Prophecies of Nostradamus 1974

[AllosaurHell]

A huge bummer, it is.

[Anguirus]

I just read about this film, hopefully it arrives on Blu Ray some day.

[MaxRebo320]

I just read about this film, hopefully it arrives on Blu Ray some day.

Well if you just read about it, you oughtta know that notion is highly unlikely, lol.

[Major sssspielberg!]

I need Criterion to drop that Half-Human/Nostradamus two pack they know the public deserves.
How that wasn't spine 1000 I'll never understand

[Godzilla21]

I just read about this film, hopefully it arrives on Blu Ray some day.

As others have said, unlikely.

Still pretty easy to obtain the film if you want to see it in less desirable quality

[MaxRebo320]

I need Criterion to drop that Half-Human/Nostradamus two pack they know the public deserves.
How that wasn't spine 1000 I'll never understand

Only if episode 12 of Ultraseven and all the banned Pokémon episodes are included are bonus features.

[Terasawa]

I need Criterion to drop that Half-Human/Nostradamus two pack they know the public deserves.
How that wasn't spine 1000 I'll never understand

Only if episode 12 of Ultraseven and all the banned Pokémon episodes are included are bonus features.

Might as well throw in the "banned" episode of Operation Mystery to be fair.

[mikelcho]

I need Criterion to drop that Half-Human/Nostradamus two pack they know the public deserves.
How that wasn't spine 1000 I'll never understand

Only if episode 12 of Ultraseven and all the banned Pokémon episodes are included are bonus features.

What banned Pokémon episodes? This is news to me. Please, explain this.

[UltramanGoji]

What banned Pokémon episodes? This is news to me. Please, explain this.

Google it.

[mikelcho]

What banned Pokémon episodes? This is news to me. Please, explain this.

Google it.

Okay, I'll do that.

[HedorahIsBestGirl]

I'm pretty sure that since joining these forums, I've been saying "I really need to watch Prophecies of Nostradamus." Well, last night, I finally did it. And it was quite the experience. Definitely very different from any other Toho sci-fi film I have ever watched, and I think it all comes down to one key factor: it's made for grown-ups. Now, this is not to say that all of Toho's other sci-fi pictures are made for children but I feel that even the darker and more serious entries feature subject matter that is at least appropriate for children, even if they're not the target demographic. If you show this movie to your kids, you're a sick bastard. This is a very dark film that touches on a lot of serious subject matters: pollution, birth defects, terminal illness, overpopulation, starvation, mass suicide, and nuclear war - just to name a few. Oh, and there's sex. Never thought I'd see that in a Toho tokusatsu film.

Prophecies of Nostradamus is an overall well-made film though it's not one I'll be going back to regularly because it's a rather depressing watch. The whole film can really be boiled down to an earnest professor desperately trying to convince humanity to save themselves and watching them continue to destroy themselves instead. I've heard Prophecies compared to Godzilla vs. Hedorah before and that's valid, both because of the obvious focus on pollution and the overall surreal tone and visuals of the film. It's worth noting that I watched the film in poor video quality and while it was subtitled, there were whole sections of dialogue without subs, so I may have missed some things. The atmosphere and the visuals are solid and consistent throughout and the accompanying musical score is quite diverse and always nicely complements what's happening onscreen. The special effects are mostly great, too - the exception being the very fake-looking giant bats. But the fire and water effects are peak, particularly in the scene where homes are washed away in a flood.

The one thing I will criticize the movie for is its excessiveness - in several senses. There are about a million different bizarre things going on and while part of me likes that, part of me also wishes they had stuck to a few less oddities and fleshed them out more. For example, the kids gaining superpowers (but also dying young) and the hallucinations are brushed over very quickly. I also feel that a few scenes overstay their welcome and lose their impactfulness as a result. A prime example is the youths committing suicide by riding motorcycles off a cliff. It was quite harrowing when the first couple go over the cliff but by the time we watch the 12th motorcycle make a death jump, it's starting to get silly. The nuclear war at the end has a similar problem, starting off genuinely horrifying but ultimately dragging on too long with too many shots of missiles firing from silos. In general, the film would benefit from having about 15 minutes shaved off. And of course, the ending of the film is VERY heavy-handed. We get a long speech about how we need to do better as a society for the sake of the future, and THEN text over the final screen telling us the same. Personally, I'd have preferred if the film ended with the professor making his case and walking out of the Diet with it left uncertain if the government will finally heed his warnings.

Despite this one big gripe, I consider Prophecies among the better non-Godzilla sci-fi entries made by Toho that I've seen, with a message that is still very relevant today. The fact that there's a scene where an earthquake damages Fukushima, causing a nuclear disaster, feels chillingly prophetic watching it now. I would recommend it to those who enjoy the visual style of Toho's productions and are looking for something darker and stranger. Definitely don't watch for the monsters though - you'll be disappointed.

[LSD Jellyfish]

I'm pretty sure that since joining these forums, I've been saying "I really need to watch Prophecies of Nostradamus." Well, last night, I finally did it. And it was quite the experience. Definitely very different from any other Toho sci-fi film I have ever watched, and I think it all comes down to one key factor: it's made for grown-ups. Now, this is not to say that all of Toho's other sci-fi pictures are made for children but I feel that even the darker and more serious entries feature subject matter that is at least appropriate for children-

Good, good. Now watch Blue Christmas.

To be serious, I'm very glad you watched this one. I feel many people on here have a blank-spot towards all the stuff that Toho made in the 70's and early 80's, and once I explored these movies something clicked. Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla and Terror of Mechagodzilla are still more child friendly, but you can very clearly see the influence that the shift towards more adult-oriented films had on those films. It's also much easier to understand Godzilla (1984), and see it as a culmination of all these works.

Prophecies of Nostradamus is an overall well-made film though it's not one I'll be going back to regularly because it's a rather depressing watch.

Sums up Blue Christmas, Virus, Submersion of Japan etc... All some of my favorite Toho films I've only seen once or twice. Want to feel miserable? Marathon those movies...during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic like I did!

The special effects are mostly great, too - the exception being the very fake-looking giant bats. But the fire and water effects are peak, particularly in the scene where homes are washed away in a flood.

I love the slugs and how goopy they are. And the scene where the trees grow in the subway! Fantastic. But yes, agreed that the bats (and that section in Papua NG) is the weakest part of the movie. The way that the houses get washed away during the flood, scared me.

The one thing I will criticize the movie for is its excessiveness - in several senses. There are about a million different bizarre things going on and while part of me likes that, part of me also wishes they had stuck to a few less oddities and fleshed them out more. For example, the kids gaining superpowers (but also dying young) and the hallucinations are brushed over very quickly. I also feel that a few scenes overstay their welcome and lose their impactfulness as a result. A prime example is the youths committing suicide by riding motorcycles off a cliff. It was quite harrowing when the first couple go over the cliff but by the time we watch the 12th motorcycle make a death jump, it's starting to get silly. The nuclear war at the end has a similar problem, starting off genuinely horrifying but ultimately dragging on too long with too many shots of missiles firing from silos. In general, the film would benefit from having about 15 minutes shaved off. And of course, the ending of the film is VERY heavy-handed. We get a long speech about how we need to do better as a society for the sake of the future, and THEN text over the final screen telling us the same. Personally, I'd have preferred if the film ended with the professor making his case and walking out of the Diet with it left uncertain if the government will finally heed his warnings.

Agreed although it doesn't bother me so much. It is excessive and eclectic. I forgot about the psychic children.

Despite this one big gripe, I consider Prophecies among the better non-Godzilla sci-fi entries made by Toho that I've seen, with a message that is still very relevant today. The fact that there's a scene where an earthquake damages Fukushima, causing a nuclear disaster, feels chillingly prophetic watching it now. I would recommend it to those who enjoy the visual style of Toho's productions and are looking for something darker and stranger. Definitely don't watch for the monsters though - you'll be disappointed.

Glad to hear it.

It's difficult comparing it to monster stuff, but when I did my big ranking list it's pretty high.

Spoiler:

It's on the A-tier next to G1984.