Mechanical Violator Hakaider (1995) User Reviews

Bizarre. Very Japanese.

[fanboy-61826 · 6/10 · 28 March 2022]

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.

Cyberpunk Fantasy

[DavyDissonance · 7/10 · 12 January 2018]

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.

Rough production, but entertaining

[I_Ailurophile · 7/10 · 3 June 2021]

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.

In Jesus Town,good guys wear black!

[Chibi Riza · 18 June 2000]

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.

Pretty cool and bloody cyberpunk.

[alienlegend · 6/10 · 15 February 2023]

I wish it was a bit more extreme but I love that gory decapitation of the "good" Justice robot at the end Mortal Kombat style (so sad none of the MK movies delivered that). Plus, I love the earlier bit where that Justice robot punches a minion's face to bloody smithereens. If it was full of that stuff, I'd love it even more but still the titular Hakaider looks pretty badass and though it pales to something like Robocop, it's still very fun especially the Hakaider vs. Justice-Head-Weird-Hybrid-Machine stop-motion fight (that certainly reminded me of Robocop 2... in a good way... yes Robocop 2 isn't a pimple on the original but I do like the robot vs robot fights in it). Forgot to mention how cute the main girl is so she held my attention in between the awesome gory bits. I just like the idea of a bad anti-hero robot getting his own movie.

Sigh...

[poe426 · 2/10 · 31 August 2007]

I was really looking forward to seeing this one: the trailer I'd seen promised much. Even the music sounded good. Sigh. With the exception(s) of two very lyrical dream sequences, there's absolutely nothing to recommend here. HAKAIDER calls to mind the American version of the GUYVER manganime, by way of ROBOCOP (which was itself nothing more than a thinly-veiled rip-off of the 2000 A.D. strip, JUDGE DREDD). Unlike ZEIRAM (or ZEIRAM 2) or TETSUO or any of a number of other well-done live-action anime, HAKAIDER offers nothing more than the aforementioned dream sequences; the rest is sound and fury signifying absolutely nothing. A major disappointment.

Hakaider : Excellence

[crumcha · 10/10 · 1 January 2007]

This movie is a must see for any fan of "Tonkatsu" (Reflective to real life) style cinema as well as Science-fiction/action. Comparitively this movie is an unsung classic in "Tonkatsu" it has such compelling elements similar to work from Kurosawa's "Ran" and "Rashomon".As some would complain that this film is not a visual masterpiece, I would in turn ask them how much of it they have seen. There are very dynamic characters and excellent plot formation and culmination. The storyline is a very insightful view on humanity and socio-economic divisions and struggles therein. While touching these points and making an impact at doing so, the movie's elements of action and drama are of such quality that anyone can enjoy the film without struggling to get it's deeper meaning. Missing this film is an injustice to anyone who enjoys science-fiction, action, drama, and intriguing storyline. Enjoy this excellent film.

Mechanical Violator Hakaider ROCK !!!

[phanthinga · 9/10 · 21 November 2018]

From the guy that direct Kamen Rider ZO and Kamen Rider J two very entertaining tokusatsu flick that too bad never made into an actual series so I expected nothing more than a cheesy action-fest from Hakaider and after a few up and down moments in the end the movie actually make my day a bit brighter.The plot may utterly horrible and there not much meat in the main character Hakaider beside the usual emotionless and badass attitude of an anti hero plus the horrendious English dubbing only make it more worse that it already is but the movie never bother me one bit cause I'm too busy being in awe about how over the top and fun this movie is with the costume and practical effects.The stop motion fight between Hakaider and the weird robot got me quite confused cause the introduction of it very out of nowhere but apparently Mechanical Violator Hakaider is also a spin off of the metal hero series Kikaider so that may explain something

A unique movie

[CC_The_Martian · 9/10 · 4 April 2016]

OK boys and girls welcome to class, how many of you are familiar with the term 'Acid Western'? (Does quick headcount) Good, good, go to the head of the class. For the rest of you the term 'acid western' refers to a film or piece of literature that uses the looks and or tropes of the western genre but also has a lot of surreal imagery and metaphor (hence 'acid'). This genre is different from 'weird westerns' because 'weird westerns' are regular westerns but with a science-fiction or fantasy twist. Whether the creators realized it or not this film is an acid western; structurally it's like any old Tokusatsu film but with a lot of the tropes associated with the western genre, but it also has a lot of surreal motifs and visual metaphors which make it an acid western. The dystopian sci-fi setting only makes it weirder. Set in a distant future where civilization has collapsed, save for this one town called 'Jesus Town' which is ruled by a dictator, a group of thieves break into a vault believing it to contain treasure. They are in fact greatly surprised to find not treasure in the vault but a robotic being called Hakaider (the principal villain from the Kikaider tokusatsu franchise) along with his bike and shotgun and no memory of his past. Once he has been freed he sets out to discover himself only to accidentally get caught up in a rebellion against the despotic ruler of Jesus town. Structurally this movie has the vibe of a spaghetti western like Django or A Fistful of Dollars, a lone stranger with a mysterious past wanders into a corrupt town and sets about righting wrongs, replace the motorcycles with horses and the comparison is complete. This movie is also one of the nicest looking tokusatsu films ever thanks in no part to the director Keita Amemiya who is a notable artist, writer and director who gives his movies a distinct organic mechanical look, along the same vein as H.R. Geiger or David Cronenberg. Amemiya gives the movie a dark but sleek look but also laces it with a lot of strange visuals. For example in this movie white is used to represent the forces of evil while black is used to represent not-bad, Not good per-say just not bad. This movie also has a couple of dream sequences which have imagery like black knights and mummy angels. The final fight scene in this movie is also note worthy for it takes place in a white room and is fought between Hakaider and an evil robot called Michael, seems pretty straightforward but as they fight they keep breaking the walls of the room and the internal mechanisms of the room are red and have a strangely organic look to them so that by the end of the fight the room looks like a Tarantino action scene just happened in it despite the combatants both being robots. On top of all these weird qualities add good action, a kick-ass score, decent acting, and run-time that just over an hour and you get one of my favourite tokusatsu films. It's weird as hell but fun if you know what you're getting into. Recommend for fans of tokusatsu, fans of strange and people who like picking movies apart.

Honda Yasuaki is HOT HOT HOT!!!

[Akiosan · 11 March 2003]

Even though Hakaider is a decent (but sadly rather short) movie with good action scenes and imagery, the thing that shined most was Yasuaki Honda. He is quite a beautiful, as well as calm and detirmined actor (I wish to see original Japanese version. Seen only Spanish verson). I also like his costume and appearance. He looks so angelic and wicked at the same time. I only wished he had more screentime though.... ....Oh well. At least Keita Amemiya shines his stuff with intricate storytelling and lovely imagery as usual.

Amemiya's Masterpiece

[DanTheMan2150AD · 9/10 · 30 August 2023]

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.

After an intriguing start, this one becomes a real bore

[Pedro-37 · 12 April 2002]

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