Reporters Ken and Jenny are present at a demonstration being given by the Navy to show off its new homing torpedo. As they watch on a monitor, Jenny has a minor freak-out when she has a premonition of something bad, and moments later the gathered reporters see a strange blurry figure swim past the camera. Commander Brown has his own little freak-out and shuts down the demo, but Ken and Jenny decide to go diving to investigate on their own. She sees a man-sized amphibious creature and snaps a picture of it, but she loses the camera and the Navy men don't believe her, so she and Ken go back underwater to find the camera. Instead, they are captured by silver-skinned monsters (who bear a resemblance to the Creature from the Black Lagoon) and taken to a scientific facility on the ocean floor where they meet the insane Dr. Moore. In an attempt to start a single world government, he has been successfully turning human beings into genderless "water cyborgs," the silver creatures, whom he can control with the flip of a dial. Moore has Prof. Howard kidnapped to come and witness his latest transformation: turning Ken and Jenny into cyborgs. Lucky for them, it's a fairly long process, and in the meantime, Commander Brown and his men take a sub down to save the reporters and the professor (and mankind) from becoming water-breathing eunuchs.
This is quite a little gem. It's a Japanese film made with several American and European actors in lead roles. Ken is played by Japanese actor Sonny Chiba who went on to a long career in martial arts movies. Jenny is played by Peggy Neal, a blond American actress who lived in Japan. I was prepared to give the film points for featuring an interracial romance, but the two seem to be just good friends. But wait, there's more! The silver creatures (face pictured above are creepy from afar, but up close, you can see the bends and folds of their costumes. The transformation scene we see, in stop motion, is effective and surprisingly graphic, if a little too long. The sets are bright and colorful and the miniatures look exactly like miniatures, which frankly is a plus in a movie like this. This transfer seems to be wrong; it looks like a full screen print zoomed in to be widescreen, so the close-ups are super close. But even that is kinda fun; the two Navy men (German actors Franz Gruber and Gunter Braun) frequently have their faces so close it's like they're pressed up against each other, burning with barely disguised lust. (See the picture on the right). The last 20 minutes are padded out with some tedious fights, but for the most part, this is colorful campy fun. [DVD]
Reporters Ken and Jenny are present at a demonstration being given by the Navy to show off its new homing torpedo. As they watch on a monitor, Jenny has a minor freak-out when she has a premonition of something bad, and moments later the gathered reporters see a strange blurry figure swim past the camera. Commander Brown has his own little freak-out and shuts down the demo, but Ken and Jenny decide to go diving to investigate on their own. She sees a man-sized amphibious creature and snaps a picture of it, but she loses the camera and the Navy men don't believe her, so she and Ken go back underwater to find the camera. Instead, they are captured by silver-skinned monsters (who bear a resemblance to the Creature from the Black Lagoon) and taken to a scientific facility on the ocean floor where they meet the insane Dr. Moore. In an attempt to start a single world government, he has been successfully turning human beings into genderless "water cyborgs," the silver creatures, whom he can control with the flip of a dial. Moore has Prof. Howard kidnapped to come and witness his latest transformation: turning Ken and Jenny into cyborgs. Lucky for them, it's a fairly long process, and in the meantime, Commander Brown and his men take a sub down to save the reporters and the professor (and mankind) from becoming water-breathing eunuchs.
This is quite a little gem. It's a Japanese film made with several American and European actors in lead roles. Ken is played by Japanese actor Sonny Chiba who went on to a long career in martial arts movies. Jenny is played by Peggy Neal, a blond American actress who lived in Japan. I was prepared to give the film points for featuring an interracial romance, but the two seem to be just good friends. But wait, there's more! The silver creatures (face pictured above are creepy from afar, but up close, you can see the bends and folds of their costumes. The transformation scene we see, in stop motion, is effective and surprisingly graphic, if a little too long. The sets are bright and colorful and the miniatures look exactly like miniatures, which frankly is a plus in a movie like this. This transfer seems to be wrong; it looks like a full screen print zoomed in to be widescreen, so the close-ups are super close. But even that is kinda fun; the two Navy men (German actors Franz Gruber and Gunter Braun) frequently have their faces so close it's like they're pressed up against each other, burning with barely disguised lust. (See the picture on the right). The last 20 minutes are padded out with some tedious fights, but for the most part, this is colorful campy fun. [DVD]
No comments:
Post a Comment