In a nutshell: A man-sized
squid fights for the Japanese wrestling title.
The Movie:
Every once in a while a movie comes along that just defies description.
One such film is The Calamari Wrestler. What can you say about
movie that has man-sized sea creatures fighting each other in a boxing
ring? While wearing wrestling boots no less. Decidedly odd
and a little off kilter, this film was actually a lot of fun to watch.
The film opens on Taguchi, a young pro-wrestler who in the ring finishing
off opponent to win the national title. As he raises his hard won
belt over his head though, it is snatched out of his hands by a giant squid.
A quick battle ensues, where Taguchi discovers that it is impossible to
put a Full Nelson on someone who doesn't have bones.
Angered over his humiliation, Taguchi wants to fight the squid, whom
the press has dubbed the Calamari Wrestler. The wrestling federation's
crooked owner won't allow Calamari to fight unless he agrees to throw the
fight, something he'd never do.
While this is going on, Taguchi's finance, Miyako, gets a strange feeling
whenever she sees the Calamari Wrestler. He reminds her of her old
boyfriend, wrestler Kan-ichi Iwata, who died a few years ago. Could
this cephalopod be the famed fighter in a new body?
Things get even stranger when the wrestling match is finally set up
and Taguchi enters the ring. No longer a man, the champion has transformed
himself into an octopus. It's a battle for the ages as a giant squid
fights a giant octopus for the Japan Super Pro Wrestling title belt.
No one can accuse this low budget film of being great, or even very
good. The dialog is force, the plot is absurd, and the acting only
occasionally rises to the level of mediocre. Taking that all into
account, this was a fun movie. The secret is that the film is played
straight, they don't try to add a lot of camp or slapstick to the film.
No one seemed to think it's strange that a huge squid is walking down the
street, or that he'd want to be a professional wrestler. There aren't
a lot of overt jokes thrown in, it's the situations themselves that are
humorous. The scene were Calamari is trying to buy some sardines
in a fish market is a riot not because of anything that's said, just because
it's so odd. The same can be said for the love scene between Calimari
and Miyako. I'll leave it at that and let you imagine the rest.
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"I want to have your children."
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Though a lot of the production values of this movie are a bit less than
average, the one thing that they did a splendid job on were the costumes.
These were just great. The foam rubber and latex creations looked
impressive and held up to a lot of abuse. The wrestling scenes were
well staged too, and really tested the limits of the costumes.
The DVD:
Audio:
There's no mention of languages on the case, so some people might be
surprised when they pop this disc in their player and discover that it's
in Japanese with no English dub. I usually prefer the original language,
so this isn't a big deal for me, but they should mention it on the DVD
case. Aside from this omission, the stereo soundtrack sounds about
average. This isn't a very a very dynamic disc, the roar of the crowds
aren't very forceful. The dialog is easy enough to hear though, and
there isn't any hiss or distortion. An adequate soundtrack.
There are optional English subtitles.
Video:
The 1.85:1 widescreen anamorphic display looks pretty good for a low
budget effort. The main problem with the image is that many of the
scenes, especially the exterior shots, have a pink tinge to them.
The blacks aren't as solid as I would like either. Aside from that,
the image is sharp and the level of detail is fine. There is a very
slight grain, but nothing too bad. Digital defects are at a minimum.
Extras:
I was surprised at the quality and quantity of the extras on this disc.
The main bonus item is a making of featurette which runs 22-minutes long.
It shows the actors trying on a rough version of their costumes, as well
as rehearsals and the filming of the movie. There wasn't any narration,
but I still enjoyed it. There is also a still gallery, two trailers
and two TV spots and a music video.
Final Thoughts:
While a lot of people will watch this film and just not get it, fans
of Japanese giant monster films or Mexican wrestling movies will get a
kick out of it. The film is played straight, not for laughs, and
that makes it all the more humorous. Probably the strangest movie
I've watched this year, this gets my Recommendation.
Buy: