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Bionicle IV: Legends of New Edo (also known as Bionicle 4 and Bionicle Prequel: Legends of New Edo in Europe) is a 1984 Vlokozuian-British kadsresatsu film. It is the tenth Technic Heroes installment and fourth Bionicle installment.
Bionicle IV was the last Technic Heroes movie to be distributed by Weiss Global Enterprises, which went out of business later that year.
Plot[]
In 1963, the residents of the Georgeland capital of New Edo believed that the warriors known as the Toa would protect them from any threat, but eventually, they fell one by one, defeated by an unrelenting shadow that sought to conquer the city.
Lhikan, the last remaining Toa, travels throughout the entire city, giving Toa stones to Akiyuki, Taro, Anika, Marvin, Alyosha and Cliff. After giving the last stone to Akiyuki, Lhikan is captured by two Dark Hunters called Nidhiki and Krekka. The next day, Akiyuki takes his students who received their Toa stones to the Esso station where they unveiled the secret entrance to the Toa Suva. There, they are transformed into six new Toa. After Vakama has a vision, they all set out to recover the six Great Disks hidden throughout New Edo, hoping to prove to Turaga Dume, the city's leader, that they are worthy Toa.
The Toa Metru retrieve the discs and bring them to the Coliseum, but Dume issues that "small gifts" won't confirm them as Toa, and proceeds to test them by starting a sea of rising metal in the Coliseum. When the six fail to pass the test, Dume denounces them as "imposters who are sent from El Kadsre" and unleashes the Vahki (the city's law enforcers) upon them. In the ensuing commotion, Onewa, Nuju, and Whenua are sucked into a massive vortex and imprisoned while Vakama and the others escape the Coliseum by leaping into a chute system, with the Dark Hunters giving chase.
Vakama, Nokama, and Matau abandon the chute system at Ko-Metru when the Dark Hunters get the flow reversed. Reaching the ground, Vakama spots Lhikan’s "spirit star" soaring overhead; as long as it burns in the night sky, it means that Lhikan is still alive.
The trio hitch a ride on a Vahki transport to follow the star. Arriving in Po-Metru, they are suddenly ambushed by the Dark Hunters but lose them when a herd of Kikanalo beasts stampedes through the canyons. As the Toa Metru flee, Nokama discovers that her mask allows her to speak and understand foreign languages, including that of the Kikanalo. She stops the stampede and speaks to the leader of the herd, who tells the Toa that Lhikan was taken by the Dark Hunters to the "Canyon of Unending Whispers". With the help of the Kikanalo and Matau's newly discovered mask power of shape-shifting, the Toa Metru bypass the Vahki guarding the canyon, as well as the Dark Hunters.
Meanwhile, Onewa, Whenua, and Nuju are trying unsuccessfully to break out of prison when being approached by a mysterious Turaga, who explains that Toa mask powers are needed to escape. To teach them how to find their mask powers, the Turaga puts them through a test in which they perform seemingly pointless tasks. Eventually, during an argument with Whenua, Onewa discovers his mask power, mind-control. Nuju, trying to halt their quarrel, also discovers his mask power, telekinesis, with which he creates a way out. As they traverse the tunnels of Onu-Metru, Whenua finds his mask power, night-vision, before the four reunite with Vakama, Nokama, and Matau. To their surprise, the Turaga reveals himself to be Lhikan, whose power was drained from him when they became Toa. He inquires as to the safety of the "Heart of New Edo", which Vakama believed was Lhikan himself, but is actually the Matoran. Lhikan also gave Vakama a El Kadsre News World newspaper with the headline proving that the El Kadsreian government weren't behind Lhikan's demise.
As Vakama despairs at the misinterpretation, he discovers a small canister that contains Dume; the Dume from before was an impostor and then saved the bounded Georgelandian president Harry Carlisle. Pursued by the Vahki, the Toa Metru, along with Lhikan, set out to stop the false Dume, who has reminded the Matoran that El Kadsre declared war on Georgeland and will invade New Edo in any moment and summoned them to the Coliseum to be placed in canisters to safety. By the time the Toa Metru and Lhikan arrive, all the Matoran are now asleep.
The false Dume is revealed to be the Makuta in disguise. Having betrayed the Great Spirit Mata Nui and the Matoran, Makuta plunges the former into slumber and begins absorbing energy from the city. The Toa rush to find the Matoran, but only a small amount can be carried on the transport; the rest will have to wait. The Toa gather as many Matoran capsules as they can and race to escape the crumbling city. On the way out, the Dark Hunters attack them again but are killed, along with a Nivawk (Makuta's spy), when the Makuta absorbs them.
Before becoming a Toa, Vakama was a Mask Maker in Ta-Metru, creating Kanohi masks from Kanoka disks. Prior to the start of the movie, he was requested by the false Dume to create the legendary Mask of Time. Initially, he was not successful, but he is now able to create the Mask of Time out of the six Great Disks. As the heroes make their way away from New Edo, Vakama realizes that Makuta wanted control of time to accomplish his goals.
To save the Matoran, the Toa must "follow the light" to a place far beyond New Edo. However, they are met en route by Makuta, now an almighty winged being. At the roof of the Rinoshi Hotel, Vakama, who is donning the Mask of Time, confronts Makuta, but, unable to fully control the power of the mask, he only slows time down, rendering him unable to dodge the Makuta's next attack. Lhikan intervenes and takes the attack himself, but is fatally injured and dies moments later with Vakama at his side, while Makuta claims the Mask of Time.
Anguished, Vakama puts his Huna back on and then discovers his mask power, invisibility, which he proceeds to use against Makuta. With a single shot from his Kanoka disk launcher, Vakama knocks the Mask of Time out of Makuta's hands and into the sea. The enraged Makuta attempts to kill Vakama but is defeated when he accidentally grabs a humongous boulder, causing him to be embedded into the Great Barrier.
Vakama's fellow Toa join him, and they combine their powers to seal Makuta in a protodermis prison. Vakama glances back towards New Edo one last time, and then continues with the other Toa towards the light, arriving on the island of Mata Nui.
Just as Lhikan sacrificed his power to create the Toa Metru, Vakama and his friends now do the same to awaken the Matoran, a process that transforms them into Turaga. One of the Matoran, Takua, leads Vakama to another Matoran, Jaller, whose mask has been damaged. Vakama gives him Lhikan's mask, and the other Matoran cheer as the symbol of the Three Virtues (Unity, Duty, and Destiny) materializes in the skies above.
Cast[]
Toa Metru[]
- Hanzou Kumagai as Akiyuki Misushima/Vakama
- Christopher Berger as Turaga Vakama
- Hiroto Sasaki as Taro Maeda/Nuju
- Ferne Merritt as Anika Bell/Nokama
- Jerry Rogers as Marvin Huber/Matau
- Taichi Abe as Alyosha Ueno/Onewa
- Kichirou Saito as Cliff Nardi/Whenua
Allies[]
- Alfred Tobias as Ryan Stocker/Lhikan, Turaga Lhikan
- Tarou Nishiyama as Em Yoshimura
- Sabryna Boon as Rosa Glass
The Dark Hunters[]
- Jon Pertwee as Turaga Dume
- Ryota Ružička as Teridax
- Hideki Takahashi as Nidhiki
- Lex Sinclair as Krekka
Supporting[]
- Kyoto Yuuki as Erika Fujioka
- John Cleese as Harry Carlisle
- Nicholas Hogarth as Adam Jullen
- Sylvester Jalen as Branson Ward
- Raymund Wheelock as Dirk Brant
- Samantha Smith as Liza Huber
Production and release[]
Shooting of the film lasted from March 13 to July 29, 1983 and it was mostly shot in El Kadsre City, Stanmore, Cicmpillici and Crilia.
Because the film is set in 1963, the miniature model of New Edo was made and was built in the warehouse in the El Kadsre City suburb of Toutari was filmed in the grassland space near the town of Takasville. After filming, because it was too large to be stored, the model was dismantled. The Downtown, Blackpool and Nagasunai portions were the only known surviving parts of the model for several years, but in 2003 the remaining pieces were found in a storage locker rented by a special effects artist who worked on the film, and the model was re-assembled and put on display in the El Kadsreian Filmmaking Museum in Glonisla.
Special effects were produced by Electrons S.A. of Paris, France and the CGI were done by CCGG, who are also responsible for the CGI of Quest for the Masks III: Mask of Light. Dume was going to be a antagonist of the movie, with "Ultimate Dume" with his final form in the climatic battle. Because of the CGI limitations and budget issues, the story was rewritten which removed "Ultimate Dume" in the process and used Teridax as a antagonist of the film, in which they used a model of him from Quest for the Masks III and added wings into it.
Chinese-American martial arts stuntman Bobby Kam originally was set to play the character of Akiyuki Misushima/Vakama, however he was replaced by Japanese actor Hanzou Kumagai due to Kam having no acting experience.
Reception[]
The film has received positive reviews.