Movielogr
Mikadroid: Robokill Beneath Disco Club Layla (1991)
Directed by Tomo'o Haraguchi
Twitter Facebook Google+Action | Science Fiction | Thriller
Overview
During World War II, the Japanese military established a secret underground laboratory in Tokyo. Three Olympic-level athletes were selected to undergo a process that would turn them into Jinra-go, superhuman armored soldiers. By March 1945, one of the soldiers had been completely transformed into the half man/half machine ultimate soldier called Mikadroid. But American B-29s firebomb the city and, while the two super soldiers manage to escape, Mikadroid and the lab are apparently destroyed. 45 years pass, Tokyo is rebuilt, and old secrets are forgotten. The site is now home to a complex that includes the Discoclub Layla. The disco’s patrons dance late into the night, unaware that a faulty basement generator has reactivated Mikadroid and the cyborg now prowls the basement levels, killing anyone in its path…
Length 73 minutes
Actors
Hiroshi Atsumi | Yoriko Dôguchi | Kenji Hayami | 'Hurricane Ryu' Hariken | Takuya Tsuda | Masako Takeda | Yuki Yoshida | Masatō Ibu | Kiyoshi Kurosawa | Kaizô Hayashi | Makoto Tezuka | Sandayuu Dokumamushi | Koei Mitsumasu | Leo Morimoto | Kenichirou Sagaki | Eve Masatoh | 'Little Man' Machan | Kimihide Mitsumasu
Viewing History (seen 2 times)
| Date Viewed | Device | Format | Source | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 09/25/2021 | TV | Broadcast | TV | 5.5 stars |
| 01/18/2014 | TV | DVD | Rented | 5.5 stars |
| (Average) 5.5 stars |
Viewing Notes
Stand by my original assessment; the film has some interesting things going on but really sags throughout. Feels like it was going to be shorter, a true “short film” but they padded it out to make it closer to feature length for theater or festivals. If it was cut down to 30 minutes or so it would be a tight sci-fi thriller. Also suspect they were going for a horror kind of thing w/the slow pacing. This could have worked if there was more mystery as to what is happening. Like keep the cyborg hidden until a reveal in the third act.
The FX by Shinji Higuchi are p cool and different than what Keita Amemiya was doing at the same time. This feels more like what scientists would have come up during WWII.
This movie was part of the Shinji Higuchi birthday marathon presented by DKUTV. Wanted to view it again b/c I felt I was a bit harsh on it the first time around.
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