Mechanical Violator Hakaider

d.d. tinzeroes: I think we watched this... the day before Thanksgiving? That sounds right.¹

Ultratom(!): Yeah, I'd been wanting to see it for about a year or so at that point.

tinzeroes: Why?

Ultratom(!): Because I caught the tail end of it at Peat's dojo some time before. It was on the international channel & had no subtitles or dubbing, but looked pretty damn kewl.²

tinzeroes: I think I wanted to see it because I'd read about it over at the old TeleportCity site, before they updated it.³ I'd also seen director Keita Amamiya's Moon Over Tao & the 2 Zeram films & liked the zude's stuff.⁴ The cover was pretty badass looking, as well.



Ultratom(!): Since there were no subtitles when I saw it at Peat's, I think I had built it up in my mind a bit much. So I felt a little let down after actually seeing it.

tinzeroes: Its true. As nice as the production design & costumes can be, the plot's a little iffy. And sometimes the costumes look like a high-end cosplay convention production or something.

Ultratom(!): Yeah the set design was great, as was the costuming. Very post apocalyptic, in a good way.

tinzeroes: Its also mercifully short. Maybe an hour. The vast majority of Japanese films average a painful 2 hours. I've read this is because, for some reason, the Japanese never let an actor speak off-camera.

Ultratom(!): The final battle was the best. The super-white painted room? And when Haikaider & the bad robot would miss & punch the walls they were filled w/ blood-red tubes & stuff? That was kewl.

tinzeroes: I give it a pair of Lew Alcindors & a Dreamcast.




-transcription & annotations by d.d.

¹ KAIJU SESSIONS. These were a seminal, pre-Reviewiera collaborative project between myself & Ultratom(!). I recently realized they're ideal Reviewieran capsule reviews. This discussion of 1995's Haikaider was originally part of KAIJU-8, a double-feature which included Gojira x Megaguirus (’00).
² Reader beware, Ultratom(!) sez stuf like 'kewl' alot.
³ Truth be told, I owe Teleport City's Keith Allison huge debts of gratitude. I believe, if I remember correctly, that it was he who would gush about how great Patlabor was, among other things. Sir, I salute you!!!
⁴ Director/writer Keita Amamiya is a sort of modern day Harryhausen. Albeit, he might be working w/ budgets smaller even than Harryhausen’s. But the main point is Keita is a F/X kinda guy 1st, & a film-maker 2nd. He started out doing F/X for projects like the feature-film Gunhed & various Kamen Rider television shows. From there he worked his way up until he directed & wrote Zeram. Since then he’s helmed several projects, including Moon Over Tao, where the sci-fi element is present but reduced; & the tv miniseries Mikazuki, which looks fantastic, although I hear it bombed ratings-wise.