Bionicle VIII: The Final Battle

Bionicle VIII: The Final Battle (also known as Bionicle 8 and Bionicle Ignition 3: Battle for Power in Europe) is a 1988 Vlokuzuian science-fiction action tokusatsu superhero film. It is the fourteenth Technic Heroes installment and the eighth Bionicle installment.

Plot
After completing several tasks in preparation for Mata Nui's reawakening, the Toa Nuva are teleported to Glonisla to finally complete their destiny.

Finding members of the Brotherhood of Makuta sent by Teridax battling a group of Matoran warriors, the heroes - equipped with the ability to fly thanks to new "adaptive" armor and weapons - split into two teams: Kopaka, Lewa and Pohatu remain in Glonisla to protect the Glonislan locals and free Darren Lange, while Tahu, Gali, and Onua descend south to the Eirabourne forest to retrieve the Kanohi Ignika previously worn by Matoro to heal the Great Spirit.

Kopaka's team receive support from three Av-Matoran (Matoran of Light) and a manifestation of the Mask of Life calling itself "Toa Ignika" while fighting a band of bat-like Makuta and their Shadow Matoran servants. Tahu's team, unaware that the Ignika is aiding the battle above, are threatened by three more Makuta, mutated by the waters of the swamp. Both groups reunite outside the Codrex, a giant metal sphere that sits at the swamp's center, after retrieving six keystones to open it.

Inside, the Toa discover powerful battle vehicles among ancient technology as well as the origins to their lives before arriving on El Kadsre City. The heroes use the vehicles in a final all-out battle against the Brotherhood and receive help from a half-light drained Takanuva who also manages to turn the Shadow Matoran back to their former states. Later, the Toa Ignika sacrifices itself to awaken Mata Nui, causing an energy storm that the Toa and Av-Matoran narrowly escape.

The Makuta, however, realizing that Teridax had, in fact, sent them to their deaths, are obliterated by the storm. Thanks to the Ignika's actions, the physical form of Mata Nui rises from beneath the Pacific Ocean for the first time in 1,000 years, destroying the the islands in the Paicifc Ocean lying on him in the process.

The Toa Nuva and Takanuva arrive back in El Kadsre City to join the celebrations of Mata Nui's reawakening with the people and Turaga in the Grand El Kadsre Stadium. But in the midst of the festivity, Teridax's laughter echoes throughout the city. The Makuta, thought to be long since dead, reveals that he has taken over Mata Nui's body - the giant robotic humanoid vessel that houses the entire Matoran Universe - before Mata Nui's spirit could return. As his reign of terror begins, Teridax seals his victory by placing Mata Nui's spirit inside the Mask of Life and ejecting it into outer-space, sending the former Great Spirit on a journey into the unknown.

Eventually, Aquila Hadaway runs on the stadium ground to meet up with Tahu with Kouji going after her, who reveals a secret to him that she has not told anyone. She transforms into her cat form, Aqua, and admits that when she was a child, Icarax cursed her to be a shapeshifter with a main cat form after her childhood pet cat damaged an artifact from his childhood. Aqua tells Tahu to believe in himself, which gives him the confidence to get the other Toa Nuva to help stop Teridax.

Cast

 * Hideki Hamasaki as Jiro Fujioka/Tahu
 * Jonacus Reinder as Adam Jullen/Kopaka
 * Yasi Tanaka as Hana Fujioka/Gali
 * Sylvester Jalen as Andrea Hashimoto/Lewa
 * Hank Jeroem as Mick Kendal/Pohatu
 * Dean Norman as Jarrod Baxter/Onua
 * Freddie Derricks as Makuta Antroz
 * Gary Stewart as Makuta Chirox
 * Aden Minami as Makuta Krika
 * Larrie Mathews as Makuta Bitil
 * Sheenagh Levitt as Makuta Gorast
 * Curtis Tirrell as Kirop
 * Gyles Mynatt as Gavla
 * Stéphane Archambault as Photok
 * Coty Hodges as Radiak
 * Langdon Fisher as Solek
 * Brock Baker as Tanma
 * Brock also has an uncredited role as a spectator at the Grand El Kadsre Stadium
 * Andy Wilson as Jamie Howard/Takanuva
 * Ryouichi Andrews as Kouji Nishimura
 * Harve Bachchan as Brutaka
 * Terrence Nash as Carapar
 * Yoko Mizushima as Roodaka
 * Kenta Hisakawa as Takadox, Vezon
 * Goro Yukimura as Toa Ignika
 * Eustace Merrill as Makuta Icarax
 * Hiraku Kimura as Makuta Mutran
 * Taro Yamada as Fred Tamashi
 * Kruku Makusa as Em Yoshimura
 * Yuki Hayashi as Susimo Maximiro
 * Missy Jones as Keisha B. Kendal
 * Halcyone Ferrara as Aquila Hadaway/Aqua
 * Kate-Mary Perim as Young Aquila Hadaway
 * August Andreasen as Darren Lange
 * as Erika Fujioka
 * as a man in the Glonisla shopping mall
 * Naoki Takenaka as Sachiko Kato
 * Carmen Xiao as a girl in the Glonisla shopping mall (uncredited)

Production and release
The film had the budget of $175 million and it was the most expensive Vlokozuian film of 1988 and adjusted for inflation, the one of the most expensive movies ever made. The movie was filmed from April 3 to September 29, 1987. Filming took place in El Kadsre City, Glonisla, Eirabourne, Abeta, Kuka, Tugaganda, and the Vloksville quarry. The idea of Aquila being a shapeshifter was created by Gim to make the film more suitable to the furry community.

The film swept the 1988 VAC Awards, including two of the actors, Brock Baker and, being nominated for and winning the Best Supporting Actor award respectively, and Naoki Takenaka winning the Best Young Artist award in a tie with Corbin Berger's performance in Justice For All: Part II. Brock arrived with Kenny Cameron and Pasi at the award ceremony, held at the Strangetown Fairgrounds, in the El Kadsreian Firestorm monster truck.

The film was released on VHS in the United States thrice: once by Vestron Video in 1988, again by CBS/FOX Video in 1989, and yet again by MCA in 1995.

Lionsgate re-released the film on DVD and Blu-Ray in the United States under it's revival of the Vestron Video label in 2018. The release also comes in a double feature version with Aqua: Feline Shifter.

An El Kadsreian DVD release contained within a birthday card was issued by El TV Kadsre Home Entertainment and PartyPlannerz in 2015.

Reception
The movie has received with mixed to positive reviews from critics.