WEBVTT - Weirdhouse Cinema: The Guyver 0:00:02.960 --> 0:00:05.360 Welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind production of My 0:00:05.480 --> 0:00:15.600 Heart Radio. Hey, welcome to Weird House Cinema. This is 0:00:15.680 --> 0:00:18.759 Rob Lamb and I'm Joe McCormick. And I hope you 0:00:18.920 --> 0:00:22.360 like slash wipes because today's movie is full of them. 0:00:22.400 --> 0:00:25.520 Today we're gonna be talking about the nineteen nine one. 0:00:26.000 --> 0:00:28.240 I don't even know what genre to call it movie. 0:00:28.440 --> 0:00:32.240 The Giver geiver spelled g u y v e r. 0:00:32.840 --> 0:00:35.600 I don't know what that means. Everybody I told about 0:00:35.600 --> 0:00:38.040 this movie asked mug iver, and I had to say, no, 0:00:38.200 --> 0:00:41.840 just geiver. I don't know where that word comes from. 0:00:41.840 --> 0:00:43.720 But you're gonna hear it a lot if you watch 0:00:43.760 --> 0:00:47.559 the film. That's right. Yeah, this this film is it 0:00:47.680 --> 0:00:50.479 is kind of hard to classify because they're they're aspects 0:00:50.520 --> 0:00:53.600 of it that are really cranked up to the extreme, 0:00:53.840 --> 0:00:55.880 and there's plenty of other things that are very traditional 0:00:55.920 --> 0:01:00.480 about it. It's a it's a PG thirteen major motion picture. 0:01:00.640 --> 0:01:05.119 It's a manga turned anime turned live action feature. I've 0:01:05.200 --> 0:01:07.000 I've seen some people claim that it might be the 0:01:07.040 --> 0:01:11.679 first Western adaptation of a manga. Uh. It's also I 0:01:11.720 --> 0:01:16.400 guess you would classify this is a Tokusatsu film. Uh, 0:01:16.400 --> 0:01:19.240 you know, very much like you know, various power rangers 0:01:19.280 --> 0:01:22.560 and so forth, you know, costumed uh or you know, 0:01:22.680 --> 0:01:28.480 mechanized or otherwise superpowered individuals fighting monsters. Essentially a rubber 0:01:28.560 --> 0:01:33.760 monster costume slapfest. Sure, yeah, it's it's essentially in many 0:01:34.080 --> 0:01:35.520 a large extent, you can make a case for this 0:01:35.560 --> 0:01:39.760 being a kid's film. The effects are are rather extreme 0:01:39.840 --> 0:01:42.279 in some cases, which really push it over the edge 0:01:42.640 --> 0:01:44.559 and make it something that I'm not ready to show 0:01:44.600 --> 0:01:47.920 my my son. Uh. It's definitely a monster movie. It's 0:01:47.920 --> 0:01:51.120 got plenty of monsters, and it is a film that 0:01:52.240 --> 0:01:54.920 I guess you would describe as a comedy. It certainly 0:01:54.920 --> 0:01:58.120 tries to be funny many times and has I think 0:01:58.400 --> 0:02:02.520 one legitimate and intentionally funny line. Maybe I don't know. 0:02:02.720 --> 0:02:05.600 I was wondering who this is for. I enjoyed The Diver, 0:02:05.800 --> 0:02:09.200 but despite much about it, it's this is one of 0:02:09.200 --> 0:02:12.320 those movies where it's really not fit for adults and 0:02:12.400 --> 0:02:15.680 not fit for children. It's got it's got a very 0:02:16.360 --> 0:02:20.160 kids movie kind of sense of humor, the like silly 0:02:20.160 --> 0:02:25.560 trombone music and everything, but it's also got uh stuff 0:02:25.600 --> 0:02:27.600 that's obviously not fit for it. I mean, there's some 0:02:27.720 --> 0:02:31.280 language in there, and like, the monsters are disgusting, so 0:02:31.440 --> 0:02:33.920 I don't know exactly how to feel about this. But 0:02:34.000 --> 0:02:38.560 also it's got, on one hand, Olympian makeup effects just 0:02:38.600 --> 0:02:43.400 like squelching latex, mucous membranes and and kiten. This cod 0:02:43.480 --> 0:02:47.560 pieces that are great they deserve formal apotheosis, but also 0:02:48.200 --> 0:02:51.880 comedy that is so bloop de bloop and and cringe 0:02:52.040 --> 0:02:55.280 that it will make your pets embarrassed. It even has 0:02:55.360 --> 0:03:01.920 silly wraps. The comedy is dreadfully painful. It does have wraps. 0:03:02.160 --> 0:03:04.840 I was delighted when I when I because because I 0:03:04.880 --> 0:03:07.080 don't think I had either I either had not seen 0:03:07.120 --> 0:03:10.600 this in its entirety before or I had forgotten the wraps. 0:03:10.760 --> 0:03:13.200 And uh, you know, it's delightful that we have an 0:03:13.240 --> 0:03:17.440 actual monster rapping on screen. Yes. Now, one thing I 0:03:17.520 --> 0:03:21.079 was wondering is this movie came out in nine. How 0:03:21.120 --> 0:03:23.440 well do you think it fits with my general theory 0:03:23.560 --> 0:03:28.120 that the most culturally eighties year in American media was nine? 0:03:29.440 --> 0:03:30.920 I would I would think it would lines up with 0:03:30.919 --> 0:03:34.840 that pretty well. Yeah, because yet for most of the 0:03:35.040 --> 0:03:37.480 aspects of the film, you could certainly make a case 0:03:37.560 --> 0:03:42.480 that that's the effects are maybe more you know, bleeding edge, 0:03:42.920 --> 0:03:47.280 oozing edge even uh you know, but certainly I think 0:03:47.320 --> 0:03:48.840 match up well with some of the you know, the 0:03:48.880 --> 0:03:52.440 better special effects we saw in the in the nineteen eighties. Okay, 0:03:52.480 --> 0:03:56.600 what's the elevator pitch on this? Uh so? Uh, what 0:03:56.800 --> 0:04:00.880 I was thinking of is what if power Rangers were discussed? Thing? Yeah, 0:04:01.160 --> 0:04:04.160 I think that's about right. It's like David Cronenberg's Mighty 0:04:04.160 --> 0:04:09.360 morphin Power Rangers. Yeah, this this film was also it's 0:04:09.560 --> 0:04:12.160 It was released as The Giver, based on you know, 0:04:12.240 --> 0:04:15.800 the manga that turned to anime, uh, The Giver, but 0:04:16.200 --> 0:04:20.599 it also was released with the title Neutronics, at least 0:04:20.600 --> 0:04:23.440 in some places, especially I guess in France, because there's 0:04:23.440 --> 0:04:26.719 this wonderful poster um that is perhaps more true to 0:04:26.760 --> 0:04:30.200 the spirit of the film than the more widely seen 0:04:30.240 --> 0:04:34.840 like American poster. But it says Neutronics left film, and 0:04:34.880 --> 0:04:39.000 then it has the various monsters from the picture roughly 0:04:39.080 --> 0:04:42.599 re enacting the Breakfast Club poster poses. Yes, that's what 0:04:42.680 --> 0:04:45.839 I thought. Yeah, yeah, and much in the same way 0:04:45.839 --> 0:04:48.479 that the Texas Change saw Massacre too did the same thing. 0:04:49.880 --> 0:04:51.919 But it lets you know, something about the spirit of 0:04:51.960 --> 0:04:55.520 the film. I think this is making Michael Berryman's monster 0:04:55.760 --> 0:05:00.600 the Judd Nelson Okay, and it's making uh, spy Williams 0:05:00.600 --> 0:05:04.800 Crosby the Anthony Michael Hall. All right, let's hear some 0:05:04.880 --> 0:05:42.160 trailer audio. Yeah, I have. Now. I think one of 0:05:42.200 --> 0:05:44.080 the reasons Rob correct me if I'm wrong, but I 0:05:44.120 --> 0:05:46.359 think one of the reasons that we were zeroing in 0:05:46.440 --> 0:05:49.560 on this is because it was actually directed by someone 0:05:49.640 --> 0:05:52.920 who's special effects we have enjoyed in other weird house 0:05:52.920 --> 0:05:56.039 cinema movies, which is screaming Matt George did. Did he 0:05:56.080 --> 0:06:01.240 do effects on Arena? Yeah? He did. Uh. In particular, 0:06:01.279 --> 0:06:04.440 he did the one monster named Sloth, which is this 0:06:04.600 --> 0:06:07.760 really you know, strange looking creature. It looks like a 0:06:07.760 --> 0:06:12.240 giant mutated grasshopper man that our hero boxes. That was 0:06:12.279 --> 0:06:13.800 a really good one that kind of made the movie. 0:06:13.839 --> 0:06:15.760 And I see some of the same d n A 0:06:15.920 --> 0:06:17.760 if you will in that monster in one of the 0:06:17.760 --> 0:06:20.880 final beasts we come across in the Guiver. Yeah. When 0:06:20.920 --> 0:06:23.880 you think of screaming Mad George's effects, you often think 0:06:23.920 --> 0:06:29.560 of insect mutations. You think of of of dripping, oozing, 0:06:29.720 --> 0:06:33.080 melting and morphing flesh. Uh you know, he's a he's 0:06:33.120 --> 0:06:35.520 a wizard of the synthetic flesh. I would say, I mean, 0:06:35.600 --> 0:06:38.520 there are very few artists out there in the special 0:06:38.520 --> 0:06:40.560 effects field that you might think of as being like 0:06:40.600 --> 0:06:43.120 true all tours. You know that where they there's a 0:06:43.240 --> 0:06:45.600 you can recognize their work, or at least you can 0:06:45.680 --> 0:06:48.760 if you're sort of clued into their style. And I 0:06:48.760 --> 0:06:52.560 would argue that Screaming Mad George born uh Joji Tani 0:06:53.160 --> 0:06:55.440 is one of them. So we spoke a little bit 0:06:55.440 --> 0:06:57.720 about him in that episode we did on Arena, but 0:06:57.760 --> 0:06:59.800 I wanted to go a little deeper this time, since 0:06:59.800 --> 0:07:03.359 he's heading this baby up. So I turned to a 0:07:03.400 --> 0:07:06.960 book titled Monsters, Makeup and Effects, Volume One, Conversations with 0:07:06.960 --> 0:07:11.000 Cinema's Greatest Artist by Heather Wixon, which is, you know, 0:07:11.000 --> 0:07:13.480 available wherever you get your books in different formats, but 0:07:13.680 --> 0:07:17.880 it features a long interview with Screaming Mad George. So 0:07:18.080 --> 0:07:20.480 I was interested to learn a little more here. So 0:07:20.520 --> 0:07:22.760 according to the interview, you know, he grew up in 0:07:22.840 --> 0:07:27.320 Japan inspired by cartoons and manga and anime, and he 0:07:27.360 --> 0:07:30.080 realized early on that while he struggled with story and 0:07:30.280 --> 0:07:33.560 certainly with finishing stories. He had plenty of ideas, and 0:07:33.640 --> 0:07:36.080 he realized he was better as an illustrator. So one 0:07:36.120 --> 0:07:38.400 of the things would seem hard or frustrating, he would 0:07:38.400 --> 0:07:41.360 turn to drawing, and then eventually turned to oil painting, 0:07:41.400 --> 0:07:43.640 and after high school he attended the School of Visual 0:07:43.760 --> 0:07:47.600 Arts in Manhattan and he started getting into music there 0:07:47.600 --> 0:07:52.280 as well, first in the punk era band The Disgusting Uh. 0:07:52.320 --> 0:07:54.480 And when he was part of The Disgusting, he would 0:07:54.480 --> 0:07:58.040 do things like disembowel himself on the on the stage 0:07:58.160 --> 0:08:01.000 with like fake blood and fake uts and so forth. 0:08:01.320 --> 0:08:03.160 Cool so you could think of this as like a 0:08:03.840 --> 0:08:07.600 preguar sort of thing. Yeah, yeah, I guess so, like 0:08:07.720 --> 0:08:10.800 really extreme stuff. It sounded like um. But then The 0:08:10.840 --> 0:08:14.600 Disgusting UH morphed and it became a new band, The Mad, 0:08:14.960 --> 0:08:17.240 in which he switched up his persona to be less 0:08:17.240 --> 0:08:19.880 about the gore and more about the bizarre. And I 0:08:19.880 --> 0:08:22.960 think this is where he becomes screaming Mad George, and 0:08:22.960 --> 0:08:25.800 then the name ends up sticking. I looked up some 0:08:25.880 --> 0:08:28.360 of The Mad's music and you know what, I thought 0:08:28.360 --> 0:08:31.360 it was great. It's so they're a little known punk 0:08:31.400 --> 0:08:34.640 hardcore band, uh, and yeah he is. It had Screaming 0:08:34.640 --> 0:08:37.720 Mad George on lead vocals. I found an album of 0:08:37.800 --> 0:08:41.160 their's called We Love Noise with the noise with a 0:08:41.240 --> 0:08:43.800 Z instead of an S, and uh, if you if 0:08:43.800 --> 0:08:45.400 you want to check out one of the songs on there, 0:08:45.400 --> 0:08:47.280 I recommend the one called I Want to Be a 0:08:47.400 --> 0:08:51.640 Devil and uh it's good stuff. Yeah, I was. I 0:08:51.679 --> 0:08:53.319 was impressed by what I heard of it. This is 0:08:53.360 --> 0:08:58.560 a album, but uh, yeah, I I don't know what 0:08:58.600 --> 0:09:01.000 I quite expected. I guess with Screaming Mad George, I 0:09:01.040 --> 0:09:04.000 was kind of thinking it's gonna be just just pure chaos, 0:09:04.120 --> 0:09:07.240 you know, or it's gonna be madness. Um, and there 0:09:07.320 --> 0:09:11.080 is madness there, but it's also pretty well structured and 0:09:11.240 --> 0:09:15.640 uh riffs and stuff. Yeah yeah, And I guess that's 0:09:15.679 --> 0:09:19.200 part of the like the Screaming Mad George thing is 0:09:19.240 --> 0:09:21.640 like there's this persona of madness in this name that 0:09:21.840 --> 0:09:24.640 implies madness. And you'll see interviews where people were like, oh, 0:09:24.640 --> 0:09:26.400 you worked with Screaming Matt Georgia and this what was 0:09:26.440 --> 0:09:28.000 that like? And they're like, well, he was very quiet 0:09:28.040 --> 0:09:31.080 because he was super obsessed with, you know, touching up 0:09:31.120 --> 0:09:34.920 all these details the whole time. But he gets all 0:09:34.920 --> 0:09:37.720 his energy out on stage. I guess yeah, yeah, or 0:09:37.760 --> 0:09:39.800 you know, in the energy, the madness comes out through 0:09:39.840 --> 0:09:44.520 the designs and the effects. So in the interview uh 0:09:44.640 --> 0:09:48.280 in this uh this book by Wicks, and he also 0:09:48.320 --> 0:09:52.440 mentions that he eventually started doing um industrial music. And 0:09:52.480 --> 0:09:55.040 I'm thinking maybe this is from the project Screaming Mad 0:09:55.040 --> 0:09:58.200 George and Psychosis. They put out an album called Transmutation 0:09:58.280 --> 0:10:03.600 in Okay. That would make sense historically. Yeah. So anyway, 0:10:03.600 --> 0:10:06.480 he moves uh to the West Coast to study effects 0:10:06.600 --> 0:10:10.840 under under effects legend Rick Baker. UM apparently kind of 0:10:10.840 --> 0:10:12.600 like Pestored Baker. He's like, hey, you know, I need 0:10:12.640 --> 0:10:13.920 to come out there and learn this from you, and 0:10:14.120 --> 0:10:16.800 Baker agrees. Uh. He moves out there just in time 0:10:16.800 --> 0:10:19.920 for Baker to take a year off and Baker has 0:10:19.960 --> 0:10:23.360 handed cocoon duties off to Greg Cannon. So that's where 0:10:23.400 --> 0:10:27.200 George ends up getting his start. He's basically working for free. Uh. 0:10:27.280 --> 0:10:29.880 He's sent out to buy materials for things that the 0:10:29.880 --> 0:10:33.560 effects crew are building. But um. But in the in 0:10:33.559 --> 0:10:35.600 the interview Screaming Matt, George says that this was actually 0:10:35.640 --> 0:10:38.600 pretty great because he learned what all these basic underlying 0:10:38.640 --> 0:10:41.480 materials were and it gave him more insight into what 0:10:41.640 --> 0:10:45.400 was possible from a material standpoint when it came to effects. 0:10:45.800 --> 0:10:48.280 From there, he ended up working for Steve Johnson on 0:10:48.360 --> 0:10:51.800 Poltergeist Too, where George was put in charge of the 0:10:51.880 --> 0:10:57.880 Geeger designed vomit monster. Do you remember the sequence? And yes, yes, yeah, 0:10:57.880 --> 0:11:01.400 probably one of the most memorable and maybe maybe the 0:11:01.400 --> 0:11:04.240 best moment in the entire picture, and one that's usually 0:11:04.280 --> 0:11:06.520 pretty easy to find on streaming sides. But he has 0:11:06.600 --> 0:11:10.000 some of individual vomits up this humanoid creature that then 0:11:10.040 --> 0:11:14.000 scampers off under a bed or something. It does look horrifying. Yeah, 0:11:14.040 --> 0:11:17.240 it's it's a great sequence. Uh. Next up he did 0:11:17.320 --> 0:11:19.439 he worked on Big Trouble, Little China, where he was 0:11:19.480 --> 0:11:23.240 assigned the build of the eye creature, the floating beholder 0:11:23.320 --> 0:11:26.600 monster that we have in that movie. Okay, yeah, and 0:11:26.640 --> 0:11:28.920 I knew he worked on Predator at some point, right 0:11:29.280 --> 0:11:35.400 yet Predator, Lost Boys, Spaceballs, Nightmare for the dream Master, 0:11:35.520 --> 0:11:38.960 in which he did the cockroach stuff. Yeah, okay, and 0:11:39.000 --> 0:11:41.240 then you know, and I'm skipping there's sir. I'm not 0:11:41.280 --> 0:11:43.679 gonna mention every picture that he was involved with, because 0:11:43.679 --> 0:11:45.080 you know, he's very much part of a crew and 0:11:45.120 --> 0:11:47.839 many of these, but at us at some point in 0:11:47.920 --> 0:11:50.760 all this ends up meeting up with horror director Brian 0:11:50.840 --> 0:11:54.280 yasna Um who was called and so he Hasna called 0:11:54.320 --> 0:11:58.880 him in to do effects on what would become Society, 0:11:59.360 --> 0:12:03.160 a bizarre our body horror film that is essentially about 0:12:03.200 --> 0:12:07.800 classism in Hollywood. Now, if you're familiar with this film, 0:12:07.840 --> 0:12:11.000 you know that it's loaded with fleshy, weirdness and nastiness, 0:12:11.120 --> 0:12:15.000 bodies fusing together and so forth. Um. But much of this, 0:12:15.120 --> 0:12:18.840 according to this interview, according to George here Uh seems 0:12:18.880 --> 0:12:21.520 to have come about because the original script by Woody 0:12:21.640 --> 0:12:24.120 Keith and Rick Fry called for just tons and tons 0:12:24.200 --> 0:12:25.959 of blood. It was just gonna be a real blood fest. 0:12:26.360 --> 0:12:28.880 But yasna didn't want to do a big bloody ending, 0:12:28.920 --> 0:12:30.600 so he asked George. He says, well, what else could 0:12:30.600 --> 0:12:33.400 we do visually to get around just, you know, having 0:12:33.440 --> 0:12:37.000 a really bloody finality to this film. Well, one of 0:12:37.040 --> 0:12:40.480 Screaming Matt George's early influences was the work of Salvador 0:12:40.679 --> 0:12:43.920 Dolly and so he and he instantly thought about that, 0:12:43.960 --> 0:12:47.640 I guess about melting clocks and you know, using forms, 0:12:48.040 --> 0:12:50.280 and he realized that was the way to go, and 0:12:50.320 --> 0:12:52.920 of course this becomes like one of the signature aspects 0:12:53.440 --> 0:12:57.720 of this motion picture. Okay and so yasnah. Then eventually 0:12:57.720 --> 0:13:00.400 goes on to produce the film we're talking about here today, 0:13:00.559 --> 0:13:03.559 The Giver, And originally he just wanted screaming Man George 0:13:03.600 --> 0:13:05.920 to do the special effects, but George talks his way 0:13:05.960 --> 0:13:09.080 into the director's chair and uh and we'll get into 0:13:09.080 --> 0:13:12.160 how that breaks down in a bit um. After Geiver, 0:13:12.480 --> 0:13:14.880 George worked on a number of other pictures such as 0:13:15.520 --> 0:13:18.600 is Freaked, which is excellent, Children of the Corn, Three 0:13:18.640 --> 0:13:23.000 Tales from the Hood, Space Truckers, Beyond Reanimator. He's also 0:13:23.040 --> 0:13:26.200 done some i think uncredited work on various projects, but 0:13:26.320 --> 0:13:29.920 he's turned increasingly towards his own artwork and gallery shows. 0:13:30.240 --> 0:13:32.920 And he apparently also has a long jest dating project 0:13:32.960 --> 0:13:36.439 that he hopes to direct one day, something titled Animus. 0:13:36.800 --> 0:13:39.240 Oh well, my butt will be in the chair for 0:13:39.320 --> 0:13:44.559 that one. Yeah. Um. I was just reminded of Beyond Reanimator, 0:13:44.600 --> 0:13:47.079 which is not the sequel to Reanimator, but I think 0:13:47.080 --> 0:13:51.080 the third Reanimator movie, and that's the one that had 0:13:51.120 --> 0:13:53.600 this great theme song that went along with it. Do 0:13:53.640 --> 0:13:55.320 you know what I'm talking about the movie er Dead 0:13:55.360 --> 0:13:58.720 Bones Bones Bones song. I don't think I've seen that 0:13:58.840 --> 0:14:01.640 animator film major film. Well, you should at least look 0:14:01.720 --> 0:14:03.440 up the song. It has like a break where the 0:14:03.440 --> 0:14:09.320 guy goes reanimate your feet. Well that's that sounds incredible. Yeah, 0:14:10.280 --> 0:14:13.760 uh So, Screaming Matt George did effects on Geiver. He's 0:14:13.800 --> 0:14:18.000 also one of two directors. Uh The other director credit 0:14:18.040 --> 0:14:21.920 goes to Steve Wang Uh Taiwan born American makeup artist 0:14:21.960 --> 0:14:25.120 and filmmaker, who was I believe just connected to Screaming 0:14:25.160 --> 0:14:28.360 Matt George through the effects industry. He'd done makeup on 0:14:28.520 --> 0:14:31.480 Hell Comes to Frogtown. Later on he'd work on stuff 0:14:31.480 --> 0:14:35.200 like hell Boy. He also worked special effects on films 0:14:35.200 --> 0:14:40.080 like Predator, Monster Squad, Nightmare five, Grimlins to uh so 0:14:40.160 --> 0:14:43.000 much more. And apparently he was brought into co direct 0:14:43.040 --> 0:14:45.120 with Screaming Matt George because he had more experience with 0:14:45.160 --> 0:14:49.080 action directing, having previously worked as a second unit director 0:14:49.160 --> 0:14:55.200 on roller Blade Warriors Taken by Force from nine Who Sorry, Rob, 0:14:55.480 --> 0:14:57.440 that reminds me at some point we need to do 0:14:57.600 --> 0:15:00.600 one of the roller Blade movies in order to at 0:15:00.640 --> 0:15:04.480 least discuss why roller Blade movies were their own sub 0:15:04.560 --> 0:15:07.680 genre of science fiction for for a period there. Why 0:15:07.680 --> 0:15:11.120 were there so many? You had the what the Solar Babies, 0:15:11.240 --> 0:15:14.560 the Prayer for the roller boys, this thing. Yeah, yeah, 0:15:14.640 --> 0:15:17.040 there's I mean, what was aanna do? Is that? When 0:15:17.040 --> 0:15:19.600 a roller movie as well? I think that's a different 0:15:19.640 --> 0:15:22.520 kind of thing that has roller skating in it. Okay, 0:15:22.560 --> 0:15:25.000 At any rate that I agree we should definitely explore 0:15:25.040 --> 0:15:28.960 this sub genre later, um, later on. But um, yeah, 0:15:28.960 --> 0:15:31.600 as far as Steve Wayne goes, apparently the way they 0:15:31.640 --> 0:15:34.320 split it up is like Steve handle handled anything that 0:15:34.400 --> 0:15:37.360 was like action scene oriented in The Giver, so that 0:15:37.440 --> 0:15:40.160 screaming mad George could just focus on effects and effects 0:15:40.160 --> 0:15:44.920 scenes like anytime somebody's face is splitting apart and somebody's 0:15:44.920 --> 0:15:48.000 transforming into a monster, that sort of thing, and then 0:15:48.040 --> 0:16:01.160 if a monster is slapping another monster, that's Steve went okay, alright. 0:16:01.520 --> 0:16:04.880 On the the writing side of this, uh, the screenwriter 0:16:04.960 --> 0:16:08.080 was one John Purdy. This was his first screenplay. He 0:16:08.080 --> 0:16:11.240 went on to write and direct nine seven Star Portal 0:16:11.640 --> 0:16:14.720 and a handful of other films. But it's based on 0:16:14.840 --> 0:16:20.239 the manga by Yoshiki Takaya, who was born nineteen sixty 0:16:20.280 --> 0:16:23.000 and Uh he well. He also created the manga Hades 0:16:23.040 --> 0:16:27.240 project Or Amer, which was adapted to anime in nine eight. 0:16:27.320 --> 0:16:30.520 He's best known internationally, at least for creating the Geiver 0:16:31.000 --> 0:16:35.640 manga bio booster Armor Geiver, who started in nineteen eighty five, 0:16:35.680 --> 0:16:37.680 and I believe is still considered it like an active 0:16:37.680 --> 0:16:41.440 title to some extent um. This property was adapted into 0:16:41.640 --> 0:16:44.880 an eighty six anime film and eighty nine anime TV 0:16:45.040 --> 0:16:47.840 series prior to this, and uh, and I think they're 0:16:47.880 --> 0:16:51.600 still uh like anime Geiver projects that are seeing the 0:16:51.680 --> 0:16:54.600 light of day. Okay, I think we've established that the 0:16:54.640 --> 0:16:58.400 monster costumes are the star of the film, but beyond that, 0:16:58.520 --> 0:17:00.920 it actually has a lot of star power in it. 0:17:00.960 --> 0:17:04.159 You would be shocked how many recognizable actors are in 0:17:04.200 --> 0:17:06.240 this thing. Yeah, and I think that's what put me 0:17:06.280 --> 0:17:08.399 over the top for actually covering this, because it's kind 0:17:08.400 --> 0:17:09.919 of this has been on our radar for a while. 0:17:10.480 --> 0:17:12.520 But when you it's one thing to think, Okay, it's 0:17:12.520 --> 0:17:14.800 got cool monsters and it's got cool effects, screaming man 0:17:14.800 --> 0:17:16.800 George is involved. But then yeah, you look at this 0:17:16.880 --> 0:17:20.080 cast and it's just a buffet. It's like the casting 0:17:20.560 --> 0:17:23.000 is really as odd as any effect in this film. 0:17:23.320 --> 0:17:26.800 It truly is. So let's start with the good guys, 0:17:26.840 --> 0:17:30.080 I guess, and uh, we have to start really with 0:17:30.160 --> 0:17:32.240 I believe this was the top billing for the picture, 0:17:32.359 --> 0:17:38.560 that is Mark Hamill playing the character Max Reid. I 0:17:38.600 --> 0:17:40.200 think they're trying to pull a bit of a trick 0:17:40.280 --> 0:17:42.320 on us with the box art, because if you were 0:17:42.359 --> 0:17:45.760 to believe it, it suggests that Mark Hamill is the 0:17:45.840 --> 0:17:49.840 titular Geiver. It shows half of the Geiver armor mask 0:17:50.200 --> 0:17:52.400 and then the other half of the face without the mask, 0:17:52.480 --> 0:17:55.000 and it's Mark Hamill's face. You can tell because he 0:17:55.040 --> 0:17:58.520 has the late eighties Mark Hamill mustache. That's right. They 0:17:58.560 --> 0:18:01.360 have to kind of really look to see the mustache. 0:18:01.800 --> 0:18:04.800 Um At first, I couldn't really tell because one of 0:18:04.840 --> 0:18:08.800 the other's tremendous furry pyramid. Yeah, because the thing is 0:18:08.840 --> 0:18:13.280 the actual Geiver character, who's also named Sean Barker, is 0:18:13.280 --> 0:18:16.879 played by this guy, Jack Armstrong, who for whom this 0:18:16.960 --> 0:18:19.960 was his biggest role. He mostly did TV before Geiver, 0:18:20.640 --> 0:18:24.200 Guiding Light, All My Children, Quantum Lead Alf and then 0:18:24.240 --> 0:18:26.880 after Geiver he did mostly TV as well, The Tick 0:18:27.080 --> 0:18:30.400 Days of Our Lives, West World, Mr Mayor. He even 0:18:30.440 --> 0:18:34.199 popped up on like the parts you know. Uh, but 0:18:34.200 --> 0:18:37.000 but even this Jack Armstrong character kind of looks like 0:18:37.040 --> 0:18:40.639 a young Mark Hamill. So does it leaves you wondering, 0:18:40.680 --> 0:18:42.760 like what how did the casting come together on this? 0:18:42.880 --> 0:18:45.040 I don't know, I don't know. It's like it's like 0:18:45.080 --> 0:18:47.119 they wanted Mark Hamill, but then they got him on 0:18:47.160 --> 0:18:48.800 set and they're like, Okay, now you need to shave 0:18:48.800 --> 0:18:51.480 your mustache and he's like, I'm not gonna do it. 0:18:51.840 --> 0:18:54.240 So they're like, okay, so we're gonna have to recast 0:18:54.320 --> 0:18:56.919 you as this other character and get a clean shaven 0:18:56.960 --> 0:18:59.399 guy to play the Geiver. Yeah, like they wanted to 0:18:59.440 --> 0:19:01.399 look skywa Palker and he was just not doing the 0:19:01.440 --> 0:19:04.879 Loke Skywalker thing anymore, which you know, it is understandable. 0:19:04.920 --> 0:19:07.920 It was a huge role. It made everyone, I mean, 0:19:08.119 --> 0:19:11.560 it submitted him, like even today, much much further along 0:19:11.560 --> 0:19:15.040 in Mark Hamill's career. Uh, you can't separate him from 0:19:15.080 --> 0:19:17.199 Lake Skywalker, even though at this point we know that 0:19:17.200 --> 0:19:20.480 he's also a phenomenal voice actor who's brought to life 0:19:20.520 --> 0:19:23.080 so many iconic characters. I mean, instantly, I think of 0:19:23.119 --> 0:19:26.720 the Joker, of course, from various animated projects and video games. 0:19:27.080 --> 0:19:30.800 He also did a wonderful job as skettech Uh, one 0:19:30.840 --> 0:19:34.000 of the villains in the Dark Crystal Age of Resistance. Ye. 0:19:34.520 --> 0:19:38.800 Really good. Yeah, and just just a really robust voice 0:19:38.840 --> 0:19:43.280 acting resume. Mark Hamill around this time, I guess he was. 0:19:43.320 --> 0:19:44.960 He was popping up in plenty of stuff like he 0:19:45.000 --> 0:19:47.720 never I had read somewhere that he had taken a 0:19:47.720 --> 0:19:50.359 few years off after Jedi, But you look at his 0:19:50.400 --> 0:19:53.240 filmography and it still looks pretty solid, like it. You 0:19:53.240 --> 0:19:56.960 don't see a lot of gaps uh during this time. Well, 0:19:57.000 --> 0:19:59.840 a lot of the live action, non Star Wars stuff 0:19:59.840 --> 0:20:03.720 in there is not super great. Yeah, there's well, like 0:20:03.760 --> 0:20:07.840 one that pops up is um the Steven Lisberger film Slipstream. 0:20:08.160 --> 0:20:11.720 I've seen that one. It's I do not remember much 0:20:11.760 --> 0:20:14.919 about it other than that Mark Hamill has a mustache. Okay, 0:20:15.600 --> 0:20:17.680 there's another one he's in. He's in and I don't 0:20:17.680 --> 0:20:19.640 think he has a mustache. And this one, but it's 0:20:19.640 --> 0:20:22.879 a Jess Franco movie, Night of the Eagles, which co 0:20:23.000 --> 0:20:26.160 stars Christopher Lee. Okay, well I need to see that. Yeah. 0:20:26.160 --> 0:20:29.280 I think it's a wartime Germany film. So everybody's in 0:20:29.320 --> 0:20:31.280 a Nazi uniform. So I think there's some sort of 0:20:31.440 --> 0:20:33.560 I'm not sure if if Hamil. I think Hamill's character 0:20:33.640 --> 0:20:37.480 maybe plays Um an anti Nazi. That's uh, you know, 0:20:37.800 --> 0:20:41.439 Um in disguise or something. Okay. I also have to 0:20:41.440 --> 0:20:43.560 point out that Mark Hamill does show up on one 0:20:43.600 --> 0:20:46.680 episode of the Outer Limit series. It's it's a pretty 0:20:46.680 --> 0:20:48.840 good one. So look for look for that if you're 0:20:48.840 --> 0:20:52.640 a Hammel completest. Okay. Well, so we got Jack Armstrong 0:20:52.720 --> 0:20:55.840 playing our our young dope hero Sean who will become 0:20:55.880 --> 0:20:58.680 the guiver. We have Mark Hamill. He plays a character 0:20:58.760 --> 0:21:01.760 named Max Reid, who is a CIA agent. I have 0:21:01.840 --> 0:21:05.240 some questions about how the CIA works in the universe 0:21:05.240 --> 0:21:07.000 of this movie, but we'll get to that when we 0:21:07.119 --> 0:21:09.640 break down the plot. But then I guess our other 0:21:09.800 --> 0:21:14.159 main good character would be the character um. Is she 0:21:14.240 --> 0:21:19.280 named miss Key or Miszuki? I've seen it both ways. Well, 0:21:19.400 --> 0:21:22.600 you know, sometimes there is a disconnect between what's what's 0:21:22.720 --> 0:21:25.760 listed and then what people are actually saying in the movie. Yeah, 0:21:26.119 --> 0:21:29.720 but this character is played by Vivian Wou, Chinese actor 0:21:29.760 --> 0:21:33.040 who made her big screen debut in Ven's The Last 0:21:33.200 --> 0:21:37.640 Emperor Um, playing the consort of the titular last Emperor 0:21:37.640 --> 0:21:40.120 in the film, but she's She was also in playing 0:21:40.119 --> 0:21:43.479 of other films, including Teenage Mutant, Ninja, Turtles three. I 0:21:43.520 --> 0:21:46.600 think this is the Turtles in Time movie. It is. Yeah, 0:21:47.480 --> 0:21:51.320 she was in The Joy Luck Club that was same 0:21:51.400 --> 0:21:54.800 year as Turtles three. She also shows up in a 0:21:54.880 --> 0:21:59.080 lot of TV appearances, such as Millennium Highlander, the TV 0:21:59.160 --> 0:22:03.040 show Tales from the Crypt and Murder. She wrote, well, 0:22:03.080 --> 0:22:05.160 is it time to talk about the bad guys? Though? 0:22:05.320 --> 0:22:08.359 Oh yes, so many great bad guys in this and 0:22:08.400 --> 0:22:13.440 that's even before they transformed from their human form into monsters. 0:22:13.480 --> 0:22:15.960 So topping it off, we have we have a character 0:22:16.040 --> 0:22:21.160 named Fulton Balchus who is uh he's the head of Zoanoid, 0:22:21.840 --> 0:22:23.600 which I guess we'll get into that later, but think 0:22:23.720 --> 0:22:27.040 like alien monster thing disguised as a human. But he's 0:22:27.080 --> 0:22:29.919 also a CEO of the Chronus Corps. He has a 0:22:30.000 --> 0:22:32.440 he has a pink eyeball that pokes out of his forehead. 0:22:32.520 --> 0:22:40.160 Sometimes played by the always wonderfully reptilian David Gale, who lived. 0:22:42.760 --> 0:22:46.480 He died the same year this film came out due 0:22:46.520 --> 0:22:49.080 to heart surgery complications, so this this was one of 0:22:49.119 --> 0:22:51.560 his final films. But uh, yeah, he was. He was 0:22:51.600 --> 0:22:53.600 an English born actor who worked on the New York 0:22:53.640 --> 0:22:57.800