Incredible and insane plus clear and sharp | The Guyver 4K

“You can’t kill me, I’ve been rejected by death” The Guyver (Jack Armstrong)

Incredible and insane

Bio-Booster Armor Guyver or simply Guyver started off as a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Yoshiki Takaya in 1985. It quickly became a hit and then was adapted into a single OVA Guyver: Out of Control in 1986. It would go on to have a 12 episode OVA series from 1989-1992, During this time in 1991 we would get the Live action adaption The Guyver. A film so incredible and insane it has now become a cult classic, mixing Tokusatsu, Martial Arts, Horror, Comedy and Science Fiction, all wrapped up and starring Luke Skywalker, well maybe not Luke Skywalker, but it has Mark Hamill. Directed by the outrageous Joji Tani aka Screaming Mad George and produced by the talented Brian Yuzna, Guyver should have been more of a sudden hit than it actually was, but as the years have gone on and a live action sequel that followed in 1994 and more anime series have come out over the years, The Guyver is finally getting the full appreciation it deserves and now with the latest release on 4K from Unearthed Films, more people can experience the Zoanoids.

Epic battles

Sean Barker (Jack Armstrong) is a college student who discovers the “Guyver”, an alien mechanical device that merges with his own body, turning him into a super-powerful cyborg fighting machine. The device belongs to Chronos, an evil corporation run by human mutants that metamorphize into monstrous soldiers called “Zoanoids”. Chronos badly wants the Guyver back and sends a gang of Zoanoids to kidnap Sean’s girlfriend, Mizuki (Vivian Wu). Sean rescues Mizuki with the help of Max Reed (Mark Hamill), a CIA agent determined to keep the device from falling into the hands of Chronos. However, the rescue attempt is not completely successful, thereby triggering a series of epic battles between the forces of good and evil.

Adult and outrageous

The Guyver came to my attention in the late 90s, my cousins were huge anime and horror fans, with other titles at hand such as Perfect Blue, Ghost in the Shell and Urotsukidoji (you know if you know), The Guyver was a bit of a break from the mind bend and depravity, it was satisfying martial arts with Alien beings. It reminded me of a more adult but still outrageous Might Morphin Power Rangers. Then discovering the live action was even more insane, having been a child brought up with Star Wars, and seeing Mark Hamill name on the front cover this clearly was a no brainer for me… I had to see it. And wow it was not a disappointment. For years, I wished to see a decent print and version (UK was heavily cut). Arrow video did a release with a nice transfer and some extras, but when unearthed films announced they were to do a uncut 4K release with new extras, no one could resist that. Being an Unearthed fan and collector for several years (Village of Doom review and Profane Exhibit coming soon) I knew that the attention to detail would be insane.

One crock pot of madness

THE FILM IS MENTAL, horror, action, comedy, sci fi and martial arts all rolled into one crock pot of madness overseen by Brian Yuzna and Screaming Mad George, both with an impressive pedigree in the strange and messed up, Yuzna producing and directing films such as Society, Re-animator and From Beyond, with SMG usually on the side of practical special effects with…. The Guyver gives it to you and more, the cast is strong and a who’s of horror and sci fi cinema, as mentioned Mark Hamil but we have the delights of Jack Armstrong taking the lead, Vivian Wu as his girlfriend, the striking Micheal Berryman as the leader of the Zoanoids gang and the always charismatic but coming off as a creep villain David Gale. If you love B movies, Sci fi, Horror, Martial Arts or just even ludicrous films The Guyver is for you.

BLU-RAY REVIEW (PICTURE+ AUDIO)

The version for this review is the 3 disc 4K limited Edition, there are other versions including a Collector’s edition Blu-Ray and a Collector’s edition DVD, both have the extras from DISC 2.

The picture quality is outrageous, the colours pop, the blacks are true cinema black, and it has some film grain that fits dynamically with the visuals. Levie Isaacks’ cinematography mixes super dark environments with vivid, comic book-like gels.

The Guyver is presented with original stereo and 5.1 remix options, in uncompressed LPCM and DTS-HD Master Audio respectively.

From some research it seems that the 5.1 mix was created specifically for the New Line DVD release, for this viewing I went with the original stereo for most of it, dipping into 5.1 to compare on specific scenes. There’s a sort of specific inconsistency to pre-digital B-movies of this era, from memory this was an attempt to level out the sound for old tube televisions. In this case, sound effects connected to the monsters, including their distorted voices, tend to overwhelm all other noises, human dialogue can fluctuate which depend on the locations, and composer Matthew Morse’s synth score has a thin, floaty quality. I imagine none of this is Unearthed Films’ doing and will note that the 5.1 track has all the same issues – this just seems it is the way it is. The lack of compression helps, especially during the louder, more musically intensive action scenes.

DISC 1: FEATURE (4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY)

• NEW 4K restoration of the original R-rated 35mm camera negative by Unearthed Films presented in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio in HDR
• NEW Commentary with co-directors Screaming Mad George and Steve Wang, moderated by Dom O’Brien, the author of Budget Biomorphs: The Making of The Guyver Films
• NEW Commentary with actor/SFX artist Evil Ted Smith and creature shop lab tech / miniature supervisor Wyatt Weed

DISC 2: FEATURE & EXTRAS (BLU-RAY)

• NEW Commentary with co-directors Screaming Mad George and Steve Wang, moderated by Dom O’Brien, the author of Budget Biomorphs: The Making of The Guyver Films
• NEW Commentary with actor/SFX artist Evil Ted Smith and creature shop lab tech / miniature supervisor Wyatt Weed
• NEW Interview with producer Brian Yuzna
• NEW Interview with co-director Screaming Mad George
• NEW Suit Tests with commentary by co-directors Screaming Mad George and Steve Wang
• NEW Suit Tests with commentary by actor/SFX artist Evil Ted Smith and creature shop lab tech / miniature supervisor Wyatt Weed
• NEW Outtakes with commentary by co-directors Screaming Mad George and Steve Wang
• NEW Gag Reel with commentary by co-directors Screaming Mad George and Steve Wang
• NEW Production Gallery
• NEW Promotional Gallery
• Alternate Title Sequence
• Trailers

DISC 3: THE GUYVER: ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK
MUSIC COMPOSED BY MATTHEW MORSE (COMPACT DISC)

COLLECTOR’S BOOKLET

• Essay by Dom O’Brien, the author of Budget Biomorphs: The Making of The Guyver Films & Liner notes by composer Matthew Morse

This film was a fun and nostalgic trip back down memory lane, only this time with the clear image and superb sound. Unearthed films have done a stellar job with this release, and they keep turning out special and beautiful releases. The full package itself is worth the price tag connected to it as you may need to import it from unearthed directly or find it from another seller as I did. The extras are informative and show how much passion was behind the making off this film. If you haven’t seen The Guyver and want balls to walls insanity… this is for you!!

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Coulson Rutter

Coulson Rutter is a filmmaker, film writer and film reviewer based in Cornwall

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