Film

Kamen Rider Zi-O the Movie: Over Quartzer

Name: Kamen Rider Zi-O the Movie: Over Quartzer
Genre: Action, Adventure, Science Fiction, Drama
Released: 2019
Cast: So Okuno, Gaku Oshida, Shieri Ohata, Keisuke Watanabe, Yu Inaba

Kamen Rider Zi-O: Over Quartzer is a time-travel action film that caps the Heisei era of the franchise. It's a love letter to two decades of tokusatsu history, dense with callbacks and mythology. For longtime fans it's essential; newcomers will find spectacular stunt work but need significant context to feel the emotional weight.

TMDb rating

3.4

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you already love Kamen Rider's transformation-and-team-up spectacle and want a bright, fan-service-rich side story that rewards knowing the Heisei riders.

Skip it if you have never seen the television series, since this leans on years of accumulated riders and lore and will feel like a crowded family reunion.

What it asks of you: A brisk hour of nonstop transformations and battles, so you must keep track of a crowded cast instead of settling into slow character work.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Kamen Rider × Kamen Rider W & Decade: Movie War 20102009

The original multiversal Kamen Rider film that redefined how the franchise could tell stories. Same time-hopping ambition, similar scope of fan service, and the DNA from which Over Quartzer evolved. A natural predecessor.

But The story is confusing even to devotees, and the pacing can feel lumpy. It demands patience and prior knowledge.

Kamen Rider × Kamen Rider W & Decade: Movie War 2010 poster

Kamen Rider Ghost: The 100 Eyecons and Ghost’s Fateful Moment2016

Shares Zi-O's emotional core: a protagonist learning they're destined for power they never wanted. Stunning practical effects and a climax that genuinely earns its weight. Direct thematic echo.

But At 92 minutes it still assumes you've watched the show. The Japanese tokusatsu aesthetic won't appeal to everyone.

Kamen Rider Ghost: The 100 Eyecons and Ghost’s Fateful Moment poster

Kamen Rider Drive: Surprise Future2015

A compact, self-contained adventure with real stakes. Features similar future-focused plotting and has the same gleeful approach to continuity callbacks. More accessible entry point to modern Kamen Rider cinema.

But The gimmick-heavy plot (every Kamen Rider has a signature vehicle concept) can feel overstuffed if you're unfamiliar with the wider universe.

Kamen Rider Drive: Surprise Future poster

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Kamen Rider Zi-O the Movie: Over Quartzer

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

11.22.632016

Both measure their protagonists against a terrible destiny they're supposed to fulfill. Both ask whether that fate can or should be changed.

An eight-hour miniseries about a man who must live through 1960s America to stop JFK's assassination. Like Zi-O, it asks: if you had ultimate power over time, would you use it? What would you lose in the attempt? The philosophical weight beneath the time-travel premise.

But It's slow, deliberately so. The first three episodes exist entirely in character and setup. Patience is non-negotiable.