Robot Taekwon V

Ah, such fond memories. Taekwon V is one of the first mecha movies I watched as a little kid and I must say I was thrilled with its fast pacing and almost non-stop action. It was the late 80’s, television was full of kid stuff, and dubbed VHS were pouring in from all sides with all sorts of animated stories the videoclubs never bothered to categorize properly.

I didn’t know it back then but turns out Taekwon V is actually on of the earliest Korean anime-style rip-offs. The similarities to Mazinger Z are more than obvious (just look at the ship entering the head) but copyrights ... where blurry back then and nobody cared much about these low budget productions. Plus they never aired Mazinger in my country to even see the similarities and after awhile all classical robot shows copied each other and looked the same so I doubt anyone else cared to make a fuss about it.

So what is this movie besides a copycat? Simple, it is fun. Fun in the way that it was made by Koreans, for Koreans, based on a foreign series which was very popular amongst children back then. It is also a stand alone movie instead of a mostly episodic series, thus the development and the revelations were coming one after another in a few minutes. Which is also something that I am not sure about; was the version I watched as a kid really only one hour long? It sure felt a lot longer to me but I was just a silly kid so I may be mistaken. You see when I recently rewatched the film, I learned that the original version was lost forever and they could only find and salvage a very corrupted copy from some warehouse. Being considered a national treasure, the government poured lots of money so they would remake it frame by frame, and thus we have the current remastered version. I know they changed the music and I am sure they redubbed the voices but the footage is basically the same… but felt going much faster. Was it really only one hour long?

Anyways, the reason they went to all this trouble to remake it is basically because it was a smash hit in Korea as well as in many other countries it was exported to. The dubbed version I had as a kid didn’t seem to show it that much but turns out it was so successful basically because it was oozing with patriotism. I mean, damn, it is almost considered propaganda the way they glorify Korea in here. First it promotes martial arts and especially Tae kwon do, of which they are very proud of. Then it presents all people from other nations (Japan, India, America, Russia) to be either ugly or stupid. Finally it sets the country where the robot is to be Korea (you clearly see the flags and hear the name) and has the characters drawn in a rather familiar to their animation style way (eyes, lips, hands) to make it feel very keen to their culture.

Of course I had never realized all that as a kid and even if I had I am not Korean to give a damn. The reason I liked it so much was simply because it wasn’t fooling around at all. The action and the revelations were non-stop and the movie only lasts one hour (or at least the remastered version does) so kids would not be bored with it. Also, despite being a silly story about robots and martial arts, it had many things going on in it so it didn’t feel simplistic at all. Although the basic scenario is (just like in Mazinger) a mad scientist trying to take over the world with robots and another scientist building his own to stop him, there were also many other side stories going on to flavour it. There was for example a martial arts tournament, where the protagonists competes in Tae Kwon Do. We get some fighting choreography regarding that (crude but it’s there) where sports and fair play and training hard are promoted. It is very motivational and dynamic for kids. Then there is another side story with the daughter of the mad scientist, who is torn between being treated as a cyborg (yes, she is artificial) or as a human being. There is a part where the protagonist tries to cheer her and his platonic girlfriend gets mad and offends her, thus turns her to the dark side. As a cyborg, she also fights with a fencing sword (more sports) that shoots electricity. Then there is the good scientist who is a pacifist and who has these notions of fighting only for protecting. Then there is a sub plot where the villains kidnap athletes who lost in their championships because it would be far easier to lure losers into working for them for glory and revenge. And there are actually twists to all the above. Crude and rushed but they are there. You simply can’t ignore the rich context.

Let’s suppose you don’t like the context (shame on you). The action part is also very good for its time. Based on various martial arts and classic robot attacks, there is a great variety in how the characters fight. Punching, slashing, burning, crushing, stomping, you name it, verbal psychological warfare; even pepper spray is used! You get martial artists, gunners, cyborgs, tanks, airplanes, giant robots, and teapot comic reliefs. There is even variety in backgrounds; you get arenas, cities, deserts, pyramids, Chinese dragons up in the skies; man this is a blast.

And let me clarify that as cool as all the above sound, the production values are poor, even for the time the movie was made. You can find continuity errors, repeated footage, crude motions, unimpressive voice acting, and the like. If you are to be bitches about it and judge the movie based on all that, then you will hate it with all you got. It doesn’t look nice at all, ok? It is the fun behind all that that I am talking about. No fillers, no linear scenario, no dried up presentation, and lots of patriotism, vividness, and passion, all taking place in roughly one hour. You can find all that if you see past the obvious.

Although it is very hard to enjoy the movie if you are spoiled on recent series, in case you are willing to look for fast fun and passion in an otherwise silly robot movie, then I highly recommend it. It would be awesome if it lasted twice as much and had ten times more budget but I liked it a lot even as it is.

And now for some excused scorings.
ART SECTION: 3/10
General Artwork 0/2 (terribad)
Character Figures 0/2 (typical)
Backgrounds 1/2 (basic)
Animation 1/2 (crude but at least they try to have battle choreography)
Visual Effects 1/2 (basic)

SOUND SECTION: 6/10
Voice Acting 1/3 (dried up)
Music Themes 3/4 (silly but fit the mood of the movie)
Sound Effects 2/3 (ok I guess)

STORY SECTION: 6/10
Premise 1/2 (typical)
Pacing 2/2 (super fast)
Complexity 2/2 (lots of things are going on)
Plausibility 0/2 (none)
Conclusion 1/2 (cheesy)

CHARACTER SECTION: 6/10
Presence 1/2 (generic)
Personality 2/2 (cheesy but well founded)
Backdrop 1/2 (generic and simplistic but it’s there)
Development 1/2 (overblown but it’s there)
Catharsis 1/2 (overblown but it’s there)

VALUE SECTION: 7/10
Historical Value 3/3 (Korean national treasure; need I say more?)
Rewatchability 2/3 (high because of the fast pacing)
Memorability 2/4 (generic as a robot story but good for its variety)

ENJOYMENT SECTION: 4/10
Art 0/1 (looks lazy)
Sound 1/2 (sounds ok)
Story 1/3 (feels generic)
Characters 2/4 (the villains steal the show)

VERDICT: 5.5/10

Disclaimer: This is a review of what I could find of the western adaptation of "Robot Teakwon V", Voltar the Invincible. which seems to be edited down and possibly incomplete, seeing as is under and hour and ends almost mid-sentence, though it does tell a complete story. There might be a spoiler though spoiler is an ambiguous term so its not my fault, nothing is.

Story: Billy Future is a karate champ who's dad is a robot scientist, and when the worlds put in danger by a former mad scientist colleague of his father, Billy pilots Voltar to stop the mad scientist ... robot destruction. The story is as basic and typical as it gets and often stuff would just happen because why not. The only sorta notable part of the thing is Wondera's side story. Though its barely there and its also very stock ,to say anything more would spoil what little there is to Voltar the Invincible overall.

Art: A product of the time though even by 1974 it might have seemed dated, looking much like 1960s tv quality anime, Hanna Barbara or maybe even some of the old Fleischer Superman cartoons if famous studios had less money to worth with. So production values aren't high with this anime but theres still charm in the art style and animation. I like the crudeness in the rotoscoping or how Voltar moves while doing tkd along with the old style animation effects assuming you've seen the mentioned cartoons or the like.

Sound: The dub is good, it gets the job done. Its none of that terrible "anime" voice acting common in later dubs from the 2000s. The music has all been redone to fit in with the dubs 1985 release. So its mostly cheap syth and early electronica... but its pretty good actually, though there isnt much of it and it does get repetitive. It leaves the anime feeling like its proto-AdultSwim or Cartoon Network, back when they'd rework old cartoons with new sound.

Character: Hmm, does this anime have character? Yes, the anime it has plenty of character especially with the dub and cheesy then modern music... Though I guess I should explain the characters too. Characters, there isn't much to say as I don't think anyone has any character outside of a few. Wondera is hot, and then there was tommy, a boy who wears a tea pot on his head. Though he plays the typical kid pretend sidekick roll in these sorts of hero stories I suppose his design is neat as you could easily forget hes a human. Theres also Dr Manlee, who has a great a name and for no reason is also a tkd master. Everyone else much like the story are as stock as they come, I'd say even the notable characters are really typical filler.

Enjoyment: This is hard to explain because Voltar is enjoyable for a while, its almost in that so bad its good kind of enjoyable, except without and of the awkward, embarrassing, and cringe humor that usually comes with the so bad its good... genre. Like, it has lackluster animation music , along with its editing gives the anime this almost homemade feel. Its also kinda extreme with (and well appreciated)quick deaths, karate chops that explode robots, Wondera's everything. The voice acting is nostalgic somehow despite not having grown up in the 80s or watching old cartoons. Sadly and surprisingly ... Voltar the Invincible is not perfect. Honestly the novelty of it all wears off and the anime feels like exercise to finish. You'll find your self skipping through the final parts just to get it over with. It really doesn't do a good job keeping the viewer interested after all its cards are all the table.


Overall: Its a novelty and can be enjoyable it if, and pardon my language, the viewer isn't weeb.

In the world of animation, there's the concept of the "Terribad" anime. That is, an anime show or series that is *so* bad, that it's actually entertaining to watch. The mere act of making fun of it while watching it provides enjoyment. (It's the same principle that drives shows like MST3K)

First off, let's not forget that this movie is culturally very important, as one of the earliest popular Korean animated movies that went on to become a widely loved hit within the country with many sequels. We can recognize and honor that history, while at the same ... time being critical of the story and animation. After all, we aren't grading on a curve here.

It's straight-up a children's robot story, very similar to the countless other giant robot stories that were flooding Japan during the 1970's. It's awfully derivative, as the brilliant young taekwondo superstar son of a brilliant scientist is the only person in the country able to pilot an experimental giant robot to defeat the evil menace ("Red Star", guess what that represents) and save the entire nation. In fact, the creator very freely admits on lifting concepts whole cloth from the likes of Mazinger Z.

The story is laughably simple, and a jumbled mess. The artwork is uninspiring. The animation is even less inspiring than that. In fact, much of the type of characters and plot, the animation techniques are of the same level that Japan was trying out up to a full decade earlier. Despite its proud history, it must be said this is a very amateur quality work.

Even so, if you have a bunch of buddies that want to sit around and point and laugh at something on the television, this definitely fits the bill. All in good humor, of course.