The aliens' presence in Narda's village is first made known by way of what appears to be a devastating earthquake. It's no laughing matter, despite the fact that the forced-perspective effects used to bring these rampages to life are so reminiscent of those "I'm crushing your head" sketches from Kids in the Hall. Indeed, much low-rent-gore-infused carnage and melodramatic tearing of hair comes in the wake of the giants' rampage. And no matter how silly that may sound, be forewarned that Darna and the Giants, unlike so many cinematic superhero larks of its day, is no tongue-in-cheek affair. So many, in fact, that you'd think that, by its end, the ground for miles around Darna's village would be covered with a thick paste formed from those anonymous masses of humanity unfortunate enough to have found themselves under the giants' trundling heels. Because an awful lot of people get stomped upon in it. Now that I have seen the film - twice, in fact - I can appreciate even more just how ignominious poor Aling's turn in Darna and the Giants really was. Never content to be on the "out" side of a pop cultural in-joke, this reference - along with the immediately apparent Z movie charms evident in those brief clips from the film shown in Crying Ladies - propelled me on a mission to track Darna and the Giants down. While undeniably funny, I'm sure that this business was even more so to the movie's Filipino audience, to whom both Darna, Vilma Santos and even Darna and the Giants would be cozily familiar cultural touchstones. The payoff to this gag occurs toward the end of the film, when we finally get to see a snippet of Darna and the Giants playing on television, and learn that Aling's role consisted solely of her being unceremoniously stomped upon by one of the film's titular giants. One of the running jokes in that latter film involved one of the main characters - a washed-up aspiring actress by the name of Aling Doray, played by Hilda Koronel - who was constantly crowing about her star turn alongside Vilma Santos in Darna and the Giants. This is the film that provided my first introduction to the screen exploits of Darna, coming to my attention by way of the 2003 Filipino comedy Crying Ladies. the Planet Women, the story centers around a flying saucer load of alien invaders who just happen to choose as their first target of conquest the small rural village in the Philippines where Darna's alter ego Narda lives along with her little brother Ding and their Grandmother. Just as in the previously reviewed Darna vs. Darna and the Giants is the eighth film in the Darna series and the second to star Filipino screen icon Vilma Santos in the title role.
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