LOVE IT!
One of my favorite movies ever, and I make sure that noodles are never far away when I go to watch it. I get hungry just from thinking about this movie, lol.
The people, and the people alone, are the motive force in the making of history.
-Mao Zedong

Love it still
Did you ever notice that people who believe in creationism look really un-evolved? - Bill Hicks

It's been roughly half a decade since I've watched it even though I have the DVD. I'll have to watch it again. It's a brilliant movie, not much on plot, but full of highly entertaining vignettes, all revolving around food. The soundtrack is superior as well, lots of great classical music.
There are many great scenes, the young man ordering food in the European restaurant, the Western Noodle eating lessons, the ongoing Ramen Chef Training, the European makeover, I honestly could go on and on.
The movie is uniquely Japanese, yet at the same time has many elements of American westerns. One of those movies that shows how human beings, human cultures, have a lot more in common than prejudice would have us believe.

Neither loved it or hated it. So-so film, may need a second viewing.

I loved this movie! I first saw it around 1990 and I keep coming back to it.
I have never been to Japan, and so I don't believe that an intimate knowledge of Japanese culture is needed to appreciate the film (though it probably helped).
As for the sexual stereotyping in the film, I agree, it's there. HOWEVER much of it is clearly satirical. If you have any question about whether director Juzo Itami sees the world the way that the characters are portrayed in
Tamopo
, I suggest that you also see
A Taxing Woman
.
I'm just a guy who sees some movies sometimes, whatever!

Tampopo presents things which are something worth in this world. It's all about the simple pleasures.

I LOVE THIS FILM, Sorry Korn, Hollycrap is dead !

Absolutely hated it. Unfunny, often gross, and pretty sexist, this is one of the worst "reputable" movies I've ever seen.

I thought it was pretty great. I saw it for my East Asian Cinema class, and it's easily the most entertaining movie I've seen in the class (I liked Kagemusha and Rashomon, but levity and comedy are not their forte).
Hey, it's back! Check the profile for the message boards I control.

Loving it. ^^

a great film. love it.

entertaining, but i just didn't get it. i love Japaneses movies and culture but this one left me asking why. why did i sit through this movie? like i said, a good movie, but the theme was missed on me. love of food i get it, but? maybe ill need to go to japan to appreciate this one.
but i'm glad their are fans because it does have it's own charm.
cheers

The best film ever made! I watch it about 3 or 4 times a year.
Living in Japan I find "Tampopo scenes" every day. I always go on "Ah - that reminds me of Tampopo. Remember the old impostor eating Peking Duck?" "Ah - same like the group of salary men going to the French restaurant." "Dam, dam, dam (he, he,he!) - the ramen shop owner's reply to Tampopo's request for the soup recipe."

I loved Tampopo, and damn I want some noodles now! Chashu-men!
For anyone interested in further Japanese cinema of an even higher quality, check out some of Yasujiro Ozu's films like 'Late Spring' or 'Tokyo Story'. I've seen five of his films now and they all touch on heartstrings of Japanese family life circa WWII that is beautfully special and unique.

Love it love it love it!!!
quote: "The only way you could hate it was if you watched it on an empty stomach."
That's right. It always makes me want to eat either Japanese noodle soup or a rice omelette (which by the way is my favourite part of the movie, the hobo preparing the rice omelette for the little boy)!
I can do anything I want to Baby, I ain't lost

gotta love it :]
watashi o Tampopo ari masu
pretty mucho.

Loved it. This is an excellent movie.
The only way you could hate it was if you watched it on an empty stomach.

Thanks, BigBabou-your explanation helped me understand it better.

I loved it.
It's on the US amazon for only twenty bucks brand new.
And 115 pounds is nowhere near $880.

Loved it.Tampopo DVD is on sale at Amazon for 115!(about $880)
Another gastronomic delight is Babettes Feast, a tale of lost love and frugal living in bleakest Denmarkno really its good!

I loved it. I thought it was very funny, and I was laughing all the time.
I'm not really good at describing movies, but as I see it, Tampopo is a satire on the Japanese obsession with food. It shows food in all its functions; cooking, eating, work, sex, violence, death, etc. I think it is all so funny because it is exagerated, but based on reality. (As I once told a friend, after visiting Japan for the first time: 'Japanese always seem busy either eating, or earning money to buy food').
The only problem might be that people that have not witnessed this obsession first hand (by visiting Japan), might not fully appreciate this movie. (Don't take it too serious!)
The scene of the mother dying after cooking for her family cracked me up, and so did the scene of the 'ramen-master' explaining the 'right' way to eat it (I've been doing it wrong all the time ;)).
By the way, did they already have the Balloon festival in Saga in the 80s?

I lived in Japan between 1984 to 1987 in Saga kyushu, a place that at the time was so countrified it was amazing..I was there to study martial arts and the appraisal of Japanese Swords. Very few people had been in contact with a westerner and back then if you didnt learn to read kanji you didnt eat as the restaurants had no anglicised menus and there were no anglicised signs at the train station or on the roads. Tampopo is one of my favourite films as it shows Japanese culture and society how it really was back then. The erotic scene is absolutely essential, as we all know food and sex go together. To cut it out would lessen the film greatly. Another Itami Juzo film o-soshiki shows the Japanese attitude to death and is along the same lines. Just a shame Itami couldnt hold it together as he commited suicide.

Loved it. The main theme of the innocent and earnest courtship between Tampopo and the Gregory Peck-ish lead-guy was really beautiful. I liked the Kurasawa- inspired surreal elements also, which gave the movie a fairy tale or dreamlike quality. Even though the erotic scenes made me think twice about giving a copy to my parents, I think they added to the movie by showing how central food is to our interactions with the people we care about, from our most intimate moments to our daily family getherings (the sick mother who summons her strength to cook for her family had me weeping like a baby).

Definitely loved it And i dont know what that other guy is going on about; the eroticism was an important part of the movie, it was one of its major points. If you dont believe me watch it again and do a thorough critique. You'll see what i mean