Did you ever watch those Japanese Metal Hero shows like VR Troopers, Ultraman or Big Bad Beetleborgs as a kid? What about Mighty Morphin Power Rangers? If you did, you know the common theme was that there was a metal superhero that could kick everyone’s ass (think Megazord). Well, way back before all of these shows there was a very popular Japanese television series from the 70s called Denjin Zaborger which features a cop with a transforming motorcycle. Like many films of the past five years, it was time this TV series returned to us in the form of a feature length adaptation, this time titled Karate-Robo Zaborgar.
Written and directed by Sushi Typhoon’s own Noboru Iguchi (Machine Girl), yes you read that correctly, comes the faithful adaptation about a Yataka Daimon (Yasuhisa Furuhara) and his best friend/partner in crime, Zaborgar. The two battle Japan’s most fearsome enemy, a group known as Sigma, whom the regular cops can’t stop. Sigma features cyborgs, samurai kissing monsters, and a diarrhea robot who seem to be no match for Daimon’s Flying Dragon Triple Kick and Zaborgar’s awesomeness. Eventually, after a few confrontations, the villainess Miss Borg (Mami Yamasaki) and Daimon fall for each other, which leads to a whole mess of internal confusion for Daimon.
Fast forward 25 years and Daimon has been forgotten. He is no longer on active duty and is living his life as a miserable wretch who has lost all hope in the world. When the threat of Sigma becomes apparent again and a new adversary enters his life, Daimon’s whole personality does a 180 and decides that it is time for justice to strike once again.
First off, this movie was a complete joy to watch. It’s probably the most delightful piece of innocent mayhem you’ll ever see. The movie combines a few different episodes of the original show to make it a feature length film, but it keeps almost everything the same: the look, feel, and dialogue. Granted, this is a Noboru Iguchi film so there are bound to be a few key differences, mainly things coming out of women’s butts and boobs such as dragons and missiles, but you’ll have to see it to believe the dragon part.
I have been waiting a long time to see this film and, so far, it has been my favorite Iguchi movie to date and one of my favorites of the festival. Iguchi manages to keep the spirit of the original series, infuse his trademark styles, and put the crowd through a complete range of emotions, from complete happiness and excitement to sadness and depression. It’s ok to question the sanity of the Japanese people because of how wacky the show was but, in the end, when you watch the movie you’ll end up having so much fun with it, especially since Diamon does the trademark Asian yell (waaaayaaaaaaaa!) over and over with extreme close-ups.
With the story being accurate, no problems with the directing, up next is the effects and fighting. This movie was the largest budget Iguchi has ever worked with and it shows. 90% of the effects were excellent. Most of the time Zaborgar changed it looked really good even though you could tell it went from a motorcycle to a computer animated transformation to a ‘guy in a suit.’ Plus, all the practical effects are similar in nature to Iguchi’s style, minus the excessive blood splatter, so you know those are going to be entertaining to watch as well.
If you want to know what a movie would look like if you favorite metal hero TV show was adapted for the big screen, then look no further than Karate-Robo Zaborgar. If you get excited at the idea of a 50 year old guy battling an even older guy in a wheelchair or watching a flying head beat up a few cops then Zaborgar is definitely for you. This movie incorporates all the zaniness and cheesy dialogue that you’d expect from the show, plus a lot more laughs, action, and mayhem to make the theatrical experience that much better. Overall, it’s a good natured film that retains the flair of justice and maintains the mantra that no matter how old you are, you can still do something good to preserve the world you inhabit.
The disc:
Well Go USA, as always, has done a great job transferring the film, though I wlil say it isn’t perfect. Luckily, in the case of this film, that’s actually ok because the movie is going for the 1970s look which means the image quality doesn’t have to be perfect.
As for the special features, the movie doesn’t come with much. There are trailers for Sushi Typhoon titles and then there are 13 Go, ZABORGAR Go! Short Films that are all very entertaining with some being laugh out loud funny. They each are about 1:25 long and cover a wide array of topics. Below are snippets about a few of the shorts where Yataka commands Zaborgar to do different things.
Save the Ramen delivery man – Zaborgar helps the delivery man make his delivery on time – he carries the guy on his back and then transforms into a bike after he drops the guy off.
Zaborgar! Find 100 yen coin and return it to a police box – Zaborgar finds the coin but while he is trying to pick it up he accidentally defeats two of his enemies as well – it’s very slapsticky Scooby Doo stuff.
Zaboko, aka Zaborgar went undercover and dressed up as a bar hostess in order to listen to the Sigma assassins talk about their plans. Zaborgar lost interest in fighting and decided to take up the job full time. When the guys get rowdy and start to feel “him” up, It ends up becoming a funny PSA about sexual harassment.
Movie rating: An amusing, comical, and innocent film that’s reminiscent of the live action kids shows from the 80s and early 90s (7.5/10)
Disc rating: 3.5/10
Karate-Robo Zaborgar also stars Asami, Yuya Miyashita, Itsuji Itao, Akira Emoto and Naoto Takenaka and is now available on Blu-ray and DVD from Well GO USA and Sushi Typhoon.
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