Blu-ray Review – The Guyver (1991)

On the run from the evil an corporation, researcher Dr. Segawa  – is in possession of the Guyver; a space-age alien technology which can transform man into a futuristic kung fu fighting machine with superhuman strength.

When Segawa  is caught and killed by a mutant creature at the behest of Chronos Corporation, he out smarts them  by managing to stash the Guyver before his untimely demise.

Meanwhile Segawas daughter, Mizky (Vivian Wu) is informed of her fathers death a rogue CIA agent Max Reed (Mark Hamill), Reed has his own theories about Chronos and Segawa s involvement with the Guvyer. When driving to the site of her fathers death, they are unknowingly tailed by Sean (Jack Armstrong), the dim boyfriend of Mizky, who is under the impression that Max is trying to woo his girl, whilst spying he accidentally discovers the Guyver.

Sean, Mizky and Max now find themselves the next target of the Chronos Corporation and their group rag-tag group of mutant henchmen.

Man! The Guyver was nuts! How did I not know about this film prior to the Blu-ray release from Arrow Home Video? It is the perfect blend of mental make-up and prosthetic effects and campy acting and martial arts to mould the perfect 90’s B-Movie – something Canon would be proud of.

It’s a fun story and I was impressed with the costumes and effects, but I feel I probably would have loved this x10 back when I was ten. The mixture of that 90’s vibe; the music, editing effects and storyline would have made for a badass Sega Megadrive game.

I should have been well aware of that I was going to be in for a crazy viewing experience when the directing credits are by special-effects masters Screaming Mad George and Steve Wang. Whilst it is a fun action romp, it is fairly dated – surely there is clearly a following, whether its solely about Yoshiki Takaya’s manga or if there is a large following for this film – it’s a surprise to me. This rings true as a feature which should probably remained in the 90’s alongside VHS cassettes.

Arrow Home Entertainment honoured The Guyver with a blu-ray release in December 2016 delivering their usual high standards of presentation with a new digital transfer of the Director’s Cut, Original uncompressed audio and thankfully (because I’m a bit deaf!) English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing (again, me!).

Overall 2.5/5