a so-so zombie movie from japan. if you like zombie movies, i guess this one's not bad. it never really excels, even within the genre, but...it's not bad. well, put it this way: some of the zombies had some cool makeup and there was some cool atmosphere. those two things are the true essentials of a zombie movie - alone, they don't make it good, but their absence will always make it bad. unfortunately, the plot just kind of goes into a downward spiral after the first 30 seconds, and some of the later stupid things include: 1) a maniacal military guy hellbent on controlling the world (to save japan's reputation?), and 2) half-mutant, half-zombie "monsters" which were spawned by simply injecting humans with the zombie virus and mixing it with other virii. this enables them to grow things like Wolverine-esque metal claws. no, i don't understand it either, but this IS from the same people who brought us the wonderfully-yet-bewilderingly bizarre gift of anime. oh, and the fight scenes...ugh. no, i won't go into them. but if you like zombies, you won't do too badly picking up this corny-but-entertaining flick from asia.
9 Reviews
Wow...that was ridiculously confusing
cornjob-28 December 2002
Okay, so there's this meteor, right? Then it crashes into Tokyo Bay, right. This causes green gas to be released into the atmosphere. So far, so good, right? And the authorities want to cover it up. That makes the sense, right? Now, after the first three minutes, it makes no sense.
From there, we transition to what is apparently a few weeks or a few months later (there is no indication that time has passed, we can only guess) as we are now in a poorly lit, post-Apocalyptic Tokyo with a largely zombified population (from the green gas). There are a few humans, like the heroine (as played by female wrestler Cutie Suzuki) left fighting the zombie menace. Or driving around. Or walking about in a daze. Yeah, that's what they do. Eventually, the heroine gets a leather suit from her father that is apparently imbued with special powers (that's never addressed and very poorly implied). She starts fighting these zombies and some random government agents that are inexplicably turning people into super half man, half zombie combos that perform...very...slow...martial arts.
There are some cool scenes in this movie. However, most of the film will result in much yelling of "What the heck is going on?" There is much that is unclear and just never explained. The few explanations there are are fairly stupid and the climax is non-existant. It can be entertaining, but for the most part this movie is rather useless. I can only recommend it for completists.
On a side note, I was surprised, pleasantly, that they didn't have Suzuki do a lot of wrestling. In fact, I can only seem to recall two or three wrestling moves. She mostly uses a one shot Uzi (?) or lifts people in impossible manners thanks to wires.
From there, we transition to what is apparently a few weeks or a few months later (there is no indication that time has passed, we can only guess) as we are now in a poorly lit, post-Apocalyptic Tokyo with a largely zombified population (from the green gas). There are a few humans, like the heroine (as played by female wrestler Cutie Suzuki) left fighting the zombie menace. Or driving around. Or walking about in a daze. Yeah, that's what they do. Eventually, the heroine gets a leather suit from her father that is apparently imbued with special powers (that's never addressed and very poorly implied). She starts fighting these zombies and some random government agents that are inexplicably turning people into super half man, half zombie combos that perform...very...slow...martial arts.
There are some cool scenes in this movie. However, most of the film will result in much yelling of "What the heck is going on?" There is much that is unclear and just never explained. The few explanations there are are fairly stupid and the climax is non-existant. It can be entertaining, but for the most part this movie is rather useless. I can only recommend it for completists.
On a side note, I was surprised, pleasantly, that they didn't have Suzuki do a lot of wrestling. In fact, I can only seem to recall two or three wrestling moves. She mostly uses a one shot Uzi (?) or lifts people in impossible manners thanks to wires.
YOU GUYS ARE SO GROSS
nogodnomasters13 December 2018
Warning: Spoilers
A poorly animated meteor, one that Bruce Willis couldn't stop, lands in Tokyo Bay. A fog isolates Tokyo and creates a chemical which turns people into zombies. Battle Girl is part of the secret military and must combat the zombies, people hunters, and her own military in order To save herself and the refugees.
It seems the military is creating a "cosmo-amphetamine mutant army." There is a long speech given at the end by the Colonel which begs the question, "What's wrong with Japan?"
Nice leather outfit, but this cult zombie film was barely watchable as the director had no idea where to go with it.
It seems the military is creating a "cosmo-amphetamine mutant army." There is a long speech given at the end by the Colonel which begs the question, "What's wrong with Japan?"
Nice leather outfit, but this cult zombie film was barely watchable as the director had no idea where to go with it.
Okay, but dated
dbborroughs9 April 2011
Warning: Spoilers
Meteor slams into Tokyo bay covering the city is a weird shell. Inside the dead begin to rise and one girl fights to rescue the living and stop a mad general looking to use the dead for his own ends.
Forerunner of the modern shot on video gore films this is a "serious" (well at least compared with say most Sushi Typhoon films) film that was done on the cheap by people with more passion than perhaps talent. It reminds me of the late 80's scifi films from America. While certainly wild and crazy it's more interesting as an artifact rather than as film I'd watch again for enjoyment.
I'd take a pass.
Forerunner of the modern shot on video gore films this is a "serious" (well at least compared with say most Sushi Typhoon films) film that was done on the cheap by people with more passion than perhaps talent. It reminds me of the late 80's scifi films from America. While certainly wild and crazy it's more interesting as an artifact rather than as film I'd watch again for enjoyment.
I'd take a pass.
Great Japanese zombie trash from Gaira!
Bogey Man6 April 2003
Japanese low budget underground film maker Kazuo "Gaira" Komizu is the man behind the hyper sleazy Guts/Entrails of a Virgin trilogy from the late eighties. Those films are filled with (almost) hard core level sex scenes, nudity, some very bizarre goings on, some ultra gore plus monster semen. Yes, you read right, those three films are perfect examples for those who think they've seen it all in the genre of low budget horror cinema. "Gaira" has also written a film called Female Market (Yasuaki Uegaki, 1986), one of the most deeply disturbing and sadistic rape related films I've witnessed. His lightest film may very well be this, Living Dead in Tokyo Bay aka Battle Girl (1992) which stars the female wrestler Cutey Suzuki, and she is, as her name suggest, quite cute.
The film is about some meteorites that crash into the Earth, bringing some kind of a zombie virus here turning people into flesh eating monsters very similar with the Romero ones. There's also an evil general that tries to take the world domination by using the virus as his weapon. One brave lady (Suzuki) is a daughter of a military officer and she is sent to fight the evil general as well as the zombies, dressed in a cool black leather uniform with incredible powers, martial art talents and ability to use various weapons! Unfortunately I only saw the unsubtitled Japanese version so any possible noteworthy things or bits of social commentary in the dialogue went sadly beyond me, but still I have plenty of positive things to say about the film.
Craig Ledbetter wrote in the ATC magazine, having just seen the English subtitled version, that the film indeed is a metaphor of the Japanese society and its history as Japan, for example, exploited the World War II by making horrible human experiments to the Chinese in the name of science, a truly horrific and disturbingly sad part of the world history depicted detailedly in a film Men Behind the Sun (1987) by Taiwanese/Chinese film maker Tun Fei Mous. This kind of low low budget zombie romp having such important message and metaphoras is a very great thing and it naturally raises this film to higher level.
The film is also very enjoyable as pure zombie horror with some inventiveness to fill the gaps caused by the lack of money. The film is not too long and thus never boring (especially if I had managed to understand the dialogue parts, too) and there are plenty of action and mayhem to keep things interesting alongside the calmer parts. The visual look is pretty dark which is nice, and the effects consist of much colored and naturally over-the-top "gore", rather well done zombie masks and zombies plus not so convincing but still good enough for a film like this meteorite scenes at the very beginning.
The film is naturally pretty close to George Romero's zombie classic Dawn of the Dead (1978) with many almost identical scenes. One poor soldier can't take it anymore and kills himself. A group of gun selling punks arrive to fight the ghouls, just like the Tom Savini led motorbike gang at the end of Romero's film. Still I don't find these things irritating or exploiting at all since "Gaira" knows what's he doing with his limited budget and always adds his own ideas and ambitions to the soup, and since the problems in the society haven't vanished since the Dawn's days, why should the fight stop?
This is, in fact, among the more enjoyable and interesting low budget action horrors I've seen from Japan and everything the director couldn't buy or pay for, he created otherwise with creativity and that's why the film looks so good and heart warming for those who understand the sub genre. 7/10
The film is about some meteorites that crash into the Earth, bringing some kind of a zombie virus here turning people into flesh eating monsters very similar with the Romero ones. There's also an evil general that tries to take the world domination by using the virus as his weapon. One brave lady (Suzuki) is a daughter of a military officer and she is sent to fight the evil general as well as the zombies, dressed in a cool black leather uniform with incredible powers, martial art talents and ability to use various weapons! Unfortunately I only saw the unsubtitled Japanese version so any possible noteworthy things or bits of social commentary in the dialogue went sadly beyond me, but still I have plenty of positive things to say about the film.
Craig Ledbetter wrote in the ATC magazine, having just seen the English subtitled version, that the film indeed is a metaphor of the Japanese society and its history as Japan, for example, exploited the World War II by making horrible human experiments to the Chinese in the name of science, a truly horrific and disturbingly sad part of the world history depicted detailedly in a film Men Behind the Sun (1987) by Taiwanese/Chinese film maker Tun Fei Mous. This kind of low low budget zombie romp having such important message and metaphoras is a very great thing and it naturally raises this film to higher level.
The film is also very enjoyable as pure zombie horror with some inventiveness to fill the gaps caused by the lack of money. The film is not too long and thus never boring (especially if I had managed to understand the dialogue parts, too) and there are plenty of action and mayhem to keep things interesting alongside the calmer parts. The visual look is pretty dark which is nice, and the effects consist of much colored and naturally over-the-top "gore", rather well done zombie masks and zombies plus not so convincing but still good enough for a film like this meteorite scenes at the very beginning.
The film is naturally pretty close to George Romero's zombie classic Dawn of the Dead (1978) with many almost identical scenes. One poor soldier can't take it anymore and kills himself. A group of gun selling punks arrive to fight the ghouls, just like the Tom Savini led motorbike gang at the end of Romero's film. Still I don't find these things irritating or exploiting at all since "Gaira" knows what's he doing with his limited budget and always adds his own ideas and ambitions to the soup, and since the problems in the society haven't vanished since the Dawn's days, why should the fight stop?
This is, in fact, among the more enjoyable and interesting low budget action horrors I've seen from Japan and everything the director couldn't buy or pay for, he created otherwise with creativity and that's why the film looks so good and heart warming for those who understand the sub genre. 7/10
Decent But Far From Essential
lovecraft23125 March 2010
The early 90's weren't the best of times for horror. Theatrical films were becoming more scarce, and even calling horror movies horror (the dreaded "Suspense Thriller" tag) was suddenly dirty. Plus, people were tired of the same old hack and slash and endless sequels. That's why home video was now the place to go for the large part. Studios like Full Moon, Troma and others flourished in this era, offering horror fans something that usually wasn't good, but at least proudly called itself horror. One of the burgeoning things to come from this was V-Cinema, a Japanese style of direct to video releasing that saw some of the more outlandish and outrageous titles come into play. One of the films released in the earlier part of this era was Kazou 'Gaira' Komizu's 1991 zombie flick "Battle Girl: The Living Dead in Tokyo Bay."
A meteor crashes into Tokyo Bay, leading to a strange cloud being emitted and covering the city-turning many of it's inhabitants into flesh eating zombies. To make things worse, survivalist gangs now roam the city, and the military isn't exactly doing much to help the situation. There's only one person who can save the day, and it's a girl named Keiko (Japanese Female Wrestler Cutie Suzuki, who certainly lives up to her name), who dons a hi-tech body armor suit complete with guns, the ability to give her superhuman powers, and all kinds of gizmo's. In the process, she finds herself being hunted by a group of advanced killers, and discovers some dark government secrets.
Though he didn't write it, "Battle Girl" is a bit curious considering that some of Komizu's prior works ("Entrails of a Virgin" and "Guts of a Virgin" for example) were notorious for how grotesque, perverse and all around politically incorrect they were. That's because this movie is a rather dry affair, with only small dashes of gore and not an inkling of nudity on display. In some ways, that's a shame (though it is a bit nice to see a movie from him that doesn't barrage you with sexual violence for a change), because a bit more gore would have made this a more enjoyable affair. The films is also far too short (only 74 minutes in length) and at times feels like a movie with some big ideas that is unable to accomplish all it wants because of it's length.
There's still some fun to be had out of the film. The synthesizer score by Ra is a lot of fun, and adds to the almost comic book like atmosphere of the whole thing. The low tech special effects also add to it's charm, especially the meteorite itself, which brought back fond memories of watching 70's-90's genre pictures from Japan-if I had seen this as a teen, I would have thought it was the best movie ever made. The zombie make up is competent enough, and the movie also tries to get away with some political commentary about nationalism (though it feels a bit odd to have critiques of the military in a movie that so lovingly shows off gun play and explosions.) Oh, and while the fight choreography isn't up to muster, it's nice to see Joshi (Japanese Woman's Wrestling) stars deliver Spinning Back Breakers and Tombstone Piledrivers.
As a whole, "Battle Girl: The Living Dead in Tokyo Bay" is a slight affair, and is anything but essential. That out of the way, it's a decent time waster with some bright spots that appeal to the 16 year old in me, and should be seen by fans of Japanese zombie flicks, though it's not as fun or over the top as later movies. Look at it as an appetizer
A meteor crashes into Tokyo Bay, leading to a strange cloud being emitted and covering the city-turning many of it's inhabitants into flesh eating zombies. To make things worse, survivalist gangs now roam the city, and the military isn't exactly doing much to help the situation. There's only one person who can save the day, and it's a girl named Keiko (Japanese Female Wrestler Cutie Suzuki, who certainly lives up to her name), who dons a hi-tech body armor suit complete with guns, the ability to give her superhuman powers, and all kinds of gizmo's. In the process, she finds herself being hunted by a group of advanced killers, and discovers some dark government secrets.
Though he didn't write it, "Battle Girl" is a bit curious considering that some of Komizu's prior works ("Entrails of a Virgin" and "Guts of a Virgin" for example) were notorious for how grotesque, perverse and all around politically incorrect they were. That's because this movie is a rather dry affair, with only small dashes of gore and not an inkling of nudity on display. In some ways, that's a shame (though it is a bit nice to see a movie from him that doesn't barrage you with sexual violence for a change), because a bit more gore would have made this a more enjoyable affair. The films is also far too short (only 74 minutes in length) and at times feels like a movie with some big ideas that is unable to accomplish all it wants because of it's length.
There's still some fun to be had out of the film. The synthesizer score by Ra is a lot of fun, and adds to the almost comic book like atmosphere of the whole thing. The low tech special effects also add to it's charm, especially the meteorite itself, which brought back fond memories of watching 70's-90's genre pictures from Japan-if I had seen this as a teen, I would have thought it was the best movie ever made. The zombie make up is competent enough, and the movie also tries to get away with some political commentary about nationalism (though it feels a bit odd to have critiques of the military in a movie that so lovingly shows off gun play and explosions.) Oh, and while the fight choreography isn't up to muster, it's nice to see Joshi (Japanese Woman's Wrestling) stars deliver Spinning Back Breakers and Tombstone Piledrivers.
As a whole, "Battle Girl: The Living Dead in Tokyo Bay" is a slight affair, and is anything but essential. That out of the way, it's a decent time waster with some bright spots that appeal to the 16 year old in me, and should be seen by fans of Japanese zombie flicks, though it's not as fun or over the top as later movies. Look at it as an appetizer
S#!++y But Gritty
DavyDissonance19 November 2017
Battle Girl is an example of what I look for in a movie: Dark, somber, slow paced, low produced, gritty, absurd, stylish and imaginative. But one thing that kept this movie from b-movie gold is the inconsistent tone in the action sequences. It ranges from p!ss poor slow ass choreography to intense and bad ass. It's funny but it is sort of distracting as well and can kill the pacing. I recommend this movie to those who like gritty and dark ass sci fi action movie lovers.
Zombie-Sci fi-Cyber Punkish-Trash Fest!
nosferatusblood19229 July 2007
Warning: Spoilers
From the mind of one "Guts & Entrails Gaira" comes this low budget zombie flick based on a meteor crash in Tokyo Bay. The aftermath of which (including a gaseous cloud & "cosmic contaminant") leads to a virus inflicted upon the dead--thus giving them new life--meaning bad news for the living, who may yet become living dead themselves...
Military takeover of the blackened city in shambles juxtaposes the few remaining radicals, wayfarers, and renegades living by the laws of nature and survival... A traveling van of misfits in particular. The mad scientist General Hugioka oversees experiments on the living to build a monster army to rule the world... Keiko & military-general-father Ita fight for justice and deliverance in a seemingly hopeless situation... Corrupt authority wishes to keep the disaster hidden, so that it may extend its deviant killings, torture, and horrific medical experiments... Can Keiko & Ita save Tokyo? The world?
Our lady, Ms. Keiko, with the help of her father's custom designed leather-clad-body-suit, tailored to her specifications--apparently also capable of bolstering feminine superhero type powers--and microchip technology used to communicated with one another--takes on the gang of walking dead corpses and evil military dictators to the death! The monster army can't stop Cutie Keiko either... And this film generally feels like a waste of time in between the laughable fight scenes, $2.00 shoot outs, bad acting, obligatory wrestling moves, but hey; it's got a nice aesthetic touch & i found it to be charming. Not to mention the denouement... Oh, the ending that's not much of an ending. *frown*
As for deeper meaning of the content at hand, there does seem to be some nationalistic, anti-torture, and politically motivated commentary on display here (see Hugioka's rambling speech near the end). And for such references, it deserves a higher mark than the average trash fare, but maybe I'm reading things into it to justify a higher rating.
In sum: If you want a fun flick similar to Romero's "Dawn of the dead" spliced with a semi-sci fi premise and cyber punkish elements, then this is for you.
P.s. "Japan can't be saved by your humanism!"
6.5/10
Military takeover of the blackened city in shambles juxtaposes the few remaining radicals, wayfarers, and renegades living by the laws of nature and survival... A traveling van of misfits in particular. The mad scientist General Hugioka oversees experiments on the living to build a monster army to rule the world... Keiko & military-general-father Ita fight for justice and deliverance in a seemingly hopeless situation... Corrupt authority wishes to keep the disaster hidden, so that it may extend its deviant killings, torture, and horrific medical experiments... Can Keiko & Ita save Tokyo? The world?
Our lady, Ms. Keiko, with the help of her father's custom designed leather-clad-body-suit, tailored to her specifications--apparently also capable of bolstering feminine superhero type powers--and microchip technology used to communicated with one another--takes on the gang of walking dead corpses and evil military dictators to the death! The monster army can't stop Cutie Keiko either... And this film generally feels like a waste of time in between the laughable fight scenes, $2.00 shoot outs, bad acting, obligatory wrestling moves, but hey; it's got a nice aesthetic touch & i found it to be charming. Not to mention the denouement... Oh, the ending that's not much of an ending. *frown*
As for deeper meaning of the content at hand, there does seem to be some nationalistic, anti-torture, and politically motivated commentary on display here (see Hugioka's rambling speech near the end). And for such references, it deserves a higher mark than the average trash fare, but maybe I'm reading things into it to justify a higher rating.
In sum: If you want a fun flick similar to Romero's "Dawn of the dead" spliced with a semi-sci fi premise and cyber punkish elements, then this is for you.
P.s. "Japan can't be saved by your humanism!"
6.5/10
Japanese military zombies.
HumanoidOfFlesh3 June 2010
When a meteor crashes into Japan it brings lethal danger:a virus capable of raising the dead and turning them into flesheating zombies.It's up to K-ko to save Tokyo and to fight with living dead and crazed army men.Cheesy and fast-paced Japanese zombie flick which plays like cross between "Dawn of the Dead" and "Resident Evil".First of all "Battle Girl" is nowhere near as violently graphic nor sexually depraved as his earlier features like "Guts of a Virgin".There is not much gore on display and surprising lack of cannibalistic grue.The fights are plentiful,albeit poorly choreographed and the cyberpunk elements are fun to watch.An entertaining and inoffensive zombie effort from Japan.7 out of 10.
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