Turkish Star Wars - A Brief History

The 91 minute movie was released on 1982, and IMDB summarizes the plot this way:

Two space cadets crash-land on a desert planet, where an evil wizard seeks the ultimate power to take over the world. Although the movie borrows some background footage from Star Wars, the plot is mostly unrelated.

The plot detail can be found on Wikipedia, with highlights such as:

they speculate that the planet is inhabited only by women. Ali does his wolf whistle, which he uses on attractive women. However, he blows the wrong whistle and they are attacked by skeletons on horseback

and

The three then flee the cave and find a local bar, lifted directly from Star Wars (the Mos Eisley Cantina).

and then

He then leaves the planet for Earth in a ship that greatly resembles the Millennium Falcon.

In July of 2016, AVclub reported that the only known 35 mm print had been located in Turkey, recovered by Ed Glaser, the proprietor of cult-movie company Neon Harbor. Glaser intended to restore the print and release an updated version on Blu-Ray. Presumably, that labor of love is still in the works, but in the meantime, AVclub updated with a story that Glaser had just put together an 8 minute mini-documentary about the original film, including interviews with the creator in Turkey.

According to AVclub, the filmmakers ended up using Star Wars footage after their original props were destroyed in a storm. The film is filled with clips from Star Wars and various other american films as well as bits from news reels of actual rocket launches. The music is also ripped from many American movies, especially Raiders of the Lost Ark.

The video is pretty awesome. Even if you watch it without the audio, the footage and effects are worth the viewing. Seriously. Find the 8 minutes necessary just to skip around and watch the film clips. You're welcome.

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