Search - Luchadores Enmascarados: Campeones Justicieros/Vuelven Los Campeones Justicieros on DVD

Luchadores Enmascarados!

M. Ruiz | Nu-Jork, Ju-Es-Ay | 04/30/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"These two movies represent the best of this unique blend of genres. The mixture consists of equal parts Sci-fi/Horror, Superhero Action Adventure, Crime Drama and Wrestling Spectacle.

Each "Luchadores Enmascarados" movie showcases great real-life scenes of these master acrobats inside the wrestling ring. They also show them driving cars, sleeping and even kissing girls with their masks on! They wear suits and ties, and masks! There are no alter-egos like in comics, so there is nothing to hide. Yet they wear masks. It's almost as if the masks are a second skin. The mask is worn inside and outside the ring.

These movies were made at the peak of interest in the genre. The editing is B-grade. Production values are low, the story is barely followed through, and although the dialogue is often hilarious, the acting (by the wrestler/heroes) is always very good.

There are three Campeones Justicieros movies. The third one is "Triunfo De Los Campeones Justicieros". The stars are Blue Demon and Mil Mascaras. Both wrestlers had their own series of films to their credit before starring in "Los Campeones Justicieros". They are joined by a team of "second generation" wrestlers such as Tinieblas, Rayo de Jalisco, Fantasma Blanco, among others.

I have many "Luchadores Enmascarados" movies in my collection, and this particular series ranks among the very best. No point discussing plot. These movies are not known for finessing storylines. They are fun and utterly absurd. Cool Superheroes and Sci-fi/Horror plus low budget equals Campy Fun.

Two examples of why these movies are great - In "Los Campeones Justicieros"

the evil Scientist employs "midgets" as henchmen. What's so funny about that? The "midgets" are dressed in masks and capes like comicbook supervillans, and wear huge letter M's on their chests! That's Funny!

In "Vuelven Los Campeones Justicieros" the "midgets" are back. This time in the service of an evil seductress who is breeding a new species of monster - RodentMen! They are dressed in cheesy (pun intended) half-human, half-rat costumes! And they try to look scary! Funny!

These movies are hard to find, even in Mexico. Thank goodness some in the industry are beginning to notice a demand for these old "genre-blending" films. This DVD is very good quality. Simple barebones menus. There are no English subtitles. Its a two-sided disc, which some people might not want. Two-sided discs get scratched sooner than one-sided discs. But if you love these movies like I do it won't matter."

THE SAGA of MEXICO'S JUSTICE LEAGUE

David M. Goode | Yonkers N.Y. | 08/12/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Tag-team wrestling,whether it's the four or six-man variety is the most popular form of pro wrestling in Mexico.So in movies featuring masked wrestlers it only makes sense to boost the box-office returns by having the most popular grapplers join forces to battle the bad guys tag-team style.Thus you get films like SANTO and BLUE DEMON vs.THE MONSTERS and SANTO and BLUE DEMON vs.DRACULA and the WOLFMAN.Some of the more entertaining(as Ed Wood films are entertaining)movies from the Mexiluchahero genre are the Champions of Justice trilogy.This DVD contains the first two chapters from the series.Both films are great psychotronic fun,but I am partial to the initial entry with it's plot that involves a mad scientist and his army of super-strong masked midgets kidapping the beauty pageant girl friends of the movie's heroes.The team of heroes that makes up the Champions in this film consists of the Blue Demon,Mil Mascaras,el Medico Asesino,Sombra Vengadoras and Tinieblas.The second entry is almost as much fun.This time around the mad scientist is a woman and she is aided by a gang of musclebound goons and a masked wrestler named Gato.For back-up she has a squad of half-man/half-rat midgets.The Champions are represented in this film by Blue Demon,Mil Mascaras,Fantasma Blanco,el Rayo De Jalisco and Avispan Escarlata.Okay here's the downside.These movies lack subtitles.So if you don't speak Spanish it may be hard for you to follow the stories.Otherwise the only problem I have with this DVD is that it didn't include the third chapter of the trilogy,Triumph OF the Champions of Justice."