Interview: Dom O'Brien (Budget Biomorphs: The Making of The Guyver Films)
Dom O’Brien first encountered the wonderful world of the Guyver films as a chance pick-up on clearance on VHS. Based on the manga Bio-Booster Armor Guyver by Yoshiki Takaya, they spawned not only two OVAs and an anime series, but also two live-action films in English: The Guyver and Guyver 2: Dark Hero. Dom’s book provides a rather in-depth look at the making of both films talking to actors, directors, special effects experts, and more about why these quirky gems have such staying power over the years.
The cover art for the American release of The Guyver rather infamously shows half of the iconic Guyver armor up alongside half of Mark Hamill’s face. The problem is, Mark Hamill isn’t the lead in the movie; instead, he plays Max Reed, a CIA agent investigating the titular alien device. Dom laughs thinking about the artwork. “A lot of that was down to being a marketing plot more than anything else. Mind you, it’s a low budget film. They’ve got Mark Hamill (Star Wars Episodes IV-XI), but he’s not the main character. They had a real challenge in how to market The Guyver the best way possible. The layout with Mark’s face up against the Guyver suit is sort of misadvertised. It’s quite funny because the UK cover, we had it as Mutronics: The Movie to capitalize on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Mark wasn’t on our front cover, we only knew he was in it from the back of the box.”
Dom first watched Guyver: Dark Hero (in the UK, it wasn’t called Guyver 2 because of the first film being retitled), then later watched the first film. He loves them both for different reasons. “The second one, Dark Hero, has always been my favorite. Ironically, writing this book, I got a new appreciation for the first one, The Guyver. I saw how much hard work they put into it. Most of the crew were in their 20s at the time. Eddie Yang, part of the Creature Effects Crew, was only 21 at the time he worked on it. After co-directing the first with Screaming Mad George, Steve Wang (Kung Fu Rascals) directed Dark Hero because he want to fix mistakes he thought he made on the original film. The Guyver has a lot of faults, but it’s a lot of fun to watch.”
Despite both these films being cult classics, Dom is skeptical we’ll ever see a third live-action film as much as the fans want it. “I know they’ve been trying to make one for a long time. Both Steve Wang and David Hayter (Metal Gear Solid), the star of the second film, really want it to happen. I would love to see an old grizzled Logan-esque version of the hero Sean Barker in a third film, that would be a cool way to do it. Loads and loads of people are crying out for it online. Who knows?”