Quest for the Masks III: Mask of Light

Quest for the Masks III: Mask of Light (also known as Bionicle 3 and Bionicle 3: The Mask of Light in Europe) is a 1983 Vlokozuian kadsresatsu superhero film. It is the eighth Technic Heroes installment and third Bionicle installment.

It is the first Bionicle film to not be distributed by Vlokozuian Media Union, the media conglomerate who owned El TV Kadsre at the time and also the first to be distributed in Europe by The Cannon Group.

Plot
At the Axelham Ranges, Akita and Jamie discover a Great Kanohi, a Toa mask imbued with Elemental power. The two Matoran then travel to El Kadsre City to participate in a game of Kohlii, the island's national sport: the match reveals developing tensions between Tahu and Gali. At the end of the match, the Mask is accidentally revealed and the Turaga recognize its powers. They announce that it heralds the arrival of a seventh Toa destined to defeat Makuta and awaken Mata Nui.

Akita and Jamie are sent on a quest to find the Seventh Toa, guided by the Mask. In the meantime, Makuta sends three of his Rahkshi "sons" to retrieve the Mask. During an attack on the Shamus suburb which destroys most of the suburb, Tahu is poisoned, causing him to become increasingly erratic and worsening his already-strained relationship with Gali.

During their journey together, Akita and Jamie receive aid from Lewa in the Eirabourne forest and Kopaka in Mount Capulco, the latter of whom temporarily immobilizes the Rakhshi by trapping them in a frozen lake. After this, Jamie is threatened by Makuta, and abandons Akita in an attempt to shield him.

Makuta then releases three more Rakhshi, who attack the park near downtown El Kadsre City as Jamie arrives where Mick and Jarrod announce the arrival of the Seventh Toa with Vit, Aquila, Kouji and Darren witnessing the event. Tahu, Kopaka, Lewa and Gali arrive to help Onua and Pohatu. During the battle, Vit is killed while Tahu is further corrupted and goes insane, forcing the Toa to capture him and flee. Jamie decides to rejoin Akita, while Gali and the other Toa purge the Rakhshi poison from Tahu, resulting in his reconciliation with Gali.

Arriving at the Arch of Triumph, Akita and Jamie are confronted by all six Rahkshi. The six Toa mount a united offensive and defeat five of them, but a surviving Rahkshi attacks Jamie. Akita sacrifices himself to protect Jamie, and Akita's final words prompt Jamie to don the Mask of Light: the Mask transforms him into Takanuva, the Toa of Light. Defeating the final Rakhshi, he dons a Camaro and modifies it to be powered by the worm-like creatures inside the Rahkshi to guide him to Makuta. Traveling to his lair beneath the Arch of Triumph where the Toa Nuva fought the Makuta as the Toa Mata two years ago, the two hold a Kohlii contest for the island's fate. At Takanuva's bidding, the Toa, Turaga and Matoran gather together in the chamber, and witness Takanuva merging with Makuta to form a single powerful being. With Takanuva's willpower dominant, the being raises a gate leading deeper beneath the island, through which the gathered people flee. The being also revives Akita before the gate collapses on top of it. The Turaga proceed to awaken Mata Nui using the Mask of Light, which in turn revives Takanuva. The film ends with Takanuva discovering that El Kadsre City was also once called Metru Nui.

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, Darren Lange
 * Dean Norman as Jarrod Baxter/Onua
 * Andy Wilson as Jamie Howard/Takanuva
 * Antanico Matsushita as Akita Maximino
 * Goro Yukimura as Hiroshi Yoshimura
 * Sandra Ozlins as Danny Ripley
 * Phillip Stringer as Leo Terrell
 * Zlata Lugnov as Irwin Davey
 * Talon Winter as Wilson Harshal
 * Christopher Berger as Turaga Vakama
 * Vaughn Nathans as Turaga Nuju
 * Maja Prebensen as Turaga Nokama
 * Mervyn Cropper as Turaga Matau
 * Akira Yamaguchi as Turaga Onewa
 * Noach Irwin as Turaga Whenua
 * Ryota Ružička as Maktuta Teridax
 * Halcyone Ferrara as Aquila Hadaway
 * Norm Linville as Can of Diced Tomatoes
 * Kornel Sasha as Vít Zelenk
 * Ryouichi Andrews as Kouji Nishimura

Production and release
Quest for the Masks III: Mask of Light is the first film in the Bionicle franchise not to be distributed by Vlokozuian Media Union, as they shifted focus to educational films.

August Andreasen was to reprise the role as Darren Lange but he was unavailable because he was involved in the filming of crime-thriller film Who Shot Greg?. He was replaced by Hank Jeroem due to his identical looks. Andreasen said that El TV Kadsre didn’t informed him about his role being taken by someone else due to his absence and he even threatened to call for boycott of the Bionicle franchise if his role was taken again.

Filming
Principal photography began on March 3, 1982 to June 25, 1982. It was filmed in El Kadsre City, the Axelham Ranges and Mount Capulco while the indoor and Mangaia scenes were shot in the El TV Kadsre Television Centre.

Effects
The visual effects and models for the Turaga, the Rahkshi and the Makuta were done and animated by CCGG, a locally-based computer animation company who also involved in making animations of the 1985 rebranding of El TV Kadsre.

Soundtrack
The soundtrack of the film was released on June 4, 1983 by El TV Kadsre Records. Quest for the Masks III was the first Technic Heroes film to have the soundtrack released in CD.