I rented this DVD because I really like Shaw Brothers movies, not because I am a fan of shows like the Power Rangers and the like. However, I figured with this Chinese studio behind the production, I might still enjoy it. Well, now that the film is over, I can say that I was not at all impressed, as it seemed like a movie only for kids--not fans of serious martial arts films. I appear to be in the minority, though, as all the other reviewers gave it glowing reviews. Now I am not saying that they are wrong--it's just that how much you enjoy this film will really depend on what you think of seeing superheroes and monsters in rubber suits beating each other up for most of the film. They liked it, I didn't--it's as simple as that. I grew up long before the Power Rangers--during the era of Ultraman and even then, I was the only boy in the neighborhood that didn't like the show. So, keep this in mind when reading my review.

The film begins with monster attacks occurring all over the place. Only after this has occurred many times did the leader of these monsters show herself. Now I could not understand why some hot Chinese lady in an odd costume was the queen of a bunch of guys in rubber monster suits or Grim Reaper fighting costumes, but I guess you just have to accept this for what it is. The group of humans sent to fight these monsters is really pathetic and so it's up to the brilliant doctor to turn one of these men into the monster-fighter, Inframan! Inframan can do just about anyth8ing and one by one he beats the snot out of all the baddies--leading to a rather unexciting and highly anticipated finale.

On the plus side, the costumes are pretty cool and SOME of the martial arts are pretty good (particularly later in the film). On the negative side, these are guys in rubber suits beating the crap out of each other! 'Nuff said!

Awakened from her centuries of slumber underneath the volcano of Mount Devil by an earthquake, the thoroughly wicked Princess Dragon Mom (deliciously overplayed with lip-smacking relish by the gorgeously slinky blonde looker Terry Liu) threatens to take over our planet. The cackling, whip-brandishing villainess is assisted by her numerous skull-faced soldiers and an unruly army of unsightly hyperactive monsters. Fortunately, newly created bionic superhero Infra-Man (stolidly essayed by Hong Kong action movie star Danny Lee) comes to mankind's rescue, beating up on Dragon Mom and her nefarious minions with his exceptional chopsocky prowess and remarkable super powers. This beautifully bent, batty and berserk baby possesses all the right wrong stuff to qualify as a complete corker: sloppy direction, endearingly grotesque beasts who are obviously just poor guys in cheesy rubber outfits (said ghastly ghouls include a tentacle creature, a shaggy-haired freak, a bright orange bug critter, and a fanged lumpy fudge thing),a constant quick pace, colorful, expansive widescreen cinematography, a flimsy, nonsensical plot (for example, everyone knows Infra-Man's name despite the fact that he was created a mere thirty seconds ago!),lovably lousy dubbing, terrible acting, a funky, throbbing score, tacky (substantially less than) special effects, cardboard characters and plenty of the craziest, funniest, most ineptly staged martial arts fight sequences to ever explode across the screen (Infra-Man and the various monsters all leap, flip, kick and punch with a furious all-out energetic abandon that's a true jaw-dropping joy to behold). Gloriously ridiculous, preposterous and often downright sidesplitting in its utter over-the-top manic absurdity, "Inframan" reigns supreme as a definite four-star camp classic to reckon with.

Inspired by the huge success of the Japanese superhero versus monster fare such as Ultraman and Kamen Rider in Hong Kong, the Shaw Brothers produced the first Chinese superhero in 1975, which they called Infra-Man. However, they pushed the envelope created by the Japanese even further, inventing a world where a school bus can crash, Hong Kong can be destroyed, an earthquake can happen and monsters appear all within the first minute of the film.

Let me see if I can summarize the blast of pure odd that I just watched at 5 AM: Princess Dragon Mom (known in the original version of this film as Demon Princess Elzebub) is a ten million-year-old mother of monsters who wants to destroy the Earth. She carries around a whip and has a dragon head on her hand, but can also turn into a monster herself. She also has an entire legion of beasts ready to do whatever she asks, like her assistant She-Demon (Witch-Eye in the original),who is an Asian girl with a hand that has an eyeball in the middle of it. Also: both of these ladies wear metallic bikinis with skulls all over them and have several costume changes. They also have an army of cannon fodder dressed in skeletal costumes, which was obviously the influence for the Skeleton Crew in the new episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000.

They're battling with Science Headquarters, led by Professor Liu Ying-de. He's used the BDX Project to transform Lei Ma (Danny Lee, The Killer) into the bionic kung-fu kicking motorcycle riding Infra-Man, who has whatever powers he needs for any situation. He's also really good at getting tall and stepping on monsters until their green blood pours out. Bruce Lee tribute actor Bruce Le also appears as Lu Xiao-long, another member of the team.

You get all manner of monsters in this one - the Emperor of Doom, the Giant Beetle Monster, an Octopus Mutant, the Driller Beast, a Laser Horn Monster and the Iron Fist Robots. All of them are given to dramatic pronouncements, overacting and blowing up real good.

Believe it or not, Roger Ebert said, "When they stop making movies like Infra-Man, a little light will go out of the world." Twenty-two years later, he went even further: "I find to my astonishment that I gave Infra-Man only two and a half stars when I reviewed it. That was 22 years ago, but a fellow will remember a lot of things you wouldn't think he'd remember. I'll bet a month hasn't gone by since that I haven't thought of that film. So, in answer to those correspondents who ask if I have ever changed a rating on a movie: Yes, Infra-Man moves up to three stars."

He's right - this movie is completely unhinged, with dragon witch women who threaten to throw little girls down volcanos, blotting out the sun and rocket fists. They should have made five thousand sequels to this.