Turkish Superman Arrives on DVD!

It's one of the most legendary cult films of all time, the product of 1970's Turkey -- a time and a place where copyright laws simply didn't exist and western films were being copied and knocked off on miniscule budgets at an amazing rate. A few films from this era have become highly sought after among collectors of b-movie kitsch. Turkish Star Wars is one, Turkish Superman another. And now, thanks to Onar Films Turkish Superman has arrived on DVD along with a surprisingly strong double bill bunkmate, DEMIR YUMRUK: DEVLER GELIYOR (IRON FIST: THE GIANTS ARE COMING).

Let's be straight here, Turkish Superman is by no accounts, by no measuring stick, a good film. It has arrived at its legendary status purely on virtue of how horribly bad it is and how blatant the character theft is. The film was arguably made only because the director's father owned a production company -- a company that got its start by knocking off Tarzan films for the Turkish market -- and featured one of the director's closest friends as the lead, a casting choice that caused some problems when the lead actor was called away for his mandatory military service in the middle of production. The plot line here -- at least in the early going -- is a direct lift from the American film, with the destruction of Krypton directly referenced and the Kryptonite prince sent to earth in a rocket to escape the destruction of his home planet. The only real difference here is that Clark Kent has been renamed Tayfun. He is still an aspiring journalist, still sporting only a pair of glasses -- ridiculously large ones -- to disguise his secret identity. Where it differes from the Christopher Reeves Superman, however, is in the budget available. The opening space scene? Styrofoam balls hanging from strings and stars cut out of tin foil. Flight? Ridiculously obvious rear projection intercut with shots of what just might be an off-the-shelf action figure. The film is stellar in its incompetence, shocking in the audacity of its theft. Also included with this one is a wide ranging, forty five minute interview with director Kunt Tulgar. Print preservation has never been a priority in Turkey and this one is beat to hell but, honestly, it's all part of the fun.

The back half of this superhero double bill is DEMIR YUMRUK: DEVLER GELIYOR (IRON FIST: THE GIANTS ARE COMING), a little known superhero effort from 1973. The pairing makes sense in that both films are superhero efforts but otherwise it seems unfair that this film is being so completely overshadowed by Turkish Superman because it is far superior in every possible way. A throwback to classic action adventure serials this thing has it all! Rival gangs of supervillains, one led by the mysterious Fu Manchu, the other by a heavily scarred monster of a man and his hook-handed sidekick. There are machine-gun wielding bikini babes and a classic playboy superhero no doubt based in some degree on Batman without quite crossing into blatant theft. Most importantly this film was shot by an experienced production crew who, while still limited by tiny budgets, clearly know how to shoot and edit their film for maximum effect, have matched the images with a catchy as all hell soundtrack and just generally know how to tell a story. It's still total pulp but it's very well made pulp that deserves an audience on its own merits. Plus the print for this is in remarkably good shape for a Turkish film of the era.

Check the Onar Films website for more details on these and other Turkish cult film releases ...