The main benefit of this adventure movie with plentiful kung-fu fights is the eponymous hero's way of kicking and beating as many villains as possible. Kara Murat uses an unusual martial art to accomplish his mission- to defeat an evil governor of certain district of Turkey,whose assassins kidnapped Kara Murat's brother and killed brother's wife. Although there is very little blood or gore present in all fight scenes, some techniques employed by Kara Murat bring a new perspective to the genre of kung-fu films. Our action hero seems to be capable of levitation as his whole body in horizontal position hits villains and puts them to sleep. Karat Murat also possesses extraordinary strength that allows him to throw enemies around and a specific sense of humor resulting in various comedic action scenes such as a villain's pants falling down and revealing the naked truth after the stroke of Kara Murat's sword, Kara Murat using vegetables as weapons or a bad guy having his set of false teeth removed during a confrontation.Another thing worth mentioning is a character entitled "Angel Face", an incredibly tall and ugly villain who eventually becomes Kara Murat's ally. All in all, despite some technical shortcomings and a cameraman's shadow clearly visible on one occasion, the creators succeeded in putting together an enjoyable action-adventure with a dash of comedy,kung-fu and Ali Baba's Forty Thieves.
2 Reviews
Unconventional style of kung-fu makes this worth watching
unclehugo13 October 2007
Warning: Spoilers
In a way fascinating, but overall simply not a good movie
Horst_In_Translation8 September 2022
Warning: Spoilers
"Kara Murat: Seyh Gaffar'a Karsi" or just "Karamurat" is a co-production between Turkey and Italy that resulted in this film that is in the Turkish and German language. I am not too sure about the latter, but I watched the German dub, so it kinda makes sense. The film runs for slightly under 1,5 hours, so it is not a very long film, but still among the longest from the Kara Murat series. I will get to that in a second. For now, let us look at the people who came up with this film behind the scenes. The director was Natuk Baytan and he was incredibly prolific during his career. The same can be said about Erdogan Tünas, who was maybe even more prolific. The exact opposite is Nick Tamil, who only has one writing credit, namely this film. Then there is Ernst Hofbauer also credited as director and the inclusion of him is never really a good sign when it comes to credits of a movie and finally writer Géza von Cziffra who was also, like Tünas, an incredibly prolific writer and his body of work is not as weak as Hofbauer's you can surely say. The star of this film is Cüneyt Arkin, who was really famous in Turkey, maybe still is and he died really not long ago. A big star down there, even if in other countries almost nobody has heard of him. He was slightly under 40 when he shot this film and it is up to you to decide if he looks younger or older. I would say a bit older maybe, but not much. He made a handful Karamurat movie in the 1970s and this is not the first or the final film, but maybe one of the most known, even if it is surprisingly difficult to find compared to some of the others. With the rest of the cast, I cannot really say too much. Daniela Giordano is maybe the most famous from them thanks to the other works she has appeared in which also include softcore adult films and this is perhaps where most have seen her. She plays the female character with the most screen time here. More memorable to me was Necla Fide. It is tough to find a lot about her, but I think she played the title character's love interest, even if we do not see anything really specific in terms of romance between Kara Murat and this apple-selling girl.
The male actors, there is definitely a higher quantity, but I cannot say a lot about them at all. Maybe, the really tall fella is the one that stays in the mind the most, even if his story was strange too. He serves the bad guy, then has a fight with Kara Murat and realizes he is inferior, even if not as much as all the others fighting Kara Murat, and then from that moment on he is Kara Murat's buddy and supports him. So if Kara Murat is a Turkish James Bond, then this guy is a bit of Jaws you could say. I would not say they stole the idea, but the parallel is impossible to ignore if you know and like Bond. Of course, Kara Murat never deals with guns and same applies to his antagonists. At least with this film here. I have not seen any of the others and that was probably a good decision. So the gunless fighting is more of a Bud Spencer reference then maybe. I got to watch this film on the occasion of a cinema showing linked to a German series that shows the worst films of all time. That is the literal translation. I am not sure I would go so far and say this was a really abysmal movie (as you can see from my rating), but it was surely poor in terms of realism for the most part. I am not sure if the flaws were intentional here or if the film actually took itself seriously. If the former is true, then it is all good. If the latter is the case, then boo and four out of ten is still too much. I am afraid, it is the latter though. Had they really wanted to keep it light, they would have excluded the scenes of a female character being dead or sons about to die as sacrifice, even if none of this was graphic. They wanted everybody to see this film. Not the wisest choice maybe though if you are among those in the audience. Unless you go for this film with the intention to see a comedy.
There were many scenes that had some (un?)intentional irony to them. Also without Kalkofe and Rütten emphasizing these moments. It all started with one character called Lotar. I checked and the h is missing, but everybody during the showing was wondering why there is a Turkish character carrying the very German name Lothar. This character also strangely started attacking our hero here on one occasion when we thought before that that he was a prisoner and held captive by the bad guy. The explanation comes towards the end when Kara Murat fights a gang of Asian drug traders apparently. So there is not just the main antagonist here with his helpers, but also other villains like said Asians and also before that in the first half Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. Indeed. They took this mythical name, at least Ali Baba, and used it for this not exactly mythical movie. Quite embarrassing. Another inclusion that makes you think that the film really took itself (way too) seriously. Other scenes memorable not for the right reasons were those featuring Giordano. No matter if It was her topless dancing on a few occasions where her body was nice, but the scenes were still a mess, or the scene in which she orders her men to beat a boy to death, there was nothing as memorable to the character as they wanted her to be. The latter mention was pretty sadistic in a really funny way with how she was letting it all out there. Of course, said boy is saved by our hero and the two become friends and Kara Murat says initially that the boy should not follow him, but agrees immediately after for him to do exactly that. Another bizarre moment.
The perhaps worst or most bizarre moment includes Giordano again as well, not with her talking this time, but we hear Kara Murat make a statement about how her character is also just a dangerous leader if she gets into power and actually worse than the real antagonist. Why? Because she is a woman. Yep, that is indeed a specific quote from the film. Not kidding. Things were different back then in the 1970s when statements like this were made by the heroic character of the story. Then again, if you look at where the film is set, you could argue that not too much has changed from this perspective in the last almost 50 years. Kinda fitting though that Kalkofe was dishing out random parallels to Putin and not to Turkey as he should have, but no surprise here that he once again took the convenient route. This was maybe the worst aspect from this showing. This does not have to do directly with the movie though, so no further elaboration. Instead, I will just talk a bit about some other scenes now that stayed in the mind, even if it was not always (actually, never) for the right reasons. The final shot there with the good guys standing next to each other when their mission is complete was a bit strange too. Almost Avengers-style? I already mentioned the scene in which we have the supporters of the villain ready to sacrifice their sons for him. That was so bizarre. They do not go through with it, but still and also why was one of the boys laughing kind of? The scene with the soldier ready to jump to death or cripple status that followed immediately afterwards was not any better, especially how the actor behaved there when on the ground. There were one or two other slightly cringeworthy sequences in which characters, always the ones belonging to the villain, were dying and the acting was almost always over the top. Or also when one character is not killed, but injured and maybe also not too severely when he cries something out and talks about the pain in his balls. This was so Hofbauer really. But those were at the same time the scenes where you could laugh a lot when watching this movie.
Same is true for some of the fight sequences. Kara Murat is jumping like crazy throughout the air in this film. Very bizarre what we see from him. His physicality is undeniable and the actor was in good shape for sure, but still. It just did not feel right, also the scene when he rides a horse early on. Maybe this was not Arkin's biggest strength. I just realize the last name is almost like Fatih Akin, which makes sense for them both with a similar regional background, but it confuses me a bit that the last name is the same like Alan Arkin's. That, however, does not make sense as the latter has zero connection to Turkey I am sure. Okay, what else can there be said about this film? I find the idea that there are around half a dozen others out there that are maybe on the same level a bit worrying and embarrassing, but it seems that especially Turkish audiences back then really enjoyed the character and his stories, not just in the movies. The character originated from a comic strip before becoming a national hero. I guess this is it then. There are many other inclusions and references here like the sex scene between Giordano's and Arkin's character where the latter was somewhat drugged that one could talk about and elaborate on, but I think it is enough now. Oh wait, one inclusion that was somewhat serious, but also actually very funny was when some of the bad guy's soldiers come to him and they failed to stop Kara Murat and they said they are not worthy of their master and leader and they ask him to kill them and he says he does not have time for that, but not because he is caring and supportive and trustful of his men, but because he really has other stuff on his mind. So he asks them if they cannot do it themselves and commit suicide and I think that is exactly what they do then. It was all very awkward as a whole. No clue what they were thinking going through with some of the scenes here. As you can see from my rating, I do not give the film a positive recommendation and I am also surprised that the imdb rating is north of 5.0 as a whole. More serious film critics could really tear it to pieces I am sure, but I must say I enjoyed it with the guilty pleasure approach and the SchleFaZ episode also gets a thumbs-up from me.
The male actors, there is definitely a higher quantity, but I cannot say a lot about them at all. Maybe, the really tall fella is the one that stays in the mind the most, even if his story was strange too. He serves the bad guy, then has a fight with Kara Murat and realizes he is inferior, even if not as much as all the others fighting Kara Murat, and then from that moment on he is Kara Murat's buddy and supports him. So if Kara Murat is a Turkish James Bond, then this guy is a bit of Jaws you could say. I would not say they stole the idea, but the parallel is impossible to ignore if you know and like Bond. Of course, Kara Murat never deals with guns and same applies to his antagonists. At least with this film here. I have not seen any of the others and that was probably a good decision. So the gunless fighting is more of a Bud Spencer reference then maybe. I got to watch this film on the occasion of a cinema showing linked to a German series that shows the worst films of all time. That is the literal translation. I am not sure I would go so far and say this was a really abysmal movie (as you can see from my rating), but it was surely poor in terms of realism for the most part. I am not sure if the flaws were intentional here or if the film actually took itself seriously. If the former is true, then it is all good. If the latter is the case, then boo and four out of ten is still too much. I am afraid, it is the latter though. Had they really wanted to keep it light, they would have excluded the scenes of a female character being dead or sons about to die as sacrifice, even if none of this was graphic. They wanted everybody to see this film. Not the wisest choice maybe though if you are among those in the audience. Unless you go for this film with the intention to see a comedy.
There were many scenes that had some (un?)intentional irony to them. Also without Kalkofe and Rütten emphasizing these moments. It all started with one character called Lotar. I checked and the h is missing, but everybody during the showing was wondering why there is a Turkish character carrying the very German name Lothar. This character also strangely started attacking our hero here on one occasion when we thought before that that he was a prisoner and held captive by the bad guy. The explanation comes towards the end when Kara Murat fights a gang of Asian drug traders apparently. So there is not just the main antagonist here with his helpers, but also other villains like said Asians and also before that in the first half Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. Indeed. They took this mythical name, at least Ali Baba, and used it for this not exactly mythical movie. Quite embarrassing. Another inclusion that makes you think that the film really took itself (way too) seriously. Other scenes memorable not for the right reasons were those featuring Giordano. No matter if It was her topless dancing on a few occasions where her body was nice, but the scenes were still a mess, or the scene in which she orders her men to beat a boy to death, there was nothing as memorable to the character as they wanted her to be. The latter mention was pretty sadistic in a really funny way with how she was letting it all out there. Of course, said boy is saved by our hero and the two become friends and Kara Murat says initially that the boy should not follow him, but agrees immediately after for him to do exactly that. Another bizarre moment.
The perhaps worst or most bizarre moment includes Giordano again as well, not with her talking this time, but we hear Kara Murat make a statement about how her character is also just a dangerous leader if she gets into power and actually worse than the real antagonist. Why? Because she is a woman. Yep, that is indeed a specific quote from the film. Not kidding. Things were different back then in the 1970s when statements like this were made by the heroic character of the story. Then again, if you look at where the film is set, you could argue that not too much has changed from this perspective in the last almost 50 years. Kinda fitting though that Kalkofe was dishing out random parallels to Putin and not to Turkey as he should have, but no surprise here that he once again took the convenient route. This was maybe the worst aspect from this showing. This does not have to do directly with the movie though, so no further elaboration. Instead, I will just talk a bit about some other scenes now that stayed in the mind, even if it was not always (actually, never) for the right reasons. The final shot there with the good guys standing next to each other when their mission is complete was a bit strange too. Almost Avengers-style? I already mentioned the scene in which we have the supporters of the villain ready to sacrifice their sons for him. That was so bizarre. They do not go through with it, but still and also why was one of the boys laughing kind of? The scene with the soldier ready to jump to death or cripple status that followed immediately afterwards was not any better, especially how the actor behaved there when on the ground. There were one or two other slightly cringeworthy sequences in which characters, always the ones belonging to the villain, were dying and the acting was almost always over the top. Or also when one character is not killed, but injured and maybe also not too severely when he cries something out and talks about the pain in his balls. This was so Hofbauer really. But those were at the same time the scenes where you could laugh a lot when watching this movie.
Same is true for some of the fight sequences. Kara Murat is jumping like crazy throughout the air in this film. Very bizarre what we see from him. His physicality is undeniable and the actor was in good shape for sure, but still. It just did not feel right, also the scene when he rides a horse early on. Maybe this was not Arkin's biggest strength. I just realize the last name is almost like Fatih Akin, which makes sense for them both with a similar regional background, but it confuses me a bit that the last name is the same like Alan Arkin's. That, however, does not make sense as the latter has zero connection to Turkey I am sure. Okay, what else can there be said about this film? I find the idea that there are around half a dozen others out there that are maybe on the same level a bit worrying and embarrassing, but it seems that especially Turkish audiences back then really enjoyed the character and his stories, not just in the movies. The character originated from a comic strip before becoming a national hero. I guess this is it then. There are many other inclusions and references here like the sex scene between Giordano's and Arkin's character where the latter was somewhat drugged that one could talk about and elaborate on, but I think it is enough now. Oh wait, one inclusion that was somewhat serious, but also actually very funny was when some of the bad guy's soldiers come to him and they failed to stop Kara Murat and they said they are not worthy of their master and leader and they ask him to kill them and he says he does not have time for that, but not because he is caring and supportive and trustful of his men, but because he really has other stuff on his mind. So he asks them if they cannot do it themselves and commit suicide and I think that is exactly what they do then. It was all very awkward as a whole. No clue what they were thinking going through with some of the scenes here. As you can see from my rating, I do not give the film a positive recommendation and I am also surprised that the imdb rating is north of 5.0 as a whole. More serious film critics could really tear it to pieces I am sure, but I must say I enjoyed it with the guilty pleasure approach and the SchleFaZ episode also gets a thumbs-up from me.
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