Gunhed (film)
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is a 1989 Japanese
science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...
action film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include l ...
directed by
Masato Harada is a Japanese film director, film critic, and sometimes an actor; he is best known to foreign audiences as Omura in ''The Last Samurai'' and as Mr Mita in ''Fearless''. In both his acting roles he portrayed the villain who wants Japan to westerni ...
.


Plot


Prologue

In the early 2030s, a new material called Texmexium (more powerful than nuclear energy) enabled the world to be controlled by a new generation of super computers. Due to fear of misusing Texmexium, it was guarded within hyper-nuclear facilities that powered every major city. Concurrently occurring was the world's depletion in raw materials to create new all-powerful computers; conductive plastics and computer chips have out-valued gold and gave rise to tech scavengers that seek their fortunes through acquiring and selling computer parts despite the extreme dangers. During the year 2005, the Cybortech Company built one of the most advanced robotics development facilities upon a small Asian island simply called 8JO. Controlled by a highly advanced A.I.system, Kyron-5, the A.I. autonomously ran the island for 20 years until it come to realize humanity wasn't needed and began to use their own technologies to rebel against humanity; the great robot war began. To quell Kyron-5's insurrection, the allied powers dispatched a GUNHED battalion in attempt to stop Kyron-5; however, it was being protected by a powerful guardian, Aerobot. The battalion was defeated and all of its remains were thrown in a scrap yard. The conflict never had a clear victor, but the world allies chose to leave 8JO alone, it would be 13 years later for anyone to discover Kyron-5's survival and true intentions.


Main events

The year is now 2038, the scavenger crew of the ''Mary Ann'' has infiltrated 8JO and begins their mission to scavenge computer chips. Captain Bansho, Brooklyn, Babe, Barabbas, and Bombbay infiltrate the lower decks while Boomerang and Boxer monitor things near the ''Mary Ann''. Before long, Boxer and Boomerang are killed by the automated defenses on the landing pad. As the infiltration team heads deeper into Kyron-5, Bansho and Barabbas are killed inside the elevator by the defenses. Brooklyn, Babe, and Bombbay manage to survive the assault and bump into an injured Texas Air Ranger, Sgt. Nim. Nim was on a mission with her partner to hunt down a Bio-Droid that stole a vial of Texmexium for Kyron-5, but her helicopter was destroyed and her partner killed in action. Nim herself was injured and Brooklyn helped her. The four traveled together for safety, but Bombbay is soon killed by the droid Nim was hunting. The surviving trio made it to Kyron-5's core room, where they found a vial of Texmexium; the Bio-Droid wanted it back. While fighting for the Texmexium, Babe falls into a vat of chemicals along with the droid. Brooklyn and Nim believe her dead, but she actually somehow merged with the droid as a single conflicting entity. As the only two survivors, Brooklyn wants to keep the Texmexium because it cost him his comrades, but Nim wants it to complete her mission; both objectives have to put on hold as they encounter Aerobot. The two survived their encounter with Aerobot by escaping into a deep chute, to be discovered by the sole surviving children of the original human custodians of Kyron-5, Seven (younger brother) and Eleven (mute older sister). Together, they formulated a plan to get back on the landing pad of Kyron-5 and escape with the ''Mary Ann'', but their situation is hampered by both Kyron-5 and the Bio-Droid after them. However, it was by chance, at the robot graveyard, that Brooklyn found the remains of a GUNHED (''G''un ''UN''it of ''H''eavy ''E''liminate ''D''evice). Using his technical skills, Brooklyn brought GUNHED back online and it was through GUNHED that the crew learned that Kyron-5 only stopped conflicting with humanity 13 years ago to wait for them to complete developing Texmexium for its plans for global domination. Despite learning the threat it could pose to humanity, Nim was focused only on her mission and leaving the facility. Nim and Eleven left together for the Kyron-5 core room, while Seven stayed with Brooklyn to complete repairs on GUNHED and used it to escape Kyron-5. Brooklyn has personal anxieties about piloting, but he had to overcome it to survive. It was while during her leave that the droid found her and retaken the Texmexium to aid Kyron-5's plan. With the aid of GUNHED, Brooklyn is able to clear the various deadly obstacles and defenses of Kyron-5. However, Aerobot remains at large. Brooklyn fights with GUNHED to take down Aerobot, but the unit defeats GUNHED. Brooklyn escapes from the tank and rigs a part of its functional gun to manually shoot Aerobot, with which she manages to finally destroy Aerobot once and for all. In between, Nim realized Eleven was part of Kyron-5's plan as it had actually inserted a special activation code within her (the source of her muteness); she would uncontrollably help Kyron-5 execute its plans, however, Nim intervened and prevented her from launching the code. The Bio-Droid returns to stop everyone, but Babe realizes she cannot escape being trapped inside and decides to detonate a grenade within the droid's body to help the four escape; both the droid and Babe are destroyed. Kyron-5's plans have failed and now it activates the self-destruction sequence to detonate 8JO. Originally only having 10 seconds, the mangled GUNHED activates its boosters to ram Kyron-5 to give them a chance to escape within 15 minutes. With just enough time to escape, the four escape on board the ''Mary Ann'' and fly away. While flying away GUNHED passes its final message to Brooklyn, that the GUNHED Battalion has completed its mission.


Cast

*
Masahiro Takashima is a Japanese actor and singer. Early life Takashima comes from a family of actors, including his father Tadao Takashima, his mother Hanayo Sumi, and his younger brother Masanobu Takashima. Career Acting Takashima debuted in the 1987 film '' ...
as Brooklyn *
Brenda Bakke Brenda Jean Bakke (born May 15, 1963) is an American actress and real estate broker. She is best known for her roles in 1990s films '' Hot Shots! Part Deux'', '' Gunmen'', '' Demon Knight'', '' Under Siege 2: Dark Territory'', and '' L.A. Confi ...
as Sergeant Nim, Texas Air Ranger * Aya Enjōji as Bebe * Eugene Harada as Seven * Kaori Mizushima as Eleven * Brewster Thompson as Barabbas James * Doll Nguyen as Boomerang * Jay Kabira as Bombbay * Randy Reyes as Gunhed (Voice) *
Mickey Curtis is a Japanese actor, singer and Media Personality. He was born to English-Japanese parents. A pivotal figure in Japanese popular music, Mickey is considered one of the three big Japanese names in rock music, helping to popularize the genre in ...
as Bansho, the captain of the ''Mary Ann'' * as Boxer * Michael Yancy as the Narrator


Release

''Gunhed'' was released theatrically on July 22, 1989, in Japan where it was distributed by
Toho is a Japanese film, theatre production and distribution company. It has its headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. Outside of Japan, it is best known as the producer ...
. In the Philippines, the film was released as ''Killer Tank'' on December 17, 1992. It was released in the United Kingdom in 1994. ''Gunhed'' was released in the United States by ADV Films in both an English dub and English subtitled format on November 30, 2004.


Reception

In a contemporary review, Derek Elley wrote in ''
Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' that the film was "derivative of films by Ridley Scott and James Cameron" and described ''Gunhed'' as "hokey" and critiqued "cheesy dialogue", "unflashy f/x" and "a bland pop-synth soundtrack" while noting "good model work". Elley concluded that in ''Gunhed'', "Things pick up in the final half-hour, which eventually delivers the action goods without springing any major surprises." From retrospective reviews, Donald C. Willis wrote about the film in his book ''Horror and Science Fiction Film IV'', specifying that ''Gunhed'' was a "exuberant action/effects spectacular" with "an effect-a-second pace and an ''Alien'', lost-in-technology feel to its human interaction." The ''
Time Out Film Guide Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to c ...
'' referred the film as "impenetrable
tosh Tosh may refer to: People * Tosh (surname) * Tosh (nickname) * Tosh Townend (born 1985), professional skateboarder * Tosh Van der Sande (born 1990), Belgian professional cyclist Places * Tosh, Himachal Pradesh, India; a village * Kiryas ...
(at least in the English version)".


Video games

There are two video games based on ''Gunhed'': *'' Blazing Lazers'' (''Gunhed''), released for the
PC Engine The TurboGrafx-16, known as the outside North America, is a home video game console designed by Hudson Soft and sold by NEC Home Electronics. It was the first console marketed in the fourth generation, commonly known as the 16-bit era, thoug ...
(TurboGrafx-16) in 1989. *''Gunhed: The New Battle'', released for the
Famicom The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit Third generation of video game consoles, third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redes ...
(Nintendo Entertainment System) in 1990. * The Gunhed and Brooklyn were featured as downloadable content in ''Super Robot Wars X-Ω'', the 2015 IOS Android installment of Bandai Namco Entertainment's tactical role-playing crossover
Mecha In science fiction, or mechs are giant robots or machines controlled by people, typically depicted as humanoid walking vehicles. The term was first used in Japanese after shortening the English loanword or , but the meaning in Japanese is ...
game franchise,
Super Robot Wars ''Super Robot Wars'', known in Japan as is a series of tactical role-playing video games produced by Bandai Namco Entertainment, formerly Banpresto. Starting out as a spinoff of the '' Compati Hero'' series, the main feature of the franchise ...
.Archived a
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and th
Wayback Machine


Footnotes


References

* * * *


External links

* {{Sunrise films Mecha films 1980s science fiction action films 1980s monster movies 1989 films Cyberpunk films Cyborg films Films credited to Alan Smithee Films directed by Masato Harada Films set in 2005 Films set in 2038 Japanese science fiction action films 1980s Japanese-language films Robot films Sunrise (company) Toho tokusatsu films 1980s Japanese films