Turbo Kid is a fantastic low budget independent movie. The
movie is one of the best I have seen all year, and one I would recommend to
anyone who enjoys a great campy 80’s action/adventure exploitation film. The
movie is not in wide cinematic release, but you can find it on video on demand
anywhere. If you have Amazon Prime it is available through their subscription
service to stream instantly. Give it a chance if you are a kid of the 80’s and
want to watch a campy, surprisingly heartfelt, and total gore fest.
Our story is set in post-apocalyptic 1997. Our hero, The Kid
(Munro Chambers),
is a scavenger living in the desolate, acid rain soaked, landscape. He looks for
things to trade for water and food. He lives in a fallout shelter where he
keeps things he has scavenged. He loves the comic book Turbo Rider, and we see
him trade his wares to get more issues when he goes to a make shift trade
depot. While at the depot we are introduced to Frederic (Aaron Jeffery)
local lawman and general tough bad ass. We see him arm wrestling and with a bit
of exposition we find he never loses. Not sure if this was a nod to the classic
Stallone movie, Over the Top, but it’s what I thought of when I saw the scene.
Frederic is classic 80’s hero. He’s big, he’s tough, and he’s Australian. Great
nod to the Crocodile Dundee films. Frederic is fighting the main villain Zeus
for control of the territory. Zeus (Michael Ironside)
is a sociopathic villain who enjoys social niceties. While this tussle is going
on our hero, The Kid, meets Apple (Laurence Lebeouf).
Apple is an overtly friendly girl who latches onto The Kid and follows/tracks
him home.
Apple and The Kid strike up a friendship and it’s this
relationship which ties the movie together. Chambers and Lebeouf have fantastic
chemistry together and turn in great performances. You buy into their
friendship and kindling romance. Their love story is innocent and sweet. It
makes the movie touching in the midst of the over the top fantastic gore used
in the film. Their story and friendship had a twist I wasn’t expecting and made
the film more enjoyable for me personally.
During the course of the movie The Kid finds a Turbo Glove
(Think Nintendo Power Glove that works) which shoots out energy and kills on
impact. The Kid assumes the title of his hero but as Turbo Kid and not Turbo
Rider. He does this and goes to save Apple from Zeus. When he is donning his costume it has an 80’s
montage vibe. The music throughout the movie heightens the nostalgia. It is
classic 80’s music from the opening title sequence to the end credits. Loved it
and would consider buying a soundtrack if they released it. The music and the
practical gory effects roots the movie in classic nostalgia from the 80’s.
The gore, the glorious gore. This movie had so many great
moments of over the top filthy heinous deaths. People losing their heads, arms
and guts. Blood squirting everywhere, much akin to the restaurant scene in Kill
Bill vol. 1. The practical effects are extremely well done, and I loved
watching bodies explode on screen. This movie is definitely low budget, but the
directors put painstaking effort into the action scenes and deaths. They are wonderful
and I laughed and applauded while watching the film.
Along with the gore
the directors did a good job visually of capturing a desolate wasteland with a
lower budget. The world they show seems lonely, and has a Mad Max vibe. No it’s
not perfect, but with a lower budget they did a great job of capturing the
essence of an empty world. What is great
about the movie is that there is more to the world than on the surface. There
is a backstory and history to the environment which could be explored. Yes I’m clamoring
for a Turbo Kid 2.
While I unabashedly love this movie, and will be able to
watch it many times, it does have a few minor issues. The bike chase scenes are
one. They didn’t quite capture the intensity I thought they could. Maybe they
did the best with their budget, but I would have liked just a bit more tension
in the scenes. Also the flashbacks where a bit misplaced. I would have much
rather started the movie with this scene, rather than having it spliced through
the movie. I get what they were trying
to do with some non-linear storytelling, but I would have preferred just a
straight prologue to the current story.
The only other minor quibble is the very last ending resolution. It was
bit too neat for me, but that’s usually how 80’s movies turn out. I think they
could have left it out and it still would have felt like a happy ending.
Turbo Kid is well directed and acted for a movie trying to
be over the top and campy. It’s the surprisingly heartfelt love story which
makes the movie a joy to watch. If you
want to watch a fun throwback to classic 80’s action adventure find Turbo Kid.
Buy it, rent it and stream it. This movie deserves a cult classic status and I
will be buying it whenever it’s available on blu ray. Hopefully it gets talked
about and we start seeing more from the directors Anouk Whissell, François
Simard, and Yoann-Karl Whissell.
My Rating: Must Own
Have you seen Turbo Kid? Did I peak your interest? What are
some of your favorite action/adventure movies from the 80’s?
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