tragedy / W no higeki (Wの悲劇) (1984)
Dec 30th
Young college student Shizuka is given the opportunity to act in a stage play with professionals. Shizuka is willing to go to great lengths to master this role of a lifetime…
The Funeral / Ososhiki (お葬式) (1984)
Dec 30th
At the beginning of the film the father-in-law of the protagonist dies unexpectedly of a heart attack. The remainder of the film is episodic, moving from one incident to another over the course of the three-day funeral, which is held (as is customary) in the home. These incidents contrast old ways and new ways, young and old, ritual ceremony and true feelings, often comically, but sometimes with real poignancy.
Macarthur’s Children / Setouchi shonen yakyu dan (瀬戸内少年野球団) (1984)
Dec 30th
In this drama at the end of World War II, the inhabitants of a small Japanese fishing village must come to terms with their nation’s defeat and the sudden occupation of General MacArthur and his troops.
Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (戦場のメリークリスマス) (1983)
Dec 30th
In 1942 British soldier Jack Celliers comes to a japanese prison camp. The camp is run by Yonoi, who has a firm belief in discipline, honour and glory. In his view, the allied prisoners are cowards when they chose to surrender instead of commiting suicide. One of the prisoners, interpreter John Lawrence, tries to explain the japanese way of thinking, but is considered a traitor.
