Hakaider

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DanTheMan 2 Mechanical Violator Hakaider hits so much harder now I've seen the original Kikaider series and the absolutely brilliant fan-made documentary by MONSTROSITIES, it gives me such profound respect for what the production team were trying to do and what we eventually got onscreen. All the little nuances that flew over my head the first time, now ring differently as Hakaider stages his one-man war on Gurjev's regime of Jesus Town while searching for the truth of his own nature, turning a once irredeemable and indomitable villain into a flawed and morally grey badass anti-hero. Of all of Keita Amemiya's films, this is the one that resonates with me the most. I adore it. Yes, it has its flaws, which are far more apparent in the Theatrical Cut than the Director's, but considering the incredibly fast turnaround and production setbacks this movie had, I can forgive it. Even the gutted Theatrical Cut, isn't half shabby despite missing over 20 minutes' worth of story beats. The slick, stylish direction of Amemiya compliments his more chaotic brilliance during the film's plentiful action scenes. The music by Koichi Ohta is utterly sublime with many of the classic cues carried over from the original show given new leases of life and the performances from all involved help to sell this true jewel of Tokusatsu. Although the final reveal of Michael's true identity is still brutally evil in one of the biggest gut punches ever. Mechanical Violator Hakaider is my movie. My justice. My love. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 08/30/23 Full Review Monsol E Not exactly true to the source, and it's dated, but was a lot of fun. The villainous lord of "Jesus Town" alone would make it worth watching. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Robocop meets Judge Dredd in a Japanese outpost called "Jesus Town". Bad effects, but not enough to be funny. Rated 2/5 Stars •  Rated 2 out of 5 stars 01/21/23 Full Review Audience Member Fuck them this is pure classic. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/18/23 Full Review Audience Member Treason? Or revenge? I vote treason. I'm "Tokyo Shocked" that this movie came out. This Tokyo SHOCK release marks the 30th review on the site and the first under the new name 90 lost minutes. While the director's cut of Hakaider is only 77 minutes long I do confess that I spent at least 13 minutes considering whether or not I wanted to finish it. So, yes, this movie really is 90 lost minutes. I could try and explain the story but that wouldn't really do much good so I'll give you a basic run down. Hakaider is discovered and soon proceeds to whomp a metric ton of ass for no real reason. Mr. Evil Guy Flower Pants who runs Jesus town doesn't like it and sends some dudes after him. Hakaider escapes from Mr. Evil Guy's clutches with the help of some rebels. He exposes the rebels to serious danger and all but one of them are killed, thanks Hakaider. The one who isn't killed thinks Hakaider reminds her of a dream she's been having and she falls hopelessly in love with our leather/metallic hero. Hakaider leaves while she is asleep and then goes back to Jesus town to finish the job of freeing those who didn't ask to be freed. It's harder than he would like but the damn movie is named after him so you tell me who wins. Why does this movie suck? I'll tell you. It is a live action movie that is shot like it's anime. All of the camera angles and presentation are the same as they would be as if this was animated. What is the best part about anime? THE ANIMATION! So there are shots which appear to be setup to show off the visuals but they come across as lengthy pauses that leave you shouting at the screen. Also, the English dub is entirely produced in a studio and none of the locations have any depth or feel to them at all. They all just sound like someone in a closet reading lines. Those are its technical hurdles. What's funny is that if this was anime I would like it. It's weird and a bit nonsensical which generally goes hand in hand with Japanese storytelling. In fact I must not have been the only person who thought this since they went on to create anime from this universe some five years after this movie. This movie suffers from what I call "convenient plot device syndrome" or CPDS. There is a scene where Hakaider transforms into his power suit for no real reason and then 30 seconds later someone he didn't see tries to shoot him, CPDS. There are multiple occasions where you think. Damn, that was convenient. Like when Hakaider kills the angel robot and pulls his spinal column out which was exactly what needed to happen for the giant killer claw machine to be directed. What? Here are some things I learned from watching Hakaider. 1. It's ok to have live action movies where the shot is so distant that you can't see people's lips move while they're talking to each other. 2. If you rule Jesus town you must be a controlling paranoid freak who loves flowers and lives in a Mac store. 3. If you're going to build power armor make sure it has elf shoes. 4. All battle droids die just like the ones George Lucas made. 5. Choir music is more effective when actual people are singing it instead of poorly recorded synthesized keyboard samplings. 6. The best way to present a live action version of an anime story is to include horrible stop motion boss fights as the final payoff. 7. If you run Jesus town you must own a killer crane game claw machine. 8. If your robotic arm gets shot off it will grow back as soon as you try to drive away on your motorcycle. My biggest question about this movie is ... now what? So he frees the simpletons and takes out Mr. Evil Guy. So what? What happens next? It's like the whole purpose of the movie was to setup an additional story. So much so that the hero's motivation and destiny are muddy at best. I say skip this movie. Don't be drawn in by the trailer like I was. It actually is pretty boring. It took me 4 tries to finish it and it's only 77 minutes long. Rated 1.5/5 Stars •  Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 01/13/23 Full Review Audience Member that Lovely Hakaider movie on DVD. God I need to show that to someone. such a lovely film HAKAIDER DESTROYS JESUS TOWN. HAKAIDER IS IN JESUS TOWN. IN JESUS TOWN EVERYONE GETS LOBOTOMIES! eh that was pretty much it. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/03/23 Full Review Read all reviews

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