s technology gets better and pollution and waste get worse, even artificial resources are eventually going to be in short supply. In Gunhed, the world has reached a point where computer chips and even plastic are impossible to come by, except through a growing species of mercenaries willing to delve into dangerous territory for old discards.
One such site is a half-forgotten volcanic island where a robot manufacturing facility self-destructed back in 2005 when its controlling supercomputer, Kyron 5, tried to take over and kick the humans out. When a band of rogue treasure-hunters finally finds the island, they're split on whether to load up on old Gunhed robot parts from the wars against Kyron, or to grab some ancient booze, or just to plunder the chips from Kyron itself.
They never actually get to make the decision, as they're cut to pieces by the island's remaining defenses before most of them can develop names or personalities beyond "Cannon Fodder." Only Brooklyn, the group's mechanic, is left in the massacre's wake. Joining forces with two resident children and Lt. Nim, a cold-blooded Texas Ranger out to retrieve her own island artifact, Brooklyn has less than a day left to stop Kyron's long-incubating plans for world domination. Of course, there's plenty of heavy robotic weaponry still lying around begging to be reactivated ...
Missing, but not missed
Gunhed is live-action rather than animated, but A.D. Vision is marketing their newly-released dub of this 1989 movie along with the rest of their anime line. It's easy to see why. The simple, cartoony characters and massive mecha owe an obvious developmental debt to Japan's long tradition of giant-robot cartoons. Seeing this film is a lot like watching Battletech or Appleseed come to life.
In fact, it's surprising that the filmmakers chose to go with live-action, considering the film's unprecedentedly ambitious visual scale. Kyron's island is straight out of the first Terminator movie, with bits of Aliens and THX 1138 thrown in for spice. The battling robots and elaborate sets are awesomely detailed. Only the laser effects -- slightly more reminiscent of Power Rangers -- are a disappointment.
Admittedly, the characters themselves are mostly conveniences. The resurrected Gunhed machine has more personality than Brooklyn and Nim combined. The storyline, while simple, can still be difficult to follow, since everything happens so quickly and in such dark, murky surroundings that it's hard to tell who just died or who's chasing whom. And the overall plot exists primarily to provide an excuse for a lot of fancy tech, high-powered explosions, chase sequences and endless explorations of fantastic, dauntingly complex post-apocalyptic settings. In short, like much anime, it's eye candy. But it isn't trying to disguise itself as brain food. And at least this is an intriguing new flavor.
