Legendary poster artist Graham Humphreys has produced a brand-new quad poster for Dünyayı Kurtaran Adam (AKA Turkish Star Wars, Çetin İnanç, 1982), to celebrate the world premiere of a new 2K restoration. Limited edition prints will be available for sale at two simultaneous screenings on May 4th 2018 – Star Wars Day.
Turkish Star Wars is notorious for the ways in which director Çetin İnanç edited stolen footage from Star Wars (1977) into his own film, along with music from Raiders of the Lost Ark and Flash Gordon. Low-resolution and poorly-subtitled bootleg copies of Turkish Star Wars have circulated for years, leading to its unfair reputation as one of the worst movies ever made.
In 2016, Glaser rescued the sole surviving 35mm print of the film after it was discovered in the collection of a retired movie projectionist in northwestern Turkey. Now, a new 2K digital scan has been made so that the world can finally see the film the way it was intended – and with all-new translated subtitles.
Matchbox Cineclub programmer Sean Welsh says: “People know Turkish Star Wars from internet clips of VHS bootlegs with terrible subtitles, presented with nonsense about how the film was critically savaged when it was released. The truth is Turkey then had a film business with no money, an audience thirsty for daft fantasy films and no copyright law. With this new restoration, you can enjoy Turkish Star Wars for what it is – a wild fever dream of a movie from the Roger Corman of Turkey.”
Matchbox Cineclub’s Glasgow screening is sold out (follow the Facebook event page for unwanted tickets), but tickets for the simultaneous London event, which also boasts a Q&A with Ed Glaser, are still available here.
Turkish Star Wars (2K Restoration) premieres at Centre for Contemporary Arts, Glasgow and The Cinema Museum, London on May 4th, 2018.
Matchbox Cine 