10 Underrated Science Fiction Movies You Must See

Once again, one of the great things about science fiction is its range: how it can encompass high drama, lofty themes and sophisticated ideas... or, at the other end of the spectrum, low-brow, theatrical, Saturday morning cartoon-ish fun. 1991's The Guyver clearly belongs in the latter category.

A live-action adaptation of Yoshiki Takaya's manga Bio Booster Armor Guyver, it stars Jack Armstrong as a young, fairly dim martial arts student who is unwittingly fused with a piece of extra-terrestrial technology that turns him into the Guyver, a deadly living weapon.

Originally released in Europe as Mutronics, The Guyver is notorious for featuring Star Wars legend Mark Hamill in a supporting role, and as a result being mis-marketed to suggest he was the lead. Ultimately, there's only one real star here, and that's the spectacularly weird practical FX work.

There's no denying that The Guyver is an extremely camp, corny, juvenile affair, often coming off like an unusually violent and gory episode of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers; something which has long displeased fans of the darker, less comedic source material (hence the 1994 sequel Guyver: Dark Hero toned down the camp).

However, it's still tremendous fun, and there's something very rewarding about a film which includes so many bizarre, body-morphing effects almost entirely via practical means, with no CGI. Much of this FX work was overseen by the film's co-director, the gloriously named Screaming Mad George.