The True Story Of 'Turkish Star Wars'
The 1982 Turkish film Dünyayı Kurtaran Adam (English: The Man Who Saved the World) appears to have no relation to the most famous cinematic saga in the United States. However, after watching it, you would realize why it is called Turkish Star Wars as the movie uses unlicensed stock footage from Star Wars: A New Hope! Ever wondered how this came to be, and how this entire film came to be? Well, Ed Glazer’s Deja View web series has given us some insight into this movie, and it is an interesting tale, to say the least.
It started a long time ago, in a country far, far away…In the 1980s, the September 12 coup had just brought an end to the golden age of Turkish cinema (Yeşilçam) with television rising to take its place. Turkish cinema, however, was not dead, and Anıt Film was in the middle of an eight-picture deal with action star Cüneyt Arkın. It was then that director Çetin İnanç began to envision the concept for the film after being inspired by The Empire Strikes Back. As political subjects were off limits, he decided that a science-fiction action flick would serve as a good semester break film for kids.
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With a budget equivalent to $300,000, about double their usual budget, the crew set about building outdoor spaceship sets only to have a storm wipe out all of their work. With much of their budget wasted, Anıt Film made a move that they absolutely would not get away with today. They “borrowed” a film reel of Star Wars from a film distributor and made copies of the shots he wanted. With the space footage out of the way, they sought to further the illusion by projecting the space scenes behind the actors wearing helmets. However, the editing errors and differences in quality were very obvious.
The Death Star assault scene was projected on a screen behind the actor
Though the footage came from Star Wars, the story was not. It was centered around two pilots stranded on a desert planet, fighting against its satanic ruler, “The Wizard.” The monsters were taken from a variety of sources, from sci-fi staples like a Robby the Robot-like robot, and a variety of multi-colored yeti-like creatures, whose costumes get shredded during every fight scene and have to be restitched before the next day’s shooting. A quest for holy relics rounded out the plot line.
The film was a huge hit in its home country. Kids rejoiced at seeing their first Turkish space pilot. The crew used the money they earned to work out their financial troubles, even purchasing the offices they had been renting up until this point. The Man Who Saved the World turned out to be the man who changed Çetin İnanç’s world. However, the movie remained under the radar until bootleggers brought it to the United States. Its low budget, tripped visuals, and over-the-top story led to a cult following.
There was a sequel, Dünyayı Kurtaran Adam'ın Oğlu (literally The Son of the Man who Saved the World), which was more of a comedy film than the original. Sadly, Cüneyt Arkın passed away last year, but his legacy will live on thanks to Turkish Star Wars and others.
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Source(s): YouTube