Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad

1994

Seasons & Episodes

  • 1

7.1| 0h30m| en
Synopsis

Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad is an American television series. It was produced by Tsuburaya Productions, Ultracom and DIC Entertainment, with distribution by All American Television, and ran for one season from September 12, 1994 to April 11, 1995 in syndication, as well as on ABC. It was an adaptation of the Japanese tokusatsu series Denkou Choujin Gridman which was produced by Tsuburaya Productions. The series was originally going to be named PowerBoy but was renamed Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad to avoid confusion with Saban Entertainment's Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. The series development mirrored the creative construct established earlier with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The master toy licensee -- Playmates Toys—funded the series, interpolated American development via toy licensing rights, and did a commercial buy-in on the Fox Network, where Haim Saban had established a kids block of time with other programs like "Power Rangers." Playmates called upon the development team at DIC. DIC, Pangea and Playmates' marketing group created an ensemble of character names, traits and profiles, which were spun into a most ambiguous series offering. More than anything else, this was a quick-to-market slam dunk to capitalize on the upsurge in popularity of imported Japanese monster-robot shows which could be adapted with new, regionalized live-action footage.

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Reviews

Matrixiole Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.
TaryBiggBall It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.
Arianna Moses Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.
Paynbob It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.
Java_Joe Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad was a short lived TV show in the same vein as Power Rangers. Like Power Rangers it took existing footage from a Japanese Sentai-type show and added North American characters and voices to it. But there's a difference. Power Rangers took itself seriously, SSSS didn't or at least they didn't intend on it. Everything about the show was seeming done tongue in cheek including the cheesy acting and storytelling. Just look at the title. You can't take that seriously. When they have a computer virus that wipes out people's information online, suddenly the people themselves forget who they are. When you have a virus that affects cold as in the air conditioning it somehow turns people's "hearts" cold and makes them bad. When you have them wonder if in another universe that they all speak Japanese, you know they're having fun with the concept. It's very silly when you get down to it.The setup for the show is very formulaic but what do you expect? Something happens to get the bad guy angry and he works with the computer bad guy to create a new virus monster. The virus monster winds up in the school, where all the action takes place, and does stuff. The heroes all transform into their SSSS electronic forms with one being the actual robot and the others as attack ships / add ons for the robot and the robot and virus fight. Robot wins, evil guy is angry and that's that. One bonus is of course Tim Curry hamming it up as the evil guy in the computer. None of the others really went onto anything of note afterwards. So if you're up for some cheesy fun then this might be for you. But please, don't take it seriously.
Dark_Lord_Mark When I saw this, this was the mid 90's and the Power Rangers were kings of kids TV. This is before TV got crucified by the feminists. This was when having a good home was normal and not some social justice nightmare having to do with some made up privilege and patriarchy.Sam Collins is a good kid, who becomes a DIGITAL SUPERHERO. Along with his friends, battle the internet villain known as Kilokan. This show was ahead of its time, as kids barely had or knew about computers. It was and is still a fun series.It is easy to get into, has good young adult moments while never becoming overly preachy. It is what TV shows used to be. There is no CGI overuse if at all any; it's a good clean TV show that deserves more recognition for its overall efforts to entertain.This is easy to find on DVD as of 2017 and should be picked up by all. This to me is an easy recommend and a 10 out of 10 if you know what it is about....superheroes of the digital world, while trying to balance a school and home life.
dee.reid I turned nine in 1994 (in fact, according to Wikipedia, "Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad" debuted on my ninth birthday in 1994), and at that time back then I was still hooked on the likes of Spider-Man, Batman, X-Men, "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles," "Transformers," and "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers." So obviously, "Samurai" was a natural fit into my afternoon after-school/weekend-morning viewing habits.Unlike those other shows, however, "Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad" was the one show I just never got around to watching for some reason. It seemed like it was never on TV, or I always somehow missed it, and it was soon gone before I knew whatever happened (it only lasted for 53 episodes over the course of just one season between 1994 and 1995). Yet, I also collected the action figures this show inspired, and I still have at least one of them in my bedroom somewhere (it's safely stored away in a box in the corner).And thanks to the wonders of TV-on-DVD, this show is now available for the first time on home video, where those of us who grew up in the 1990s can relive all those afternoons wasted in front of the television after school (when we should have been doing our homework instead)."Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad," like "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers" before it, was one of several original Japanese superhero "tokusatsu" ("special filming," or "special effects") TV shows adapted for American audiences in the early '90s and used English-speaking American actors in newly shot scenes integrated with the original Japanese footage. "Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad" came from the original Japanese superhero series "Denkou Choujin Gridman," which I've never seen and am unsure if it has ever been made available outside of Japan. On a side note, "Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad" (and its original incarnation "Denkou Choujin Gridman") were both produced by Tsuburaya Productions, which was responsible for Godzilla back in Japan.Sam Collins (Matthew Lawrence, of "Mrs. Doubtfire" fame in 1993) is a kind and caring, but otherwise normal teenager who heads his high school rock band (as its lead singer and guitar player) Team Samurai - with his three closest friends, the jock Tanker (Kevin Castro) on drums; Tanker's crush, the brainy and tech-savvy Sydney Forrester (Robin Mary Florence) on keyboards; and the curiously strange and intellectual Amp Ere (Troy Slaten) on bass; later on the in the series, Amp was replaced by Lucky London (Rembrandt Sabelis).Of course there has to be a girl in there somewhere, and Sam pines for the beautiful cheerleader Jennifer Doyle (Jayme Betcher), who seems to return his affections. Sam's only rival is the megalomaniacal teen hacker Malcolm Frink (Glen Beaudin), who also vies for Jennifer's affections. Frink later sides with the rogue military program Kilokhan (voice of Tim Curry), to create "mega-virus" monsters that later run amok in computer and electronic systems that go on to cause havoc in the real world.But have no fear, good people, help is on the way...Sam's life takes a strange turn when a power surge zaps him into his computer and he becomes the computerized superhero Servo, based on a high-tech video game character he was developing on the side. Together with Tanker, Sydney and Amp, Team Samurai becomes the Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad - here to save the virtual world AND the real world from all manner of Malcolm and Kilokhan's legion of digitized monsters. And somewhere in there, the teens of Team Samurai have to still find the time to be ordinary teenagers with ordinary teenager problems, like girls, grades, and making awesome music as a high school rock band.I guess I'll be the only person to compare this show to "The Matrix" (1999), which was just five years off at the time of this show's debut. I'll admit that this comparison is superficial at best, but it is worth noting that both the show and the film feature epic battles that take place inside of a computerized virtual world. Of course "The Matrix" had groundbreaking special effects, and this show just had people in elaborate costumes. (I should also point out that this show does remind me of the Japanese superhero shows "Ultraman" and "Ultra Seven," which I also adore.)Either way, I still get a kick out of "Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad" after all these years. It makes me yearn for a far simpler time, when television was much simpler and certainly more entertaining and care-free. It was a lot easier to lose yourself for a half-hour with the Power Rangers or Team Samurai, as a kid growing up in the '90s, than it is now, unfortunately, since these kind of shows don't air on television much anymore.So gear up, and get ready to Kick Some Giga-butt, with Team Samurai and "Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad"!10/10
toastedslipers Superhuman Samurai Syber Squad (also known as Lightning Superman Gridman in Japan) was brought over to the states by DIC in an attempt to dethrone Mighty Morphin Power Rangers after Tattooed Teenage Alien Fighters From Beverly Hills (which also had some very Ultraman like elements to it) had failed.The show, which at times is VERY in line with the source material, is about a young teen named Sam Collins and his three friends who play in a band called Team Samurai. One day Sam is mysteriously sucked into his computer and bonds with an anti-virus program called Servo in an attempt to take out a rouge government computer program named Kilokhan and his lackey Malcom Frink, who supplies him with digitally scanned artwork of monsters which he uses to create "mega-virus monsters" so that they can wreck havoc on the digital world.To assist Servo are "helper programs" that are piloted by his band mates. There's Vitor (a red jet fighter), Borr (a mobile unit with twin drill bits), and Tracto (a tank with two laser guns on the sides). Servo combines with these to obtain powerful armor that transforms him into "Samurai Synchro" in order to better combat Kilokhan's minions. There is also Jamb and Torb, which create "Samurai Phomo". Jamb can also be used as a projectile flamethrower, not to mention that the two can form their own independent mecha. Same with Vitor, Borr, and Tracto.Now do keep in mind that this show came out when the internet was in it's infancy. The show could hardly be called a success in it's home country, but surprisingly it did rather well here. Had it been released or conceptualized a bit later, it probably wouldn't have been just a footnote in Eastern Superhero culture.All in all though, the show is very enjoyable and I'd dare to say that it's even BETTER than Power Rangers, but that's just my own opinion So if you like Ultraman, Megaman NT Warrior, & Tron, then do yourself a favor and seek this show out You WILL NOT regret it, trust me