Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		4.0

Karate-Robo Zaborgar Blu-ray Movie Review

Mighty Morphin' Power Strange-r.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman September 11, 2012

Could there be a Power Rangers film in Quentin Tarantino’s future? And if there is, do I receive ancillary profits for having predicted or even having suggested it? When Mighty Morphin Power Rangers premiered stateside in 1993, it ushered in a new and patently goofy franchise to American eyes (though the series borrowed heavily from a pre- existing Japanese entry called Super Sentai), one which though ostensibly live action was undeniably cartoonish in its approach and execution. With over the top villains, color coordinated heroes and dialogue that didn’t exactly rise to the level of Art (with a capital A), Power Rangers in all of its many forms (the series slightly tweaked its concepts and names through the years) gained notoriety for its supposedly too graphic violence, but it also captured the collective imagination of kids (of all ages) in a way that probably even its creators had never imagined might be possible. Something very similar is at hand with the lunatic and often laugh out loud hilarious Karate-Robo Zaborgar, a Sushi Typhoon offering from director Noboru Iguchi (Mutant Girls Squad, RoboGeisha) based on a beloved 1970’s Japanese television series called Denjin Zaborger. It in fact plays quite a bit like what you might imagine Tarantino could do with a Power Rangers feature film. The movie quite closely apes the general plotline and approach of the original series, but it also invests everything with an unabashedly winking subtext. The hero of the film is Yutaka Daimon (Yasuhisa Furuhara), whose scientist father wasn’t exactly a role model of expert parenting but who, before he was kidnapped and murdered by an evil organization (more about them in a moment), left Daimon (he is always called by his last name, usually screamed at high volume by whoever is talking to him) with a lovely parting gift, namely a mighty morphin power robot, Zaborgar. Zaborgar is kind of an early prototype of a Transformer. Yutaka can ride the robot in its form of a motorcycle, but once Daimon gives a series of commands, Zaborgar morphs into a vaguely demonic looking robot who has a whole arsenal of weapons and other paraphernalia available to it at a moment’s notice.

There’s a fine line between cheese and Cheez Whiz, if you catch my drift, and the films that fall under the Sushi Typhoon banner are frankly more apt to be found in the second category, even if their ersatz qualities are part of their inherently cheesy charm. What sets Karate-Robo Zaborgar apart, at least partially, is the fact that it’s so obviously parodying a television series which was a big goof to begin with. Trying to invest a property with intentionally ironic humor when the source material is ironic (intentionally or otherwise) from the get go is a risky enterprise, but here it tends to work more often than not, simply because everything in this film is so completely over the top. When an evil “samurai robot”, a mechanical minion of the evil Sigma villain aggregation, suddenly grows giant lips to suck the DNA out of hapless Japanese leaders so that the film’s arch nemesis Dr. Akunomiya can inject it to help create a really giant “living” robot, it’s just one example of the completely silly lengths this movie will go to to generate some laughs.

Dr. Akunomiya is the head of Sigma and is of course responsible for the death of Daimon’s father. Things get a little complicated, howver, when Akunomiya sends the comely Miss Borg (Mami Yamasaki), a “created” DNA experiment herself who is able to detach her head and fire missiles from her bosom, to take on Daimon and Zaborgar. Need it be said that the love that dare not speak its name (in other words, a romance between a human and a weird cyborg hybrid) rears its weird little head, replete with bizarre octopus like tentacles emerging from Miss Borg’s breasts to envelop Daimon.

The film goes slightly off course in its second half, when an older but perhaps no wiser Daimon (Itsuji Itao) attempts to come to terms with his lot in life, including his perhaps unhealthy obsession with Zaborgar. The film still manages to coast along on its own manic lunacy, but for pure, unabashed comedic fervor, the opening half or so of Karate-Robo Zaborgar is by far the more enjoyable section of the film.

Karate-Robo Zaborgar is a riot of intentionally lo-fi looking special effects and a lot of visual doubles entendres which aren’t especially shy about mimicking various aspects of the female anatomy. The film plays like a bizarre Asian inflected acid trip at times, with Miss Borg and three bikini clad henchwomen doing a go-go dance before their bodies split into various new forms in order to continue battling. Dialogue throughout the film is also intentionally risible and is usually pitched at a hyperbolic level that recalls the famous Jon Lovitz dictum years ago on Saturday Night Live about acting! Iguchi apes the television series’ tendency toward just outlandish props, and he also invests his camera technique with lots of whip pans, fast zooms in and out and the like to recreate the seemingly haphazard ambience of this subgenre of Japanese entertainment.

I haven’t been overly fond of a lot of Sushi Typhoon offerings, but Karate-Robo Zaborgar just completely caught my fancy and I found myself giggling uncontrollably throughout large swaths of the film. Make no mistake about it, this is silliness of the most extreme order, but sometimes it’s fun to just relax and enjoy something so completely ridiculous as Karate-Robo Zaborgar undeniably is. It may not be great Art, but how can you argue with a cyborg whose legs detach to allow her to rocket into outer space, and whose bosom holds so many wacky and wonderful accoutrements? Add to that the slightly incestuous relationship between Daimon and Zaborgar and you have the makings for one of the oddest, but one of the most oddly likable, little films to come down the pike recently.

Karate-Robo Zaborgar Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Karate-Robo Zaborgar is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Well Go USA with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. Shot on high definition video, this film has a sleek and slightly flat look which actually works to the benefit of its attempt to recreate the feel of an older television series. Color and saturation are somewhat variable here. Zaborgar's bright redness shines through impressively, but some of the outdoor location footage seems pallid and not very well saturated in comparison. Fine object detail is quite pleasing in a number of close-ups. The film's wild special effects generally look quite good, although many of them are done with an intentionally lo-fi ethos which tends to have a "not quite ready for prime time" look. The image is sharp and well defined, though I personally would have preferred more crisp contrast, especially in the film's darker sequences.

Karate-Robo Zaborgar Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Karate-Robo Zaborgar features a very nicely over the top lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix in the original Japanese. Anyone looking for even a semblance of nuance or subtlety in this track had best look elsewhere. This is a film full of over the top sound effects and one where virtually every line of dialogue is screamed out in furious overacting. While that means dynamic range is pretty negligible, it also helps the sound mix in terms of a nonstop assault of various effects (and some great LFE) which regularly populate the surrounds. Fidelity is excellent and the film's wacky retro score also sounds great.

Karate-Robo Zaborgar Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Go Zaborgar Go Short Films (HD; 18:59) are a bunch of goofy little films that find our robot hero doing tasks like helping a delivery man get his ramen to its destination and putting out a fire.


• Trailers for other Sushi Typhoon Releases

Karate-Robo Zaborgar Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Karate-Robo Zaborgar isn't for the faint of heart or those who pride themselves on being politically correct all of the time. Some of the scenes with Miss Borg and her evil doctor master verge on sadomasochism, and the entire film isn't especially subtle when it comes to exploiting various aspects of the female anatomy. But if you can get past some minor niggling qualms which may linger at the edges of your better angels, Karate-Robo Zaborgar is just a flat out hoot, to coin a phrase. This is a film that starts at "11" and then pretty much stays there for its duration. It's goofy, crazy and frequently reprehensible, but it's also one of the most hilarious films I've seen this year. This Well Go USA release boasts nice looking video and some impressive audio, and even though supplements are on the slight side, it comes Highly recommended.