Overrated

Fantastic!

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Sentai shows are to me are the most colorful superhero programs I've ever seen. It's just simply fun seeing costumed heroes beat the crap out of inhuman menaces, to me it was also a confidence builder in a way showing how it's possible to overcome menaces that look like they could rip you apart.This is a film that I feel is a bit under the radar but has became a sleeper cult fave. This was pretty much China's way of getting in on the Sentai hero wave that was rising in Japan in the 70's. Franchises like "Ultraman", "Karman Rider" (my personal fav), and of course "Power Rangers" (a guilty pleasure of mine). Personally I felt this was a great step to it, but unfortunately never really caught on which I feel is too bad let alone a lost opportunity for both a franchise and having more setai heroes from China, oh well their lucky at least to have one and that's better than none.The production value of the film I personally think is great. It was done on a low budget but it was used very well, another example on how budget used right. I really like the design and make up work of the monsters, their all diverse and imaginative let alone very weird, I still wonder where the hell they get the ideas of them from. My favorite are the ones that have mace balls for hands and then shoot out but can be retracted or swung from the springs attached to them. Even like the design of the flunkies whom all have these skeleton helmets which I thought were cool looking and are armed with explosive spears. Let alone the look of the monster's fortress which looks like Snake Mountain from the "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe" cartoon. But I mainly like the design of the Inframan suit which I think looks cool and in a way predates the "Iron Man" films. And of course the music score I think is great, really refects the 70's decade but also I just simply love the heroic theme which is one of my personal favorite theme songs because it's one you can dance to.There really isn't much to any story and the plot is simplistic, but that's fine by me because this film were clearly in it for the action and that's exactly what this film has and is solely focused on. The pacing is great because this film just has constant action that you would barely have enough time to take a breath, it's kinda like a live action shonen anime.The chirography is great, all the fight scenes are memorable and most importantly unique, each battle is always different and with a different enemy or enemies. And the best part of each of the battles is seeing Inframan uses his capabilities. From the Thunderbolt Fists that shoot out and come back kind like the character "Hard Man" in the video game "Mega Man 3". Rocket Powered Kick, Super Sizing Himself whenever his opponents super sized themselves for no apparent or entirely logical reason, lazer blades, and my favorite of course is the beam which is practically the single solution for everything in the film.And also this film is really violent, Sentai shows have their degree of it but this film I feel really kicks it up a notch which even our modern day Sentai shows don't do. I like the use of explosions and squids and there are more of these than a Michael Bay film, but personally here I feel their used for the right reasons. But also the thing is you actually see people die, like one of the baddies getting their hands cut off, some no name person here or there gets thrown in a lava pit or electrocuted by a plant vine. I think seeing those things really gives the film a sense of jeopardy, that there really are consequences to actions and crap does happen, where in most Sentai let alone superhero shows there are hardly to no collateral damage which when you think about it is kinda weird.Overall this is a very good and very fun actioneer like Inframan himself has enough juice to entertain you.Rating: 3 and a half stars

For years, I never told ANYONE I had even SEEN that movie. And, I sure as HELL never told anyone that I had LIKED it! It was deserving of the title "cheesiest movie of the year" & could well have been nominated for the ALL-TIME award. Yet, I had enjoyed it. It became my secret shame.Then, one day, months, perhaps years later, my favorite Movie Critic, (with whom I agreed about 90% of the time), did something that made my heart sing & my soul feel relieved; Roger Ebert listed it as a "guilty pleasure"!Of all the THOUSANDS of movies he had seen in his career, one of only TEN listed, was INFRAMAN! This didn't prove my sanity, of course. But, it DID prove I was as sane as Roger Ebert & I'll take that any day.

super inframan the cult movie. of course things like this always find their own, but there was not much for me to enjoy in this one. i was watching old shawscope trash with few redeeming qualities. it would take a while to list everything that was lousy about it, all the clumsy errors, silly costumes, settings, lack of plot...and so on. i didn't find it all very humorous either. the monsters were indeed humorous, and the robots near the end were actually quite imaginative, but the dull scenes between the fights, the awful noise throughout the movie and the utter lack of any deeper meaning put me off. call me a tired dry grown-up, but i might have liked this when i was eight.

This is a hoot and a half; a Shaw Brothers' gem. Add in a manga based story, the Shaw Bros. studio lot, sci-fi, and lots of amazing, kampy fighting surpassing even the staged corny fighting by the Bat in blue tights Adam West, and that's Super Inframan in a nutshell. According to production notes, Danny Lee did don the Inframan suit on and I loved the transformation sequences with really 70ish sound effects! There's 70s written throughout this one. I never knew a Demon Princess could dress and look so funky psychedelic! I thought she stopped by a Viking convention. Plus, best use of motorcycle helmets goes to the numerous black-clad skull minions who take turns getting an Inframan-ish beating and lots of well-timed body flips. This film is a very good homage to Japan's Kaiju. Please ignore the fact that the monsters are human-sized rather than several stories tall. The Super Inframan and the Mighty Peking Man should be shown back-to-back at Subway Cinema 2004 at the Film Forum in NYC!