Mechanical Violator Hakaider (1995)

Time for another round of “Tubi- Trash or Treasure?”! Most of my viewing choices come from a huge watchlist I have of movies I have heard or read about, but sometimes I cruise free streaming service Tubi and pick something random that looks crazy, cheesy, and/or cool. By the way, I suggested CrazyCheesyCool as the original title for TLC’s second album, but I was told it sounded “too much like a Weird Al parody.” Paid streaming services and major studios have been renting out more and more of their recent and big name shows/movies to the FAST (Free Ad-Supported Television) streamers like Tubi to try and make a buck as their subscription revenue stagnates, but thankfully my Tubi Recommendations are still filled with plenty of weird and random shit from across the decades. Based on a cool title and an even cooler character on the cover, I made my choice.

Mechanical Violator Hakaider is a 1995 Japanese sci-fi film from director Keita Amemiya. Tubi actually has both Dubbed and Subtitled versions available, but they are listed as separate movies (I have not found any option in Tubi to toggle language/subtitles, so I guess this is how they do it). It is technically a spin-off from the 1970s Android Kikaider television series but it works fine as a standalone story for those unfamiliar with the show (like me). The titular character Hakaider was a villain originally, but here he is our anti-hero protagonist. 

The movie opens with some bandits breaking into an abandoned prison looking for treasure. They are confused and scared to find a man bound in chains who must have been there for many years. He awakens and appears human at first before they shoot at him and he transforms into his android form, the kind of costumed/armored hero you see in Japanese superhero shows (but with a distinctively dark and badass design). He proceeds to wreck their shit in a vulgar display of power. This is a Tokusatsu movie, the Japanese term for their live-action works that make heavy use of practical effects. Everything from monster movies like Godzilla to the Super Sentai series that were brought to America as Power Rangers falls under that umbrella. The superhero/sentai stuff I am familiar with usually features armored humans/androids having outdoor daylight battles with guys in monster suits, with lots of sparks exploding off their bodies and flipping around when they are hit. They are often a bit more violent than the Americanized versions (rubber limbs hacked off, costumes stabbed etc), but this is different. Hakaider is fighting regular humans, breaking skulls and punching in faces. Instead of brightly lit, high flying action it is close quarters fighting in a dark room lit by strobe lights with quick edits. 

this was a head

Later he gets an army of armored androids(?) to fight that results in less blood, but his fighting style remains just as brutal. Here it is worth mentioning I found out afterwards that the version on Tubi is the Director’s Cut, which at a lean 75 minutes still runs a full 20 minutes longer than the original theatrical version. I can definitely see them cutting the bloody violence and gore for theaters, but I don’t know how you would pare down this movie even further without affecting the thin narrative or the strong vibes. 

Hakaider leaves the prison and finds his motorcycle outside. In a little touch I loved, his motorcycle is chained up like he was, as if even his bike was so badass it had to be bound. He rides off into the night. We cut to a criminal being apprehended by silver android Michael, and then we meet his master Gurjev, the head of Jesus Town (a walled city that is the only surviving city we see in the movie). He acts all benevolent and wants to “protect” everyone in Jesus Town, which means criminals and dissenters get a chip in their head that supposedly suppresses emotions (but seems to just lobotomize them). At first I thought he had an angel wing on his coat, then you see it is a bird skeleton with feathers wrapped around his shoulder!

Hakaider penetrates Jesus Town’s defenses by no-selling cannon blasts to the face and fucking up an entire motorcycle patrol. “Why do you attack me?” he asks one. “I didn’t ask, I was just following orders.” they respond. “If you don’t have a will of your own, there is no reason for you to live.”

Hakaider encounters a ragtag group of young rebels that reminded me of Avalanche from Final Fantasy VII (released two years later). One of them has a recurring dream/vision of herself as a faerie menaced by a puppet-y white winged monster and saved by a Dark Souls-y black knight, hmmm I wonder what that could represent…

i swear this isn't a fetish thing... yet

at this point i lost count of how many times i had said "awesome"

The group sees how powerful Hakaider is in an extended battle that leaves him damaged. After he recovers in their hideout, some are robo-racist towards him, but the dreamer wants him to help destroy their country’s corrupt Parliament/Gurjev. Then the rest of them immediately show their whole ass by fighting over money and saying they can do what they want when they are the law. Hakaider calls them on their bullshit, but their face-off is interrupted by a raid. Characterization and plot are fairly thin since this is 75 minutes of mostly action and effects, but those few exchanges with the soldier and the rebels establish Hakaider's purity of purpose and give some heft to his propulsive but simplistic pursuit of his creator. If you try to impose your will on others, or submit to those who do so, your life has no value to him. 

Amemiya is a prolific director, writer, and character designer who has worked across decades of film, anime, and video games. That talent is on full display here. Despite obviously having a tiny budget, the movie is filled with cool costumes, props, practical effects and imagery. Even the few crowd scenes give everyone unique clothing or accessories so that they don’t look half-assed. I wonder if they raided the closets from other Toei shows/movies, similar to the way that the original Star Wars filled out the Mos Eisley cantina scene with extra creatures/masks from Rick Baker’s studio. 

thrilling head gear!

Some highlights beyond what I already mentioned: A quick internal view of Hakaider’s mechanical heart beating.

The Jesus Town soldiers’ awesome tri-goggle design (before that was commonplace) and the way they explode into white feathers instead of blood.

this was also previously a head

A scene memorably illustrating that only Hakaider is strong enough to fire his gun. The android duel that starts in a simple white room that becomes progressively more red. And just when I thought the movie was done, it put an overly-ambitious stop-motion cherry on the sundae that I found both awesome and adorable. I saw some other people complain about that part (which I won’t fully spoil), but it just fully cemented my love for the movie. There is more creativity and style on display here than in many sci-fi movies that have infinitely higher budgets. After looking up info about the movie, I realized I saw parts of Amemiya’s film Zeiram on Sci-Fi (pre-SyFy) Channel about 25 years ago, and I still remember some imagery from it. Zeiram and its sequel are both on Tubi, and now they are on my watchlist. This is definitely a Tubi Treasure.

Here is the Tubi link: https://tubitv.com/movies/608217/hakaider-the-extended-director-s-cut-subbed

*note: I later found a download of this movie online that my screenshots came from. It has a slightly clearer picture than what is streaming on Tubi, but there is no High Definition version of the Director’s Cut available anywhere at this time. I would totally buy this on blu-ray if anyone releases an HD upgrade.