Megaroman (1979) User Reviews

High energy action and monster fluff

[ChungMo · 6/10 · 28 May 2006]

A friend brought copies of this back from a stay in Japan. They were untranslated but easy to follow for the most part. A combination of live-action sentai and tokusatsu genres as the human resembling alien hero, who can transform into a sort of giant robot, is supported by a fighting team of humans granted special powers. The difference here is that the alien and the team are all high school students instead of adults, a theme still being repeated on Japanese television today.

It's all pretty standard but with higher production standards then other sentai shows of the time. The kids all learn kung-fu which is unusual on a Japanese show and are repeatedly called on to show their stuff. The action scenes in the episodes I saw were all of a high caliber and entertaining to watch. The inevitable giant monsters are ridiculous but well designed. The miniatures were very well shot with lots of depth and a concerted effort to simulate an appearance of giants battling. Megaroman resembles Ultraman but with a long white mane of hair that you would see in a Kabuki play. Every monster battle ended with Megaroman igniting his hair, swinging his head around and shooting a fireball out of the burning hair. The offending monster would then explode.

The show had an early attempt to use video to create certain effects such as flying. The effect would then be transfered back to film unlike today where the effect is done on video and stays there.

Probably will never see this again.

extreme mediocre typical Japanese low-budget 1970s actioner

[r-c-s · 4/10 · 30 June 2008]

this telepicture mixes and matches many topics and styles typical of 1970s Japanese productions like I-Zenborg, Koseidon etc. Invading spacemen are countered by a few youngsters who learn martial arts. One of them, Takashi, is a superman from another planet (another returning cliché in 1970s Japan ) able to morph into a giant humanoid with long peroxide hair (used to conceal a thick zipper used to wrap the suit around the actor ). Others include a small kid ( usual ploy to attract very young viewers ), a girl, a dumb strong man and a Bruce Lee ripoff character. They transform into fighters wearing plastic colored suits (another device similar to the many Ultraman, Goggle V, Power Rangers etc ) and alien power bracelets, while superman Megaloman fights outer space monsters.

Low budget at its worst. Most scene are shot in abandoned excavation sites, in the woods, under highway bridges, in dumps, boiler room basements and so forth. The main actor and the girl are in dire need of an orthodontist and i laughed hard when in one episode a repented invader says they are 'oh so beautiful'.

SFX are extremely mediocre to childish. The alien fortress planet approaching Earth (another ploy seen many times, EG uchu kara no messeji ) is a ball hanging on wires hovering over cheap plastic cities. Budget is so cheap that fights between the giants rarely unfold in carton-box cities.

Alien camps are typically boiler/heating rooms and suchlike.

Later in the series the government bands some 'special task force' to fight aliens, but all you see is a small room with a couple telephones; of course in charge of the special unit is the martial arts teacher. This man is killed in the end: hit in his chest by machine gun bullets manages to survive through the episode and even to kill a main villain with acrobatic moves...

There is also attempt at humour and slapstick, usually very childish and pathetic. Acting is extremely mediocre to non-existent, except for the main actor impersonating both 'good' Takashi and evil captain Dagger/Delitto.

Mere nostalgia.