Guyver: Dark Hero

Plot synopsis:
One year after bonding with the Guyver unit and destroying the Cronos Corporation, the company responsible for the Guyver and the creatures called the Zoanoids, in Los Angeles, Sean Barker has been using his powers to fight crime. Unfortunately, the Guyver unit’s desire to kill has left Sean emotionally exhausted. Learning of cave drawings discovered in the mountains of Utah that resemble the images he has been seeing in his dreams, Sean makes his way to the archeological dig taking place there. Along the way, Sean encounters Cori Edwards, daughter of Marcus Edwards, the lead archeologist at the archaeological site.
Arriving at the archeological site, Sean discovers a skull resembling Lisker, a Zoanoid that he fought a year ago. Later that night, Sean battles another Zoanoid, called Volker, which has been terrorizing the mountains of Utah. Their battle is cut short by the arrival of Cori and her team which lets Volker escape. Sean is questioned by a suspicious Commander Atkins, revealing that the Guyver only destroyed the Los Angeles branch of the Cronos Corporation and that another branch of Cronos is behind the Zoanoid attacks in the mountains of Utah.
The very next day, the team of archaeologists unearths an extraterrestrial ship. After several unsuccessful attempts to breach it, the ship mysteriously opens up a hatch for the archaeologists to enter. Inside, Sean communicates with the ship and demands that it removes the Guyver unit from within him. Meanwhile, Cori discovers another Guyver unit that has been damaged, but Arlen Crane confiscates it from her. Attempting to confront Crane, Cori instead learns that Arlen Crane actually works for the Cronos Corporation and plans to terminate all non-Cronos personnel at the site. Cori is captured by Volker eavesdropping and is escorted in a jeep. The jeep is attacked by Marcus, revealed to be a Zoanoid, who battles both Monk and Volker Zoanoids but is eventually overwhelmed. At the camp, Crane reveals himself to be a Zoanoid to Sean who rejects his offer of an alliance to activate the ship and turn himself and the Zoanoids back to normal. Crane has his chief of security, Brandi, sedate and bind Sean. Atkins frees Sean who rushes to save Cori as the Guyver. After killing both Monk and Volker Zoanoids, the Guyver spares Marcus and reveals his identity to Cori.
At the camp, Atkins and his commandos prevent Crane from executing the archaeological team and safely evacuate them. However, Atkins is captured and his commandos brutally murdered when one of the Zoanoids manages to escape.
Sean reveals to Cori that he plans to destroy the ship. Whilst Sean communicates with the ship, seeing images of prehistoric times with the creation of Zoanoids and the Guyver units, Cori plants dynamites in the dig site but is captured by Crane and his Zoanoids. With Cori as a hostage, Crane demands Sean to deactivate the Guyver unit and surrender. Marcus intervenes and a battle ensues: Marcus battles Crane but is killed in the process, Atkins manage to kill Brandi, a Zoanoid as well, after electrocuting her and finally shooting her dead. Sean kills the Corben and Stenzoanoids Zoanoids before confronting Crane. Crane reveals that he merged with the second Guyver unit and transforms into a Guyver Zoanoid. Faster and stronger, Crane overwhelms Sean, stabbing him in the chest but Cori shoots Crane’s Control Metal. Sean removes the damaged Control Metal which causes the Guyver suit to begin consuming Crane. Sean uses his Mega Smasher to put Crane out of his misery.
Following the events, Sean reveals to Cori that the Guyvers were a failed experiment: in prehistoric times, aliens had attempted to turn primitive humans into Guyvers to fight their wars, but the humans rebelled, forcing the aliens to leave earth. Using his Control Metal, Sean instructs the ship to return to its home planet. With the battle won, Atkins attempts to recruit Sean to aid the government in fighting an underground war against the Cronos Corporation, but Sean drives off with Cori instead.

Tags: violence

Review:
It has been a year(Or three depending how you look at it) Since Sean Barker first became the Guyver and destroyed the Cronos Corperation and their shape changing killers the Zionoids.As he struggles to find the purpose of the thing living inside him he is drawn to the caves of Utah where he will dicier the Guyver's true purpose.It had been three years since the world had been exposed to the Americanization of a manga classic, some loved it,other despised it.
The only redeeming feature where the really cool creature effects helmed by Co-Director Steve Wang.Then came Guyver 2 this time helmed by Wang and it has to be one of the best sequels ever made.
It stays more true to the comic,featuring some very cool monsters and some brilliant fight scenes choreographed by Drive action director Koichi Sakamoto which Steve Wang also directed.It seems Wang wanted to be as faithful as possible to the original comic and he does it very well.
One thing worth mentioning is a good acting turn by the voice of Solid Snake David Hayter who plays the role of Sean Barker, a role horribly done by Jack Armstrong(who?) in the original.The story is better written in which Sean struggles with his curse that is the Guyver.Although the acting is very hammy at times(What do you expect for a sci-fi b-movie) I recommend that people wanting to find out about The Guyver best watch the original anime show then view this live action version before viewing the first movie.I also recommend you pick up the Region 1 uncut DVD as it presents the film in all its gory glory..
The first movie was pretty decent, except for the acting and the way the costumes look, but the sequel was better.
Some fight scenes could of been done a little better, with fast movements and stunts like in Jet Li movies.
Three years after the dismal joke of a movie "Guyver", we are greeted with a second attempt at bringing the mildly popular manga to into live action with the movie "Guyver: Dark Hero", a loose sequel of the first guyver movie.
Gone is the campy feel and laughable story of the first film, replaced with a more competent script and a serious science fiction/action feel that still threads the line of B movie-ness but is careful to not fall headlong into the category of "silly".Needless to say, Guyver: Dark Hero is a highly enjoyable and entertaining adaptation of the beloved manga series, and is easily one of the better live action adaptations of manga in existence today.
All that would have just confused the heck out of the audience who already would have trouble following the single backstory of the Guyver units' origins in this movie.
In Guyver Dark Hero, the plot sees Chronos organization dispatch a team of Zoanoids to infiltrate an archaeological dig and excavate an ancient alien space craft which contains technology related to the Guyver.
The main character of Sean Barker is played very close to his manga counterpart "Sho Fukamachi" with only some Slight differences in his name, age and more realistic and mature approach in dealing with the responsibilities that come with possessing the violent power of the Guyver unit.
That and his constant obsession with taking down the Chronos organization (which was thought to have been destroyed in the first Guyver movie, but Sean believes otherwise)has left Sean Barker without any friends, all alone in the world.
Despite the low budget of the film (I heard it was barely $900,000), he still manages to make the most of it and delivers one hell of a viewing experience (this show manages to look better than some other movies with more than 10 times the budget.)The high point of this movie is definitely the fights.
Do not let the low budget of this movie put you off watching it; of Guyver: Dark Hero is proof that a low budget movie can still be a highly entertaining piece of work when left in competent hands with a little fanboy dedication thrown in(Steve Wang is a huge fan of tokusatsu movies like Ultraman ) .
Though this film is by no means perfect and would not stand up to being compared to more recent big screen comic book adaptations, it is quite good considering its age, technology and budgetary constraints(and seriously deserves more than its current IMDb rating).
It keeps very faithful to the look, feel and spirit of the original (something so many other live action adaptations lack) while presenting a fresh perspective on the Guyver mythos..
Guyver stars David Hayter(voice of solid snake and wrote x-men)who has to fight off these monsters called zoinoids in order to save mankind.
after seeing the first movie and then moving backwards onto the original anime, i had lost a little bit of respect for the live action guyver movie, i had to eat my words after i watched this.Lots more fighting stunts with the guyver in this film as he had learned to master other aspects of his suit, including a pretty awesome ability in the final battle, only clue is that the guyver really gets a lot off his chest.
If you have already seen the legendary "Guyver" manga (Japanese animation) series and enjoyed them, you are bound to love the second outing in the live action version of the cartoon.
If you are considering seeing this, I believe it would be a better idea to hire the original 1-12 manga series and the first live-action movie, The Guyver (aka Mutronics)..
The suit looks better, the zoanoids are mor scarier, there is more of a story to it, and the fight scenes are so well choreographed it will blow your mind.
The transition between animation and motion picture is also somewhat impressive depsite the lack of special FX's in the film and the storyline despite being poorly acted, is commendable for its sheer effort in maintaining any serious sense of sci-fi/action between the slow moving plot scenes..
It has a great plot and action scenes, despite a cheap looking Bee-like alien.
"Guyver 2-dark hero" is a huge improvment to the original but unfortunatly still fails to live up to the manga series.
Saying this, the Special FX and Guyver and zoanoid suites, and the ancient alien space ship look really good!
When you compare it to the manga and comics.this movie has FX, action, Guyver,Zoanoids and an ancient alien space ship.
And as a follow-up to the generally disastrous 1991 release "The Guyver", "Dark Hero" is most definitely a substantial improvement, eschewing the comedic stylings and slapstick humor that plagued that film and replacing it with darker imagery and a more violent tone.
And this movie delivers on that kitschy promise for the most part, despite a clunky and sometimes unsatisfying storyline.It's been one year since Sean Barker (David Hayter) bonded with the alien Guyver unit and destroyed the vile Cronos Corporation.
waiting to strike back.What makes this film work in comparison to the previous effort is the dedication returning director Steve Wang has to craft a tale true to the darker and more adult tone of the original manga and its earlier anime adaptations.
Wang clearly listened to the fan-base and its general dismissal of that 1991 original and decided to reward those who stuck around with a proper "Guyver" story.
"Guyver: Dark Hero" is not a great film.
But if you're just looking for a halfway decent time and a pretty entertaining little film to enjoy, you could do far worse.
This movie was directed by prop maker Steve Wang, and the fights and stunts were done by a Japanese stunt team that used to do stunt work for the power rangers japan.So the fight sequences look a lot like a power rangers episode, but imagine it to be more like a Rated R power rangers.
I have to say that I really liked this movie for it being made in 1994 and being somewhat unknown to the general public.It was well made, really impressive 1994 visual effects, the Guyver and Zoinoids were believable and obviously well made.
This movie is almost like a ultra violent Power Rangers movie, but a good film nevertheless.
As a long time fan of "The Guyver," the Japanese Manga series character who is born when an alien armor invades the body of a high school student and transforms him into a bionic superhero, I feel the live American adaptations to be lacking, but this one is worth the while.
An evil corporation called Chronos wants the Guyver and will do anything to get it, including using their army of "Zoanoids," human mutants who change form into grotesque monsters at will.If you are a fan of Yoshiki Takaya's Manga series (but are unable to buy the comics or Anime series), it's best you see this live American adaptation first, not Screaming Mad George's first film which was released in 1991.
This film, directed by Steve Wang, is less comical and focuses a lot more on the character, getting to the center of his dilemma and how he feels that the Guyver armor is pushing him to kill.But like I said, it's best you see this one first (it's not the best) but you might still want to check this one out if you're curious about Japan's most powerful superhero..
Simply put, this movie does a better job of capturing the feel of the original manga/anime.
I've been hearing for quite a while that if you want to watch Guyver you should see the orgional anime and ignore the crappy US live action movie.
Guyver: Dark Hero, the second movie, was surprisingly better however.
Both Guyver and the zoanoids look a lot better in this movie, the fight scence are actually pretty cool (mostly because the zoanoids actually have mobility now).
Steve Wang also uses his talents in this film to create some exceptional creature effects, especially for a low budget production.David Hayter, who plays the Guyver, went onto voice Solid Snake in the critically acclaimed video game series Metal Gear Solid.
Despite Guyver II Dark Hero having its fair share of bad acting and slow moments, it also has plenty of monsters, bloody moments and cool fight choreography to make it a worthwhile viewing..
Everything about this film is improved, the creature design is heightened, the fight scenes are shorter and to the point, the acting is miles better, the stakes are higher and the tone is fixed on a darker more serious style that makes the film great to watch.
Director Steve Wang was planning on following this film up with another one but the rights reverted back to their original owners who were not interested in another movie, a crying shame in my opinion..
Why better than the first live action film and a bit more closer to the Manga.
Being a huge fan of the original manga and a big fan of the first American film, Guyver Dark Hero is one of those rare exceptions when the sequel is better than the first installment.
Steve Wang and Screaming Mad George directed the first movie and as awesome it was seeing the Guyver done in live action, the tone and the pace of the movie vie was all over the place.
They replaced the lead by casting David Hayter ( voice of Solid Snake in the Metal Gear video game franchise, screenplay writer of the X-Men movies ) who did a far better job than Jack Armstrong.
David Hayter played the character of Sean Barker aka the Guyver very straight and very cool.
The Guyver suit looked awesome on screen and was an exact adaption of the manga.
The the action and special effects for a 900,000 dollar movie are very good.
If you like the Guyver than this movie is for you..
And for the people who did get to see this sequel, they were in for a surprise.The Guyver: Dark Hero, partially continues what was finished in the first movie.
But weighing this against all the good things in this sequel, I can overlook it.Director Steve Wang's second take on the "guyver" unit is all around a better film.
The second reason is because this one not only has NOTHING to do with the first movie, but has a decent B Movie Sci Fi story line, and absolutely amazing fight scenes.Guyver 2, along with G Saviour (a live actor version from the pages of the Gundam universe), are both decent B movies fit for Saturday nights with geeky friends who enjoy slightly cheesy Sci Fi, have watched too much MST3K and who know how to not take things so seriously that everything out of their mouths start with, "Yes, well actually...." Guyver 2 is fun.
As a fan of the anime, and its far better comic book source material, the first live-action Guyver was a painful experience.
Surely any "Power Rangers" criticism is more applicable to that first film, with its campy dialogue and fight scenes, silly-looking creature designs, and overblown ending battle.
Guyver 2 is a much improved film with some solid cult film qualities and enough substance to bring in fans of the Japanese original as well as the folks who stumble into decent B-movies channel surfing through evening cable.6/10.
Guy with Techno-genic armor parasite meets girl whose a researcher on the SAME archaeological dig he's MYSTICALLY drawn to, throw in some rather nicely done suits, neat plot twist pulling from other Guyver Units (shown in the anime) found, evil bad guy 2nd in command whose ALWAYS last when it comes to the free donuts the office brings in (makes him cranky), slight case of love interest and an ending dripping in altruism, stir till slightly buzzed (cuz it's a great drinking movie) and you've got some great B-Entertainment..
Well I saw this movie when I was about seven or eight and I thought it was good, the monsters looked tacky and the fights was not that special.
You can't have a lot of expectations when watching a "Guyver" movie, where a hapless young adult has some alien suit that forces him to be a vigilante, complete with the fancy and useless moves, and when the idea is clearly Japanese, with the rubber suit monsters fighting each other with incredible ineptitude.
So whether or not "Guyver: Dark Hero" picks up and stays true to the first movie (much less the comic book), well I wouldn't be able to say that actually."Guyver: Dark Hero" was fun to watch, just bear in mind that it was made back in 1994, so the effects here are somewhat, well let's just say out of date, in lack of better.
Despite it being rubber and all, then they actually put a lot of work and effort into it and it looked really, really nice - even today.The story in "Guyver: Dark Hero" was pretty straight forward and easy to follow, even if you haven't seen the first movie or like me can't fully remember it.
There wasn't really any big twists or turn of events, so you know what you are in for here, be it predictable and all.Actually they had some fairly impressive people on the cast list, I mean, you have David Hayter (playing Sean Baker/Guyver) and Christopher Michael (playing Atkins).I must say that I found the fighting scenes to actually be nice, but also funny to behold at the same time, because there just was something comical about the Zoinoids when they were fighting.If you enjoy Sci-Fi of the older type, then "Guyver: Dark Hero" is well worth watching, and I am pretty sure that the kids will enjoy the movie as well because of the story and because of the Zoinoids.
It's basically a good movie, besides the whole "dark hero" thing.
Though a lot of it is actually quite cheesy, especially the dialogue, there's nothing like a good old sci-fi movie with martial arts.People can't deny that some of the fighting in the movie is quite cool.
However the DVD I had lost about 10 - 15 minutes from the original film, so some of the better fight scenes and gore was removed.That's what probably did the worst for the movie.
As low budget sci-fi movies go this is quite a interesting flick, with some excellent fight scenes.
As for the creature effects, the Guyver/Zoanoid costumes are excellent and overall go to make the movie one of my personal sci-fi favourites.
Despite the quite bad acting, Guyver: Dark hero is good fun, is a vast improvement on it's predecessor (Mutronics) and is much more in line with the great story depicted in the manga comics/cartoons!.
Now he must fight Kronos again before they discover the secrets of the Guyver's origin.ACTING: 3/10- Not especially impressive.
SPECIAL EFFECTS: 7/10- The creature suits are fun, the monster designs are cool and original.MUSIC: Uneven.
Nothing special or memorable.Final verdict- The story is good, the creature effects are fun and film showed consistant effort but the poor acting and weak direction hammer it.
Steve Wang's second outing with The Guyver accept this time there was a change in casting for the lead role, no big star names, a low budget...but an all new adult rating!
Admittedly Wang stays closer to the source material this time and includes the fact that the Guyver suit is virtually corrupting Barker by wanting (and making) him kill.
The slow motion jiggery-pokery might look cool but in fact it makes things look worse when Guyver and Zoanoid suits clash in real time.
Of course I could be grasping the wrong end of the stick but I'm not sure, the movie isn't exact to the source.The Guyver suit looks much better in this sequel even though it looked great in the first movie.
The main Zoanoid bad guy actually gets a Guyver suit this time which gives us a chance to see a more badass version (in black naturally).