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𝑩𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅!
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Bionicle VII: Sea of Darkness

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Bionicle VII: Sea of Darkness (also known as Bionicle 7 and Bionicle Ignition 2: Ruins of the Lost in Europe) is a 1987 Vlokuzuian kadsresatsu film. It is the thirteenth Technic Heroes installment and the seventh Bionicle installment.

It is known to be a last Technic Heroes film before Vlokozuian Media Union sold El TV Kadsre to MCA.

Plot[]

In 1986, Ryota Maximino, Akita's father who was aware of his son becoming a toa, hires six teenagers to work for MURC (Mahri Underwater Research Centre), a underwater resort and tourist attraction located under the southern Arito Sea near Abeta that is riddled with safety issues.

13 months later, the Mask of Life's descent ends in the deeps of Mahri near the MURC, an underwater basement. Upon sight, it becomes an object of interest to the people who are working for MURC as well as the Barraki; six former warlords who were sent to the Pit (a prison that sits on the Arito Sea) for their crimes against humanity during their rules of six respective regions of the League of Six Kingdoms a century earlier.

But after the Pit was damaged in the Great Cataclysm, they escaped into the surrounding ocean and were mutated by its mutagen waters. Believing the mask can change them back into their human selves so they can take over the Vlokozu Union and reestablish the Kingdoms once again, the Barraki battle one another for possession of the Ignika. While Takuya tours around the Arito Sea with eight tourists, Pridak, the leader of the Bareaki, attacks the ship and captures Takuya and his crew while the passengers were killed. As the response, the inspectors from the Ministry of Tourism ordered Ryota to shut down the center to tourists for safety reasons. Under the influence of Takadox, the disgruntled computer programmer Youta, puts out the fire alarm before going to the control room to disable MURC's security systems and steals the squid embryos and heads off to the water to find Takadox to deliver him with the embryos. Ultimately, Youta was killed by an enlarged Gadunka after getting lost in the waters.

Meanwhile, the Toa Inika continue their descent through the stone core where they battle Vezon and an army of murderous Zyglak. Upon reaching the depths of the sea, the Mask of Life transforms the heroes into the water-breathing Toa Mahri - complete with new masks and weapons and fought for their lives against the 300-foot-long Venom Eel. The team engages in combat with the Barraki and their aquatic Rahi armies upon arrival, but in the midst of the battle, Matoro is imprisoned in the Pit by a robotic Maxilos guard that reveals itself as Makuta Teridax, who possessed the robot after his essence followed the Toa through the stone cord.

He informs Matoro that Mata Nui's life can only be saved if the Toa shatter the cord, where the MURC Safety Security Defense Squad headquarters were located on the top of the cord, and although not trustful in the villain's words, he relays the information to his teammates. They agreed and later, J-MIBS, who were sent to investigate the deaths at MURC, assisted the Toa Mahri to evacuate the SSDS from the facility before proceeding to destroy the cord; sending one of Mahri's islands plummeting into the ocean.

But by the time the Toa Mahri retrieve the Ignika, Mata Nui dies. Believing there's still hope, Matoro - the one person who can touch the Ignika without becoming cursed - races towards a hole in the seabed with one of the Mahri's former islands before it descends to close it, leaving his team to continue battling the Barraki alongside J-MIBS and the MURC team, with defense systems back online after Takuya reenables the defense systems with Youta’s computer.

Once in, he falls through a waterfall in what resembles a large cave and hears a voice from inside the mask telling him to put it on. In doing so, Matoro learns of the Ignika's history and how to use it to resurrect the Great Spirit.

Now knowing it is his destiny to sacrifice himself to save the universe, Matoro uses the Ignika's powers to teleport the Toa Mahri back to El Kadsre City before the mask turns his body into pure energy that saves the Great Spirit. Meanwhile, the Maxilos body that Teridax inhabited is found badly damaged after a ferocious battle with the Barraki's armies and is so presumed dead. Mata Nui has been saved but remains asleep.

Cast[]

Toa Mahri[]

Toa Nuva[]

Barraki[]

Allies[]

Other Enemies[]

Supporting[]

Production[]

Filming of Bionicle VII: Sea of Darkness lasted from May 3 to August 26, 1986. Despite the film taking place in underwater and in the underwater basement, some of the rooms of MURC were filmed in Studio 3 of El TV Kadsre Television Centre while MURC corridors, the assembly room, dining room and the underwater scenes were filmed in the El TV Kadsre Filming Lot in Matsunoki and the outside scenes are filmed in Abeta and El Kadsre City. The underwater backgrounds were shot in the southern Arito Sea via the submarine. The exterior of MURC's entrance is the former KFC resturant that was closed three years before production began.

To film the underwater scene, cosplayed actors were tied in belts, connected with ropes painted in the color where it matches the color of the chroma key. In the final shot, the ropes and belts were removed. Three colored chroma keys were used in the movie, were lime green, blue and red. The Rahi, the Gadunka and the other sea species were animated with stop motion, while the submarines and the scene where the core collapse in the movie was CG animated by CiGiWOW using a MWC computer.

The submarines were built by Saba Motors. The Vlokozuian Media Union, the then owners of El TV Kadsre, commissioned Saba EK$500 million (US$324 million) to build 5 massive RVs that resemble submarines and 5 smaller submarines that were actually built from helecopters. To cut costs, out of over 50 submarines that were featured in the film, 10 of which were driveable while the rest were wooden mockups. Following production, one submarine was scrapped while the other is currently on display at the El Kadsreian Filmmaking Museum in Glonisla, while one is on display at the entrance of the El Kadsreian Aquarium in El Kadsre City while two more are on display in Abeta, Mahri.

During production, Deven Elliott married Maja Prebensen in Maja's trailer at the Returned and Services League studios in El Kadsre City, with Naoki Takenaka as the flower girl.

The idea of Hiroshi Yoshimura/Matoro sacrificing himself to save Mata Nui came from Goro Yukimura, who was losing interest in portraying the character.

Despite being credited in the film, the five Turaga, Nuju, Nokama, Matau, Onewa and Whenua weren’t featured in the film. This was due to the contract between El TV Kadsre and the Turaga actors specified they will be credited in all Bionicle films; the contract however was ended after MCA bought El TV Kadsre. Other Bionicle characters like Em, Kouji, Aquila and Darren weren’t featured in the film either and their contract doesn’t guarantee they would be credited in the film.

The film was premiered at the 41st Abeta Festival on June 1, 1987, while the film was released in theaters in the Vlokozu Union on June 15, 1987. It was later released internationally in August 21, 1987 in the United States, Canada and Raland, and in September 1987 in Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Japan.

The film was released on VHS, TVD, Betamax and Laserdisc in November 1987 while the extended version was released in January 1988 as part of the Technic Heroes Extended Pack and alternate version, released in October 1990. Bionicle VII: Sea of Darkness was the only Technic Heroes film to be released on EVD. The film was first released on VCD in 1993, DVD on June 15, 1997 and a Philips CD-i version of the 1997 release was also made. It was released on VHS and Laserdisc in the United States on December 1987 by Vestron Video.

Lionsgate re-released the film on DVD and Blu-Ray in the United States under it's revival of the Vestron Video label in 2018

A DVD release contained within a birthday card was issued by El TV Kadsre Home Entertainment and PartyPlannerz in 2015.

They are differences between the original and European version of the movie. In the original, the song in the dance scene is Holy Word by I'm Talking and the credits song is Face Me by Rinava while in the European version has some scenes in the movies that were swapped and the dance scene is Cccan't you see by Vicious Pink while the credits song in the European version is Crashed, the another song from Rinava.

Accolades[]

Year Award Recipients Result
1987
Golden Mantis Award at the Abeta Festival Pasi Peure Won
Top prize at the Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Film Festival Nominated
VAC Award for Best Film Won
VAC Award for Best Young Artist Naoki Takenaka Won
VAC Award for Best Voice Artist Christopher Berger Won
1988 Razzie Award for Worst Screenplay Sung Gim Nominated
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor Jurou Yamashita Nominated
Academy Award for Best Costume Design Susumu Bramley Won
Academy Award for Best Visual Effects CiGiWOW Nominated


Reception[]

The film received positive reviews from critics. Bionicle VII: Sea of Darkness was one of the most memorable Bionicle films behind Quest for the Masks, Bionicle IV, Bionicle VI, and Bionicle VIII and it grossed more than Bionicle VI: Island of Doom, grossing $912 million at the box office in 2 months, making it one of the highest-grossing films of 1987 unlike Bionicle VI, which only grossed at $767 million. The film holds a 61% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

The film was somehow criticized for focusing mostly at MURC than the Barraki and the Toa Mahri.

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