I am in the middle of watching the Indian film Dariya Dil (1988), which is commonly known as Indian Superman and Spiderwoman. It’s awesome, but I won’t be able to have it finished by tonight or maybe even tomorrow. As a result, I thought I would share four more superhero knockoff movies that I won’t be able to review because I don’t have subtitles for them.
Little Hero (1967, dir. Reza Safai)
This film from India apparently has not only Superman in it, but Tarzan and The Ringo Kid. That also looks like it could be Supergirl. I thought that only the Filipinos knocked off Supergirl. Apparently, even before we did the Helen Slater movie.
Computer Superman (1977, dir. Sompote Sands)
This movie from Thailand is mainly about the Thai version of The Six Million Dollar Man, but also has a host of other characters such as this guy who has giant ears.
Return of Mr. Superman (1960, dir. Manmohan Sabir)
Like Superman a bunch, but wish he looked more like Spy Smasher? No worries. This 1960 Indian film has got you covered. He flies and everything! Strangely, there was another Indian movie that came out the same year with the same lead actor, but was just called Superman. Oh, and yes, I am aware there is a Turkish Spy Smasher, but I have subtitles for that one.
Asi kabadayi/Turkish Wolverine (1986, dir. Çetin Inanç)
From probably the king of Turkish knockoffs comes the movie that has become known as Turkish Wolverine. You could also call it Turkish Rambo Wolverine if you want. I mean he does shoot arrows as well, and is played by Serdar Kebapçilar who played Turkish Rambo. I swear there’s Turkish everything.
Right up front I have to say that this is a big step down from Turkish First Blood. Yes, the actor who plays Rambo resembles the character more than Cüneyt Arkin did. However, what made Arkin so good was his delivery, not his muscles or a more genuinely wounded soldier look. He was intimidating and he made the action exciting. He filled his role with an enthusiasm that isn’t matched even remotely by this Rambo. Oh, and the print I watched had good subtitles, but it looked more radioactive then the set of The Conquerer (1956). Let’s talk about the movie.
Just like the first two Kilink movies, this one opens with the equivalent of a trailer of the movie you are about to watch that seems to seamlessly blend into the beginning of the movie. As such, we are immediately shown this movies Rambo named Serdar (Serdar Kebapçilar). As you can see, he’s got the muscles, and he’s got the I can and will kill you if needed, but I’m permanently wounded inside look about him. We’ll skip the rest of the trailer, cause that’s the rest of the movie. A rest of the movie that is kind of confusing. There is a lot of who is actually working for who stuff going on here. I will try to navigate it, but it’s really just something you wade through to reach the action sequences.
This guy has been given a blank check to just do whatever he needs to in order to stop these bandits/terrorists in the mountains. He arranges a hit on a car so that some of the bandits will get captured. It’s a little unclear to me how this worked since it appears some people died, but regardless, they now have some of them in prison where they are conveniently placed in the neighboring cell to Serdar. They send Serdar and the bandits away to be delivered to the appropriate authorities when Serdar arranges a breakout.
The men he helped escape agree to take him to their leader. Serdar gives them that choice, or death. At this point, I think we are cutting between the military guys and Serdar helping the other guys, but I think the military guys are shooting at them too. Doesn’t matter because we get another scene like in Turkish First Blood where the girl is having trouble getting up the slightest of inclines.
This, the one in Turkish First Blood, and Black Widow’s capture in Avengers: Age Of Ultron (2015) are the least inconvenient character inconveniences I’ve seen since that guy named Julius tried to fight Jason on the rooftop in Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989).
Now Serdar is taken to a home. I’m not to sure about what goes on here, but Serdar kills some people and his love interest comes out of it.
It’s interesting that director Çetin Inanç returned from Turkish First Blood to make the sequel. He’s not the only one who returned.
Super over the top bad guy returns as well. Now the movie really is just a long string of torture scenes before Serdar goes all Rambo on them. In other words, highlights!
It appears that the big bad guy decides to send Serdar out on a mission for him, but that doesn’t really work out. This is when the action largely takes over the rest of the film. Unfortunately, this is like the last 20 minutes or so of the movie. There are a few dialogue exchanges between Serdar and the girl. More highlights!
The flying knife thing makes a return in Turkish Rambo.
With big bad guy dead after excessive use of a rocket launcher, Serdar is congratulated and let go to return to his unit. End of story!
Watch Turkish First Blood first, then go ahead and take a look at Turkish Rambo. It’s nowhere near as good, but it has it’s moments.