Golden King (lost Taiwanese tokusatsu film; 1976)

Theatrical poster for Golden King.

Status: Lost

Golden King (金霸王, Jīn bàwáng, lit. "Golden King") is a 1976 Taiwanese tokusatsu film directed and written by Chung Gwok-Hang (Dragon, Tiger, And Phoenix, The Lightning of Bruce Lee) and starring Henry Lu Yi-Lung, Tsuo Chuan-Chuan, Yang Yang, Pauline Wan Bo-Lin, and Cheng Peng.

Background

Around 1976, there was a boom in Tokusatsu films in Taiwan likely spurred by the Taiwanese theatrical releases of The Super Infra-Man and Hanuman And The Seven Ultramen. This resulted in a number of Tokusatsu films being produced in Taiwan, with notable examples being Mars Men, The Super Riders Vs. The Devils, God Of War, and The Iron Superman. Golden Kingborrowed footage from Triple Fighter, a TV show produced by Tsuburaya Productions, and inserted new footage with Taiwanese actors with a plot that may have been similar to the TV show it borrowed footage from. Due to there being a character resembling Ultraman Ace, another Tsuburaya Productions character, It is possible that the film also borrowed footage from the series Ultraman Ace. The film was produced by Hexin Film Industry Co. and distributed by IFD Film And Arts., with it being released theatrically in Taiwan in 1976.

Availability

Despite there being no current evidence to show that the film was released on home media, exported to another country, or that any prints still exist, It has never been outright confirmed by any reliable sources that all prints of the film have been either destroyed or damaged beyond repair. However, the evidence listed beforehand and the film's general obscurity have also played a part in why the film has remained lost for as long. The only digitally available media related to the film is a scan of the poster and a couple of newspaper ads promoting its release.

Gallery

<gallery mode=packed heights=175px> GoldenKingnewspaperad1.jpeg|Taiwanese newspaper ad GoldenKingnewspaperad2.jpeg|Taiwanese newspaper ad

References

1. https://hkmdb.com/db/movies/view.mhtml?id=11537&complete_credits=1&display_set=eng 2. https://web.archive.org/web/20150407052635/http://pulolesu2.web.fc2.com/mars1.html 3. https://web.archive.org/web/20150406091047/http://www.taiwancinema.com/ct_18548_38