There are a few certified classics in Turkish science fiction, but Dünyayı Kurtaran Adam towers over them all.

Translated as The Man Who Saves the World, and known to countless film buffs as Turkish Star Wars, Dünyayı Kurtaran Adam utilizes clips from Star Wars and stock newsreel footage of actual space flights, as well as music from the soundtracks of Raiders of the Lost Ark, Moonraker, Planet of the Apes, Flash Gordon, and others.

However, Dünyayı Kurtaran Adam is not simply a landmark work of culture-jamming genius; the acting, cinematography, and script reveals a multi-layered examination and celebration of the finest science fiction films of the Golden Age. Neither Roger Corman nor Ed Wood, Jr. ever dreamed of crafting such a magnificent space opera.

You see, it’s all about two heroic Turkish astronauts who set out to defeat the evil that threatens the Earth. They are forced down to an alien planet ruled by an evil centuries-old wizard, who uses skeletons and zombies to terrorize the populace while he plots a devastating attack on our world (which he happens to be from, originally). Our heroes fight for their lives and their freedom in various gladiatorial spectacles, and resist earthly (or unearthly) temptations; though one is ultimately defeated, the other passes even more heroic trials (including golden ninjas!) to gain the magical talismans needed to defeat the wizard (though the strongest weapon of all, it is revealed, is the human brain).

This short synopsis is barely sufficient to hint at the true depths of Dünyayı Kurtaran Adam’s wonders.

And yes, there’s a Dünyayı Kurtaran Adam’ın Oğlu (a sequel!). This film ups the ante by adding a number of other film sources to its special effects repertoire, though it admittedly suffers from a serious case of the sequel slump (to say the least). Perhaps the third installment in the series, if our prayers are answered, will achieve the kind of glory that fans of the first film anxiously await.
I like to imagine him living in the present day in LA…Like a magical soap opera. He would keep all of his secret talismans in moving company warehouses. Maybe he even wrote one of these Oasis Moving and Storage Reviews.