The Magic Serpent (怪竜大決戦, Kairyū Daikessen, The Mystic Dragons' Decisive Battle) is a 1966 tokusatsu kaiju/ninja fantasy film produced by Toei Company Ltd. This film is a loose retelling of the famous Japanese folktale, Jiraiya Gōketsu Monogatari (The Tale of the Gallant Jiraiya).
Just like Toei's many superhero shows, this film is just as action-packed and colorful. And to entertain younger audiences, the hero Jiraiya and the villain Orochimaru use ninja magic to transform into daikaiju to battle each other (this was also done in the original story, even though the animals were not necessarily gigantic). Despite the many differences between this film and its source material, this has remained a cult classic.Synopsis
The Oumi Kingdom, ruled peacefully by Lord Ogata (Shinichiro Hayashi), was raided by his corrupt general Daijo Yuki (Bin Amatsu), who is assisted by an evil ninja named Orochimaru (Ryūtarō Ōtomo), who slays the lord and his wife, who in turn trust their young son Ikazuchi-Maru to their soldiers, who escape the kingdom in a small boat. Orochimaru goes after them, transforming into a giant serpent. He sinks the boat and almost succeeds in killing Ikazuchi-Maru, until a giant eagle flies along, injures Orochimaru, and saves the young boy.
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