+ Brain 17 +

So, I recently got a copy of Brain 17 from Atlas films. For those who don't know, this is a compilation of episodes from the Japanese tokusatsu series Daitetsujin 17 - I'm rather obsessed with the Chogokin/Godaikin figure, as those of you who know me are probably aware.

The plot is thus - the world is looked after by the military organisation known as the Defenders (in a cuddly, super hero sort of way, rather than an oppressive police state sort of way) and their super-computer Brain. For reasons never really explained, Brain goes rogue and escapes with a mad scientist named Doctor Hassler, and then sends various robots out to wipe out chunks of Japan.

One of these, the Steamroller Robot, wipes out the family of a kid named Stevie, but it's not all bad news for the lad. Not only does he get one of the great lines in the history of moving pictures ("I'll get you, you filthy oil drum!"), but he also finds a giant robot called One-Seven. It's vaguely implied that One-Seven is something Brain built, but again it's not really explained. After the usual misunderstandings about whether One-Seven's going to kill him or not, Stevie eventually takes on the robot's command helmet and the pair take down Brain.

For a straight-to-video dub of a pretty low-rent show, Brain 17 is actually rather good fun. I'm working on an article on the thing for the site, but I've hit a bit of a snag - while most of the thing is hilariously bad, including a narrator who appears to be absolutely hammered, some wonderfully jolting censorship (one of the heroes is a Defenders captain who tries to go undercover and spy on Brain; he's discovered and captured, and then we get a blink-and-you'll miss it shot showing he's been crucified, after that he's never referred to again after being built up as the lead) and special effects that just aren't that good, I'd scribbled all sorts of snide notes for an article ripping the piss out of both the original production and the tacky dub...

And then One-Seven died at the end, and it felt wrong being so mean =(

For now, though, revel in One-Seven delivering a beating to that filthy oil-drum!