Kamen Rider The First/Kamen Rider The Next
 

Now, these are two movies that a lot of people are split on, but I just want to post my feelings about them (having just finished The Next)

Kamen Rider The First:Overall i really enjoy this movie, while hongo really is an awkward character as a whole, he is likable and Ichimonji is a very enjoyable character in this, he's the womanizing douchebag you just can't help but love. The story, while not too terribly strong, keeps you entertained and boy is the action beautifully done. Choreography is fantastic. The suit designs in this movie are fantastic, probably my favorite designs to come out of Kamen Rider

Kamen Rider The Next:Going into this movie i'd heard nothing but bad things said about this movie, but i suprisingly liked it a lot, though i am torn to say if I like it better than The first. The action, of course, is still fantastic and the suit designs are top notch, v3 being the best thing to come out of these two movies. We really don't get to see too much about V3 in this movie, but what we see I absolutely LOVED. The actor who protrays him is the same guy who plays Drake in Kamen Rider Kabuto and he is one of my favorite characters from kabuto. (and there is some layers in there that the actor of drake is playing the role of the original dragonfly rider). The horror movie subplot, takes a lot of time, and is not that very good, it isn't as bad as i feared, but it should of been dialed back a lot. I have to say I might be one of the handful of people who enjoyed this movie

Overall, the first and the next are probably one of my favorite things to come out of kamen rider, the suit designs are just fantastic, the action is amazing, and overall, while the stories are not that strong, there is still something to enjoy in them

I would love to see this stories continued, but that will never happen :( I'd love to see all these showa designs get redone in this style.

Now if you excuse me, I need to track down 6 shocker riders, a cyclone, and a v3 for my collection, and probably the next versions of rider 1 and 2 :lol

The only thing I like about these movies are the updated Rider 1, Rider 2 & V3 designs

There were a lot of good ideas in these movies, but I think the big problem they both suffered from is the writer (renowned hack Toshiki Inoue) focusing way more on things that didn't really have anything to do with Kamen Riders. The First was designed to be a love story and, honestly, it worked okay as one - at least for Hongo and Asuka. The two kids subplot, though, that was nothing but a waste of screentime. It added nothing to the story, there was no explanation why we were even seeing them until the end of the movie, and when we did figure out the point it was a total anti-climax since those characters weren't all that likable. I get what Inoue was going for, but it was still a bad idea and it didn't work. I also wish Ichimonji hadn't been written as a standard Inoue secondary Rider (aka Gai Yuki mk. ... I don't know, 7 or 8 by this point).

I'm actually one of the rare people who likes The Next more than the first. Not that it was all that good, either, but it felt a little tighter as a film - specifically, we didn't waste about a quarter of the film's running time to a subplot about minor characters that never fucking went anywhere and barely had anything to do with the main characters. The Chiharu crap - and boy howdy, was it crap - at least tied directly into the story of V3. The completely different, not even slightly similar to the original story of V3 (who is, surprise of surprises, another Inoue-standard douchey secondary Rider). The whole damn thing was a mess, but at least it felt like one mess and not a mess with a second, unrelated mess thrown on top of it.

In all fairness, I think that when the movies play the Rider stuff straight - the fights, the bike scenes, etc. - they are really good. The suit designs are amazing (and I still want to see at least design sketches for Riderman, X, Amazon, Stronger, and Tackle), the action direction is really solid, and in those rare, fleeting moments when the films decide to be about Kamen Rider they do it really, really well. Toei just shot itself in the foot by giving the writing duties to a guy who has his head so far up his own ass that he no longer realizes that he's run out of good ideas and is just aping other people and repeating himself over and over and over again.

Oh, and you may want to rethink the Figuarts version of the Next Nigo - it's identical to the First version outside of a more scratched up helmet. Man, is anyone else bummed that we never got to see the Shin coloration versions of these suits?

I haven't seen The Next yet as I'm waiting for Media Blasters to release the god damn thing since I have The First from them.

Yeah, that is never going to happen. Also, it is not worth spending money on.

Any subtitled Kamen Rider video released in the US is worth buying.

I'd agree with you if it wasn't The Next. I'd go with the V3 boxset instead - it's a lot more but way, way better.

Just watched The First...and totally in love with the costume design...would kill for a jacket and helmet...and as I said in another thread, liked the concept that there are not monsters...but just the uniforms are animal themed...I think the side story was just to show that any one could have been a Shocker, and they have back stories as well...so when one is kicked to oblivion it shows loss...kind of like how Gundam would characterize a pilot before they would get shot down.

What V3 box set?

^Several years ago Kamen Rider V3 was released on region 1 DVD by Generation Kikaida.

They were really only licensed for distribution within Hawaii having a very limited print thus the $150 price tag, which often garners uniformed criticism sadly. It's a far cry from the $500+ price tag of the R2 DVDs, plus there are a lot of great exclusive extras. Generation Kikaida does have a sale on the DVDs from time to time (one just ended last month). One might wait for one of those sales to order the set.

It's much better than anything The Next has to offer in any case. Even if that movie had a chance of getting a North American release, having watched The First several times and only being able to stomach The Next one time, I will never taint my eyes with it's wretched unholy mess ever again. I don't care if it is said to have some of the best Rider action scenes, they are so few in comparison to the crap that surrounds it, I get sick remembering it.

WHy would they go with V3 and not do the original first? Or at all?

Because V3 is the one that aired in Hawaii in the 70s. Generation Kikaida's releases (Kikaider, Kikaider 01, V3, and Inazuman) all somehow ended up on Hawaiian TV back then. The V3 release has nothing to do with it being part of the Kamen Rider franchise and is all about it being one of the cool Japanese shows that some Hawaiian adults look back on with nostalgic fondness.

There were also licensing costs as well. If I remember correctly Generation Kikaida/JN Productions had considered bringing over the original series after their success bringing back Kikaider, but the costs for such a large series were too much for them as they're a rather small company, and since their agreement with Toei is technically limited to Hawaii, the small print runs on these sets makes it even harder on them.

Things have been stagnate with GenerationKiakida for quite a while. I'm sure because fan support has waned over the years. They did renew their license for V3 a couple years ago though to do a new print run. However their last new DVD set was Inazuman back in 2008. And whether or not they will ever release the sequel Inazuman Flash or any other additional Tokusatsu is still up in the air.

The only reason I watched these two films was only to see the redesigns of 1,2, and V3 fighting Shocker.

The first and the next both had some amazing fight scenes in it. The one were they fight on the bikes in the NExt being one of my favrioutes

I want want want a Next or 2 helmet sooo damn bad...

Today I saw the clip of The Next when Hongo/Rider 1 was teaching his demonic students and one of them flashed him on YouTube. At that point I felt I saw enough and went back to the Google mainpage.

Toshiki Inoue needs to just give up writing for toku series and go directly to soaps. They may be a BETTER use of his time.

Having only read the first post, I wanted to agree that I ended up liking The Next more than The First. I, too, didn't know much about it compared to The First, but I also didn't hear anything bad of it. I do want to state though, that BECAUSE of these movies, I have a huge appreciation of Ichigo and Nigo. Unfortunately for fans of Ichigo/Nigo out there, I prefer their Heisei/movie versions more than the originals.