By Chris Hyde

November 25, 2003

The most fun Shaw Brothers release of the year explodes off the screen with colorful and rubber suited glory.

During their heyday, the output of the Shaw Brothers studio ranged across many genres, from huangmei opera to sword fighting epics to horror films. Much of their production slate consisted of fairly high-end creations, but in typical studio fashion they were also not at all above cranking out a blatant ripoff for a quick buck. To that end, in the mid '70s they set out to capitalize on the popularity of a Japanese television show that had captured the fancy of kids the world over some years earlier. And while there's sure no claiming that this film is in any way the cinematic equal of some of their more prestigious releases, when it comes to pure enjoyment value, The Super Inframan delivers in spades.

During the late 1960s, a Tokyo based show called Ultraman hit the airwaves -- first in its home island nation and then later in a dubbed version in the United States and elsewhere. Mining much of the same ground as the classic Toho monster movies, the show in the main consisted of an intrepid hero who transformed himself into a futuristic machine man to do battle with giant beasts that had a penchant for stepping on houses. Personally, I myself have many fond memories of setting up shop in front of the glass teat on Saturday mornings and thrilling to the exploits of this Asian superhero while waiting for the Creature Double Feature to come on. Since the show had a fairly long run, I guess I wasn't the only kid who lapped up this pablum -- and it was likely this exact sort of fan appreciation that led a Hong Kong studio to try their own variation on this theme.

Making its Asian debut in 1975, the Shaw Brothers' take on the cartoony world of giant robot types was also scarfed right up by an American producer (Joseph Brenner) and given an English soundtrack, so some readers may even remember seeing this movie in its domestic incarnation. The outlandish and action-filled plot begins with plenty of small model destruction, as a strange series of fires and tremors shakes Hong Kong and drives hapless citizens to flee in terror. Local scientists pinpoint the disturbances as emanating from the ominously named Mount Devil, and it turns out that in this evil place a horde of malevolent creatures have awakened after the proverbial slumber of eons. And as we all know from years of watching films of this ilk, no one's ever very happy after being buried for a near eternity, and so these well-rested-but-cranky crooks set right out to take over the world.

Led by a whip-toting Valkyrie named Princess Elzibub (Terry Lau Wai-Yue), the vicious crew out for global domination is a pretty ugly bunch: beskeletoned shock troops, an arachnid martial arts expert, a poison spitting plant beast, a dragon man who breathes fire, a maniacally laughing lion creature, a beautiful assistant with hypnotic appendages, hydraulically jumping robots and a thing with a tunneling drill for an arm. With this lineup you'd sure think that little ol' earth was in some bad trouble, destined to fall under the sway of a hilariously animate bunch of costumed creeps. But waitwith the brilliant Professor Liu (Wang Hsieh) still around, perhaps there's still a tiny sliver of hope for the overmatched denizens of the third planet yet.

With the fate of the world hanging in the balance, enter leading man Rayma (Danny Lee, perhaps most famous for his role opposite Chow Yun Fat in John Woo's masterpiece The Killer -- though he additionally appears in the Shaws' awesomely campy bit of King Kong thievery Mighty Peking Man) to undergo an experimental procedure by the prof that will bionically transform him into a giant superpowered android at the drop of a hat. Along with his newfound ability to grow in a mega manner, this man-turned-Inframan garners some other valuable talents along the way: x-ray vision, super strength and the power of flight among them. Setting out to protect the world from the ravages of the blonde dominatrix who seeks to clutch the world to her ample breast, Inframan dispatches his brutal foes one by one with a lethal onslaught of Thunder Fists and other devastating kung fu moves.

As you might well imagine, what it all leads up to is a climactic battle filled with beheadings and cheesy laser light effects. Prior to the final showdown, there are sub-plots that involve the cute adolescent daughter of the chief scientist as well as an insider who mindlessly works for the enemy after an unfortunate encounter with their brain drain device, but these machinations do little to slow down the multihued and comically violent proceedings. The joy of this movie lies in the sheer level of over-the-top action, as its 84 minutes are jampacked with absurd set pieces and entertainingly enjoyable moments of ridiculous mayhem. With little let up in the onslaught, there's no time at all to catch your breath and assimilate just what it is you're really watching; the viewer is instead perhaps best served by simply sitting back and going along for the fun-filled ride.

Though undoubtedly patterned after the successful Japanese series Ultraman, as far as production value goes this excellent Hong Kong celluloid offering easily outdoes its television forefather. While the motion picture might be of slightly lesser status than some of the Shaw's concurrent output, there's no skimping at all here on the generally high level of style that was the studio's trademark. Elaborate costumes, great sets, intricate model work and gorgeous cinematography all combine to make the film look spectacular even as its subject matter remains unrepentantly lowbrow. Though there's sure no denying that on the basis of "art" that this movie doesn't stack up with many of the award winning productions that came from the Shaws, as one who has purchased a good number of the excellent Region 3 Celestial DVD's in the past year I can honestly say that there are few that possess the entertainment worth of this boisterous romp. Sometimes the simplest pleasures are the best, so do yourself a favor and punch this one into the deck some night you're looking for a way to wriggle out of reality for an hour and a half. For aren't there times when we all need a hero like the Super Inframan?