THE SUPER RIDERS V3 is the Taiwanese version of a popular Japanese TV/film series/phenomenon about a team of crime-fighters who use planes and giant robots to fight evil around the world. If this film feels choppy and slapdash, that's because a lot of the effects and action footage has been liberally borrowed from the Japanese original, although this movie just about hangs together regardless. The version I saw had been dubbed into German and given English subtitles, giving some idea of its obscurity.
Kung fu star Li Yi-Min headlines the familiar cast as one of the square-jawed pilots. I was reminded of THUNDERBIRDS in places although the giant robot action is more familiar from something like PACIFIC RIM. The plot is simplistic stuff and basically involves heroic dialogue mixed with staple action scenes. It feels very much like a live action comic book which I'm sure was the intention. The film is heavily reliant on miniature effects and I think it's fair to comment that they've dated somewhat since this came out, but for a kid's film they're pretty good and at times THE SUPER RIDERS V3 resembles the best of the kaiju genre.
The pacing is super fast and there are many plot ingredients and characters to enjoy. I loved the heroic stuffy professor who barely raises a smile throughout. Watch out for the main bad guy with the awesome hair. The henchmen are randomly dressed in American Football attire (no, I couldn't work that one out either). A ton of giant robots blow up and are destroyed and the story goes back and forth with either side gaining the upper hand until finally good wins out at the jarringly abrupt climax. It's low budget schlock but I enjoyed it all the same. Two sequels followed.
Kung fu star Li Yi-Min headlines the familiar cast as one of the square-jawed pilots. I was reminded of THUNDERBIRDS in places although the giant robot action is more familiar from something like PACIFIC RIM. The plot is simplistic stuff and basically involves heroic dialogue mixed with staple action scenes. It feels very much like a live action comic book which I'm sure was the intention. The film is heavily reliant on miniature effects and I think it's fair to comment that they've dated somewhat since this came out, but for a kid's film they're pretty good and at times THE SUPER RIDERS V3 resembles the best of the kaiju genre.
The pacing is super fast and there are many plot ingredients and characters to enjoy. I loved the heroic stuffy professor who barely raises a smile throughout. Watch out for the main bad guy with the awesome hair. The henchmen are randomly dressed in American Football attire (no, I couldn't work that one out either). A ton of giant robots blow up and are destroyed and the story goes back and forth with either side gaining the upper hand until finally good wins out at the jarringly abrupt climax. It's low budget schlock but I enjoyed it all the same. Two sequels followed.
