Catholicism, autocracy, nationality Filipino comics aren’t Marvel refined or even Japanese manga. It's much harsher. If we are to screen a graphic story, then the same language of conventional drawings and “cloud” dialogues, with which it was originally written. No cuts and directorial delights: simply, accessible to the most illiterate peasant, entertaining and instructive. In short, “nationality” in the same sense that was invested in it in the Russian Empire during the time of Count Uvarov. With the other two components of the famous triad, everything is also in order: the autocracy in the person of the wise rule of Ferdinando Marcos by the authors of the comic book was supported with all their might, and as for "Orthodoxy" (in the realities of the Philippines - Catholicism), the superhero is not given by some Krypton, but by Jesus Christ himself. After a long and meaningful prayer.
So entertainment was entertainment, and the content of the film had to be in line with party and government policies. It was consistent. In the rest - the comic remained a comic book, and the adventures of the beautiful guerrilla Darna at one time admired all (from small to large) the population of the Philippines, and now they have become the object of attention of collectors and fans of rare cinema. Especially those in which the role of a superheroine was played by Wilma Santos, who perfectly corresponded to the image of a naive village girl, by the will of divine Providence, called upon to combat manifestations of world Evil, the embodiment of which, however, for the most part, were all kinds of aliens, fantastic monsters and other creations of not the richest human imagination.
In the next series of the franchise called “Gift Against Aliens”, the tireless superwoman fights with aliens from the planet Arco Eris, who flew to Earth to conquer living space for his civilization suffering from overpopulation. There are women who have found eternal youth and now do not know what to do with it. To enslave Earthlings alien Amazons need to capture the best minds of the planet, which, of course, live in the Philippines. But the first villains take captive a simple village boy Ramon, unaware that in love with that undescript, horny-footed simpleton Narda by the will of Jesus Christ was able to turn into the almighty invincible warrior Darna. And they will have to regret it.
Talking about all the vicissitudes of this naive and edifying comic will be boring and unnecessary. Suffice it to say that the spectacle for a man of the XXI century they are very ... funny. But not tedious at all. And then to say – to look at a superheroine in a very revealing bikini is much more pleasant than an incomprehensible creature in a red and blue tights and an ugly mask. And simple combined shootings much better reflect the essence of the drawn story than any computer special effects. Stories such as films about Darna, Mexican Santo, Guatemalan Blue Demon, etc., unlike modern film adaptations, force the imagination of the viewer to work, create their own world in which painted characters could exist, rather than borrowing it ready-made from the screen. And, in the end, they look much more cinematic in their deliberate primitivism.
Of course, the success or failure of such products was largely determined by the choice of the main role. As I said, Wilma Santos as Darna/Narda is absolutely charming. She does not need to be an actress at all. This is again superfluous in the comic book. The conditional hero should be depicted on the screen in the same conditional way. Which is what Wilma Santos does. However, the rustic simplicity and naivety of her heroine also had to be played. And the superwoman on the screen is so direct in both of its hypostases that you inevitably imbue the performer of the main role with respect.
Talking about whether a film like Gift Against Aliens is bad or good is completely pointless. It's highly functional. Amusing not the most demanding audience, the picture clearly and clearly affirms the principles of the totalitarian state. Which, of course, isn't good. But to judge her for this after almost forty years would be foolish. If you discard prejudices and look with an unbiased eye, then naive fairy-tale adventures will remain, filmed simply and without claims. And with this simplicity, they are able to charm a person tired of the tinkering of modern special effects.