3 Dev Adam Review
Is Turkey's 3 Dev Adam the most cult of all cult films? It just might be. At the very least this 1973 superhero romp is a solid reminder of the days when copyright meant nothing and - as the pasties will attest - even the Muslim world was swinging. And the saga of how this particular slice of weirdness was resurrected also stands as a reminder that 'fan' is short for 'fanatic'.
Turkey as a nation has always fascinated. The meeting point of Europe, Asia and Africa it is a place where cultures meet and intermingle, where different influences scrap it out for supremacy and forge some truly bizarre hybrids. Helping stir things up in the Turkish melting pot of the 1970's was a complete lack of any sort of copyright laws, a fact exploited by the film industry with cheap knock offs of the Superman and Star Wars films, among others. One of the most peculiar - and sought after by collectors - films of the Turkush B-movie machine of the time was 3 Dev Adam, a title that translates to Three Mighty Men.
And who are these mighty men? Glad you asked! First, we have Spider-Man, referred to only as Spider and dressed in a festive green and red suit here, rather than blue and red, but very definitely Spider-Man. But the Spider-Man of 3 Dev Adam is not a hero. Far from it. He's an international criminal, the key figure in a smuggling and counterfeiting ring that reaches from Turkey to America and Mexico. He's so ruthless that his introductory scene sees him bury a woman to her neck in sand and then back a running motor boat over her head. He takes down mafioso ina knife fight. Those who betray him have their eyes fed to hungry guinea pigs. If there's any doubt to just how evil this Spider-Man is one glance at his eyebrows - enrmously bushy things that sprout from the eye holes of his mask - will clear that right up. And hot on Spidey's trail are the national heroes of both Mexico and the good ol' U.S. of A. That's right! It's Santo and Captain America. And Captain America's rather pointless female sidekick. The heroes hook up with the Turkish police plagued by Spider-Man's crimes and the pursuit is on, leading the heroes through a karate dojo, a sinister international fashion show (held in someone's living room, natch), and an underground strip club whence the aforementioned pasties make their appearance.
3 Dev Adam is essentially the equivalent of the Dozier produced Batman TV show on acid. Played resolutely straight faced it is nonetheless a monumentally ridiculous film loaded with goofy action sequences, bizarre set pieces and absolutely littered with plot holes. The script is the flimsiest of things, existing only to get these three unlikely co-stars from fight to fight. It's as camp as camp gets, a film that aspires to B status, and appreciated on that level it's great fun.
Long sought after by collectors and actively traded on the bootleg circuit 3 Dev Adam has long been considered a lost film,a nd for good reason. All of the original source materials were lost in a fire long ago making existing bootlegs appear as though they would remain the only available option. But no more. Greek label Onar Films - and calling them a label is a generous stretch as it's pretty much just one guy - were such fans of this and other lost Turkish b-flicks that they've gone out and started buying up rights. Rights secured they then gathered up as many prints and sources of the film that they could lay their hands on and assembled a complete version of the film from those elements. It's not always pretty to look at - these prints were in rough shape and at least one scene had to be inserted from VHS when it was found to be missing in all the prints - but it IS watchable, and significantly higher quality than the existing bootlegs. Onar have even gone and rounded up as much of the original talent as possible for the extras, the key of those being a half hour interview with the director and a forty minute chat with the star. Both of those give just a fascinating glimpse into a truly wild west era of film making, a time and place where all bets were off and anything was possible. The film and all special features include both English and Greek subs and the official discs come as part of a number, limited edition run of 1200.
