Turksploitation

Turksploitation is a tongue-in-cheek label given to a great number of unauthorized Turkish film adaptations of best-selling Hollywood movies and television series, produced mainly in the 1970s and 1980s.

Der Spiegel labeled these films the "most sympathetic and anarchical subgenre of exploitation film". Filmed on a shoestring budget with often comically simple special effects and no regard for copyright, Turksploitation films substituted exuberant inventiveness and zany plots for technical and acting skill, although noted Turkish actors did feature in some of these productions.

The original soundtracks of the original film or of other Hollywood films were often reused. On occasion whole segments of the original film, such as special effects shoots, were copied into the adaptation.

List of Turksploitation films

Noted examples of Turksploitation films include:

• 3 Dev Adam ("Three Big Men"), 1973. Features two heroes costumed as Captain America and Santo (a Mexican wrestler) a villain costumed as Spider-Man, and reuses the soundtrack of James Bond movies.
• Altin Cocuk ("Golden Boy"), 1966. The Turkish version of James Bond was followed by two sequels.
• Ayşecik ve Sihirli Cüceler Rüyalar Ülkesinde ("Little Ayşe and the Magic Dwarves in the Land of Dreams"), 1971. Based on The Wizard of Oz, it featured child star Zeynep Değirmencioğlu.
• Badi ("Buddy"), colloquially "Turkish E.T.", based on E.T.; the poster also features the Starship Enterprise.
• Bedmen - Yarasa Adam, 1973. Based on the 1960s Batman U.S. TV series.
• Cellat ("Executioner"), based on Death Wish.
• Cöl ("Desert"), referred to as "Turkish Jaws" due to one scene towards the end of the film that resembles Jaws and even uses the theme from the film, but has nothing to do with Jaws.
• Dünyayı Kurtaran Adam ("The Man Who Saved The World"), colloquially "Turkish Star Wars", 1982. Includes footage from Star Wars and reuses the soundtracks of Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, Planet of the Apes, Moonraker and Flash Gordon, as well as the theme music of Indiana Jones.
• Drakula Istanbul'da, an adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula set in Istanbul.
• Homoti, colloquially "Turkish E.T. 2". It is not the sequel to Badi.
• Kara Simsek, based on Rocky.
• Kelepce, 1982. Based on Dirty Harry and featuring Cüneyt Arkın.
• Korkusuz ("Fearless"), 1986. Based on Rambo II and one of the few Turksploitation productions available on DVD.
• Ölüm Savaşçısı ("Death Warrior"), a 1984 film belonging to the ninja exploitation genre.
• Ramo, based on Rambo.
• Seytan ("Satan"), 1974. A scene-by-scene remake of The Exorcist, reusing the original soundtrack.
• Supermen Dönüyor ("Superman Returns"), based on Superman.
• Turist Ömer Uzay Yolunda ("Ömer, the tourist in Star Trek"), 1973. Based on an episode of the TV series, this first film adaptation of Star Trek preceded the official Star Trek: The Motion Picture by six years.
• "Tayomonstras", 2006. Based on Transformers
• Vahsi Kan ("Wild Blood"), based on First Blood.