Six Angels

In a postapocalyptic world, the death penalty has been revoked. A nuclear test site in America has been converted into "Neo Purgatory," a prison for the worst criminals. The inmates are revolting, even before the Canyon family takes control of the prison to gain access to radioactive material and use it to wipe the world's slate clean. As the USA and Soviet Union face off, and mankind stands on the brink of extinction, a team of nubile young women in ludicrous outfits get an unexpected chance to save them. Doris, Marilyn, Naomi, and Maki are the "Rose Guard," a special police unit out to protect women from male brutality. Katherine is a stowaway on their patrol helicopter when it is shot down by Don Canyon and crashes into the test site. The Angels must now take down Don and his three psycho sons to save the world, with only their cute little rabbit-shaped pet high-grade war machine to help out. You may be surprised to learn that one of the rewards of success is to take over the Oval Office.

Created by Yasushi Akimoto, this movie lines up an experienced staff that knows its stuff. Given all that experience and talent, an end result like Six Angels is both baffling and disappointing-apart from some good CGI, there is very little onscreen to hold one's attention. Of course, the days when shows using scantily clad girl teams as weapons of mass entertainment were the hottest ticket in town are long past, but given the right slant the concept can still fly. Here, it doesn't. A preview/pilot, featuring a larger cast and somewhat different character designs, was prepared roughly a year before the release of the film, leading to differing release dates in some sources. LNV