Bionicle VI: Island of Doom (also known as Bionicle 6 and Bionicle Ignition: Island of Doom in Europe) is a 1986 Vlokuzuian-Australian science-fiction action tokusatsu superhero film. It is the twelfth Technic Heroes installment and the sixth Bionicle installment.
Plot
Taking place three years after the events of Quest for the Masks III: The Mask of Light and twenty years after the events of Bionicle V: Web of Shadows, the film tells the tale about Toa Nuva, found out that Mata Nui is not asleep, but dying.
To save him, they're told to venture to Sydney and retrieve the Kanohi Ignika. However, when the heroes arrive, they are quickly overpowered and imprisoned by the Piraka; a group of former Dark Hunters of the Skakdi species, who after raiding Makuta's lair, had the idea of claiming the Ignika planted into their minds by Makuta's surviving spirit, real name Teridax.
Travelling to Sydney, the Piraka - carrying Teridax's essence in the form of a substance called Antidermis - pose as Toa before enslaving nearly all of the residents of Sydney with it; forcing them to carry out tasks in relation to finding the Ignika.
Meanwhile, Group 6 went to Northland to go to the Timezone arcade, where they meet Ryu Hamasaki, the man who appeared in almost every Technic Heroes movie. Ryu give tickets to the group. After leaving the arcade, they went to see a movie (the fake werewolf movie titled It literally came here directly from planet Uranus). Group 6 then go trolley racing at Aldi and then they spend the night in the Rinoshi Hotel.
The next day, Em, bring groups 5 to 8 as they prepare to travel to the Vlokozu Refugee Camp, they entered the unknown land when one of members of Group 7 touches the wall, revealing the secret entrance. But after Em, Groups 5, 7, 8 and Jamie is forced to turn back, the Group 6 arrive in the realm of Karzahni, where they are forced into the labor of rebuilding damaged people by its demented ruler of the same name.
The party eventually escape via Toa canisters heading to Earth, landing straight to Sydney, but prior to arriving, bolts of lighting from an object called the Red Star which orbits their planet transform them into the Toa Inika; Toa with entwined lightning powers. With help from a small resistance force, J-MIBS, the Japanese alien investigators and the ancient being Axonn, the new Toa battle the many guardians and challenges set by the Ignika and chase the Piraka underground to its chamber.
Upon arriving to the Sydney Entertainment Centre, they find the Skakdi already defeated by the mask's final guardians; the insane seventh Piraka Vezon that the Ignika has fused itself to and his spider-like steed Fenrakk, the latter later re-arising as a Kardas Dragon.
The immense battle climaxes with the pair getting trapped in a stasis field, but as Matoro retrieves the mask, Vezon unfreezes and the dragon fires an energy blast that knocks the Ignika out of his hands and up out of the chamber.
Followed by the revived Piraka, the Toa chase after the mask, which eventually plunges into the sea. After receiving a clue about a city beneath the ocean and conversing with the recently freed Toa Nuva, the Toa Inika descend through the stone cord that keeps Australia afloat in the hope of reclaiming the Ignika.
Cast
- Antanico Matsushita as Akita Maximino/Jaller
- Goro Yukimura as Hiroshi Yoshimura/Matoro
- Sandra Ozlins as Danny Ripley/Hahli
- Phillip Stringer as Leo Terrell/Kongu
- Zlata Lugnov as Irwin Davey/Hewkii
- Talon Winter as Wilson Harshal/Nuparu
- Andy Wilson as Jamie Howard/Takanuva
- 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
- 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
- Jon Pertwee as Turaga Dume
- Marvyn Atkinson as Zaktan
- Lorne Fear as Hakann, Nektann and Botar
- Alger Black as Avak
- Jerrold Spence as Vezok
- Takara Maki as Thok
- Max Fairchild as Reidak and Tyrone Hanraets
- James Lugton as Ilar Abramo
- Ryota Yukimura as Katsu Tasukuda
- Bertha Romilly as Mirjam Traylor
- Burnji Yarran as Stephen Janson
- Don Yamasima as Kurd Yamoto
- Dederick Sidney as Ninian Chastain
- Kruku Makusa as Em Yoshimura
- Darren Nye as Andie Wilson
- Kornel Sasha as Vít Zelenka
- Yuki Hayashi as Susimo Maximiro
- Halcyone Ferrara as Aquila Hadaway
- August Andreasen as Isak Lange
- Velibor Košar as Bož Bo Petrović
- Mark Fitzroy as Derrick Jennings
- Milford Jimi as Brandom Davison
- Natasha Mills as Barbara Hanarets
- Gerard Aarens as David Hanarets
- Lilibet Pender as Lily Hanarets
- Kouki Yamashita as Takeshi Koizumi
- Ryosuke Sakamoto as Janeda Fujioka
- Arata Oshiro as Axonn
- Harve Bachchan as Eden Brute/Brutaka
- Jason Bramley as Umbra
- Jess Griffin as Arlen Dean
- Marcel Casey as Aaron Bromley
- Jepson Macías as Prof. Denero Bromley
- Nicky Garrard as Bruce
- Marlowe Strudwick as Nick
- Yoshirou Padmore as Dave
- Ilbert Elder as Toby
- Andy Stacey as Peter
- Yoshi Akiyama as Vezon
- Liliana Alamilla as Beryl Maximino
- Jirou Kita as Ren Maximino
- Juro Koizumi as Sander Shinobu
- Sharona Garrett as April Davey
- Deven Elliott as Lenny Jon
- Shouhei Fujita as Karzahni
- Shin Isikawa as the horror movie patient/werewolf
- Sandra Harper as the horror movie nurse
- Jarrod Paine as Policeman #1
- Ryu Takushi as Policeman #2
- Ryu Hamasaki as himself
- John Howard as himself
- Max Gillies as Bob Hawke
- Kerry Packer as himself
Production and release
Filming of Bionicle VI: Island of Doom lasted from April 23, 1985 to June 9, 1985. The film was mostly filmed in Sydney, while some scenes from the movie are filmed in Canberra, El Kadsre City, Eirabourne and El TV Kadsre Studio Centre for Karzahni scenes.
The film was released on VHS, TVD and Laserdisc on October 1986 while the extended version was released on January 1988 as part of the Technic Heroes Extended Pack. The film was first released on DVD on June 2, 1997.
Reception
The film has received mixed and positive reviews from critics. The film holds a 63% approval rating review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes based on 54 reviews. The film was Vlokozu Union's most viewed and highest-grossing film in 1986. Bionicle VI: Island of Doom came in 4th place in 1986 World Film of the Year.
Internet popularity
After the thirtieth anniversary of the film's release, Bionicle VI: Island of Doom had a unexpected rise in popularity as an internet meme. The popularity began in 2007, when the El Kadsreian YouTuber, janusshin85, uploaded the video titled "Worst Line Ever", which shows the scene from the movie where Barbara and David, having the conversation in the car after the incident caused by her stepfather and his gang. The video was taken from VidSpace, where it was uploaded in 1999 and it was called "Stupid Scenes in El Kadsreian Movies #35: Bionicle VI: Island of Doom". Nine years later, The Sentanese YouTuber, Liam Alexander uploaded the video called "Bionicle VI: Island of Doom but all the characters in the film are having vocoder voice problems" where the sound of the film are synthesized, then 2 months later, It literally came here directly from planet Uranus, the scene from the film, had become an internet meme. There were plenty of people, as well as Bionicle fans trying to explain the phenomenon. It has also been suggested that the spread of such videos was inspired by the preceding popularity of the We Are Number One meme, due to the similarity in content spawned by both phenomenons. When El TV Kadsre found out Bionicle VI: Island of Doom's internet popularity, they stated on its official Facebook page, "That film was released three decades ago, and now it has became the meme now."
Shortly after El TV Kadsre posted the Facebook status, they published a YouTube video called What's the Deal with the Bionicle VI Meme?, where they documented the whole process of how the meme became popular.