Kung Fury (2015)

It feels kind of odd to be writing about, and advocating for viewing, a thirty-minute action film featuring Viking women riding dinosaurs, Nazis, David Hasselhoff, a Nintendo Power Glove, Thor (not the Avengers variety), and a “Triceracop.” But this movie is irresistible for pop culture fanatics and lovers of all things ’80s and cheesy; it packs in as many tropes and nods to the genre and era as is humanly possible.

So many current films are saturated in pastiche, references and mash-ups abound, and consciously “bad” movies are in. This one stands out from the crowd, and it’s hard to pinpoint exactly why. Maybe because it’s an independent crowd-funded labor of love, it could be the sheer number of homages delivered in an incredibly entertaining way, or the fact that it is actually a well-made, funny film (especially considering the budget). The bottom line is, if you’re in the mood for over-the-top nonsense, don’t watch another Sharknado; Kung Fury will satisfy all your Z-movie desires. The stuff from SyFy pales in comparison to this action movie love letter.

Like all great superheroes, Miami police detective Kung Fury has an extraordinary origin story: after his partner is killed by a ninja in the early 1980s, he is simultaneously struck by lightning and bitten by a cobra, and the combination of these two great forces of nature gives him crazy kung-fu powers. Cut to 1985, and a time-traveling, martial arts obsessed Hitler guns down the police chief to lure Kung Fury out and attempt to steal his ancient superhuman strength. Now he must enlist the help of the greatest computer hacker in the world to hack through time, stop Hitler, and settle the score once and for all.

Swedish music video director and visual artist David Sandberg envisioned making a crazy ode to everything great about 1980s action movies, video games, and pop culture in general, so he quit his job in 2012 to work on the project full time. After the trailer he released on YouTube went viral, Sandberg turned to Kickstarter to help realize his vision. He received three times the original goal amount (over $630,000 from 17,000 donors), and the film grew in scope. Some backers pledged up to $10,000 for a role in the movie, and Sandberg ended up with forty people coming to his small town from all over the world. Some stayed at his mom’s, others in his grandma’s garage, and one guy ended up hanging out for three months. He finished the film and released it on YouTube in May of 2015.

This all serves to highlight one of reasons why people have connected to this film (over 21.6 million as of this writing): it feels like it comes from a genuine place. It’s not merely an attempt to cash in on the current ’80s nostalgia; the film was given away for free to anyone who wanted to see it. This is a movie made by someone who just wanted to make something really cool; there’s no pretension, no hipster irony, and it is not profit-driven. Even with the copious amount of insanity, Kung Fury is one of those films where love and dedication radiates from the screen.

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