Jinzô ningen Hakaidâ

After encountering a group of rebels in the autocratic pseudo-utopia of Jesus Town, a vengeful cyborg battles the forces of the town's angelic/demonic self-righteous despot. I watched English-subbed version of this henshin action-fest 'cold', having no familiarity with the television program on which it was based and found the film visually interesting but a bit boring, the latter due to the overly long and repetitive action set pieces. The perpetually scowling Hakaider was just another in a long line of similar looking über-mecha and there seemed little logic or consistency in his toggling back and forth between wetware and hardware or his resistance/susceptibility to various weapons. There is an interesting 'angel' motif woven through the imagery, both Gurjev, the leader of Jesus Town and Michael, his android head of security have wings (sort of) and clouds of white feathers feature prominently at times. The script and acting are drama-school at best (at least when watched dubbed) but the special effects are well executed although the designs seem derivative, resembling everything from Kamen Rider to Robocop. I especially liked the climactic stop-action work. All-in-all: OK but likely more appealing to fans of the original TV show or of the 'mecha-henshin' genre in general (of which I am not, I am just check-boxing my way through a lengthy list of live-action Japanese sci-fi films).

OK boys and girls welcome to class, how many of you are familiar with the term 'Acid Western'? (Does quick headcount) Good, good, go to the head of the class. For the rest of you the term 'acid western' refers to a film or piece of literature that uses the looks and or tropes of the western genre but also has a lot of surreal imagery and metaphor (hence 'acid'). This genre is different from 'weird westerns' because 'weird westerns' are regular westerns but with a science-fiction or fantasy twist. Whether the creators realized it or not this film is an acid western; structurally it's like any old Tokusatsu film but with a lot of the tropes associated with the western genre, but it also has a lot of surreal motifs and visual metaphors which make it an acid western. The dystopian sci-fi setting only makes it weirder. Set in a distant future where civilization has collapsed, save for this one town called 'Jesus Town' which is ruled by a dictator, a group of thieves break into a vault believing it to contain treasure. They are in fact greatly surprised to find not treasure in the vault but a robotic being called Hakaider (the principal villain from the Kikaider tokusatsu franchise) along with his bike and shotgun and no memory of his past. Once he has been freed he sets out to discover himself only to accidentally get caught up in a rebellion against the despotic ruler of Jesus town. Structurally this movie has the vibe of a spaghetti western like Django or A Fistful of Dollars, a lone stranger with a mysterious past wanders into a corrupt town and sets about righting wrongs, replace the motorcycles with horses and the comparison is complete. This movie is also one of the nicest looking tokusatsu films ever thanks in no part to the director Keita Amemiya who is a notable artist, writer and director who gives his movies a distinct organic mechanical look, along the same vein as H.R. Geiger or David Cronenberg. Amemiya gives the movie a dark but sleek look but also laces it with a lot of strange visuals. For example in this movie white is used to represent the forces of evil while black is used to represent not-bad, Not good per-say just not bad. This movie also has a couple of dream sequences which have imagery like black knights and mummy angels. The final fight scene in this movie is also note worthy for it takes place in a white room and is fought between Hakaider and an evil robot called Michael, seems pretty straightforward but as they fight they keep breaking the walls of the room and the internal mechanisms of the room are red and have a strangely organic look to them so that by the end of the fight the room looks like a Tarantino action scene just happened in it despite the combatants both being robots. On top of all these weird qualities add good action, a kick-ass score, decent acting, and run-time that just over an hour and you get one of my favourite tokusatsu films. It's weird as hell but fun if you know what you're getting into. Recommend for fans of tokusatsu, fans of strange and people who like picking movies apart.

Ok, I was intrigued by this movie. It just had a cool look, a very manga-esque feel. I really thought there would evolve something special out of this. But it didn't. Actually it became more boring every minute until I thought I'm watching a real crap fest. The visual tricks just don't do it for 80 minutes. And apart from those visuals, there's not anything good to find here.

The music and the topic remind one of "Terminator 2". There's also a little "Mad Max 2" and "Spawn" added for good measure. The sets look very cheap, the acting gets worse once the movie progresses (that asexual king is really embarrassing!) and the pacing is sleep inducing. A little blood helps sustain some interest, but not much. And those dream sequences are way too long and way too empty. All in all, I'd give it a

Rating: 3/10

This movie here has to probably Keita Amemiya's most beautifully done film he has ever made (pays some respect to Ishinomori-san).

Hakaider has to do with the main cybernetic hero (with the same name as the movie) getting re-discovered by a gang from Jesus town,which was formerly the Holy Land in the Middle East.However,Hakaider lost all of his memory and starts blowing people apart.This all stops when he meets the pretty Kaoru (which looks like a Japanese double of Cyndi Lauper).Kaoru tells him about the evil that the handsome,if mavolent seraph Girjev and his servant,Mikhail has brought onto the town.In many beautiful(if albeit eery) dream like sequences that Kaoru has, Hakaider must not fight for himself,but for the people of Jesus Town as well.

The most original parts of this film is that,like I said,the good guy wears black and the bad guys wear white.It's really true,see it for yourself!

NOTE:This was also one of Amemiya's more controversial films,due to some imagery of shattered Jesus and Virgin Mary statues,plus the bad guys being rather "Angelic" looking.Watch only if you are not easily offended by the dark depiction of the Jewish/Christian faith.

Is it advisable to watch a movie, that's based on a TV series, without first watching the TV series? Probably not, of course. But that doesn't mean one can't enjoy the movie on its own merits. 'Mechanical Violator Hakaider' is pretty fun.

It's far from perfect. The dubbed voices and dialogue are unfortunate, and one wishes scenes were a bit more dynamic; in particular, fight choreography and the timing of effects like explosions are questionable at times. The narrative flow feels disjointed, characterized by hard cuts in the editing and equally abrupt insertions of scenes that threaten our engagement.

Still, even without greater context, the plot has a solid foundation, telling as complete a story as it needs to. MVH isn't the first film about rebellion against a dystopian society, but this iteration is sufficiently different. The oppression underpinning Jesus Town is uniquely horrific, exceeding what other tales have conveyed.

It helps that there are some especially impressive visuals on hand. Costume design and set pieces work in tandem to fashion some notably arresting imagery, not least of all in the stark white citadel of the villain. To that end, the climactic fight between Hakaider and Michael is where the greatest effort was clearly placed. It's an unusual but entrancing choice to leave out any music for much of the fight, so that sound effects are more greatly emphasized. When music does pick up partway through, it's a captivating theme that wouldn't sound out of place in the impressive gothic wonderland of the Castlevania universe. And as the set takes further damage, the red interior of the infrastructure - set against the otherwise white room - is frankly beautiful. Honestly, it was a screenshot from this scene that first caught my attention and interest in watching, and I can safely say it was worth it.

For all the outstanding visuals and great ideas herein, I kind of get the notion that 'Mechanical Violator Hakaider' was not fully developed as a screenplay. The emphasis on specific poses and visual cues, to say nothing of the imagery in general, give a sense of a storyboard, or series of comic book panels. This would help to explain the lack of flow between scenes, certainly, with sudden shifts mirroring the division between one static image and another. This style doesn't entirely scuttle our enjoyment, but it does make MVH more difficult to engage with - yet there's no disputing it's an interesting approach.

When all is said and done, I do think this is a movie worth watching, even if one hasn't had any experience with the 'Kikaider' series where Hakaider originates. The picture has plenty of difficulties, and would never be considered an essential piece of cinema. But the story is sufficient, the visuals are outstanding, and the end result is that 'Mechanical Violator Hakaider' is fun and entertaining.