Zhong guo chao ren (1975)

Director:

Shan Hua

Writer:

Kuang Ni (writer)

Genre:

Action | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

The Man Behind Bionics (USA)

Plot:

Princess Dragon Mom and her mutant army have arisen, and only Inframan can stop them!

Plot Keywords:

Superhero | Dragon | Monster | Mutant | Demon

Cast

Danny Lee	...	Rayma / Inframan (as Li Hsui-Hsien)
Terry Liu	...	Princess Dragon Mom
Hsieh Wang	...	Professor (as Wang Hsieh)
Man-Tzu Yuan	...	Chan's Daughter
Wen-wei Lin	...	Chu Ming
Dana		(as Shu-Yi Tsen)
Chien-Lung Huang
Lu Sheng
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Yang Chiang
Chun Chin
Tien-chu Chin
Jen Kwan
Bruce Le	...	Xiaolong (as Kin Lung Hung)
Fanny Leung		(as Man-yi Liang)
Wai Lo
Shun-Yee Yuen

Also Known As:

Chinese Superman (Hong Kong: English title) (working title)
Chung kwok chiu yan (Hong Kong: Cantonese title)
Infra-Man (USA)
The Infra Superman
The Super Inframan (International: English title)

Runtime:

Germany:80 min | USA:90 min | Hong Kong:88 min

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Mandarin

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (Infrasound)

Certification:

Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Australia:PG | Germany:12 | USA:PG | Hong Kong:I | Norway:(Banned) (1977-2003) (cinema release)

Company:

Shaw Brothers

Trivia:

In the original Chinese version, Princess Dragon Mom's name is said to be Demon Princess Elzebub. This is a play on Beelzebub, a name meaning "Lord of the Flies" attributed to both a Biblical idol and the devil.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: During several of the fights between the creatures and the Silver Suited Men, several of them have tears in the crotches of their uniforms (seen when the men land on their backs and their legs are not together).

Quotes:

Princess Dragon Mom: Greetings to you, Earthlings, I am Princess Dragon Mom. I have taken over this planet, now I own the Earth and you'll be my slaves for all eternity.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Arise! The SubGenius Video (1992) (V)

Soundtrack:

Music

If you like the Power Rangers, then you'll like it. And, if you don't, it won't impress.

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!