Shin Kamen Rider: Prologue
6 /10 1 Votes
Duration | Director Osamu Tsuji Country Japan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Release date February 20, 1992 (1992-02-20) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Shin Kamen Rider: Prologue (真・仮面ライダー 序章(プロローグ), Shin Kamen Raidā: Purorōgu) is a 1992 Japanese tokusatsu biopunk-horror V-Cinema film directed by Osamu Tsuji. It is a reimagining of the Kamen Rider Series and is also the first standalone film in the franchise. Toei has marketed the film to English speaking markets as "True Masked Rider: Prologue".
Contents
Plot
Doctors Kazamatsuri and Onizuka are geneticists, researching cures for diseases such as AIDS and cancer by performing experiments to strengthen the human body. The test subject, Shin Kazamatsuri, races motorcycles and is Doctor Kazamatsuri's son. Unknown to the doctors, their operation is funded by a syndicate group who plans to use the research to have the bodies of men strengthened for their own gain. The Doctors were previously unsuccessful with experiments on cyborg soldiers. However, they did not count on Onizuka's own secret ambitions: he wants to create a new species of soldiers by fusing the DNA of a grasshopper and test subjects to start a new civilization and be their God. He may have tested it on himself, but seems to be having greater success with Shin.
Meanwhile, a creature is stalking the city, killing people, as Shin dreams of that creature. While Shin believes he is the one causing the murders, he eventually finds Onizuka's plan and discovers that Onizuka is behind the killings. Onizuka has experimented on himself and altered his genes, making him a humanoid grasshopper. The telepathy of grasshoppers allowed him to communicate with Shin, making Shin a witness to the murders.
The syndicate learns of Onizuka's plans and they institutionalize him. A CIA agent tracks Shin and wants him eliminated, for he doesn't know the true threat Shin could pose. Repulsed, Shin investigates all he can about the experiment.
Cast
Staff
Media
The film's song "Forever" was performed by Noriko Watanabe, with lyrics by Hiroko Kimura, composition by Ryuudou Uzaki, and arrangements by Tooru Yuugawa. The film was released on DVD on April 25, 2008, by Bandai Visual. It was later released on Toei's subscription channel, which featured the film during its Kamen Rider 40th anniversary line up in July 2011.
Shin Kamen Rider makes appearances in the films of the later Kamen Rider Decade television series. He is also the primary focus of one of the All Riders vs. Dai-Shocker comedic webisodes. Kamen Rider Shin also appears as a playable character in 2011 video game in Nintendo DS video game - All Kamen Rider: Rider Generation.
