WEBVTT - Weirdhouse Cinema Rewind: The Super Infra-Man 0:00:04.240 --> 0:00:07.160 Hey, Welcome to Weird House Cinema. This is Rob Lamb 0:00:07.760 --> 0:00:10.800 and this is Joe McCormick, and today we are bringing 0:00:10.840 --> 0:00:14.800 you a Weird House Cinema rewind. This episode originally aired 0:00:15.160 --> 0:00:20.560 December three, and it's on Inframan or the Super Inframan, 0:00:21.079 --> 0:00:25.560 one of the most absolutely, frantically enjoyable movies we have 0:00:25.680 --> 0:00:28.040 ever covered. That's right. This is a whole lot of 0:00:28.080 --> 0:00:30.800 fun featuring Danny Lee and just a whole bunch of 0:00:30.840 --> 0:00:34.839 monsters and really stylish costumes, lots of martial arts, action 0:00:35.440 --> 0:00:41.920 and alien It's Jeff, It's it's a real treat. Welcome 0:00:41.960 --> 0:00:43.920 to Stuff to Blow your mind, a production of My 0:00:44.000 --> 0:00:54.360 Heart Radio. Hey, welcome to Weird House Cinema. This is 0:00:54.440 --> 0:00:58.600 Rob Lamb and I'm Joe McCormick and for today's episode. Oh, 0:00:58.720 --> 0:01:02.480 I feel so excited it I'm I'm literally tingling. I 0:01:02.480 --> 0:01:06.240 I feel like we have unearthed a holy artifact that 0:01:06.440 --> 0:01:09.400 was I guess maybe known by many by many others before, 0:01:09.480 --> 0:01:14.119 but this was my first time seeing today's selection, and 0:01:14.280 --> 0:01:17.520 it has filled me with such light and hope and 0:01:17.760 --> 0:01:23.760 goodwill and cheer. Uh. Today's selection is Inframan, also known 0:01:23.800 --> 0:01:28.760 as the Super Inframan, a nineteen seventy Hong Kong cinema 0:01:28.800 --> 0:01:33.720 extravaganza that truly must be seen to be believed. This 0:01:33.760 --> 0:01:36.959 movie has um. I was trying to think it has 0:01:37.000 --> 0:01:40.920 an ineffability about the experience of watching it, similar to 0:01:41.160 --> 0:01:45.160 a religious or psychedelic experiences. I think you can when 0:01:45.160 --> 0:01:48.600 you read the words of people who have seen this movie, 0:01:48.920 --> 0:01:53.920 they're trying to communicate something that just can't be said. Yeah, yeah, 0:01:53.960 --> 0:01:56.480 this this movie is something special. And uh, and I 0:01:56.520 --> 0:01:58.760 had not seen it before either. I was, I think, 0:01:58.800 --> 0:02:02.080 barely familiar with it. I think my only real connection 0:02:02.080 --> 0:02:05.560 to this is that I knew that the Jonah ray 0:02:05.720 --> 0:02:07.760 Um and a comedian and actor, it was a big 0:02:07.760 --> 0:02:10.839 fan of this film. And I knew that there were 0:02:10.880 --> 0:02:14.440 elements there were these costumes. In the most recent Netflix 0:02:14.480 --> 0:02:18.040 seasons of Mystery Science Theater three thousand, it copied the 0:02:18.080 --> 0:02:21.000 skeleton costumes from this movie. Uh, you know, I did 0:02:21.080 --> 0:02:24.320 kind of a riff on them, visual riff, but but 0:02:24.360 --> 0:02:26.720 that was it. Otherwise, this was all new to me, 0:02:26.840 --> 0:02:29.160 and I I mean, I'm I'm I'm glad I had 0:02:29.160 --> 0:02:31.600 not already seen it because I got to appreciate it 0:02:31.840 --> 0:02:34.919 a new This week I'm almost a little bit. It's 0:02:34.919 --> 0:02:38.040 one of those melancholy experiences that's so joyful, but it's 0:02:38.040 --> 0:02:40.440 also a little bit sad because you know you can 0:02:40.480 --> 0:02:44.280 never experience it for the first time again. But this 0:02:44.360 --> 0:02:46.480 is already a movie that I know I will watch 0:02:46.560 --> 0:02:49.799 probably dozens more times in my life. It's a new 0:02:49.840 --> 0:02:53.679 all time favorite for me. Among the weird how cinema selections. 0:02:53.680 --> 0:02:56.120 I put it right up there with Robot Jock's Mad 0:02:56.200 --> 0:02:58.960 Love and the other the best of the best. So 0:02:59.040 --> 0:03:00.760 what is the deal with in for Man? I would 0:03:00.760 --> 0:03:07.200 say Inframan combines peak I popping B movie craftsmanship with 0:03:07.320 --> 0:03:13.680 this infectious, pleasing hyper drive of manic absurdity. I wish 0:03:13.720 --> 0:03:16.359 there were more movies like this. And I'm not being 0:03:16.400 --> 0:03:19.320 ironic at all. I'm completely serious when I say that 0:03:19.600 --> 0:03:23.080 making a movie like this must require a certain kind 0:03:23.080 --> 0:03:27.240 of rare genius. Yeah. Absolutely, um. Oh, by the way, 0:03:27.240 --> 0:03:28.800 I should I should go and throw out Yeah this 0:03:28.840 --> 0:03:31.920 is some yeah, sometimes done as Inframan, the Superinframan, or 0:03:31.960 --> 0:03:35.400 the original Chinese title for this is Zone chall Rin 0:03:35.880 --> 0:03:39.920 or Chinese Superman. But yeah, this is uh. I feel 0:03:39.960 --> 0:03:41.960 like this movie is just an under the tree Christmas 0:03:42.000 --> 0:03:44.960 Morning sort of treat. Uh. You can basically feel the 0:03:45.800 --> 0:03:48.960 plastic crinkling as you as you watch it for the 0:03:48.960 --> 0:03:51.040 first time. You know, you have to have to undo 0:03:51.120 --> 0:03:54.960 some twist ties to remove it from the packaging. Um, 0:03:55.120 --> 0:03:57.160 it's it's hard to imagine the sort of person who 0:03:57.200 --> 0:04:00.400 would not be won over by this movie. Doctor should 0:04:00.440 --> 0:04:03.560 prescribe In for Man as a treatment for painful diseases. 0:04:03.640 --> 0:04:07.320 Hospitals should have TVs that only show In for Man. 0:04:07.640 --> 0:04:10.320 You can only be so sad while watching in. It's true. 0:04:10.800 --> 0:04:13.960 So apparently this was one movie, and as far as 0:04:14.000 --> 0:04:17.040 I know, it might be the only instance ever where 0:04:17.480 --> 0:04:21.600 the film critic Roger Ebert changed his original star rating 0:04:22.040 --> 0:04:24.880 years after his review for this movie. So when it 0:04:24.920 --> 0:04:29.000 came out, he wrote an absolutely glowing review. I mean, 0:04:29.000 --> 0:04:32.120 you read the words, it sounds like he's describing one 0:04:32.160 --> 0:04:34.599 of the greatest films he's ever seen, But he only 0:04:34.640 --> 0:04:37.240 gave it two point five stars. That you know, they 0:04:37.240 --> 0:04:39.680 went on a four star scale. But then more than 0:04:39.720 --> 0:04:43.159 twenty years later, he apparently went back and changed his 0:04:43.320 --> 0:04:46.480 rating from two point five to three, citing the fact 0:04:46.600 --> 0:04:48.840 that in the twenty years since he had seen or 0:04:48.880 --> 0:04:51.560 more than twenty twenty something plus years since he had 0:04:51.560 --> 0:04:54.120 seen in for Man, there was probably not a single 0:04:54.160 --> 0:04:56.440 month that went by that he didn't at some point 0:04:56.520 --> 0:04:59.960 find himself thinking of it fondly. Uh. Though, I'm gonna 0:05:00.560 --> 0:05:03.280 confused why he didn't just go straight to four stars, 0:05:03.320 --> 0:05:05.680 like what's holding you back at three? Because when you 0:05:05.720 --> 0:05:08.640 read his actual words, I think it's clear that he 0:05:08.680 --> 0:05:11.920 feels like we do, that he understands that the Inframan 0:05:12.720 --> 0:05:16.760 transcends just being a kind of a goofy zany movie 0:05:16.839 --> 0:05:20.159 and becomes a kind of genuine masterpiece. It is something 0:05:20.200 --> 0:05:22.359 to be cherished by the young and old and to 0:05:22.400 --> 0:05:27.120 be analyzed by generations of scholars and philosophers. No, absolutely, 0:05:27.160 --> 0:05:29.120 I mean I guess with with Ebert, you never know 0:05:29.160 --> 0:05:31.920 exactly what you're gonna get. Like we've said before, I 0:05:32.440 --> 0:05:35.919 you know, sometimes you agree with other times you know 0:05:36.160 --> 0:05:37.839 you want to get a shouting match with him. But 0:05:38.279 --> 0:05:40.920 I feel like the same Roger Ebert who gave Blade 0:05:40.920 --> 0:05:43.480 to three and a half stars. Uh, and I totally 0:05:43.480 --> 0:05:46.679 agree with that rating. UM would considerately, you know, pumping 0:05:46.680 --> 0:05:48.880 it up to three and a half at least for 0:05:48.880 --> 0:05:51.479 for this movie. I don't know. I want to understand 0:05:51.520 --> 0:05:54.240 these mental constraints keeping it limited to three. I guess 0:05:54.240 --> 0:05:58.719 some people are always trying to ice skate up hill good. Um, 0:05:58.760 --> 0:06:00.800 but no, no, I get you. Knowing systems are hard. 0:06:00.839 --> 0:06:02.960 I mean, how do you it's it's it's a tough 0:06:03.200 --> 0:06:05.039 job you give yourself if you're going to rate every 0:06:05.080 --> 0:06:07.839 film you ever watch. And uh and and you know 0:06:08.000 --> 0:06:10.240 you have some sort of numerical value system that can 0:06:10.279 --> 0:06:14.239 apply to films like Infra Man, but also to films 0:06:14.320 --> 0:06:16.880 like you know, The Great Gatsby or whatever. You know. 0:06:17.400 --> 0:06:20.560 Uh so I realized it's complicated now. It should come 0:06:20.560 --> 0:06:24.560 as no surprise to anyone that psychotronic film chronicler Michael 0:06:24.600 --> 0:06:28.880 Weldon wrote highly of the Inframan movie. Um. He wrote, 0:06:28.960 --> 0:06:33.080 quote almost NonStop laughs and excitement, with some great special effects, 0:06:33.160 --> 0:06:36.280 lots of skulls, and a character reading a Dennis Wheatley 0:06:36.320 --> 0:06:39.200 occult novel. I don't think I noticed that detail, but 0:06:39.240 --> 0:06:42.400 that's good. Yeah, yeah, May May is reading it late 0:06:42.520 --> 0:06:46.920 in the film. Okay, this is during the um largely 0:06:47.040 --> 0:06:49.840 non action oriented portion of the film in which the 0:06:49.839 --> 0:06:53.200 professor is researching things, which, incidentally, you know, this is 0:06:53.200 --> 0:06:55.599 about an hour into the film. And I've been loving 0:06:55.600 --> 0:06:57.159 it and I paused it because I had to do 0:06:57.200 --> 0:06:58.800 something else, and I was picking it back up at 0:06:58.880 --> 0:07:01.280 night when my my, my wife and son were home 0:07:01.279 --> 0:07:02.680 and I was like, Hey, you guys gotta come in 0:07:02.720 --> 0:07:05.279 here because this is this is great. Everybody's gonna love this. 0:07:05.720 --> 0:07:07.800 And so they sit down and I push play and 0:07:07.839 --> 0:07:11.480 it's immediately researched scene and I was like, seriously, this 0:07:11.520 --> 0:07:13.280 is the this is the longest stretch in the movie 0:07:13.480 --> 0:07:17.000 in which there are no monsters. Reckily, they stayed with it. Uh. 0:07:17.000 --> 0:07:19.080 They ended up watching the rest of the film with me, 0:07:19.240 --> 0:07:22.280 and they both agreed that it was excellent. I noticed 0:07:22.280 --> 0:07:25.200 a dynamic where maybe you felt the same thing, where 0:07:25.920 --> 0:07:29.240 when there were scenes of this movie that suddenly slowed 0:07:29.280 --> 0:07:31.360 down when there was a little bit of downtime, and 0:07:31.400 --> 0:07:33.760 there is not a lot of downtime in this movie, 0:07:34.360 --> 0:07:37.760 but when it arrives it is somehow hilarious. I think 0:07:37.800 --> 0:07:40.960 it's something about the change in pacing when it suddenly 0:07:41.040 --> 0:07:45.040 down shifts to characters just being still and quiet. For 0:07:45.080 --> 0:07:48.040 a moment, I couldn't stop laughing, and I wasn't sure 0:07:48.080 --> 0:07:50.880 exactly what that was. It just feels like, oh, okay, 0:07:50.920 --> 0:07:54.640 now we're just watching them. Look at screens for a second. Yeah, 0:07:54.720 --> 0:07:57.160 And I think this is the time to drive home 0:07:57.200 --> 0:08:01.120 that this is a shob Brothers picture. Shot Brothers of course, 0:08:01.160 --> 0:08:04.520 the Hong Kong studio, uh, that noted for its many 0:08:05.120 --> 0:08:07.760 martial arts action films back in the day. So this 0:08:07.840 --> 0:08:11.400 is a this is a film that excels at motion. Uh, 0:08:11.480 --> 0:08:13.840 if nothing else, Like you know, going into a shot 0:08:13.880 --> 0:08:17.200 Brothers film that the stunts um and then the physical 0:08:17.200 --> 0:08:19.960 action is going to be excellent. Uh. And with this 0:08:19.960 --> 0:08:22.240 film we just have a lot of other excellent things 0:08:22.280 --> 0:08:24.880 built on top of that framework. I noticed when I 0:08:24.920 --> 0:08:28.280 was watching this movie and and foolishly trying to take 0:08:28.320 --> 0:08:32.480 comprehensive notes on the plot, which quickly proved impossible. A 0:08:32.559 --> 0:08:36.000 word I just kept typing over and over was immediately 0:08:36.520 --> 0:08:39.200 And I think that fact by itself helps give you 0:08:39.240 --> 0:08:42.160 a sense of what Inframan is all about. I was 0:08:42.200 --> 0:08:45.040 trying to think of analogies to communicate the feeling of 0:08:45.080 --> 0:08:47.520 this movie. And if this makes any sense to me, 0:08:47.640 --> 0:08:50.960 Inframan is almost kind of like an early Beatles song. 0:08:51.120 --> 0:08:54.800 It's like she Loves You. It's just tight and fast 0:08:55.000 --> 0:08:58.120 and instantly in the hook, and the catchy melody never 0:08:58.160 --> 0:09:03.160 stops Yeah, I think that's an adequate description. Um, it's 0:09:03.480 --> 0:09:06.320 it's it's worth noting for weird house cinema listeners that, Uh, 0:09:06.440 --> 0:09:08.760 this is our second Shot Brothers film that we've covered. 0:09:08.800 --> 0:09:13.320 The first was nineteen seventies six is The Oily Maniac, 0:09:13.400 --> 0:09:16.880 which had one incredible monster, some cool black magic, but 0:09:16.920 --> 0:09:20.120 also a fair amount of sleeves. Uh. This film, however, 0:09:20.360 --> 0:09:24.120 is all monsters. It's comic book action and is appropriate 0:09:24.200 --> 0:09:27.200 for all ages. Um and yeah, and came out in 0:09:27.240 --> 0:09:30.320 seventy five, so this is the year before Oily Maniac 0:09:30.360 --> 0:09:32.480 and there's more than one connection to be made between 0:09:32.480 --> 0:09:36.119 the casts. So how would we even do the elevator 0:09:36.160 --> 0:09:38.440 pitch for this movie? The first sentence I typed was 0:09:38.520 --> 0:09:43.200 just prepared to lose your mind. That's really good. When 0:09:43.200 --> 0:09:46.040 I was thinking on it, I was I thought, super 0:09:46.080 --> 0:09:49.280 Inframan is a buffet for the eyes and everything is desserted. 0:09:49.720 --> 0:09:54.400 That's very very true, very good. Um, So how to 0:09:54.440 --> 0:09:57.960 actually boil down the plot? I'll give it a shot. 0:09:58.440 --> 0:10:02.480 When a tyrannical which from a long lost Ice Age 0:10:02.520 --> 0:10:06.800 civilization named Princess Dragon Mom and then there's some alternate 0:10:07.160 --> 0:10:10.439 titles depending on translation, when she tries to destroy the 0:10:10.480 --> 0:10:14.480 world with a team of fidgety mutant Hinchman. A brave 0:10:14.559 --> 0:10:18.640 young man named Rama must volunteer for a dangerous experimental 0:10:18.720 --> 0:10:22.360 surgery that will put a nuclear reactor in his body 0:10:22.640 --> 0:10:27.160 and transform him into Inframan, a near invincible armored hero 0:10:27.360 --> 0:10:31.640 with thunder fists, and only Inframan can save us. Now, yep, 0:10:31.760 --> 0:10:35.240 that's pretty accurate. But and yet it does not. It 0:10:35.600 --> 0:10:39.120 does not and cannot fully convey the visual feast that 0:10:39.280 --> 0:10:41.760 is this film. Now, one thing that's interesting is that 0:10:41.800 --> 0:10:44.040 while I think this movie is more than the sum 0:10:44.080 --> 0:10:47.280 of its parts, it it comes together into this beautiful, 0:10:47.400 --> 0:10:51.160 transcendent whole. You can also quite clearly pick out a 0:10:51.160 --> 0:10:55.040 lot of the genre inputs on it. I think we're 0:10:55.040 --> 0:10:57.280 not original and observing this, a lot of people have 0:10:57.400 --> 0:11:00.640 commented that a lot of the genre can ventions of 0:11:00.640 --> 0:11:05.319 this movie seem largely derived from certain popular especially Japanese 0:11:05.400 --> 0:11:09.120 film and TV genres from the decade before this came out, 0:11:09.800 --> 0:11:11.960 and so a couple of things to mention here would 0:11:11.960 --> 0:11:15.920 probably be the influence of the so called Henshion hero shows. 0:11:16.720 --> 0:11:20.640 Um to describe this for American audience as our age. 0:11:20.840 --> 0:11:23.920 If you ever watched the Mighty morphin Power Rangers when 0:11:23.960 --> 0:11:26.679 you were a kid, and maybe you've got the feeling 0:11:26.800 --> 0:11:29.920 that is this part of a genre in some way? 0:11:30.000 --> 0:11:33.080 Does this uh you know these tropes feel kind of 0:11:33.120 --> 0:11:36.760 well worn, even though maybe I've never seen them before. Well, yes, 0:11:36.880 --> 0:11:40.360 Mighty Morphin Power Rangers was indeed a sort of americanization 0:11:40.440 --> 0:11:44.559 of a long running Japanese TV show genre. Uh this 0:11:44.559 --> 0:11:50.320 this hingshion show, which henshion translates to something like transformation 0:11:50.679 --> 0:11:54.600 or changing body. These were shows about a regular person 0:11:54.600 --> 0:11:58.280 who would transform into a hero, who usually wore a 0:11:58.360 --> 0:12:01.120 suit that had some kind of cool, will elaborate helmet. 0:12:01.280 --> 0:12:04.440 Not always, but they would change clothes in some interesting way, 0:12:05.080 --> 0:12:07.120 and so they might have a device or say a 0:12:07.160 --> 0:12:10.079 magic word and then they'd go through a morphine sequence 0:12:10.200 --> 0:12:13.440 like the Power Rangers did, and this would transform them 0:12:13.520 --> 0:12:17.160 into their their hero more where they would have superpowers. 0:12:17.640 --> 0:12:22.320 So big examples of of popular hinging shows from Japan 0:12:22.440 --> 0:12:25.600 were Ultraman beginning in the mid sixties, and then there 0:12:25.640 --> 0:12:28.320 was a show called Caman Raiders that I think came 0:12:28.360 --> 0:12:31.320 a little bit later. Yeah, Ultraman. Of course, we we 0:12:31.440 --> 0:12:38.320 covered a tie up co production featuring Ultraman titled Hanuman 0:12:38.480 --> 0:12:41.719 Versus Seven Ultraman. So if you're interested in this type 0:12:41.760 --> 0:12:43.439 of film and you didn't hear that episode, go back 0:12:43.440 --> 0:12:45.520 and listen to it. It's pretty fun. Now. This is 0:12:45.559 --> 0:12:47.400 a rich genre that's also had a huge impact on 0:12:47.440 --> 0:12:50.480 cartoons of especially the eighties and nineties, a lot of 0:12:50.520 --> 0:12:53.959 things that would have been seeing outside of Japan. We're 0:12:53.960 --> 0:12:58.199 talking stuff like Sailor Moon, ThunderCats, Silverhawks, he Man Shira, 0:12:58.600 --> 0:13:02.400 of course Voltron, and in the world of animation, I'm 0:13:02.440 --> 0:13:05.120 to understand it was particularly useful because it allows you 0:13:05.160 --> 0:13:09.520 to reuse that transformation sequence in every episode and you know, 0:13:09.559 --> 0:13:11.520 as much of it as you needed to help you 0:13:11.640 --> 0:13:15.240 hit your desired um episode length, right, Yeah, so you 0:13:15.240 --> 0:13:17.559 could really pad that thing out with stuff that you 0:13:17.760 --> 0:13:21.480 that you had shot, you know, years before. Very economical 0:13:21.480 --> 0:13:24.120 way to make a show, especially, I think when you're 0:13:24.160 --> 0:13:26.840 you're dealing with something like animation, where you know your 0:13:27.040 --> 0:13:30.080 it's your your cost per frame is pretty high. But 0:13:30.280 --> 0:13:33.280 while you can clearly recognize that the bones of a 0:13:33.440 --> 0:13:37.200 of a Hinsion influence in in Inframan himself, this movie 0:13:37.280 --> 0:13:39.920 has a lot of other inputs. There's so much going on, 0:13:40.000 --> 0:13:43.080 so it clearly has kaiju inputs because there are these 0:13:43.120 --> 0:13:47.840 assortments of weird monsters that sometimes grow very large. Uh. 0:13:48.240 --> 0:13:51.959 It also has has strong martial arts movie influences. There's 0:13:51.960 --> 0:13:54.360 a lot of great kung fu scenes in it. And 0:13:54.720 --> 0:13:57.280 there is a subplot in the middle of it that 0:13:57.320 --> 0:14:00.400 feels like the movie suddenly shifts into an espionage thriller, 0:14:00.480 --> 0:14:04.880 like a brainwashing sleeper agent movie. And I loved that part. It' 0:14:05.160 --> 0:14:08.080 that was absolutely a genius move. Because you have so 0:14:08.200 --> 0:14:11.800 much action and so much monster action going on, You've 0:14:12.000 --> 0:14:13.920 you've got to find You've gotta have a way to 0:14:13.960 --> 0:14:15.600 pad that out a little bit. You need something else 0:14:15.640 --> 0:14:20.119 in there, and the espionage mind washing a plot works fabulously. 0:14:20.520 --> 0:14:23.280 So you and I may have watched different versions of 0:14:23.400 --> 0:14:25.640 the movie. I think we saw the same thing on 0:14:25.680 --> 0:14:28.640 the screen, I think, but different versions of getting the 0:14:28.760 --> 0:14:34.360 English translation. So while I often prefer subtitles to dubbing 0:14:34.520 --> 0:14:37.960 for foreign films, the dub track on the version of 0:14:38.120 --> 0:14:41.160 Inframan that I watched, which might be the only English dub, 0:14:41.200 --> 0:14:43.560 I'm not sure. At least the version I saw was 0:14:43.720 --> 0:14:50.600 absolutely sublime. The frantic line delivery and unusual word choices 0:14:51.280 --> 0:14:54.920 were perfect. They really add to the gleeful absurdity of 0:14:55.000 --> 0:14:58.680 the film and inject even more irresistible energy and pleasure 0:14:58.720 --> 0:15:01.640 into the viewing experience. Uh So, the version I saw, 0:15:01.720 --> 0:15:04.720 I think was the main dub. Like it. It seems 0:15:04.760 --> 0:15:07.200 to be the dub that other reviewers have written about 0:15:07.440 --> 0:15:09.120 going back to the seventies, So I think it's the 0:15:09.200 --> 0:15:11.880 original one. And it was the dub that was present 0:15:11.920 --> 0:15:15.000 when I rented this movie from Google on on YouTube movies. 0:15:15.640 --> 0:15:19.200 So I would say watch this dub, but also make 0:15:19.280 --> 0:15:22.240 sure that if you do watch this movie, don't try 0:15:22.320 --> 0:15:24.720 to watch some low quality rip of this. This movie 0:15:24.920 --> 0:15:27.520 is gorgeous. It is a feast for the eyes, and 0:15:27.600 --> 0:15:31.720 you really do need to see it in full high definition. Yeah. Absolutely. 0:15:31.800 --> 0:15:34.320 I watched it on Apple TV and UH and and 0:15:34.400 --> 0:15:36.920 I had had the choice via Apple TV as well, 0:15:37.000 --> 0:15:41.000 but to watch it in uh either dubbed or subtitles. 0:15:41.680 --> 0:15:45.320 I watched it in its entirety with the subtitles, though 0:15:45.360 --> 0:15:47.480 I did go back and watch some scenes with the 0:15:47.560 --> 0:15:48.960 dub to get a taste of the dub. Because the 0:15:49.000 --> 0:15:51.280 thing about a Shab Brothers film from you know, from 0:15:51.320 --> 0:15:53.760 this era, is that the dub is kind of iconic, 0:15:53.920 --> 0:15:56.400 you know, um there's so there's something great about the 0:15:56.440 --> 0:15:59.000 way they're dubbed. And I have to say, even though 0:15:59.040 --> 0:16:02.720 I enjoyed here ring the Chinese language and and uh 0:16:02.800 --> 0:16:05.920 and and getting the subtitle experience and feeling like I 0:16:06.000 --> 0:16:08.640 was getting something, you know, closer to the original viewing experience, 0:16:09.280 --> 0:16:11.640 there's so much action on the screen at times you 0:16:11.760 --> 0:16:13.920 feel like you I felt like I might have been 0:16:14.000 --> 0:16:19.080 cheating myself by focusing on the dialogue and translation rather 0:16:19.200 --> 0:16:22.920 than the kicks and lasers and tentacles that are happening 0:16:22.960 --> 0:16:25.440 on the screen. Yeah. I would say, at least in 0:16:25.520 --> 0:16:29.080 my experience, the the burning fuse power of the English 0:16:29.160 --> 0:16:32.720 dub was definitely part of this art product. I would 0:16:32.880 --> 0:16:36.360 I would, I couldn't recommend this English dub enough. Yeah, 0:16:36.360 --> 0:16:38.800 I think the main there mainly There mainly two points 0:16:38.880 --> 0:16:41.560 to be made of distinction between the two. One is 0:16:41.640 --> 0:16:47.200 that it's my understanding that the dub introduces some plot 0:16:47.280 --> 0:16:51.000 holes that are not there otherwise um and and so 0:16:51.400 --> 0:16:53.760 I found that when I was looking at scenes, for instance, 0:16:53.760 --> 0:16:55.880 if you do the I did the experiment where I 0:16:56.040 --> 0:16:59.080 put on uh, the subtitles and the dub at the 0:16:59.160 --> 0:17:01.800 same time to see to what extent they matched up, 0:17:01.880 --> 0:17:03.680 and there were parts of the film where they're just 0:17:03.680 --> 0:17:06.879 talking about different things entirely, other parts where, like, you know, 0:17:06.960 --> 0:17:09.919 the tone is a little off, but essentially this is correct. Uh. 0:17:10.800 --> 0:17:12.960 The other areas the names of monsters, and you know, 0:17:13.040 --> 0:17:17.520 I take my monster names seriously, and um, I don't know. 0:17:17.640 --> 0:17:19.920 So some of the names I like better in the 0:17:20.000 --> 0:17:25.560 subtitles than in the dub For example, Princess Dragon mom uh. 0:17:25.720 --> 0:17:29.680 In the she her name in the subtitles is demon 0:17:29.760 --> 0:17:33.359 Princess Elzebub, which is also a little goofy, but I 0:17:33.840 --> 0:17:37.480 like it. I prefer it to dragon mom. Oh. What 0:17:37.680 --> 0:17:41.000 how can you knock Princess Dragon mom? How can I 0:17:41.040 --> 0:17:43.800 mean like that? That feels so good coming out of 0:17:43.840 --> 0:17:46.000 my mouth. I just want to wander around the household 0:17:46.080 --> 0:17:49.960 day saying Princess Dragon mom Oh. And then there's a 0:17:50.040 --> 0:17:53.639 witch I as another one her female second in command 0:17:53.720 --> 0:17:56.200 or one of her female underlings, that has the monster 0:17:56.359 --> 0:17:59.880 hands with the eyeballs in the palm m. Guiermo del tour. 0:18:00.160 --> 0:18:02.800 You did not invent monsters with eyes in the palms 0:18:02.840 --> 0:18:05.520 of their hands. That is right here in nineteen seventy 0:18:05.600 --> 0:18:10.240 five in inframan so which I was or was she 0:18:10.320 --> 0:18:13.720 called demon? Which I also or which demon? I sometimes 0:18:13.840 --> 0:18:15.840 I think so? And then. But but here's the other 0:18:15.920 --> 0:18:18.480 thing that that gets complicated with the names of these monsters. 0:18:18.800 --> 0:18:21.719 I noticed that in Michael Weldon's Ride Up he mentioned 0:18:21.720 --> 0:18:24.320 a few slightly different names for some of these monsters. 0:18:25.040 --> 0:18:27.680 So that leads me to think that perhaps there were 0:18:27.840 --> 0:18:30.760 different at least different subtitles at different points. I mean he, 0:18:31.000 --> 0:18:33.040 I mean this was a book from the nineteen eighties. 0:18:33.240 --> 0:18:35.200 Who he is writing about this? So who knows? So 0:18:35.640 --> 0:18:38.320 I'm wondering just how many different names we have for 0:18:38.440 --> 0:18:45.400 these these monsters, counting the original language versions, the subtitles, 0:18:45.480 --> 0:18:49.680 the dubs, uh who who knows? Well? So in my 0:18:49.960 --> 0:18:53.960 dub which I was called she Demon, simple but effective. 0:18:54.040 --> 0:18:57.280 But but whatever you call her, she demon is divine. 0:18:58.119 --> 0:19:01.439 It's it's a very I hate to cite an internet meme, 0:19:01.520 --> 0:19:03.240 but it's a very we have no choice but to 0:19:03.320 --> 0:19:08.080 stand kind of situation. Like every moment she's on screen 0:19:08.359 --> 0:19:12.560 is just like, damn, she demon is so cool? What 0:19:12.840 --> 0:19:15.520 religion is it that worships her? Can I join that? 0:19:17.520 --> 0:19:18.879 All right? Well, why don't we go ahead and get 0:19:18.920 --> 0:19:23.000 a taste of some audio here for this? I picked 0:19:23.040 --> 0:19:27.240 out what is an English language TV spot for this movie, 0:19:27.600 --> 0:19:29.920 which I particularly love because it has this vibe of 0:19:30.920 --> 0:19:34.120 of hey, everybody, go grab the kids. Inframan is about 0:19:34.119 --> 0:19:42.200 to kick skulls in the face. There's toad deathliest creatures 0:19:42.240 --> 0:19:46.240 of the universe. Watch out because nothing can stop in 0:19:46.800 --> 0:19:54.200 from He's six million years beyond bionics, beyond beyond your 0:19:54.520 --> 0:19:59.880 wildest imagination, the ultimate adventure with the ultimate here all 0:20:00.920 --> 0:20:07.760 who should have excitement in promnce. Sadly you could only 0:20:07.840 --> 0:20:10.600 hear that, you could not see that. And again that 0:20:10.760 --> 0:20:12.399 is one of the things about Infaman. It must be 0:20:12.480 --> 0:20:23.720 seen to be experienced. All right, Let's talk about some 0:20:23.840 --> 0:20:27.200 of the people involved here. First of all, Yeah, like 0:20:27.280 --> 0:20:30.720 we said, this is a Shaw Brothers studio film. This 0:20:30.920 --> 0:20:34.639 is a studio that operated from n through eleven and 0:20:34.800 --> 0:20:38.240 was the largest film production company in Hong Kong, making 0:20:38.280 --> 0:20:41.359 a significant impact not only in Chinese cinema, but internationally 0:20:41.400 --> 0:20:45.119 as well. The Shaws were Chinese film entrepreneurs. Three of 0:20:45.200 --> 0:20:48.359 the four Shaw brothers, Runji, run Me and Rundy, founded 0:20:48.400 --> 0:20:51.680 a film distribution company in nine operating out of Shanghai 0:20:51.760 --> 0:20:55.440 and Singapore. Run Me and the or their youngest brother 0:20:55.760 --> 0:20:59.760 run run Shop operated the Singapore Bass which would become 0:20:59.800 --> 0:21:03.440 the Shaw Organization, before taking over the Hong Kong based 0:21:03.440 --> 0:21:06.679 sister company Shaw and Sons Limited. In nineteen fifty eight, 0:21:06.760 --> 0:21:10.239 a new company, Shaw Brothers was born. Run Me who 0:21:10.320 --> 0:21:13.879 produced this film Live nineteen o one through five and 0:21:14.040 --> 0:21:16.679 run Run lived in nineteen o seven through two thousand 0:21:16.680 --> 0:21:19.920 and fourteen. Man I love seeing that Shaw Brothers logo 0:21:20.000 --> 0:21:21.840 at the beginning of a film. You see the hammered 0:21:21.880 --> 0:21:24.800 glass and and the it just it feels so good. 0:21:25.160 --> 0:21:28.280 It does you know you're you're in for some action. Um. 0:21:28.400 --> 0:21:30.560 And if anyone wants to hear more about Shaw Brothers, 0:21:30.760 --> 0:21:32.879 I believe we went into more detail in the Oily 0:21:32.960 --> 0:21:35.960 Maniac episode. And if you want to find that, UM, 0:21:36.400 --> 0:21:38.000 you can either dig around and stuff to blow your 0:21:38.040 --> 0:21:40.679 mind archives, or you can go to Samouda music dot 0:21:40.760 --> 0:21:42.879 com s E m U T A m U S 0:21:42.960 --> 0:21:45.560 I C that is UM. That's a blog, but I 0:21:45.640 --> 0:21:47.399 maintain and I just list all the films there. So 0:21:47.800 --> 0:21:50.040 occasionally people right in and say, hey, where's a list 0:21:50.080 --> 0:21:52.400 of all the films we've done for we're how cinema. Well, 0:21:52.560 --> 0:21:54.600 that is where you can find it, all right. The 0:21:54.720 --> 0:22:00.359 director of Inframan was Shaan Hua who lived well. I's 0:22:00.359 --> 0:22:02.760 still alive as far as I know. Born ninety two, 0:22:03.200 --> 0:22:07.400 a cinematographer turned director, active from nineteen seventy four through 0:22:07.520 --> 0:22:11.760 nineteen two. His other works include nine eight one's Kung 0:22:11.840 --> 0:22:15.440 Fu Zombie and nine eight one's Bloody Parrot. You know 0:22:15.560 --> 0:22:17.680 another one of my favorite weird house cinema. In fact, 0:22:17.720 --> 0:22:20.240 i's a multiple of my favorite weird house cinema movies 0:22:20.280 --> 0:22:24.320 we've done. We're directed by people who who were mainly 0:22:24.400 --> 0:22:28.200 cinematographers and then and then shifted to the director's chairs. 0:22:28.359 --> 0:22:32.720 Because mad love Carl Freund originally cinematographer and then directed 0:22:32.760 --> 0:22:36.040 the movie. Maybe that's because I guess you have a 0:22:36.119 --> 0:22:39.879 cinematographer in charge. This is somebody who really understands film 0:22:40.119 --> 0:22:45.639 as as as a visual compositional medium that needs to 0:22:45.760 --> 0:22:49.440 be a moment to moment feast for the eyes. Yeah, 0:22:49.600 --> 0:22:51.879 that's true. I mean it makes you wonder about the 0:22:51.920 --> 0:22:56.080 other situations, you know, like writers turn directors, actors turned directors. 0:22:56.160 --> 0:22:59.720 You know, are these cases where musicians turn directors where 0:23:00.240 --> 0:23:04.199 you know, whatever they're their previous and prior UH focus 0:23:04.440 --> 0:23:07.719 was how to what extent does that end up? Becoming 0:23:07.760 --> 0:23:10.280 a part of their film vision as well. A lot 0:23:10.440 --> 0:23:13.040 of what I love about this movie is the way 0:23:13.200 --> 0:23:16.800 it would just like pile one crazy image on top 0:23:16.880 --> 0:23:20.040 of another in in such rapid succession that I would 0:23:20.040 --> 0:23:23.600 be just my mouth is hanging open while I'm enjoying 0:23:23.680 --> 0:23:26.440 the look of one scene, and then it before I'm 0:23:26.480 --> 0:23:29.440 even done having that feeling, it cuts to something else 0:23:29.840 --> 0:23:34.040 that also looks strange and amazing. Absolutely now. The writer 0:23:34.160 --> 0:23:37.240 on this film was Quality born nineteen thirty five, a 0:23:37.400 --> 0:23:40.640 one man screenplay machine with two hundred thirty three writing 0:23:40.680 --> 0:23:44.480 credits on IMDb, known for such writing for writing such 0:23:44.560 --> 0:23:47.159 Hong Kong action films as The thirty six Chamber of 0:23:47.240 --> 0:23:51.600 Shao Lyn from The Wesley's Mysterious File from two thousand 0:23:51.640 --> 0:23:54.680 and two and The Singing Killer from nineteen seventy, and 0:23:55.000 --> 0:23:58.040 he also acted on occasion, two hundred and thirty three 0:23:58.119 --> 0:24:00.879 writing credits in a career of how many years. How 0:24:00.920 --> 0:24:04.840 many screenplays is that per year? Uh? Yeah, it was 0:24:04.880 --> 0:24:08.840 a lot. I think there's even Uh I don't think 0:24:08.880 --> 0:24:10.960 he's active anymore, but I think there was at least 0:24:11.000 --> 0:24:13.960 one recent film or one upcoming film that looked like 0:24:14.080 --> 0:24:17.480 maybe it was based on this uh Wesley's mysterious file 0:24:17.640 --> 0:24:21.720 thing that he had done earlier. Now onto the cast. Well, 0:24:21.760 --> 0:24:26.040 our lead here playing Raima uh slash Inframan is none 0:24:26.080 --> 0:24:30.159 other than Danny Lee born n Oh. Danny Lee is 0:24:30.240 --> 0:24:33.760 just great. Oh yeah. People may remember he was the 0:24:33.840 --> 0:24:36.840 lead in The Oily Maniac as well, but he's probably 0:24:36.920 --> 0:24:39.679 better known for such films as The Killer, The Untold Story, 0:24:40.160 --> 0:24:43.960 The Eight Immortals, Restaurant and City on Fire, Um Hong 0:24:44.040 --> 0:24:48.159 Kong actor, film producer, screenwriter, director who, at least later 0:24:48.240 --> 0:24:50.800 in his career, they made a kind of specially out 0:24:50.840 --> 0:24:53.280 of playing cops. He played a lot of detectives and cops. 0:24:53.600 --> 0:24:56.240 But this is early Danny Lee. I think, before he 0:24:56.280 --> 0:24:59.920 had even adopted that moniker uh when, in which case, 0:25:00.000 --> 0:25:03.280 you know he's in full like physical prime action hero 0:25:03.640 --> 0:25:07.440 leading man roles situation. At least in this movie, he's 0:25:07.560 --> 0:25:11.159 he's almost got that that el cento energy, somebody who 0:25:11.240 --> 0:25:14.119 just seems to like beam goodness and virtue out of 0:25:14.200 --> 0:25:18.159 his face. Yeah. I don't think Lee is active as 0:25:18.200 --> 0:25:21.240 an actor anymore, but he's still directing and producing, including 0:25:21.320 --> 0:25:23.639 the upcoming The Little Monk, which looks to be a 0:25:23.720 --> 0:25:27.560 Shaolin action movie. About a child monk. So uh sounds 0:25:27.600 --> 0:25:31.760 good now. The professor in this film Professor Liu ying 0:25:31.840 --> 0:25:35.280 t or I think in your version is he Professor Chang? Yeah? 0:25:35.320 --> 0:25:40.199 Professor chey Um played by Sea Wang who lived nineteen 0:25:40.240 --> 0:25:42.720 thirty through two thousand and sixteen, another actor who was 0:25:42.800 --> 0:25:45.800 also in The Oily Maniac He who also was in 0:25:46.000 --> 0:25:49.840 Mafia Versus Ninja from five as well as John Woo's 0:25:49.880 --> 0:25:53.160 A Better Tomorrow from n six which starts chaw Yon fat. 0:25:53.480 --> 0:25:56.960 He is also wonderful in this movie and really enhances 0:25:57.080 --> 0:26:01.200 the absurd pleasure of some scenes, like the scenes where 0:26:01.240 --> 0:26:05.560 he's describing uh to to Raima, the young man played 0:26:05.560 --> 0:26:07.800 by Danny Lee who becomes in for Man, describing to 0:26:07.960 --> 0:26:10.440 him the process he's going to have to go through 0:26:10.520 --> 0:26:13.000 to become in for Man and talking about how painful 0:26:13.040 --> 0:26:14.960 and dangerous it will be and all the stuff he's 0:26:14.960 --> 0:26:17.480 gonna do to his body, but delivering it in this 0:26:18.280 --> 0:26:21.920 wonderfully somber way. It's so good. Yes, Yeah, he's He's 0:26:21.960 --> 0:26:25.359 really good. Has a lot of screen time. Alright. We 0:26:25.520 --> 0:26:30.800 mentioned Um Dragon Mom a k a demon Princess el Zebub, 0:26:31.200 --> 0:26:35.919 who is one of the most notable role of performances 0:26:36.160 --> 0:26:38.600 characters in this this film, Like when she hits the screen, 0:26:38.680 --> 0:26:43.320 you're like, wow, uh, this this film is something else. Yeah, 0:26:43.400 --> 0:26:46.080 every time she comes on screen, car alarms are going 0:26:46.160 --> 0:26:48.800 off outside your house. Is just like it is a 0:26:48.960 --> 0:26:52.720 kinetic impact. Yeah, well, I mean she is because she 0:26:52.880 --> 0:26:56.840 hits the screen and she's she's visually like the costuming, 0:26:57.240 --> 0:26:59.800 you know, it is incredible. And then she's immediately ordering 0:26:59.840 --> 0:27:03.240 my monsters around and like using a magic whip, so 0:27:03.680 --> 0:27:07.400 you know, just commands everybody's attention. She has a Yeah, 0:27:07.440 --> 0:27:09.920 she's got a great whip, and she throws people into 0:27:10.119 --> 0:27:13.520 a bottomless pit which actually does have a bottom, and 0:27:13.960 --> 0:27:16.280 it is on fire, and she likes to tell people 0:27:16.359 --> 0:27:18.880 how many thousands of degrees it is that they will 0:27:18.880 --> 0:27:20.959 be burning when they reached the bottom. Oh yeah, it's 0:27:20.960 --> 0:27:24.119 like three thousand, six thousand. It's it's very So. She 0:27:24.320 --> 0:27:27.960 is played by the actor Terry Lou And I don't 0:27:28.000 --> 0:27:29.840 have any you know, as far as I know, her 0:27:29.880 --> 0:27:32.800 birthday is unknown. This might be her most notable role, 0:27:32.840 --> 0:27:35.399 but she appeared in a number of horror and horror 0:27:35.440 --> 0:27:39.040 asque Hong Kong films during the nineties seventies, including the 0:27:39.080 --> 0:27:43.240 Oily Maniac from seventies six, And aside from the Oily 0:27:43.320 --> 0:27:45.520 Maniac connection, I think you can basically say the same 0:27:45.600 --> 0:27:48.320 thing for the other main female actors in this film. 0:27:48.680 --> 0:27:52.320 That's Manzooyan who plays Maymae that's the professor's daughter, and 0:27:52.680 --> 0:27:57.119 Dana who plays demon Witch. I um that they were 0:27:57.160 --> 0:28:00.399 both actors who were mostly active just in the nineteen 0:28:00.440 --> 0:28:02.800 seventies and did a lot of roles in um sort 0:28:02.800 --> 0:28:06.320 of horror bloody films. Well, yeah, both Terry Lou and 0:28:06.520 --> 0:28:09.760 Dana are just fabulous in this. Every scene with them 0:28:09.920 --> 0:28:13.600 is just rocket fuel. You know. I forgot almost forgot 0:28:13.680 --> 0:28:17.200 to mention Bruce Lee is in this really well not 0:28:17.800 --> 0:28:21.280 noticed that not Bruce Lee with two ease, that's Bruce 0:28:21.400 --> 0:28:25.560 Lee with one. That's Bruce Bruce LEI is kind of 0:28:26.240 --> 0:28:30.679 um uh So the actor Chin Lung Hong born nineteen 0:28:30.760 --> 0:28:35.520 fifty was not going by Bruce Ley yet um. But 0:28:36.119 --> 0:28:39.040 later after this film he apparently broke out as a 0:28:39.160 --> 0:28:44.080 Bruce Lee clone. So that was interesting. I'm not really 0:28:44.120 --> 0:28:47.480 familiar with any Bruce Lee clone movies, but when I 0:28:47.560 --> 0:28:50.280 looked at some of the cover art for them, I'm like, oh, yeah, yeah, 0:28:50.360 --> 0:28:52.960 he's going for it. He's just putting himself in Bruce 0:28:53.080 --> 0:28:57.880 Lee mode, which trans more first phenomenon. Yeah, I mean 0:28:57.920 --> 0:28:59.720 you gotta be you know, you gotta have a certain 0:28:59.760 --> 0:29:03.960 amoun of fitness and um physical charisma to even aspire, 0:29:04.520 --> 0:29:07.520 uh to uh to be a knockoff Bruce Lee. So 0:29:07.800 --> 0:29:11.120 you know, kudos, and uh, I should just also mention 0:29:11.240 --> 0:29:14.000 that there basically I have a spot in the outline 0:29:14.000 --> 0:29:16.280 where I just put and the rest because this is 0:29:16.280 --> 0:29:18.520 a Shaw Brothers movie. This is a big martial arts 0:29:18.520 --> 0:29:21.320 action movie. And this film features an extended cast of 0:29:21.400 --> 0:29:24.760 Shaw Brothers regulars who you might recognize if you watch 0:29:24.840 --> 0:29:27.040 these films and you go deeper into the filmography for 0:29:27.560 --> 0:29:30.640 for inframan. Uh. The action in this film is great, 0:29:31.120 --> 0:29:33.800 and I have to say the monster suit acting is 0:29:33.840 --> 0:29:37.600 also just noticeably superb because we've mentioned films before, you know, 0:29:37.680 --> 0:29:40.160 where they have a monster suit and they just kind 0:29:40.160 --> 0:29:42.280 of just oh, we need to find somebody that's tall 0:29:42.400 --> 0:29:44.280 enough to wear this, or we need to find somebody 0:29:44.320 --> 0:29:47.040 who uh, you know, who can convince us that they 0:29:47.240 --> 0:29:49.959 they are the best person to walk like an ape um. 0:29:50.440 --> 0:29:53.480 But with this film, I mean, you have the Shaw 0:29:53.560 --> 0:29:58.480 Brothers ensemble, so you have individuals who are highly trained 0:29:58.640 --> 0:30:01.680 and in pique physical CONDI shan that are that are true, 0:30:01.720 --> 0:30:05.680 you know, that excel at physical performance, and so it's 0:30:05.680 --> 0:30:09.560 therefore not surprising that each suit comes alive with its 0:30:09.640 --> 0:30:13.920 own crazy energy. Like Um, the plant monster that we 0:30:14.040 --> 0:30:17.240 encounter is not just standing there sweating in the suit. No, 0:30:17.320 --> 0:30:20.240 I mean, he's in constant motion and the tentacles are 0:30:20.320 --> 0:30:24.600 constantly moving. And likewise, all the other monsters in this film, 0:30:24.680 --> 0:30:27.840 they all have some sort of unique physical energy that's 0:30:27.880 --> 0:30:30.640 going on that that that makes the thing come alive 0:30:31.160 --> 0:30:32.800 far more than it would be if it was just 0:30:32.920 --> 0:30:35.640 standing there. Oh yeah, I think I mentioned earlier that 0:30:35.800 --> 0:30:40.200 that that, uh, Princess Dragon Mom's hingemen are all quite fidgety, 0:30:40.720 --> 0:30:44.240 but that in such a good way. Like every scene 0:30:44.520 --> 0:30:47.640 in in Princess Dragon Mom's ice layer below the Earth 0:30:47.880 --> 0:30:52.520 is fantastic, but they're they're made so wonderful because so 0:30:52.920 --> 0:30:55.480 you'll usually have the main action going on with Princess 0:30:55.560 --> 0:30:58.920 Dragon Mom, maybe like giving orders to a particular mutant 0:30:59.120 --> 0:31:03.120 or or talking with you know, discussing plans with Sheet 0:31:03.160 --> 0:31:07.200 demon Um, but then meanwhile in the background, the monsters 0:31:07.240 --> 0:31:09.840 are just kind of screwing around they'll be like moving. 0:31:10.080 --> 0:31:12.760 And there's there's one monster that looks like a scaly 0:31:12.880 --> 0:31:16.440 thing with a cylindrical head and a giant mustache. He's 0:31:16.480 --> 0:31:19.680 got a you know, a crimson mustache monster that breathes fire. 0:31:20.240 --> 0:31:24.000 And he's never still. He's constantly just wobbling around with 0:31:24.160 --> 0:31:27.240 his arms flailing in the air. And that may sound simple, 0:31:27.320 --> 0:31:29.800 but once you watch it, you really what a superb touch. 0:31:29.880 --> 0:31:34.040 It just makes everything in the scene more more electric. Yeah, 0:31:34.120 --> 0:31:37.240 for a movie that that needed or at least ended 0:31:37.320 --> 0:31:41.200 up with six different monster designs for this crew of 0:31:41.320 --> 0:31:46.240 monsters serving um els about not not counting the skeleton 0:31:46.280 --> 0:31:48.200 in which we'll get to in a bet um, but 0:31:48.840 --> 0:31:53.000 for to have a roster of six monsters, like, none 0:31:53.040 --> 0:31:56.600 of them are losers. They're all tremendous designs and they 0:31:56.600 --> 0:31:58.800 all they're all different from one another. Like we have 0:31:58.960 --> 0:32:02.160 the two robots that I think are sometimes called the 0:32:02.200 --> 0:32:07.480 Ironfist robots. We have this hairy gentleman who I think 0:32:07.600 --> 0:32:10.560 is sometimes just called long haired monster that that looks 0:32:10.640 --> 0:32:16.680 like it's more inspired by like traditional Asian um ghost 0:32:16.800 --> 0:32:20.520 and monster motifs. We have My one of my two 0:32:20.640 --> 0:32:25.200 favorites is mutant drill who is this kind of weird 0:32:26.000 --> 0:32:30.200 golem looking monster kind of resembles the Oily Maniac to 0:32:30.320 --> 0:32:34.479 certain extent, but has like two metal attack hands, one 0:32:34.560 --> 0:32:37.680 of which is a devastating drill. Yeah, he's he's a 0:32:38.280 --> 0:32:42.080 dreadful bipedal frog with like a with like a claw 0:32:42.400 --> 0:32:44.920 metal claw hand and a metal drill hand. And I 0:32:44.960 --> 0:32:47.640 actually didn't realize one of his hands was a drill 0:32:47.760 --> 0:32:49.800 until a good way is into the movie. There's just 0:32:49.880 --> 0:32:53.440 so much going on you can't catch it all. Yeah. Yeah, Um, 0:32:53.760 --> 0:32:57.800 there's spider Monster, who looks like a big, cool red spider, 0:32:58.520 --> 0:33:01.080 and then there's plant Monster, which I think is sometimes 0:33:01.240 --> 0:33:04.360 translated as an octopus monster, but he's clearly a plant. 0:33:04.680 --> 0:33:06.920 His his powers, which he really gets to show off 0:33:06.960 --> 0:33:09.720 in this movie, are all based about like going into 0:33:09.760 --> 0:33:11.880 the ground and growing up out of the ground and 0:33:11.920 --> 0:33:14.640 then doing plant things. Oh, there's such a good scene 0:33:14.640 --> 0:33:18.560 where he attacks the Human Science space and uh so 0:33:18.680 --> 0:33:20.400 he's supposed to go there and destroy it and I 0:33:20.440 --> 0:33:23.400 think kill Professor Chang or something. And he he like 0:33:23.560 --> 0:33:27.080 plants himself into the ground and turns into these rapidly 0:33:27.200 --> 0:33:31.400 growing vines that penetrate the walls and inframan has to 0:33:31.480 --> 0:33:34.240 defeat him by like X raying the vines to find 0:33:34.320 --> 0:33:37.640 where his heart is. Uh. And there's one part I 0:33:37.800 --> 0:33:40.880 absolutely loved because again it was one of these things 0:33:40.920 --> 0:33:44.440 where like the new ideas just keep piling on so fast. 0:33:44.640 --> 0:33:47.200 So he has just started attacking the base, and he's 0:33:47.560 --> 0:33:51.160 reaching his his vine tentacles in and and you know, grabbing, 0:33:51.320 --> 0:33:55.080 grabbing the scientists and flinging them around. Um, and I 0:33:55.120 --> 0:33:58.040 think there's some kind of emergency, like they have to, uh, 0:33:58.240 --> 0:34:01.080 they have to reactivate the power or Infra Man will 0:34:01.080 --> 0:34:04.320 be killed during his surgery. And so they're they're frantically 0:34:04.360 --> 0:34:07.400 trying to do that while while the octopus vine monster 0:34:07.760 --> 0:34:11.239 is is gumming everything up with his arms. And then 0:34:11.280 --> 0:34:13.759 suddenly all these workers just bust in through a door 0:34:13.880 --> 0:34:18.760 with circular saws and starts sawing vines. When that happened, 0:34:18.840 --> 0:34:22.120 I was like, I was just releasing gusts of of 0:34:22.360 --> 0:34:26.239 of crazy laughter. Oh my god, it's just so good. 0:34:26.800 --> 0:34:29.120 There were moments in this where and I guess it's 0:34:29.160 --> 0:34:31.400 just about the frantic pace of the action and just 0:34:31.560 --> 0:34:33.640 and also just how how well it's put together. There 0:34:33.680 --> 0:34:35.760 were moments where I thought, oh my goodness, the monsters 0:34:35.840 --> 0:34:38.239 might win, you know, like in the brief amount of 0:34:38.280 --> 0:34:41.160 time that you're actually able to think, uh during this film, 0:34:41.200 --> 0:34:43.319 I mean, it's all happening. This movie is happening now. 0:34:43.800 --> 0:34:45.520 You know. There's not a lot of time for reflection. 0:34:45.560 --> 0:34:48.200 You're experiencing it, and therefore there were times where it's like, oh, 0:34:48.239 --> 0:34:49.719 my goodness, I think they got him. Come on and 0:34:49.800 --> 0:35:02.040 for Man, you know, yeah, it was it was really great. Now, 0:35:02.200 --> 0:35:04.520 we can't list everyone involved in the awesome look of 0:35:04.600 --> 0:35:07.600 this film, but I with I thought I would point 0:35:07.640 --> 0:35:11.799 out that Michio Mikami did the special effects on this film. 0:35:11.880 --> 0:35:15.719 He's credited for special effects. Uh. Mccami worked on a 0:35:15.840 --> 0:35:18.280 few different films, one of which is an insane looking 0:35:18.400 --> 0:35:23.040 film called Goki body Snatcher from Hell from which seems 0:35:23.040 --> 0:35:26.080 to have space blobs and vampires in it, directed by 0:35:26.280 --> 0:35:29.680 Hajimi Sato. Um might have to come back to that one, 0:35:29.880 --> 0:35:32.799 but he also did special effects on a ninety eight 0:35:32.880 --> 0:35:38.160 film titled Message from Space. Oh okay, okay, so I 0:35:38.320 --> 0:35:42.759 see the connection. I mean, Message from Space is not 0:35:43.080 --> 0:35:45.239 nearly on the level of infor Man. I think the 0:35:45.360 --> 0:35:48.080 informan is is in a class of its own. But 0:35:48.400 --> 0:35:51.200 I I see similarities. A lot of what was great 0:35:51.200 --> 0:35:55.239 about Message from Space was like these scenes just full 0:35:55.400 --> 0:35:59.759 of bizarre visual variety in the composition of the shot, 0:35:59.800 --> 0:36:03.400 where there's just all these different, strangely dressed characters in 0:36:03.520 --> 0:36:09.440 a beautifully decorated room simultaneously visually interesting and funny. Uh 0:36:09.600 --> 0:36:11.640 And and the same is true about this movie, but 0:36:11.880 --> 0:36:16.000 but even to a much greater extent. Yeah, and real 0:36:16.080 --> 0:36:19.200 quick the music here. Young Chen is credited with the 0:36:19.280 --> 0:36:21.280 music on this one, but I understand that this picture 0:36:21.360 --> 0:36:24.879 reuses music from previous Shot Brothers production, so nothing about 0:36:24.880 --> 0:36:27.640 it particularly stood out to me. But it's fine, it's good. 0:36:27.760 --> 0:36:30.480 It's perfectly good music for this film. Well, there are 0:36:30.560 --> 0:36:33.120 moments where I thought that the music really added to 0:36:33.160 --> 0:36:36.759 the comedy. So for example, the uh, the music and 0:36:36.840 --> 0:36:40.160 the opening credit sequence. I mean, so the opening credit sequence, 0:36:41.160 --> 0:36:44.600 it's kind of James Bondish in a way. It had 0:36:44.840 --> 0:36:49.319 a kind of uh, you know, psychic kaleidoscope. But then 0:36:49.600 --> 0:36:52.719 the music was almost kind of circus music, Like I 0:36:52.840 --> 0:36:55.800 was imagining that this was a vision that Hunter S. 0:36:55.880 --> 0:36:59.120 Thompson would be hallucinating while he's wandering around in the 0:36:59.160 --> 0:37:03.440 circus circus a sceno. Yeah, yeah, so much visual flare. 0:37:03.480 --> 0:37:06.920 And that's the the credits, the the parts of the 0:37:06.960 --> 0:37:10.799 movie where you see the schematics for Inframan are just beautiful. 0:37:11.320 --> 0:37:13.960 Um Like I'm I'm always it always takes me out 0:37:14.000 --> 0:37:16.880 whenever a movie decides to like show you the pages 0:37:17.080 --> 0:37:20.319 of a of a like an evil book, or show 0:37:20.400 --> 0:37:24.040 you some artwork or something or another, or or you know, blueprints, 0:37:24.600 --> 0:37:26.919 and if they don't look right, if something feels off 0:37:26.960 --> 0:37:29.719 about them or rushed, it instantly takes me out. But 0:37:29.800 --> 0:37:33.279 these were beautiful. They look from there from another dimension. Okay, well, 0:37:33.320 --> 0:37:35.040 I guess we're getting towards the part we're in. A 0:37:35.160 --> 0:37:38.839 normal episode, we would we would break down the plot more. 0:37:38.960 --> 0:37:42.279 I think it's just impossible to try to and and 0:37:42.520 --> 0:37:45.239 and and fruitless to try to explain the plot of 0:37:45.360 --> 0:37:48.200 Inframan scene by scene. I think it makes more sense 0:37:48.239 --> 0:37:50.439 for us to just talk about a few more sort 0:37:50.480 --> 0:37:53.920 of themes and highlights of the movie. Yes, but one 0:37:54.000 --> 0:37:55.759 thing where I do want to get in a little 0:37:55.800 --> 0:37:58.840 granular detail is is trying to explain the feel of 0:37:58.880 --> 0:38:02.759 the movie from the very first few scenes. So after 0:38:02.920 --> 0:38:06.439 the credits finish, uh, we go straight to a van 0:38:06.640 --> 0:38:09.439 full of children, singing a merry song. It's driving along 0:38:09.480 --> 0:38:12.399 a mountain road and the kids are singing, and then 0:38:12.560 --> 0:38:16.480 just there is an immediate flying reptile attack. I love 0:38:16.600 --> 0:38:20.160 how fast this movie gets into it after the credits finished. 0:38:20.200 --> 0:38:23.120 I think there are literally about eight seconds before the 0:38:23.200 --> 0:38:26.680 earth starts shaking and belching up monsters. Yeah, it's this 0:38:26.800 --> 0:38:30.200 fabulous scene to where like big big rubbery wing monster 0:38:30.320 --> 0:38:35.279 that looks great crashes onto like a a highway and 0:38:35.440 --> 0:38:38.880 then it instantly vanishes into thin air and then an 0:38:38.920 --> 0:38:42.520 earthquake just rips the earth apart. Yeah, so before you 0:38:42.600 --> 0:38:46.880 even understand what's going on, it's earthquake giant pterodactyl uh, 0:38:47.360 --> 0:38:50.920 like the the mutant dogs from Ghostbusters kind of thing. 0:38:50.920 --> 0:38:53.200 I almost wonder if they were inspired by the look 0:38:53.239 --> 0:38:56.919 of the of Princess Dragon Mom in her monster form 0:38:56.960 --> 0:38:59.520 in this movie, because I know Dan Ackroyd is a 0:38:59.600 --> 0:39:01.960 fan of of great B movies, so that that may 0:39:02.000 --> 0:39:03.960 have been an influence there. I wouldn't. I wouldn't put 0:39:04.000 --> 0:39:06.520 it past him. But then there's that, and then suddenly 0:39:06.600 --> 0:39:08.040 so the kids are out of the van and then 0:39:08.080 --> 0:39:10.759 the van gets sucked down into a ravine with the 0:39:10.920 --> 0:39:14.080 driver it's still in its screaming, bloody murder, and then 0:39:14.360 --> 0:39:16.799 you don't even have time to understand what's happening here, 0:39:16.840 --> 0:39:19.279 But then instantly you're seeing something else. A city is 0:39:19.320 --> 0:39:22.840 on fire, and everybody's running around screaming, what city is this? 0:39:23.040 --> 0:39:26.080 I don't know where at T plus forty five seconds 0:39:26.120 --> 0:39:29.320 since the credits have finished, and there's just Mayhem and 0:39:29.440 --> 0:39:33.279 everybody running around and everything's on fire, and for some reason, 0:39:33.360 --> 0:39:36.040 the thing that struck only the funniest about this is 0:39:36.080 --> 0:39:39.720 that all the people carrying luggage while the fires are burning, 0:39:40.400 --> 0:39:44.040 and then uh, and then at about seventy seconds in 0:39:44.320 --> 0:39:46.959 or T plus seventy seconds after the credits, were also 0:39:47.040 --> 0:39:49.480 onto something else. After the burning city, there's like a 0:39:49.560 --> 0:39:52.799 giant radio dish and a motorcade, and then we meet 0:39:52.880 --> 0:39:57.360 the professor and there's already a press gaggle shoving microphones 0:39:57.400 --> 0:39:59.279 in his face, and they want to know is it 0:39:59.320 --> 0:40:02.880 an attack another planet? What kind of monsters are they? 0:40:03.440 --> 0:40:05.600 And the Professor's having to push through them to to 0:40:05.719 --> 0:40:08.440 get down to business. This, of course, is Professor Chang, 0:40:09.000 --> 0:40:11.640 and he goes into this place where everybody's wearing these 0:40:11.880 --> 0:40:14.640 uh it's like a science center, but everybody's wearing these 0:40:14.960 --> 0:40:19.520 shiny uniforms, whether they look like they're members of ABBA. Yeah. 0:40:19.840 --> 0:40:24.520 Even the professor's lab coat is speak silver and shiny. Yeah. Yeah. 0:40:25.080 --> 0:40:26.920 And and it was at this point where I was like, 0:40:27.080 --> 0:40:30.120 I have to stop trying to take comprehensive notes because 0:40:30.440 --> 0:40:33.040 the movie is just too much, too fast. And I'm 0:40:33.080 --> 0:40:37.680 not like I was pausing it literally every couple of seconds. Yeah. 0:40:37.719 --> 0:40:39.120 I mean, if we if you were to make a 0:40:39.239 --> 0:40:43.120 note about every crazy cool thing you saw in this movie, 0:40:43.840 --> 0:40:46.600 or if we tried to talk about every crazy cool 0:40:46.640 --> 0:40:49.440 thing we saw in this movie, like we we'd never finish, 0:40:49.960 --> 0:40:52.120 you know, um, so many films. It's like if it 0:40:52.160 --> 0:40:54.600 has that one really weird thing you can focus on 0:40:54.840 --> 0:40:57.160 and and dwell on, you know, you can have a 0:40:57.200 --> 0:40:59.160 good time with it. But yeah, there's just so much 0:40:59.200 --> 0:41:02.160 in this film. It's it's it's it's just you know, 0:41:02.320 --> 0:41:05.600 visual overload in the best sense. So obviously this movie 0:41:05.719 --> 0:41:07.560 is going to have a lot of action, a lot 0:41:07.640 --> 0:41:11.640 of monster fights, you know, a lot of martial arts fighting, 0:41:11.719 --> 0:41:14.960 but then also sort of gadget fighting with monsters. And 0:41:15.120 --> 0:41:17.760 I gotta say this was this was top notch fighting. 0:41:17.840 --> 0:41:19.719 I am of the opinion, I know I've said this 0:41:19.800 --> 0:41:23.160 on this show before that a lot of times action 0:41:23.320 --> 0:41:27.720 in movies is actually is quite boring because I thinks 0:41:27.800 --> 0:41:31.680 some you know, subpar filmmakers think, well, uh, you know, 0:41:31.840 --> 0:41:33.839 you just got to like put some action in there, 0:41:33.920 --> 0:41:35.880 Like they think of action is just like a block 0:41:36.200 --> 0:41:40.160 of some run time that will liven things up because 0:41:40.280 --> 0:41:43.520 there's violence going on. But violence in itself is not 0:41:43.760 --> 0:41:47.640 exciting or interesting. If it's like dramatically static, there's gotta 0:41:47.640 --> 0:41:50.360 be you know, drama to the action. There's there have 0:41:50.480 --> 0:41:53.160 to be changeups, there have to be interesting things happening 0:41:53.360 --> 0:41:57.440 during the fighting. Yeah, I mean, ultimately a choreograph fight 0:41:57.560 --> 0:42:01.200 needs to tell a story. And if you're film uh 0:42:01.520 --> 0:42:04.560 like style is a bunch of likes. I've seen films 0:42:04.600 --> 0:42:06.680 before where they have like truly some some great looking 0:42:06.719 --> 0:42:08.680 stunt work going on. But if you cut it in 0:42:08.800 --> 0:42:10.840 such a way that you can't follow it, there's no like, 0:42:11.000 --> 0:42:14.399 there's no beats to it. Uh you know, there's there's 0:42:14.440 --> 0:42:17.040 no back and forth, like you can't really get into it. 0:42:17.560 --> 0:42:20.160 And so yeah, they the action in this film, you know, 0:42:20.200 --> 0:42:24.160 perhaps unsurprisingly given the Shop Brothers production of it, um, 0:42:25.239 --> 0:42:28.120 the action is excellent, Like every all the stunts are 0:42:28.239 --> 0:42:33.560 are tremendous. Um, everything feels real even with even though 0:42:33.600 --> 0:42:36.640 you have these, you know, at times ridiculous elements going on, 0:42:36.880 --> 0:42:41.440 like like flying, lethal kicks and exploding spears and uh 0:42:41.920 --> 0:42:45.239 you know, fire breathing and laser beams. It's it's still 0:42:45.400 --> 0:42:48.719 has a very intense physicality to it. Oh yeah, and 0:42:48.800 --> 0:42:50.720 the and they know how to make the the action 0:42:50.800 --> 0:42:53.839 more exciting by not just having punching and kicking back 0:42:53.880 --> 0:42:56.120 and forth going on for a long time, like they 0:42:56.239 --> 0:42:59.120 keep changing it up with different tactics. Uh. And I 0:42:59.280 --> 0:43:03.759 was actually repeatedly impressed by the ways that Infaman came 0:43:03.880 --> 0:43:07.640 up with strategies for defeating the different monsters. Uh. So, 0:43:07.840 --> 0:43:11.280 for example, you've got the robots that shoot the spiky 0:43:11.360 --> 0:43:14.040 balls out of their arms basically on slink ease. You know, 0:43:14.120 --> 0:43:18.600 they're they're slinky, retractable robots, And how he defeats them 0:43:18.960 --> 0:43:22.279 is by tangling up their slinkies. Genius, genius, I mean 0:43:22.400 --> 0:43:25.160 that that makes perfect sense. Actually, yeah, and that was 0:43:25.239 --> 0:43:28.439 after he tried to use lethal kick on them, which 0:43:28.480 --> 0:43:31.399 is this fabulous double footed flying kick that he says 0:43:32.040 --> 0:43:35.520 lethal kick while doing it. Um, he had used that 0:43:35.560 --> 0:43:37.600 successfully on a few of the other monsters and then 0:43:37.680 --> 0:43:39.279 now it doesn't work. Now we have to go on 0:43:39.400 --> 0:43:41.760 to the next you know, it's just it's it's it's beautiful. 0:43:42.040 --> 0:43:44.959 So we mentioned earlier that I think we both really 0:43:45.080 --> 0:43:48.520 enjoyed the sudden shift where the movie goes from this 0:43:48.920 --> 0:43:53.719 big monsters sci fi action thing into an espionage movie 0:43:53.840 --> 0:43:56.719 for a few minutes where one of the human scientists 0:43:56.960 --> 0:44:01.160 is is kidnapped by by Princess Dragon Mom and they 0:44:01.239 --> 0:44:03.319 take her down. They take him down to the base 0:44:03.600 --> 0:44:07.080 and she demon there points this giant gun at his 0:44:07.200 --> 0:44:10.320 head that like laser brainwashes him and we see a 0:44:10.400 --> 0:44:14.360 little animated screen read out of his brain. Uh. And 0:44:14.480 --> 0:44:17.480 then he has turned into a sleeper agent for Princess 0:44:17.560 --> 0:44:21.279 Dragon Mom with green eyes. Uh, Like his eyes glow green, 0:44:21.680 --> 0:44:24.399 and they send him back to like do spy work. 0:44:24.480 --> 0:44:27.360 He's trying to steal the plans for Inframan so that 0:44:27.600 --> 0:44:31.320 Princess Dragon Mom will know exactly what his weaknesses. And 0:44:31.440 --> 0:44:34.000 that whole sequence was so cool, especially I like the 0:44:34.080 --> 0:44:36.960 way that this was a simple touch, but the way 0:44:37.080 --> 0:44:39.360 they show that he's different when his eyes are not 0:44:39.440 --> 0:44:42.760 glowing green and shooting lasers at people. When he's reinfiltrating 0:44:42.800 --> 0:44:44.759 the base where he worked. They just put a little 0:44:44.760 --> 0:44:47.279 bit of makeup under his eyes, like he's dark, you know, 0:44:47.520 --> 0:44:50.399 his the undersides of his eyes are darkened, so something 0:44:50.520 --> 0:44:53.879 looks off about him. But everybody's just like, oh, hey, 0:44:53.960 --> 0:44:58.120 welcome back. Yeah. I really don't want to spoil too much. 0:44:58.200 --> 0:44:59.840 I mean, this is one that I hope, you know, 0:45:00.040 --> 0:45:02.000 hope everybody sees at some point, So I don't want 0:45:02.000 --> 0:45:04.640 to spoil too much about the little details of of 0:45:04.760 --> 0:45:07.640 each battle. But there are some great parts where where 0:45:07.680 --> 0:45:10.600 a monster suddenly decides to get huge, you know, to 0:45:10.760 --> 0:45:14.520 grow to two kaiju size and then um and then 0:45:14.600 --> 0:45:17.360 Informan grows in turn. I didn't know he had that power, 0:45:17.480 --> 0:45:19.160 but he like sticks his fist up in the air 0:45:19.239 --> 0:45:22.920 and then he transforms into giant Infra man Um. And 0:45:23.160 --> 0:45:26.839 then the final battle down in the in the ice 0:45:26.960 --> 0:45:29.759 Palace of the Earth where Princess Dragon Mom lives is 0:45:29.840 --> 0:45:33.600 also just wonderful. Yeah, and there's a there's a penultimate 0:45:33.640 --> 0:45:36.640 battle too on the surface that I really love because 0:45:36.680 --> 0:45:39.640 it's between Team Informan when in they're like Abba esque 0:45:39.880 --> 0:45:45.040 costumes and the skeleton army that's serving Princess ils above 0:45:45.239 --> 0:45:48.799 which we haven't really described completely, but there it's kind 0:45:48.800 --> 0:45:51.880 of like bicycle helmets with an actual skull face underneath 0:45:51.960 --> 0:45:57.560 it in horns and these cool exploding spears. They look amazing. 0:45:58.080 --> 0:46:00.600 And this is like a big epic attle with I 0:46:00.640 --> 0:46:04.360 don't know, like at least twenty stunt man on the 0:46:04.600 --> 0:46:07.520 on the scene at one time, flying all over the place. 0:46:08.000 --> 0:46:11.560 Stuff is blowing up, and there's it's also just really 0:46:11.600 --> 0:46:15.400 well shot, like there's one terrific pan across the action. Uh. 0:46:15.560 --> 0:46:18.120 That is absolutely beautiful and conveys a sense of epic 0:46:18.200 --> 0:46:20.920 battle better than I think most epic battle films that 0:46:20.960 --> 0:46:23.439 I've seen. Last thing I got to mention, I could 0:46:23.560 --> 0:46:27.480 not stop thinking about that shot where after the monsters 0:46:27.520 --> 0:46:31.840 go out and kidnap uh Professor Chang's daughter, and we 0:46:31.960 --> 0:46:36.640 just see them riding on a boat. Oh, it's so good, 0:46:36.719 --> 0:46:39.080 the power boats cutting through the water going back to 0:46:39.160 --> 0:46:42.400 the the Evil Island fortress and they're all just chilling 0:46:42.480 --> 0:46:44.920 on the boat. Yeah. It's like skull guy to one 0:46:45.000 --> 0:46:47.400 side of him, monster to the other. And as my 0:46:47.560 --> 0:46:49.200 my wife pointed out, she got to watch this part 0:46:49.239 --> 0:46:50.960 and she loved it too. She's like, you also see 0:46:51.000 --> 0:46:54.000 the Professor do this kind of awkward necktie adjustment and 0:46:54.040 --> 0:46:59.239 he's like, it's windy out here on the water today. Yeah. 0:46:59.600 --> 0:47:02.760 Like I said, both my my wife and son were 0:47:02.840 --> 0:47:05.400 totally won over by this film. My son was a 0:47:05.480 --> 0:47:08.200 little hesitant to watch it. He was like, I said 0:47:08.280 --> 0:47:09.640 him the trailer and he's like, I don't know, it 0:47:09.680 --> 0:47:11.120 doesn't look like it has as much of a plot, 0:47:11.360 --> 0:47:13.919 which on one level, you know, that's a good read. 0:47:14.360 --> 0:47:19.359 But but but then when foolish, well, he's really into 0:47:19.440 --> 0:47:23.479 the movie Shangshi that came out, the new Marvel film, 0:47:23.560 --> 0:47:26.640 which is in my opinion, excellent, and uh and he 0:47:26.760 --> 0:47:28.919 loved it too. It has you know, action and great 0:47:29.000 --> 0:47:31.840 characters and story. So you know, that's a that's a 0:47:31.920 --> 0:47:34.720 high bar to set for your your martial arts films. 0:47:35.280 --> 0:47:37.520 Uh So at first he was a little hesitant. At first, 0:47:37.560 --> 0:47:39.359 he was like, I would give this the martial arts 0:47:39.400 --> 0:47:42.600 in this film, I think a six um but I'm 0:47:42.600 --> 0:47:44.399 not sure out of how many I think he's using 0:47:44.400 --> 0:47:46.960 a ten point scale, I'm not sure. But as it 0:47:47.120 --> 0:47:49.239 proceeded he was like, no, I take it back. This 0:47:49.400 --> 0:47:51.879 is this is great, this is so funny. I love it. So, yeah, 0:47:52.160 --> 0:47:54.680 it's a different kind of you make a big budget 0:47:55.000 --> 0:47:57.040 movie today, and there's obviously a lot you can do 0:47:57.239 --> 0:47:59.960 with lots of money and the technology you know, see 0:48:00.080 --> 0:48:01.480 g I and all that. But I think I have 0:48:01.640 --> 0:48:07.160 even more respect for the kind of sheer creative force 0:48:07.239 --> 0:48:09.560 and genius that allows you to do so much with 0:48:09.680 --> 0:48:14.440 the more limited resources available in n Yeah, I think, 0:48:14.440 --> 0:48:16.680 as as my wife pointed out, you really have to 0:48:16.800 --> 0:48:19.960 sort of look to films like um Barbarella or Flash 0:48:20.040 --> 0:48:23.520 Gordon defined like Western counterparts that kind of match it 0:48:23.719 --> 0:48:27.839 for just tremendous sets and outfits. Yeah, so I'm gonna 0:48:27.840 --> 0:48:30.279 speak on Roger Robert's behalf. I think the changing to 0:48:30.400 --> 0:48:32.440 three stars was an error he meant to do for 0:48:32.719 --> 0:48:35.360 that was just a typo. I give it four stars 0:48:35.400 --> 0:48:38.600 as well. This is one of my new all time favorites. 0:48:39.640 --> 0:48:41.600 I'm gonna have to find it, like, what's what's the 0:48:41.680 --> 0:48:44.239 best like disk of this to own? Because I know 0:48:44.400 --> 0:48:46.640 I will be revisiting it time after time for the 0:48:46.719 --> 0:48:49.040 rest of my life. Yeah, I'm gonna either have to 0:48:49.080 --> 0:48:51.799 buy it or rent it again. Because my son only 0:48:51.840 --> 0:48:53.560 watched the last thirty minutes and he was asking me 0:48:53.640 --> 0:48:56.680 this morning. He's like, what happened before uh, tell me 0:48:56.719 --> 0:48:58.359 about it. I'm like, well, we'll just have to watch 0:48:58.400 --> 0:49:01.480 it again. So yeah, you can. You can buy or 0:49:01.520 --> 0:49:04.080 rent this film digitally at various websites. We mentioned a 0:49:04.120 --> 0:49:08.160 couple already. Um, but eighty eight Films also has a 0:49:08.440 --> 0:49:12.280 wonderful looking blu ray out of the film that offers 0:49:12.320 --> 0:49:15.480 the restored uncut HD transfer and I believe that's what 0:49:15.640 --> 0:49:19.960 we were watching as well. Um, in digital form. They're 0:49:20.000 --> 0:49:23.200 also various international formats available out there. But again we 0:49:23.280 --> 0:49:25.680 gotta stress if you watch this film, watch it in 0:49:25.760 --> 0:49:30.520 the best visual quality possible. Uh, don't settle for a rip, agreed. 0:49:30.840 --> 0:49:32.040 I mean, I guess if you get the chance to 0:49:32.040 --> 0:49:33.719 see it on the big screen, go for it. Um, 0:49:34.680 --> 0:49:39.040 that would be amazing. Yeah. So anyway, Yeah, great film, 0:49:39.360 --> 0:49:42.279 highly recommended. Uh, you know, one of the one of 0:49:42.320 --> 0:49:45.040 the best we've watched on a Weirdolt Cinema here. Speaking 0:49:45.080 --> 0:49:46.680 of which, if you want to watch other episodes of 0:49:46.719 --> 0:49:49.400 Weird House Cinema, well, um, I told you where there 0:49:49.520 --> 0:49:53.800 archived earlier, but you can catch new episodes every Friday 0:49:54.239 --> 0:49:56.560 in the Stuff to Blow your Mind podcast feed. We 0:49:56.600 --> 0:50:01.520 are primarily a science and culture and curiosity the podcast 0:50:01.800 --> 0:50:04.680 with Core episodes that come out on Tuesdays and Thursdays. 0:50:05.040 --> 0:50:07.520 We have a short form artifact that comes out on Wednesdays. 0:50:07.560 --> 0:50:10.080 We have listener mail on Monday's rerun on the weekend, 0:50:10.120 --> 0:50:13.200 but on Fridays, that's when we just set most of 0:50:13.239 --> 0:50:16.160 our serious concerns aside and just focus in on a 0:50:16.239 --> 0:50:19.480 weird film. Huge thanks as always to our excellent audio 0:50:19.560 --> 0:50:22.480 producer Seth Nicholas Johnson. 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