I wanted to but couldn't!

Boring

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

Being a huge fan of the original manga and a big fan of the first American film, Guyver Dark Hero is one of those rare exceptions when the sequel is better than the first installment. What makes this film better than the first movie is that they try to keep this film serious. Steve Wang and Screaming Mad George directed the first movie and as awesome it was seeing the Guyver done in live action, the tone and the pace of the movie vie was all over the place. The first film had comedy in areas where it wasn't needed and serious elements when things could have used a comedic scene to break up some on screen tension. The sequel is very different due to the fact that Steve Wang was the sole director. I'm assuming that Screaming Mad George wanted more comedy in the sequel and Steve Wang didn't so they parted ways. The sequel is by far the better movie for a number of reasons. They replaced the lead by casting David Hayter ( voice of Solid Snake in the Metal Gear video game franchise, screenplay writer of the X-Men movies ) who did a far better job than Jack Armstrong. David Hayter played the character of Sean Barker aka the Guyver very straight and very cool. The Guyver suit looked awesome on screen and was an exact adaption of the manga. They even went as far as to include some of the Guyvers other powers from the Manga and Anime. The the action and special effects for a 900,000 dollar movie are very good. The film makers tried very hard to Americanize the Japanese story while trying to stay as close to the original manga as possible. With such a tight budget they managed to not waste any money in delivering excellent costumes, action, makeup and special effects. This movie was made solely for fans of the Giyver and that's that. If you like the Guyver than this movie is for you.

Steve Wang's second outing with The Guyver accept this time there was a change in casting for the lead role, no big star names, a low budget...but an all new adult rating! Now don't get too over excited as this isn't like the Japanese manga series with blood and gore galore, yes there is blood but only the odd splattering. On the whole I was looking forward to this sequel as I read it had been enjoyed more by the target audience and received generally better reviews.Much to my utter amazement I am again disappointed with the outcome! So OK...yes there is blood but its sporadic, there is still no sign of any decent brutal kickass action or gory mutant mutations as seen in the manga series (I have since checked this out). Basically this movie is still very much like a children's movie and still runs along the same lines as the 'Mighty Morphin Power Rangers', albeit with a slightly adult twist. Admittedly Wang stays closer to the source material this time and includes the fact that the Guyver suit is virtually corrupting Barker by wanting (and making) him kill. The suit lives inside him and haunts him on a daily basis giving him 'Hellraiser-esque' dreams and visions, its nothing really disturbing and scary but these little snippets do add a depth to the character missed previously. Naturally Barker ends up fighting crime as you might expect but he does end up killing the criminals instead of making taking them in. Unfortunately there are no scenes where he kills an innocent which would really screw him up...its not that dark.Alas once again the fights are chock full of martial arts that don't have any kind of bite or punch to them, the choreographed sequences are well executed but its all so damn fake looking. You can clearly see the strikes are still not really connecting with their intended targets and when they do the monster suits show up how rubbery and foamy they are (once again). The slow motion jiggery-pokery might look cool but in fact it makes things look worse when Guyver and Zoanoid suits clash in real time. And once again the deadly elbow blades are hardly ever used despite the fact they would take out a bad guy very easily and very quickly.This leads me to the Zoanoid monster suits and as I have just mentioned we still have the same issues...they look great with lots of detail but they also look like rubber monster suits. There aren't as many of the Zoanoids this time but what we see are similar in design to the previous ones. There is a decent rhino type monster, another couple big bug types and another Gill-man type creature. What I don't quite get is it seems the Zoanoid from the last movie played by Berryman is back, I'm unsure if it was the same monster or a similar one or maybe the same monster respawned, no clue. The other odd thing is the main Chronos bad guy (the corporation president) seems to back too...or that's what it looked like to me. The Zoanoids contact the Chronos corporation and speak to an elderly man who looks and dresses very similar to David Gale's character in the first movie.As for the plot well this is where I again get confused. I know the manga series differs to the first movie, but this sequel differs to the first movie also. Apparently in this movie Barker learns from the unearthed alien ship (the same aliens that created the Guyver suits, mankind and Zoanoids...I think??) that the Zoanoids are a failed experiment by the aliens. The aliens then equipped humans with Guyver suits to battle the Zoanoids (this is in the past). This contradicts the first movies story which says humans are Zoanoids and created by the mysterious aliens. The Zoanoids then try to take over the Earth and mankind (mankind not spliced with the Zoanoid gene) by creating the Chronos corporation (for some reason a company was required?). At no point did it mention the aliens equipping humans with the Guyver suits to battle the Zoanoids. The Guyver suit was said to be a relic left behind by the aliens...whether on purpose or not I don't know, I thought by mistake, it was never mentioned to have been done deliberately. Of course I could be grasping the wrong end of the stick but I'm not sure, the movie isn't exact to the source.The Guyver suit looks much better in this sequel even though it looked great in the first movie. This time the colour is more bluer, detail is greater, lights are brighter and the suits shape is much more akin to the manga series looking more evil. The main Zoanoid bad guy actually gets a Guyver suit this time which gives us a chance to see a more badass version (in black naturally). Despite being bigger, badder errr...blacker, it doesn't look anywhere near as good as the main Guyver suit. All in all this movie is yet another let down and really frustrating. I don't quite get how it is seen to be better than the first movie when there is little difference between the two. Yeah sure this sequel has some blood in the fights (but less fights) and its a tad darker in places but its still very silly and could be way way better. Heck the locations are worse in this sequel I think, at least the first movie was generally in dark settings, kinda grimy and seedy which added to the atmosphere. I don't think this movie is worse overall, its probably on equal terms methinks, I liked both at times but both could of been so much more awesomer...its such a shame. Again kudos for visuals in general but its lacks some serious guts n spunk.5/10

After first Guyver film came out in 1991, it was hard to say whether a sequel would follow it. Its proposition to audiences and fans alike was not too impressive. The acting wasn't terrible and the story wasn't written poorly either. But the characters seemed weak in depth and the special effects looked cheap. But low and behold, a sequel did arise from all these things that people and critics found they were able to pick at. And for the people who did get to see this sequel, they were in for a surprise.The Guyver: Dark Hero, partially continues what was finished in the first movie. Sean Barker starts become haunted by the "guyver" armor as he also starts to lose the ability to control it. Pushing himself away from family and friends, he leaves his home to find answers to his problems. Screenplay writer, Nathan Long, left out the last two characters left on screen at the end of the first movie and for good reason too. They didn't help excel the first one anyway. Long also remembered to include Barker's girlfriend, Mizky, for a little while too. And although the casting is different for all the characters, there is still a lot of appeal to them.Casting was headed by Lisa Hannen, and her judgment looks like she knew what she was looking for. Instead of having Jack Armstrong reprise his role as Sean Barker, David Hayter was. Hayter would soon become the future screenwriter of the successful X-Men (2000), X2 (2003) and Watchmen (2009), which is amazing to see him making this film better just by acting. So initially, because he could not control the "guyver" he was forced to break up with Mizky. I'm glad screenwriter Long included this scene because it shows he hasn't forgotten the events from the first installment. But I still wish they were together. They looked good together.As Barker goes on his way, he runs into another girl, Cori, played by lesser-known actress, Kathy Christopherson. Christopherson also gives her role a fair amount of attractiveness. Of course, that's after you get past the nerdy prescription glasses she wears at first. And soon the bond Cori makes with Barker ends up being a healthy relationship. Of course, anyone would know this subplot would not be missed. As for many hero films go, unless it is an antihero, there's always a love interest. So it is of no doubt that Cori and Sean will look great together.One thing that amazed me, as it did probably to every other viewer was the MPAA rating. The rating went from PG-13 (the first movie) to rated R. That's actually a rare and unusual step that not many franchises take; but it worked. I don't know if it's because Steve Wang decided to direct on his own this time and "Screaming Mad" George was holding him back, but changing the rating made it a very enjoyable sequel. There's more carnage, which made the story seem more realistic than just people in rubber suits.The action was also much more fierce. Hayter was even faster moving and more agile than Armstrong as the Guyver. It was done really well as were the hand-to-hand combat sequences. The special effects seemed to have improved as well. Still the creatures look like they were just people in costumes but they didn't look as rubbery coated. The dubbing was also done better for when the Zoanoids spoke in their monster form. Even one time composer, Les Claypool III, did a decent job on the unreleased music score. It wasn't complex but it did have a tune that got the blood pumping while watching the movie; which I enjoyed.The only things I didn't find that were any better than the first movie was the dialog and background subplot. For me, the dialog still sounded like it wasn't written for a movie. Some of the lines just seemed unnecessary or out of place. As for the background subplot, Barker is able to figure out what the "guyver" unit was made for but the viewer must wait until the very end to understand what Barker learned. Why couldn't it just be explained when it was being explained to Barker? It just adds to the confusion. But weighing this against all the good things in this sequel, I can overlook it.Director Steve Wang's second take on the "guyver" unit is all around a better film. Its improvement lies in the special effects, action sequences and a better cast of actors.

I watched this film years ago with my brother. We loved the Anime series and loved the films.I bought this the other week and watched it. I expected to enjoy it with the warmth of nostalgia whilst realising it was a pretty bad film.I actually really enjoyed it! I've watched it again since, maybe it's because of childish nostalgia - but I love the whole Guyver concept. It's quite a mature concept for a film - a guy made loner because of this fantastic gift/burden of alien tech.Dark Hero is sequel, right? I must admit I'm a bit confused now over the various films (I believe there are 2) and the other anime series (at first I thought there was just 1 animated series - now I'm not too sure). For anyone who can suspend belief and enjoy a film for what it is - then I strongly recommend this. It isn't just violence and gore, there's a great meaning running through it, that makes this a Sci-Fi must-watch-classic.