In Hollywood, considering its current obsession with doing remakes, recycling hasn’t proven an unmitigated success. So a recent film from the Philippines is taking a different tack. Resiklo [aka Recycle] (Philippines-2007; dir. Mark A. Reyes) may be recycling tropes as old as the hills, but the SFX-heavy scifi epic is also rather unusual for the local film industry and has a plotline that is all about recycling. Alien invasion, post-apocalyptic rebellion and giant robots made from recycled junk: that’s the deal.
Click the image above for the full “wallpaper” version
Synopsis:
2021. A global devastation that was brought about by an alien invasion has left the planet in shambles. In the Philippines, a rag-tag group of survivors strives to survive in a secret sanctuary called “Paraiso”. Crisval Sarmiento, an ex-military colonel, is the reluctant leader that defends the whole compound from two threats: that of the “Mutanos” or mutated humans serving the insect-like alien race (aptly called “Balangs” by the humans) and the alien invaders themselves.
Crisval, together with other human survivors, soon discovers the real reason that the “Balangs” have invaded the Earth … the conversion [read “recycling”] of humans to serve their needs. In order to survive, the remains of the human race must go up against a technologically-advanced alien race using robots they have engineered from recycled parts of derelict everyday machines and military components.
In the midst of this war for human survival, love and faith become the greatest weapons we have.
Is the film any good? Well, reports from fans have been mixed (though as many of those are based on the viewing of poor-quality pirated copies, it’s hard to take them seriously), but critics have been more positive and the film won the 33rd Metro Manila Film Festival Best Picture Award in 2007. Resiklo is now on official DVD (from Star Home Video, a Philippines-based company), so we’ll be able to see for ourselves — in a decent format (assuming your player can manage Region 3 DVDs, I assume).
Below is a collection of stills, behind-the-scenes shots and robot designs:
Gallery:
For even more pictures, see the film’s official website Photo Gallery pages.
- Source: Official website via Kaiju Search-Robot Avery
