Reel Rarities: The Guyver (1991)
Reel Rarities is a monthly column dedicated to highlighting obscure, underwatched, and just plain underrated genre films. They may not always be “good,” but they’ll most certainly always be loved.
The Guyver may be the first live-action adaptation of Japanese anime in the West, but you wouldn’t know it by how rarely it comes up. Co-written and co-directed by special effects guru Joji Tano (popularly known as Screaming Mad George) and Steve Wang, the film opened to limited theaters and fanfare during its initial run.
Okay, let’s get this out of the way before we go any further. This isn’t going to be like last month’s entry, Fish Story. The Guyver will not leave you feeling purified for its inspirational, affirming qualities after viewing.
It’s schlock.
Glorious midnight schlock representing the other half of why I want to do these monthly pieces: dumb fun people sorely missed out on.
If you find any piece on The Guyver, authors generally write something along the lines of “this film appealed to those finding themselves a little too old for/aging out of the Power Rangers.” While that statement rings true enough, the timing is a little off. Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers debuted a full 2 years after The Guyver’s initial release. During the early 90’s, many genre films found a renewed life as cult favorites through late night airings from premiere movie channels like HBO, Showtime, or Cinemax as well as browsing the shelves of local video rental spots.
In that respect, it’s easy to see why so many reviewers time Power Rangers and The Guyver into the same release period, and, as stated previously, the comparison is apt: The Guyver is the Midnight Movie answer to daytime television’s Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers.
It has everything you could want from that description: a hapless youth whose circumstances find them with the ability to morph into an armored superhero, a harder edge to the violence, and, of course, gnarly monsters for the hero to fight.
The film also sets up some of the more sigh-inducing traits future anime adaptations continue to use:
It’s relocated to America.
The lead is changed to a typical white protagonist.
Last, but not least, it takes liberties with the source material.
Yes, most of this can be chalked up with a shrug to the fact that it was created in the early 90’s, and the film itself doesn’t necessarily suffer from these things, but they remain important enough traits to at least note.
Truth be told, the film maintains the main elements of the anime and manga and translates them to the screen fairly well: A Guyver unit absconds from the evil Cronos Corportation, the unit falls into the possession of previously mentioned hapless youth, and the Guyver-empowered youth has to protect the world and the ones they love from the Cronos Corporation and their evil army of monsters.
The youth-in-question for the film is one Sean Barker (Jack Armstrong), a martial arts student with a bit of a concentration and anger problem. His girlfriend Mitzky (Vivian Wu) is the daughter of scientist Dr. Tetsu Segawa (named after one of the characters in the manga) who recently ran off with the Guyver unit from the Cronos Corporation in the hopes to give it to CIA Agent Max Reed (Hey kids! It’s Mark Hamill!).
None of this goes according to plan, resulting in Dr. Segawa’s murder. The Guyver unit accidentally falls into Sean’s hands, who unwittingly becomes one with the Guyver, turning himself into a bio-cybernetic superhero.
Even if you didn’t know the film’s source material, the Japanese influence screams at you just by skimming the plot. It’s a wonderfully weird IP to adapt to live-action, particularly in the 1990’s. The hardened tonal edge from 80’s science fiction spills its influence all over the picture.
From a purely conceptual standpoint, The Guyver comes off risky, but enticing to filmmakers.
Batman had recently done absolute blockbuster numbers when the filmmakers began work on The Guyver, and longtime genre producer Brian Yunza was hoping a new type of superhero movie would bring in similar success with The Guyver.
Marvel and DC properties were likely still going to be harder for indie filmmakers to get, and by now we’re well aware of Roger Corman’s nightmare with the Fantastic Four. Why not try to adapt a property no one in the States had heard of that you could present as something more fresh and original?
The high ideas and hopes may have been there, but sadly, the reality of the situation wasn’t meant to be.
Let’s dive into the product they were able to deliver.
The film makes strong use of its PG-13 rating, leaning heavily on the body horror aspects prominently displayed in the manga. Sean’s initial transformation into his Guyver form resembles something closer to Jeff Goldbum’s in David Croenburg’s The Fly remake than Clark Kent swiftly changing clothes in a phone booth. No, the transformation isn’t nearly as grotesque as Croenburg’s, but it’s noticeably more graphic than a lot of PG-13 fare of the time, and other transformations further in the film definitely push the line of its rating.
While we’re on the subject of the transformations, it must be stressed what incredible work Screaming Mad George and Steve Wang pulled off with their practical effects on a $3 million budget. Additionally, having actors in monster suits running amuck allowed them to execute a little more graphic violence. The ratings board likely gave them a break with kills happening to a guy in a suit rather than an onscreen human being. To the viewer, they’re treated to some moments that might have cause other films to receive an R-rating. If you were growing up in the early 90’s, this slick move was a much appreciated touch.
Having done the creature work 1987’s Predator, Screaming Mad George’s creature designs may look a little familiar, but the suit quality is immaculate. They maintain a menacing frame without looking (for the most part) too goofy.
Speaking of goofy, when The Guyver tries its hand at humor…hoo boy! This might be the result of having two writers/directors. The Guyver has two distinct tones it shifts through pretty frequently. One is that of a dark bio-cyberpunk superhero film while the other injects humor sitting at about the level of a Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers episode, providing a complete tonal whiplash for the viewer.
For example, there’s a scene showcasing a blade slowly slicing through a monster, building to a specific reveal this review won’t spoil. While the blade glides down the monster’s skin, the Jaws theme plays.
Do I chuckle? For sure. Because I am a terrible person who loves terrible puns.
Still, it’s a pretty goofy gag to place smack dab in the middle of the film’s dramatic climax. The jokes peppered throughout the movie seem to be an effort to claim humor rather than housing a genuinely clever and funny script. So for anyone who constantly opines Marvel movies for relying on humor, watch the attempts in this film and thank your lucky stars the Mouse House handles it as well as it does.
The less said about Jimmie Walker’s M. C. Striker character, the better. Trust me.
One other objectively big drawback falls to the action. There’s not much of it. Either Jack Armstrong couldn’t perform convincing martial arts or the filmmakers couldn’t afford a decent stunt man in the Guyver suit. Fights tend to resemble drunken street tussles instead of thrilling martial arts sequences seen in the anime and the surprising live-action sequel. They add to the film’s charm, certainly, but every viewing makes you wonder how much better it could have been if the film actually were more like the property it gets compared to the most.
Now, we can’t discuss The Guyver without talking about the film’s marquee star: Mark Hamill. Luke Skywalker himself strolls into this flick like he just left a Blade Runner convention. His overcoat is legendarily out of place. He plays a mustachioed CIA Agent like a beat cop with a smoking habit who only vaguely read about cigarettes once.
He. Is. A. Delight.
Every time you see him, you’re wondering what weird smoking quirk or tick he’s going to try next. Will he smoke a cigarette while still chewing his gum? Will he light a cigarette, take one thoughtful drag, only to immediately stamp it out? You betcha. He’s so weirdly cast in this film that you can’t help but love him.
And if you knew nothing about this film and saw the VHS cover at the video store, you’d be forgiven for thinking Mark Hamill was the eponymous hero, as most of us who discovered this movie did. The marketing team knew they had star power and did’t care how deceptive the poster had to be to get eyeballs glued to the screen. A dirty, but entirely familiar trick.
The Guyver absolutely has its flaws. And many of them. But its status as Midnight Movie Power Rangers makes it an absolute must-see for the sheer fun of it. You’ll applaud the really cool creature designs as well as all practical horror effects, you’ll snicker at the literal buffet of bad acting and misplaced jokes, and overall, you’ll have a blast with this early 90’s attempt at a superhero adaptation when few were making superhero flicks, especially ones based off Japanese anime and manga.
And even though it didn’t make the splash the filmmakers hoped for, it did get a direct-to-video sequel starring Solid Snake himself, David Hayter, as Sean Barker in Guyver 2: Dark Hero. Steve Wang returned to direct the picture, and whether it was the new casting or not, the fight scenes greatly improved to the degree that its one of the standout features of the sequel. (Currently streaming for free on VUDU)
If you want to catch this late night superhero flick, the Region 1 DVD won’t set you back too much at around $10 on Amazon and Arrow Video brought the film into high definition with a nice Blu Ray release. Even though its initial release was in the UK, they graciously made it Region Free so everyone can enjoy and a Canadian release was just announced.
The Guyver doesn’t get discussed as much, but its achieved enough cult status and managed not to be a rights nightmare just enough to make it easier to get your hands on it.
And you really, really should.
