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Superuomini, Superdonne, Superbotte
Three Stooges vs the Wonder Women
Amazons vs Supermen / Supermen against the Amazons / Super Stooges vs the Wonder Women / Three Fantastic Supermen / Supermänner gegen Amazonen / Sie hauen alle in die Pfanne / Amazons and Supermen / Barbarian Revenge / Return of the Barbarian Women / Amazzoni contro Supermen
Italy/Hong Kong/Mexico 1975
produced by Ovidio G.Assonitis, Giorgio Carlo Rossi for A-Erre Cinematografica, Cinematográfica Pelimex, Shaw Brothers
directed by Alfonso Brescia (as Al Bradley)
starring Nick Jordan (= Aldo Canti), Marc Hannibal, Yueh Hua, Malisa Longo, Magda Konopka, Lyn Moody, Kirsten Gille, Sybilla Barbara Hubner, Brigitte Meyer, Genie Woods, Aldo Bufi Landi, Rosanne Ratcliffe, Nadia Russeau, Giacomo Rizzo, Edith Shock, Karen Yeh, Riccardo Pizzuti, Almut Berg, Giovanni Cianfriglia, Paolo Magalotti, Carla Mancini, Nello Pazzafini
written by Alfonso Brescia, Aldo Crudo, music by Franco Micalizzi
review by Mike Haberfelner
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All villages in a certain region are looted by the amazon queen (Magda
Konopka) and her amazons, all but one village, which is under the
protection of Dharma, a masked immortal with superhuman powers ... but
Dharma is actually a bit of a fraud, he is a mere mortal like all the
others, uses simple special effects to make himself seem larger than life,
and he only seems immortal because the role of Dharma has been handed down
from master to student for generations. But only because he's a fraud
doesn't mean his intentions are not noble, he actually does protect his
village from the amazons and whoever else might attack.
Then though, the amazons launch an especially fierce attack during
which even Dharma is mortally wounded - but he lives just long enough to
hand down the role of Dharma to his student Aru (Nick Jordan) and to tell
him to seek the help of two individuals, the superstrong Mug (Marc
Hannibal) and the cunning martial artist Chen (Yueh Hua) to aide him in
not only protecting the village but rid the region of the amazons - in
return they are promised to learn the secret of eternal life (even though
the secret doesn't exist in the first place).
The three men soon meet, but when they try to get help from the
surrounding villages, the generally peaceful villagers outrightly refuse,
and when they return to Dharma's village, they find it looted by the
amazons, with most able-bodied men taken captives.
With trickery our three heroes free the captives and return them home,
but somehow now Aru is captured. Of course, it doesn't take Mug and Chen
long to get back into the village of the amazons and free Aru with the
help of Nila, an amazon girl who has fallen in love with Aru, and back in
Dharma's village, they make up a plan to fight and defeat the amazons when
they next attack - a plan that involves not only military strategy but
also burning oilpits, catapults and flamethrowing tanks made from wood
(!). Of course, Aru and gang and the villagers ultimately get rid of the
amazon invaders, and the amazon queen ends her life in a burning oilpit
... but then Mug and Chen want to learn the secret of eternal life - and
instead of confessing everything is just mumbojumbo, Aru manages to make a
swift escape with Nila ...
A very weird film: A mixture of superhero vehicle - especially due to
the masked lead hero -, comedy - not only because of quite a number
(rather lame) jokes and sightgags but also due to the slapstick soundtrack
accompanying many of the action scenes -, peplum - many of the costumes,
sets and even story elements seem to be borrowed from sword-and-sandal
films from 10 to 15 years ago -, and martial arts flick - but despite the
involvement of the Shaw Brothers and their star Yueh Hua, the
martial arts scenes are rather rock-bottom -, all mixed together in a very
silly way, and quite obviously on a tight budget. The outcome is pure camp
and pure trash, and it's utterly laugh-inducing, if for all the wrong
reasons (none of the intentional comedy works too well).
Of course, the film could have been much better in the hands of a more
accomplished director, Alfonso Brescia seems to be utterly unable to grasp
the irony of his script (or maybe he just didn't care), but it's still a
good laugh for those who can appreciate trash like this ...
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