“The Super Inframan” Poster
Director: Hua Shan
Cast: Danny Lee, Wang Hsieh, Bruce Le (Huang Kin Long), Yuan Man-Tzu, Terry Lau Wai-Yue, Dana, Lin Wen-Wei, Chiang Yang, Lu Sheng, Fanny Leung
Running Time: 88 min.
By Z Ravas
As someone who grew up collecting an ordinate amount of comic books, it’s seemed strange to me that I’ve spent the last several years completely disinterested in what’s happening in the superhero movie space; but a viewing of last year’s High-Five (perhaps the most purely entertaining new film that I saw in 2025) made me realize I’m not tired of the superhero genre, per se, just Hollywood’s lately very dull conception of it. Case in point: sitting down to rewatch The Super Inframan, the Shaw Brothers’ attempt at a tokusatsu-style superhero movie, confirmed for me all over again that this is one of my favorite efforts from the venerable studio.
In 1975, the Shaw Brothers would have been at the peak of their commercial powers, which must be why they felt they could afford to take such a risk with Super Inframan—both a superhero movie before big screen comic book adaptations were all the rage (a full three years before Superman: The Movie!) and a Hong Kong martial arts film that owed a creative debt to Japanese creations like Ultraman and Kamen Rider. (To that end, the movie features music from Ultraman spinoff Ultraseven and costumes from Japan’s Ekisu Productions, known for their work on Kamen Rider). Even wilder, the studio handed directing duties to Hua Shan, who had served as a cinematographer on the 1970 hit The Chinese Boxer but was largely untested as a director. Yet Hua Shan more than proved himself with the colorful and kinetic Super Inframan, a joyous blast of battling heroes and villains that recalls fond memories of thumbing through comic books and watching cartoons. Hua Shan was ably assisted by Japanese cinematographer Tadashi Nishimoto (Thr Way of the Dragon, Come Drink With Me) and composer Frankie Chan (yes, the same Frankie Chan who directed and starred in Outlaw Brothers). Fittingly, Hua Shan would go on to helm well-known Shaw Brothers titles like Bloody Parrot and Portrait in Crystal.
The plot of Super Inframan is rather simple: in the near future, the evil Princess Dragon Mom(!) has returned from her Ice Age hibernation to wreak havoc on the earth with a series of natural disasters and her legion of Monsters (including Plant Monster and Mutant Drill). It’s up to the Science Researcher Center, an organization comprised of a bunch of identically-garbed martial artists/scientists, to put a stop to them; fortunately, their top professor (Wang Hsieh) has the blueprint for a new super-powered cyborg, codenamed Inframan. A young man by the name of Rayma (The Killer’s Danny Lee) volunteers and soon finds himself transformed into a red-clad hero capable of somersaults, spin kicks, and Lightning Fists.
From there, we’re off to the races. Super Inframan may contain a few lulls in pacing, usually when one of Dragon Mom’s monsters are skulking in the shadows and laying one of their dastardly plans, but generally it’s never too long before Danny Lee is riding a motorcycle into battle or signaling his transformation into Inframan (you will see that transformation sequence quite a bit). I have to single out Huang Kin-Lung—otherwise known as Bruce Le!—for stealing several scenes with his fighting prowess, which is even more impressive considering that his character is just a regular Science Research member, with zero super powers.
An admission:, if you’re just here expecting the usual top shelf fight choreography from the Shaw Brothers, you might feel somewhat let down by Super Inframan. I’d call the martial arts on display here better than serviceable, but it’s still nowhere in the realm of what director Lau Kar-leung was about to accomplish for the Shaw Brothers in the late 70’s. Regardless, it’d be a mistake to go into this demanding peak kung fu when Super Inframan has so much else on offer: it’s a nonstop medley of silly but appealing costumes, outlandish set design, fantastical situations (like when Inframan and one of his enemies briefly blow up to kaiju size), and groovy tunes. In other words, Super Inframan presents escapist entertainment of the highest order. If you can tap into its live-action cartoon vibe, this is a film guaranteed to make you feel like a kid planted in front of the television on a Saturday morning.
Z Ravas’ Rating: 10/10
