Terra Formars Live Action Movie ◆ < Plus >

Somewhere on Mars, a 7-foot cockroach is waiting. He knows kung fu. He has a grudge. And apparently, he has a budget cap. Here’s hoping the next adaptation gives him the R-rating he deserves. Have you seen the Terra Formars live action movie? Do you think it deserves a second chance with a big-budget HBO series? Let me know in the comments below!

If you’ve ever played Starship Troopers on hard mode, lost, and then had a nightmare about cockroaches wearing judo belts—congratulations. You’ve basically just imagined the plot of Terra Formars . terra formars live action movie

The manga and anime are legendary for their absurd blend of hard science, historical tragedy, and over-the-top violence. So when Japan announced a live-action movie adaptation in 2016, fans had one burning question: How in the name of evolutionary biology are they going to pull this off? Somewhere on Mars, a 7-foot cockroach is waiting

The solution? Send genetically modified criminals and soldiers to Mars to fight them using animal DNA—think Mortal Kombat meets National Geographic . Let’s start with the good stuff, because the production team clearly loved the source material. And apparently, he has a budget cap

She plays Dr. Asuka Moriki, and she is the soul of the film. Kikuchi (of Pacific Rim fame) brings a grounded intensity that the movie desperately needs. Whenever she’s on screen, you believe this world might actually work. She treats the absurdity with deadly seriousness, and it elevates every scene she’s in.

Spoiler alert: They kind of didn’t. But wow, is it a glorious train wreck worth discussing. Let’s rewind for the uninitiated. In the Terra Formars universe, humanity sends moss and cockroaches to Mars to terraform it. 500 years later, a crew arrives to find the planet green and lush—but the cockroaches have evolved into 7-foot-tall, bipedal, super-muscular humanoids with the IQ of a tactician and the aggression of a cornered wolverine. They are called Terraformars , and they hate humans.

The movie nails the grimy, claustrophobic feel of the spaceship Annex 1 . The lighting is cold, the hallways are narrow, and you genuinely feel trapped. When the first Terraformar shows up, the practical effects and suits are genuinely terrifying. The cockroach men have that uncanny, rubbery movement that CGI often fails to capture. They look like they could rip your spine out.