Okay, I’ve got to admit that I was initially quite skeptical about the Astro Girl film primarily because the trailer featured not just the stuff that I like (the bullets bouncing off the chest, the strength, the great costume, and the great actress), but also what I call the ‘darker’ elements: peril, hypnosis, pain, etc.
This (now unfounded) debate started on the “Astro Girl – Film Details” post a few weeks ago and it then sparked off another debate about peril in the Superheroine genre.
I am however pleased to report that Astro Girl: American Heroine did not let me down. In fact I was very pleasantly surprised by not just the amount of feats of strength, fighting, and superheroine actions, but also of the quality and acting.
The Beginning
The film starts with two gangs exchanging money for drugs when we get our first glimpse of our superheroine.
Not only is her entrance fantastic, but the costume is top-notch, and importantly the actress that plays Astro Girl is both gorgeous (imo) and has a figure that really fills the costume.
On initial thoughts the only thing that lets down the overall package is the boots. They’re red but they’re pretty scrubby. As you may know from my comic books I prefer tight to the leg.
But we can forgive them for the boots as the costume I think is great. It has a slight wet look to the material and I’ve got to say that she looks amazing in the costume.
So, back to the film, and especially the fighting, the strength and the effects. The first scene is great. Action packed and we see Astro Girl with some great dialogue and more crutially kicking some ass!
A blend of kung-fu style fighting peppered with super punches, throwing guys across the room, picking a guy up over her head, and then finally lifting a guy slowing by his throat up into the air – magnificently done.
Tokyo
From that first encounter it really sets the scene and Astro Girl travels (I think) to Tokyo, straight into another action scene.
Astro Girl transforms to save a young woman from a gang of three men. After nearly dispatching the men herself the young woman is glad to find Astro Girl kicking their asses.
The best part of that scene is where one of the men runs at Astro Girl with a large knife and from below looking up you just see the knife bent into an odd shape after colliding with Astro Girl’s rock hard stomach. The additional benefit is also a great look at Astro Girls (fine!) figure!
After befriending this young woman the action slows and the story develops. Because the bulk of the dialogue is in Japanese its sort of hard to get a full grip on what’s going on. But it’s definitely not a reason not to watch the film. Astro Girl is the only character that actually speaks English, and the actress does it well.
So, back to the story and essentially this alien from outer space then flies down and joins forces with the main drug dealer. He brings along with him what I can only describe as kryptonite.
We have another scene where Astro Girl saves a reporter from three thugs and the same result: she kicks some ass and looks great.
Meanwhile, after some more story out of costume we enter another great scene. This alien dude is with the drug dealer boss and along comes the fantastic Astro Girl. Again, looks great and looks even better as the two gun men fire their machine guns at the young heroine and watch in close up the bullets just bounce of her ample chest. Really fantastic effects.
Bullet-in-the-eye Effect
The film then mimics the latest Superman film as the drug dealing boss pulls out a gun and shoots Astro Girl at close range and the special effects crew did a great job as the bullet hits her eye, crushes under the impact and falls to the ground – amazing stuff.
Some bending of steel bars, finishing off the two gunmen and then the confrontation with the alien dude.
He pulls out this seemingly primitive weapon at which Astro Girl laughs. However, loaded with this kryptonite stuff it penetrates her costume and courses into her body.
We then have about ten minutes of the alien shooting down Astro Girl and for all you guys not into the peril stuff, it really isn’t like that and I think it adds to the story. It may have carried on a little longer than necessary, but it is paramount to the story.
To finish off this chapter something odd happens. As the alien is bombarding the heroine with this green electrical stuff the drug dealer’s body guard then suddenly disappears and saves the day in his own superhero outfit.
Astro Girl then recovers, seems to regain her full strength and the final battle between Astro Girl and the alien begins with the conclusion that Astro Girl kicks his ass.
Conclusion
In conclusion I really think that this is the best amateur film since the Steele’s Awakening. Whilst I’m not into Japanese girls, the actress playing Astro Girl (Delcea Mihaela Gabriela) is not only quite stunning but has got a cracking figure to play the superheroine.
The special effects and the fighting are great and especially with the strength scenes I always felt that Astro Girl really looked strong and invulnerable.
The bullet bouncing scenes were brilliant and Astro Girl’s reaction at the end and her dialogue throughout were good.
Downloading this beast of a film (848mb) is a bit of a hassle and made more tedious by the fact that the instructions are in pigeon English and that it’s impossible to play the film on another computer other than the one that you purchased the film on (using its DRM software).
However I would definitely recommend purchasing the film. I was really impressed by the amount of action, the heroine, the length (1 hour and 7 minutes) and the quality of special effects.
Purchasing the Film
You’ll need to go to http://www.zen-pictures.net/english/f_main/sakuhinn/html/org/zard52.html where you’ll be asked to first download some a Digital Rights piece of software.
If you follow the instructions (use Internet Explorer and NOT Firefox because one of the pages doesn’t load for some reason) you’ll eventually get to choose the film to download and once you enter you payment details you’ll get an email with the download links.
A pretty big download, but in my opinion, well worth it.
My Ratings
Actress – Look – 8
Actress – Acting – 8
Costume – 9
Boots – 5
Special Effects – 8
Strength Scenes – 7
Peril – Nothing overt
Cast and Production
Cast
Astro Girl: Delcea Mihaela Gabriela
Akane Kujyo: Ichie Tanaka
Thunder Knights: Debit Hossein (Konya-ga-Yamada)
Staff
Producer: Shin Iizawa
Action Direction: Shigeki hayase
Director: Toru Kikkawa
Links
Film Homepage
http://www.zen-pictures.net/english/f_main/sakuhinn/html/org/zard52.html
View Images from the Film
http://www.zen-pictures.net/report/html/e/027.htm
Download trailer
mms://giga06.giga-freeks.net/giga/zen/sample/sample_zard52.wmv
