Friday, January 25, 2013

Lost in Translation: Tarkan and the Silver Saddle (1971) aka Moar Tarkan

Moaar Tarkan. Moar movies I don't understand what's going on in. Moar cheap Turkish escapism. Yes, once again I watch a Tarkan movie there are no English subtitles to. Once again we will enter the world of the Hunnish warrior and his dog Kurt.

Once again we open up with a map showing the Hunns arriving in Europe, but this time it zooms in at the Caspian Sea area where this movie takes place. We start with a Hunnic fortification in the desert and a man that might be Attila the Hun coming to visit it (he's in that case not played by the same actor as in the last movie). This man has a blonde woman with him, who might be his sister, daughter or wife or something, who's a sorceress. With the help of a medallion this sorceress put a hex on a Muscle Man who falls in love with her. Under her influence the Muscle Man attacks some other people's fort alone and is caught. So those other people, who I think are supposed to be Alans or something, since I thought I heard that word being mentioned at some point torture the Muscle Man and leave him in the desert to die. The Hunns find him though and somehow he become their leader. He get a wife and a newborn son who is called Tarkan. So this movie is a prequel! Telling the Origin Story of Tarkan!

About the art style of all the Tarkan movies, they are very colorful and comic bookish, in such a way it seems a little silly. Anyway, shortly thereafter the Alans are invited to a celebration by the Hunns, probably due to some diplomatic negotiations. But the Alans betray the Hunns and kill everyone at their fort, except little Tarkan who now is raised by dogs. Some years later Tarkan is a boy and together with his dog brother (Kurt!) he is caught in a village where they tried to steal some sheep. A one-armed Hun who wanders to the village recognize him though due to the Wolf medallion he wears. The One- Armed Man thus help Tarkan and Kurt escapes, and he raises Tarkan. Then an annoyingly loud narrator says something I can't understand a word of, but it seems the wars between the Alans and the Hunns continue to rage on, and the Blond Sorceress from earlier are now some kind of powerful queen among the Alans.

Tarkan grows to adulthood, and start to explore the World. We see some Hunns lead by a silly looking man who probably has escaped from the Asterix comics kidnap some girls and take them to an inn for some raping. Tarkan of course appear and save the girls and kill the Silly Looking Man. One of the girls seem to have a thing for him, but Tarkan does not get pussy tonight, because suddenly the door open and the One Armed Man stumbles in with his back filled with arrows. Tarkan is of for some revenge. Tarkan hunts down the people who killed the One Armed Man and kills them, but is several times caught himself, but his loyal dog Kurt always saves his ass. Tarkan also find and kill a man wearing Leopard Skin who was present when Tarkan's family was killed all those years ago. Soon the Blonde Sorceress tries to bewitch Tarkan too, and sends him down a road that leads to a giant. Tarkan loses against the Giant, and is caught again. Then he escapes from the Sorceress' dungeon, but is caught again in the Throne Room, where the Sorceress have him fight another man with a Wolf Medallion. Tarkan wins, but is put under a spell by a Snake medallion. Kurt saves him again, and Tarkan kills the Sorceress. It then turns out that other man with a Wolf Medallion had been under Mind Control too. However soon after the other Wolf Medallion Man is caught by the leader of the Alans, and is then killed before Tarkan can saves him. But Tarkan kills everyone of the Alans, and thus avenge his people.

I think the Alans in this movie are supposed to be some kind of Russians, considering they look like Cossacks, and seem to like to dance that Cossack dance. Another thing I realized is that the fights were better choreographed than in the last movie, which is very positive. I don't think this one was as strong as the last one, the last one was sure sillier, while this one had a revenge plot. And I think I need more of the silly than the serious when watching a movie I can't understand the language in.

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