In 1995 Keita Amamiya directed an all new chapter in this story, however Kikaider was nowhere to be seen (well if you look closely you'll see him briefly) and instead his arch nemesis took centre stage. Amamiya was no stranger to the genre Hakaider originated from, having been involved in numerous TV projects such as Dinosaur Task Force Zyuranger (later successfully adapted by Haim Saban to become the original Mighty Morphing Power Rangers) and a lot of the Kamen Rider series after 1988 (one of which was disasterously adapted by Haim Saban to create Masked Rider). He also has several features to his name including Cyber Ninja and three Zeiram movies. Hakaider might very well have started out as a TV pilot, as the Media Blasters release features two different cuts of the movie, one a feature-length director's cut and an original version which is a very TV-friendly 50 minutes. However there is no accompanying TV series and so it is the superior 77 minute director's cut we shall look at here.

It is the far future, a group of scavenger thieves break their way into an abandoned prison. A tip-off from a former warden promised them many valuables to be found in one of the underground vaults underneath the main buildings. Eventually they find a large metal door and blast their way though, only they don't find what they are looking for. Rather than many great treasures, they find a man with impeccably styled hair, imprisoned under many layers of chains. The scavengers have little time to be disappointed however, as the man quickly breaks from his chains and seems to change appearance in the darkness before totally slaughtering his liberators. This is the mighty killer android Hakaider, kept imprisoned for an incredibly long time, yet he can no longer remember who he is, or what his purpose is. He finds his motorcycle, also chained down, and heads out onto the highway looking for answers. He heads towards the nearest place of civilisation, Jesus Town, an outwardly free and and peaceful society which is really cruelly ruled over by Gurjev and his robot Michael along with his cybernetic soldiers. Gurjev is a pretentious goth pretty boy with an odd Christ preoccupation, hence his odd white outfit complete with a wing on one shoulder, and his fondness of Christianity-related names for things.

Gurjev uses pseudo-religious propaganda to create an image of a peaceful and utopian existence for Jesus Town citizens, when in reality it is more of a military dictatorship, his soldiers a constant presence. To make matters worse, Gurjev also arrests anyone seen as a dissenter and conducts terrible experiments on them, making them dribbling idiots and making them into more of his soldiers. Michael (presumably the named after the archangel) is the leader of Gurjev's armed forces and has been programmed as a naïve zealot of Gurjev, spouting such nonsense as “You are justice” in the face of Gurjev's cruel experimentation on human beings and his harsh crushing of anything approaching resistance. Speaking of resistance, as Hakaider is tearing ass towards Jesus Town a group of rebels (all dressed in black) prepare to raid of of Gurjev's trucks. One of the rebels is cutie pie Kaoru who is caught up in a bizarre dream where she is chained to a tree and is saved from a skeletal zombie with white wings by a dark night on a horse. The rebels successfully complete their raid but fortunately (or possibly unfortunately) their raid coincides with Hakaider blasting his way into Jesus Town and the rebels find themselves stuck between the violent cyborg and Gurjev's white-clad soldiers. Kaoru, somewhat predictably, sees our anti-hero on his motorcycle and believes him to be the knight that saves her in her dreams, and so persuades her rebel friends to help him escape after totally obliterates the squads sent out to stop him, with the help of his incredibly powerful shotgun missile launder thing. Gurjev recognises Hakaider as the robot enforcer who preceded Michael, only he was far too unpredictable and dangerous, but was hidden by the scientists who created him before Gurjev could have him destroyed. In the safety of their hideout Hakaider's arm regenerates and Kaoru gazes at him adoringly, trying to win him over to their cause. Hakaider is unconvinced until Gurjev's troops raid the building (some secret hideout that was!) and eliminate the rebels, leaving Hakaider to seek revenge against Gurjev for himself and for Kaoru.

Mechanical Violator Hakaider turned out to be a thoroughly enjoyable lightweight sci-fi romp, looking pretty good despite its low budget. While hardly taxing in the plot department, what little plot there is serves only to give Hakaider excuses to maim and destroy, but the whole thing is pulled off with a lot of style and is kept at a satisfying pace so as not to drag. The plot does create a couple of minor irritations though, like the rewriting of Hakaider's history which just serves to confuse the connection between this Hakaider and Kikaider's enemy in the original series. Also, though Hakaider has lost his memory and does not know who he is or why he exists, this is barely explored as he immediately heads straight for the city his creator controls and even though he encounters the rebels and seems to take to Kaoru a little, he was just going to kill everybody to start with anyway. These are minor points though, as this was never really meant to be an in-depth character analysis, which does also make me wonder if Hakaider's character was to develop in further episodes.

Visually this film is quite distinctive and has some great touches, the wardrobes of the various characters help to reflect their allegiances, Gurjev and his troops adopting light colours which highlight his delusions of goodness and god hood, the citizens of Jesus Town dressing the same to show their conformity, while Hakaider and the rebels dress in black thus standing out as dissenters against Gurjev's regime. Rather interestingly, there are also points during the film where blood n' guts are replaced with white feathers – Hakaider causes the head of two troops to explode but instead of blood and bits of brain being splashed about, instead the air is filled with feathers, it is certainly a striking image. Also striking is Kaoru's waking dream of the mysterious knight rescuing her from her winged attacker, the way she is dressed, the design of the knight's armour to match the shape of the eponymous character when he is in full-on cyborg mode, the winged zombie too, all of them are effectively designed and beautifully filmed to make the dream sequence a stand-out stylish moment. The action too is well-handled, though the are no acrobatic Hong Kong style martial arts and the budget was small, they're well shot and effectively choreographed, only once or twice did the budget limitations show through, especially when you see the use of some rather dodgy stop-motion animation near the end. The main cast members are decent too, Yasuaki Honda does well as the pretentious and loopy Gurjev, fitting the gothy waif character he's given. Yuki Kishimoto is extremely handsome as the human form of Hakaider, though he's really not given much to do except look vaguely confused and emotionless, and he also bares a strong resemblance to Kyle McLaughlin. Mai Hosho is our standard cute Japanese girlie, doing nothing more than look innocent and adorable and provide a little motivation for our (anti) hero, though her character does make you wonder how she got mixed up with a bunch of rough and moody political dissidents to start with.

Mechanical Violator Hakaider is an undemanding and enjoyable sci-fi fantasy adventure. While not the most original or thoughtful of Japanese sci-fi, it contains enough action, style and violence to keep the viewer entertained, and is distinctively Japanese enough to make it stand out from other b-movie fare.

The Kikaider shows remain among the most popular of Japan's many 1970s superhero programs, but up here in the 1990s, it was Hakaider, not the goody-goody Kikaider, who was dusted off, revamped, and given his own feature film. I guess that's a comment on society. We're a lot more interested in anti-heroes and villains than we are in heroes. And the people we turn into heroes aren't like the heroes of yesterday. If Kikaider was the Hulk Hogan of Japanese superheroes, then Hakaider is definitely the Stone Cold Steve Austin.

Mechanical Violator Hakaider begins with a group of tomb robbers unearthing Hakaider, who has been lying dormant, locked in a massive underground vault, and then to add insult to injury, wrapped in layers and layers of heavy chains to keep him from wandering around. Obviously, he gets out, guns his motorcycle, and sets out across the landscape of tomorrow with one goal in mind: killing the man who imprisoned him.

His destination is a idyllic city where peace and prosperity reign supreme, partly because the benevolent leader is fond of lobotomizing free thinkers and anyone else who doesn't agree with his vision of paradise. A small band of rebels in black clothing (everyone in the city wears white) are trying to overthrow the leader, but they are a pretty pitiful, inept bunch.

Until Hakaider comes along, that is. He is a seemingly unstoppable juggernaut of violence who lays waste to the city's lobotomized police squad as he makes his way toward the white tower housing the leader-- who is Hakaider's creator and imprisoner. Standing in his way, of course, is the new generation of mechanical superman, a silver-white android with the wings of an angel.

There are a lot of interesting things going on here. For starters, the film has subverted the archetypes and signifiers we've come to know and love. The black-clad motorcycle riding android is the protagonist, and the angelic, clean-looking android is the antagonist. Black is good, white is evil, or at least white is more evil than black. There are no clear-cut definitions here. Hakaider definitely isn't a "good guy," and the leader definitely isn't a "bad guy." He honestly believes what he does is in the best interest of the people and makes them happy. His vision has simply warped his view of the world.

You can almost look at it as a retelling of the age-old story set forth in Paradise Lost, in which Milton established the figure of Satan not as a ruthless embodiment of all that is evil, but as a proud rebel and non-conformist who was unwilling to bow down to the whims of God. Hakaider behaves in much the same way, an anti-hero whose crime is non-conformity in a realm where conformity is a way of life.

It may sound a bit far-fetched, but the film is not without ample religious iconography that makes it a much more feasible reading. The main rebel, an emaciated woman in punk rock garb, is haunted by a reoccurring dream where she is chained to a giant, gnarled tree. An angel approaches her, extends his hand, and is revealed as a hideous skeleton. It's only when the black knight bursts forth from the ground to defend her that she feels free.

Gothic tone, religious overtones, and politics aside, Hakaider is packed with tons of action, most of it consisting of Hakaider blowing away dozens and dozens of soldiers. Though not as stylized, there's easily as much carnage as John Woo delivers in his most frantic hour, and Hakaider kills even more people than Japan's other violent robotic hero, Janparson. The special effects are good, and the mood is eerie and dark while at the same time not subscribing to the Blade Runner paradigm that most people use when they ned to create a dark and moody film.

To top it all off, at least for you ladies and gay men, when Hakaider assumes human form (which, granted, is very rarely), he is probably the best looking super-anti-hero you'll find, sort of similar in appearance to Kyle McLaughlin but not as sickly looking. He's pretty cool and buys clothes from the same store as Mad Max.

Kikaider purists may dislike the reinventing of the myth (and the cameo by Kikaider's head near the end), but fans of well-executed, action-packed science fiction (not to mention people who like all that crazy goth imagery) should be more than pleased with this outing.

Now, let's see them bring back Kikaider as well!