Kamen Rider VS Hell Ambassador (1972)
Production: Toei Corporation
By Igadevil

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Introduction

By July of 1972 the original Kamen Rider series was on nothing but an uphill climb of popularity amongst both child and adult fans across Japan, so it was obvious that a third Kamen Rider feature (following 1971’s Go Go Kamen Rider and Kamen Rider vs. Shocker, released earlier that year) would premiere at the annual Toei Manga Matsurai. The film, Kamen Rider vs. Hell Ambassador, continued the trend established by its predecessor in that it was like a larger-scale episode of the TV series, with even more monsters and fight sequences than usual packed into 34 minutes of classic Rider goodness.

Story

Set after Kamen Rider 1’s return as the star of the show, and during his battle with Shocker’s third and final officer Hell Ambassador, the movie starts off with an exciting Motocross Race (back in the days when the bike riding wasn’t just to get the Riders from point A to point B, it was part of their life!) Our favorite heroes Hongo Takeshi, aka Kamen Rider 1 (Fujioka Hiroshi) and Taki Kazuya (Chiba Jiro), world-class FBI agent and sidekick extraordinaire, are separated from the other competitors thanks to Shocker pulling the old “switch the road direction signs” on them. After a brief fight, the good guys steal Shocker’s helicopter along with some henchmen costumes, and eventually sneak into the base-of-the-week (located at the famous Obake Mansion complex, scene of many a battle in the earlier Rider series) disguised as Shocker troops. Of course, the bad guys are already aware of this, and attempt to get rid of Hongo and Taki by gassing them. It first appears as though they succeed, but it just serves as a clever diversion for Kamen Rider 1 to show up out of nowhere and start kicking butt! The titled Hell Ambassador then appears on a screen, informing the heroes that the entire base is about to explode, which it promptly does. And all within the first 10 minutes!

Thankfully, Rider 1 & Taki magically made it out just in time, but once again Shocker is one step ahead of the good guys, and has already succeeded in kidnapping nearly everyone else in the main cast! Rider 1 goes toe-to-toe with several revived Shocker Kaijin, and in the process learns Shocker’s evil plot (to install the Super Destruction Beam atop Mount Fuji) and meets the new monster introduced in the film, Kamikiri-Kid (voiced by Futami Tadao), who is armed with a poisonous breath and laser-shooting horns! Soon after rescuing some of his friends, Kamen Rider 1 heads to Mount Fuji, on the way encountering Shocker monsters and henchmen on both motorcycles and horseback in two more fantastic action sequences. The stage is then set for a climactic battle atop Mount Fuji against Hell Ambassador, Kamikiri-Kid and an army of revived Shocker Kaijin!

Review

If you like the Kamen Rider TV series, and you liked the previous film, chances are you’ll love this. While the plot is fairly straightforward (the above two paragraphs are the long and short of it), the pacing is breakneck, the action scenes are top-notch and the excitement factor is insanely high. And if you’ve read the review for the previous film, you probably already know that these are the top priorities in the original Rider series, coupled with great characters, awesome designs, solid storylines and fantastic music.

In other words, as with Kamen Rider vs. Shocker, you get just about everything you could want from this film. If there is any major down point to the movie, it would be the lack of that other beloved hero, Ichimonji Hayato aka Kamen Rider 2 (Sasaki Takeshi). But, considering the point in the show in which the film is set (it was released the day after episode #68 premiered, prior to Rider 2’s updated return in #72) it makes sense for this to be a solo adventure. Of course, the ever-faithful Taki gets an expanded role since he’s got to handle the other half of the fighting, and even gets one of his signature “How did Taki not just die?” moments that became a hallmark of the TV series.

But whatever complaints I could attempt to cook up are nothing compared to how much great stuff there is going on. As previously mentioned there are two incredibly entertaining action sequences nearly back-to-back, with Kamen Rider 1 on the New Cyclone going up against a ton of motorcycle-driving henchmen, only to ultimately run into a contingent of horse-riding goons led by Zemiminga. The first scene plays out to the upbeat tune “Fight! Cyclone”, while the second uses the moody, melodic “Lonely Kamen Rider”. Of course, after getting dragged around on ropes for a while, Rider 1 gains the upper hand and “Let’s Go!! Rider Kick” blasts as our hero commandeers a horse and starts kicking butt left and right!

There’s also that all-out battle royale atop Mount Fuji, which is impressive if for no other reason than simply for the sheer amount of stunt guys running around, fighting up and down the famous mountain. As is the case with the rest of the movie, as well as the many Kamen Rider series in general, the scenic battlegrounds are a great way to see the many diverse environments and locations all around Japan.

From what I could tell, this was the first theatrical Rider adventure to use the kind of sped-up filming that we see in more contemporary Rider films, which gives it a slightly different look and feel than the TV series.

One interesting fact about this film is that the “original” Kaijin, Kamikiri-Kid, actually got to appear in an episode of the TV series, #66, thus predating his premiere here. The same episode featured some of the Kaijin revived for this film, including Zanjio, the starring villain of Kamen Rider vs. Shocker. Of course, mean ol’ Zanjio puts in an appearance in this film as well.

Another juicy tidbit is that aside from Kamikiri-Kid, both on film and TV, Futami Tadao only voiced one other Kaijin in the original Rider series to my knowledge: a certain cephalopod villain whose name begins with an “I”. Any guesses who?

Conclusion

It’s hard to say much else about Kamen Rider vs. Hell Ambassador that I haven’t already said in the review for Kamen Rider vs. Shocker. Both films are fantastic, fast-paced spectacles that give you everything you love about the TV series in an even bigger-budgeted package. As for which film I like the most, I have to go with Shocker, if only for the appearances by Kamen Rider 2 and Doctor Shinigami. Otherwise, Kamen Rider vs. Hell Ambassador comes very, very close, and I highly recommend it just as much!

“Rider Double Kick!”
Igadevil