Jinzô ningen Hakaidâ

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.

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

Hakaider is about some robot on a quest to stop some fruit-loop from turning everyone into retards. The action, the visual effects and cinematography is where the movie shines. The action is very well crafted that contains some karate action and gun shooting $#!+ with exploding heads and dismemberment and some bloody crap. I know, I'm compulsive. I liked the effects particularly when the white cyborgs blew up and bled feathers for that heavenly look. The letdowns were the story and pacing. Though the concept is actually great which is about a religious coercion through an insertion of a micro chip into the cortex to make people retardedly subservient, the storytelling was derivative and stupid with these meaningless flashbacks and some annoying characterization. And pacing is inconsistent with the action scenes being fast and the dialogue scenes being slower than sloth sex. Overall the pros out weigh the cons, hence, I liked it.

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.

This is a twisted retelling of biblical prophecy/history from the perspective of Satan.

Jesus is the Tyrannical villain and the Satan/Lucifer character (Hakaider) is the "liberator" of humanity.

In the fashion of very Japanese story telling in this low budget flick is campy, hokey, existential, extremely bizarre with allegorical imagery, explosions and borderline nonsensical action sequences.

If you're into that sort of weirdness you'll probably enjoy it.

I gave it 6 stars just because it was so damned weird to be entertaining...if not downright blasphemous.

Satan truly is at work around the world with his PR teams trying to skew people's opinions of Spiritual battle that surrounds us every day.

Watch this as silly entertainment but don't get confused as to who is the REAL threat to our existence.