Zeiramu

When I was first starting out watching Japanese cinema, mainly anime (Japanese Animation) I happened to fall upon this title. Zeiram is one of my favorite sci-fi movies, right up their with Aliens. This film starts off with stunning visuals and ends up being a total knockout movie. Zeiram (Japanese title: Zeiramu) is well put together, and so is the dubbing of the film. If you don't speak Japanese, don't worry; you can go rent or buy the VHS copy of the film at a local video store & enjoy it in English! Overall, I would rate this film: 9 1/2 out of 10!

Zeram is a very good movie that shows that dubbed movies can be fun and exciting in a good way. The movie has good special effects that will surprize you at first then jump out and get you. The creatures are amazing in this film.

Apart from the dorky telephone repairmen everything in this movie is done perfectly. The monster is the coolest ever, and the kickboxing female bounty hunter is a great hero.

Visually stunning despite the sometimes immature tone.

In the stylized tradition of 1950s Japanese monster movies and the current, popular trendy pastiche of modern Anime comes a fantastic futuristic adventure. Zeram is basically an enormous giant renegade space alien who has done quite a lot of damage aboard on other planets.

Now, Zeram has been lured to Planet Earth, with so many victims at its disposal. The only souls who can abolish this demonic presence are a female space bounty hunter, Ilya (Yuko Moriyama), from Planet Mays, and her highly intelligent albeit obstinate computer, Bob. The two have planned a trap for Zeram, and the showdown will take place in a take-no-prisoners setting inside "The Zone," a virtual reality type environment that is uninhabited, and totally unreal...

The odds are in favor of Zeram, and to make matters a lot more unbearable, two goofballs from an electric company (Yukihiro Hotaru and Kunihiko Ida), have managed to slip by... One of these employees is a Leslie Cheung lookalike. Anyway, Ilya feels very uncomfortable at this moment as the two bumbling clowns serve as the most inconvenient supplements right now...

The battlefield is set. Ilya is armed with a cool warp machine that can travel both dimensions, from the Zone to the Real World. She has a powerful space bazooka, body armor, an electric shield for protection, and plenty of agile moves to knock Zeram off into oblivion! Zeram however has: Mutant dwarves, a bulletproof armor, lasers, servants, and a miniature face within its head that serves as his primary weapon for mass destruction. He eats organic matter, and creates his own army of deformed freaks! Zeram is a grotesque creature, resembling that of a disfigured statue. Every time Zeram is apparently destroyed...he keeps regenerating, looking more disgusting every time... This creature can morph from a slow-moving juggernaut...to a slick moving spider... Zeram and Ilya are at the final match tonight...with the fate of the world hanging in the balance...

ZERAM (The film's original Japanese title is ZEIRAMU.) is an OK flick. Some decorative special effects, machinery, and lots of explosions aggrandize the film. The film is orchestrated with dazzling FX and imagery. The stop motion effects are remarkable as well. Still, despite the flamboyant technology and some rather impressive effects of its kind, the film is unfortunately waived thanks to a lack of invention and a excruciatingly plodding pace. The comedy in this film is extremely lame as well. The acute action and good martial arts skills in this movie are a plus. The gory introduction with people being literally blown away also serves as among the best highlights in this average sci-fi journey.

Even though the flashy visuals are accompanied throughout most of this movie, the film is still, amazingly lifeless and boring. ZERAM takes too long to begin picking up the pace, and although the film runs for only 90 minutes long, the movie drags so consistently that it feels like the feature is going on forever. A fastidious misfire, due to its tepid direction which is short on vigor. Also, by the end, we are very much unclear about the origin of Zeram...and we no longer give either...

This movie's uneven pace is its biggest liability. If that was not there, this movie would have been very much enjoyable and entertaining, assisted with some raw comedy. Still, there's an acceptable premise, but the movie moves way too slowly! Lighting effects, tangible technological materials, and a good musical score orchestrated just BARELY save ZERAM from sinking under its own weight...

RATING: ** out of ****.

The original live-action film shows Bounty Hunter Iria (from another planet) trap the unstoppable monstrosity Zeiram in an enclosed space for capture. Two humans are caught in the mix and work together to survive the encounter.

Pretty interesting and well made!

Considering this wasn't based on anything, I was surprised at how small, simple/contained, creative and fun this idea and execution was! Even if at 1 hour and 30 minutes, it feels a tad long.. The visual effects are the primary draw, specially of the biological weapon monster that keeps on giving. Its design was probably inspired by Alien, but it is still quite original. I also enjoyed the imaginative weaponry and cool visual effects.

It's easy to recommend due to how easy it is to follow. For what it is, it works quite well!

And I'm surprised at its "normalcy" for a Japanese film from the 90s.