How the World Remade Hollywood

For decades, filmmakers worldwide have been remaking Hollywood movies in colorful ways. They’ve chronicled a singing and dancing Hannibal Lecter in India, star-crossed lovers aboard the doomed Nigerian ship Titanic, a Japanese expedition to the planet of the apes, and an uncivil war in Turkey between Captain America and a mobbed-up Spider-Man. Most of these films were low budget and many were unauthorized, but all of them were fantastic—and lately have begun to resurface thanks to cherry-picked YouTube clips. But why and how were they made in the first place? This book tells the little-known stories of the wily filmmakers who made an Italian 007 flick by casting Sean Connery’s tradesman brother, produced a Turkish space opera by stealing a print of Star Wars for its effects footage, and transported a full-fledged Terminator to the present day—not from a post-apocalyptic future, but from the vibrant mythology of Indonesia. Their stories reveal more than mere imitations; they demonstrate the fascinating ways ideas evolve as they cross borders.

Ed Glaser is a six-time Telly Award–winning filmmaker and film historian based in Champaign, Illinois. In addition to writing about international remakes, he has restored and remastered Turkish adaptations of Rambo and Star Wars, as well as published the first English translation of Dracula in Istanbul (the 1928 pirated Bram Stoker rewrite that formed the basis of a 1953 Turkish film).

Ed Glaser
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 298
Bibliographic Info: 113 photos, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2022
pISBN: 978-1-4766-8403-1
eISBN: 978-1-4766-4467-7
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments viii
Introduction 1
Why Didn’t They Get Sued? 5
1. Capes, Conquerors, and Comic Books 9
3 Dev Adam (Three Giant Men)  9
Ator l’invincibile (Ator the Fighting Eagle)  13
Darna  16
Kızıl Maske (“The Phantom”)  20
La Mujer Murciélago (Bat Woman)  23
Supaidāman (­Spider-Man)  26
Superman  30
Süpermen Dönüyor (“Superman Returns”)  34
Supersonic Man  38
Tarzan İstanbul’da (“Tarzan in Istanbul”)  41
­Wurideul-ui Chingu Pawo 5 (“Our Friend Power 5”)  44
Yarasa Adam: Bedmen (“Batman”)  48
Zashchitniki (Guardians)  52
2. Muscles, Magnums, and Machismo 56
7 Belalılar (“7 Troublemakers”)  56
1990: I guerrieri del Bronx (1990: The Bronx Warriors)  59
Altın Çocuk (“Golden Boy”)  62
Black Cobra  66
Cellat (“The Executioner”)  69
Den’ D (“­D-Day”)  73
Dhoom (“Boom”)  76
The Intruder  79
Khoon Khoon (“Blood Blood”)  82
Korkusuz (Rampage)  85
OK Connery  89
Qayamat: City Under Threat  92
3. Family, Fantasy, and Fairy Tales 96
Aabra Ka Daabra: The School of Magic  96
Badi (“Shorty”)  99
Os Carrinhos em: A Grande Corrida (The Little Cars in the Great Race)  102
Ge wu qing chun (Disney High School Musical: China)  105
Kuzhandaiyum Deivamum (“Children and God”)  108
Lassie—Eine abenteuerliche Reise (Lassie Come Home)  111
Maugli (The Adventures of Mowgli)  115
Pamuk Prenses ve 7 Cüceler (“Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs”)  119
Os Trapalhões e o Mágico de Oróz (“The Tramps and the Wizard of Oróz”)  122
Vinni-Pukh (“Winnie the Pooh”)  125
4. Monsters, Maniacs, and the Macabre 130
Aatank (“Terror”)  130
Anyab (“Fangs”)  133
Bach ke Zara (“Tread Carefully”)  135
Drakula İstanbul’da (“Dracula in Istanbul”)  138
Kader Diyelim (“Let’s Say It’s Fate”)  142
Kingu Kongu no Gyakushū (King Kong Escapes)  144
L’ultimo squalo (The Last Shark)  148
Mahakaal (“Time of Death”)  151
La Momia Azteca (The Aztec Mummy)  155
Paranōmaru Akutibiti Dai 2 Shō: Tōkyō Naito (Paranormal Activity 2: Tokyo Night)  158
Şeytan (“Satan”)  161
Xingxing wang (The Mighty Peking Man)  166
Zapatlela (“Possessed”)  169
5. Androids, Aliens, and the Apocalypse 174
Baytekin Fezada Çarpışanlar (“Flash Gordon’s Battle in Space”)  174
The Bionic Boy  176
Computer Haekjeonham Pokpa Daejakjeon (Savior of the Earth)  180
Dünyayı Kurtaran Adam (The Man Who Saves the World)  183
Pembalasan Ratu Pantai Selatan (Lady Terminator)  187
Robo Vampire  190
Robowar  194
Shocking Dark  197
Starcrash  201
Time of the Apes  204
Turist Ömer Uzay Yolunda (“Ömer the Tourist in Star Trek”)  208
Uchū kara no Messēji (Message from Space)  212
Warrior of the Lost World  216
6. Outlaws, Outsiders, and Oscar Winners 220
12  220
Akounak Tedalat Taha Tazoughai (“Rain the Color of Blue with a Little Red in It”)  224
Cemo ile Cemile (“Cemo and Cemile”)  227
Fight Club: Members Only  231
Kara Şimşek (“Black Lightning”)  234
Kartal Yuvası (“Eagle’s Nest”)  238
Kılıç Bey (“Mr. Kılıç”)  242
Lim jing dai yat gik (First Shot)  245
Masoyiyata / Titanic (“My Beloved / Titanic”)  248
Pi li da niu (Girl with a Gun)  251
Pyaar Tune Kya Kiya… (“Love… What Have You Done”)  254
Sangharsh (“Conflict”)  257
Sarkar (“Overlord”)  261
Yurusarezaru mono (Unforgiven)  264
Bibliography and Filmography 269
Index 281