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 kadsresatsu superhero film. It is the fourteenth Technic Heroes installment and the eighth Bionicle installment.

Bionicle VIII is listed on the Guinness World Records for both the most expensive movie and the longest Vlokozuian cinematic film to be released in theaters, peaking at 3 hours and 54 minutes.

Plot
In 1987, The Brotherhood of Makuta sent a team to cause chaos in Glonisla, turning its residents into Shadow Matoran. However, around the same time when Matoro sacrificed himself, the huge ray of light occurred, blinding the Makuta. One year later, the Makuta decided to attack Glonisla again, but the Toa Nuva were teleported in the middle of the battle, complete with new adaptive armor which they received after completing several tasks in preparation for Mata Nui's reawakening and to finally complete their destiny. After the battle, they discussed Glonislan locals what happened. They told them about the possible location of the Kahohi Ignika. The toa decided to split, with Tahu, Gali and Onua fly down to the Eirabourne forest to find the mask and Kopaka, Lewa and Pohatu stay at Glonisla to protect the locals from the Makuta.

Meanwhile in El Kadsre City, Jamie was walking on the shoreline. He then felt something strange on his mind, which turned out to be the Dark Hunter Dweller who is reading his mind. When he left the Great Archives, the shadow leech attacked him, which caused to lost some of his elemental light powers. Takanuva fell unconsciously after killing the leech.

When the Tahu's team arrived at Eirabourne, they learned more about their past while defending the city. In Glonisla, Solek gives Kopaka a piece of a keystone and informs him that five other pieces were needed to awaken Mata Nui. At the Eirabourne forest, Tahu discovers the large dome structure known as the Cordex. Makuta Krika finds Tahu and drains some of his powers. He used his powers to launch the fireball up in the air. In the Shadow Leech Hive, Makuta Mutran and Chirox created the Rahi beast and argued about what should they do with their recent creation. Antroz confirms that the beast was sufficient enough for the mission. A wave of shock happened across the room and Antroz believed that they underestimate their enemies.

Meanwhile, Darren along with his parents as well as Kouji, Aquila, Em and Erika were at the party at Darren's backyard. Suddenly, Brutaka interrupts the party, and said he came here to convince Kouji to join the dangerous mission for the Order of Mata Nui. Kouji accepts his request and enters the portal with him where Kouji greets Roodaka, Carapar, Takadox, Spiriah and Vezon. The group traveled to Stelt in the boat and during the journey, they were told their mission is to free Makuta Miserix. When they arrived to Zakaz, they were attacked by Zyglak, which were later defeated by Ehlek's species. Lariska arrives after Brutaka regains control of his team.

Meanwhile, Jamie wakes up and encounters Krakua and Herlyx. Herlyx tells Jamie that Krakua is courier to bring messages between the Order and every Toa in the universe. Jamie muttered that he had a hard blow when he became unconscious and Herlyx rams him against the wall with spikes of water and she informs that the Toa Nuva are at Glonisla. Krakua affixes a Kratana to Jamie's head, in which he sees his past. At El Kadsre City, Darren was kidnapped by Icarax and Mutran in their human disguises and was taken to the Brotherhood fortress. When Em, Erika and Aquila find out Darren is missing, they realized that the Makuta has taken Darren and goes on the mission to find and rescue Darren, however, MURC member Fred and Em's grandnephew Naoki joins them on their mission. Elsewhere at the Eiraboune forest, Onua gets ambused and attacked by Bitil while battling a Nui-Kopen. He later takes Onua to the Makuta camp. In the camp, Onua pretends to still be under Bitil's control to peform his ambush. He grabs Bitil's neck and threatens to kill him. He explains his kanohi powers gives him the power to duplacate himself. Onua escapes and Bitils started to chase him throught the forest. He fires at Bitil, where he plummets below the river.

Beneath the waters, the Kanohi Ignika reaches out his energy to examine his surroundings and creates the body for himself and his skyboard and flies out of the water and head to Glonisla. Meanwhile, Gali finds the keystone embedded in the tree. When she takes out the keystone, Goarst attacks her, later to be thrown off by Gali's blast of water but Gorast uses her claws to get a grip on the tree. She then rams Gali to another tree. As Gorast lands and prepare to finish her off, Gali shoots and bounds her but Gorast shoots her but Gali dodged and fired 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 islands in the Pacific Ocean lying on him including Fiji, Samoa and Tuvalu 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
 * Eustace Merrill 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
 * Glen Whinery as Makuta Spiriah
 * Terrence Nash as Carapar
 * Yoko Mizushima as Roodaka
 * Kenta Hisakawa as Takadox, Vezon
 * Manuela Șerban as Lariska
 * Goro Yukimura as Toa Ignika
 * David Gale as Makuta Icarax
 * Hiraku Kimura as Makuta Mutran
 * Shouhei Fujita as The Shadowed One
 * Antanico Matsushita as Akita Maximino/Jaller
 * Sandra Ozlins as Danny Ripley/Hahli
 * Phillip Stringer as Leo Terrell/Kongu
 * Zlata Lugnov as Irwin Davey/Hewkii
 * Talon Winter as Wilson Harshal/Nuparu
 * Taro Yamada as Fred Tamashi
 * Kruku Makusa as Em Yoshimura
 * Yuki Hayashi as Susimo Maximiro
 * Missy Jones as Keisha B. Kendal
 * Halcyoneren LaFerrara as Aquila Hadaway/Aqua
 * Kate-Mary Perim as Young Aquila Hadaway
 * August Andreasen as Darren Lange
 * as Erika Fujioka
 * Norm Linville as Can of Diced Tomatoes, Branson Ward (alternate dimension)
 * Kornel Sasha as Vit Zeneka (alternate dimension)
 * 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
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. As the result, it maded its way in the 1989 edition of the Guiness Book of Records. The idea of Aquila being a shapeshifter was created by Gim so she could pander the franchise to the to get a bigger audience.

El TV Kadsre was acquired by MCA during production of the film. The first half of the film was made with Toei while the second half of the film was made with Universal Studios, although Universal was uncredited in the film.

The film was originally going to have Dirk Brant aka. Akimu, the Toa of Shadows as the main antagonist of the film, but was removed after Dani Wolters couldn't came to the agreement to the producers regarding his salary, although he was interested in reprising his role when he was asked to reprise his role.

Filming
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.

Release
The film was released on VHS in El Kadsre by El TV Kadsre Home Video in October 1, 1988 and in the United States thrice: first by MCA Home Video in 1988 and 1995, again by CBS/FOX Video in 1989. The film was also released on DVD in El Kadsre in 1997 and Videocard in 2001.

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 film swept the VAC Awards fourth time in the row, 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 Stuartsville Fairgrounds, in the El Kadsreian Firestorm monster truck.

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