Inframan
Jeffrey Couto

Introduction

After millions of years in hibernation Princess Dragon Mom and her monster empire have come back to the Earth's surface and all of our top motorcycles, school buses and boats can't seem to stop them. Only one thing can save humanity now, Inframan, an atomic powered hero created by Dr.Chang.

Made by the Shaw Brother's Studio in Hong Kong, Inframan has to be one of my favorite movies of all time, with its amazing fight scenes, lackluster special effects and horribly designed monsters. Inspired by Japanese heroes of it days (some scenes even going as far stealing music from some of these sources of inspiration), Inframan is basically what Kamen Rider would have been if the producers would have put all their energies into the fight scenes and not into other aspects of their productions (such as the story, sfx and characters).

The Story:

The way in which the movie is set up basically plays out as 3 consecutive TV episodes, each focusing on a different story/monster. The first one introduces us to Princess Dragon Mom, the science group and the creation of Inframan. Surprisingly after the professor finishes building Inframan, our hero jumps out of the lab and into the outside world for his first fight when he is immediately recognize by people standing around!! "Inframan! Finally, he's here" How do they now who he is and why would they have been expecting him? Ummm.

The second chapter of the movie features our hero fighting against a lobster monster and some kind of hyper kinetic demon thing that jumps around all over the place. This part of the movie is noteworthy for featuring a surprisingly well-done scene in which Inframan grows to giant size (like Ultraman) to fight a much larger version of the lobster monster. Make sure not to miss the final part of their battle when Inframan steps on his fallen foe, you have to see it to believe it.

The third and final part of Inframan is what makes this film one of the best ever-produced Asian hero movies. In this part of the movie Inframan will fight all of Princess Dragon Mom's remaining generals and henchmen in a battle that goes on for around 20 minutes or so. Needless to say that the fight choreography in this part of the movie is quite amazing with nonstop fighting, wire assisted hyper jump kicks, laser beams and several explosions. It really has to be seen to be believed, trust me!

My Opinion:

If you have not seen this movie, go out right now and get it at your local video shop. I cannot possibly convey to you how much fun this movie is to watch, specially if you enjoy martial arts movies. If you like any of Toei's hero shows you will love Inframan, as it's a hyper kinetic version of many of the shows produced by this Japanese giant in the mid-seventies.

Jeffrey Couto