The Movies That America Forgot

The Superhero marathon was quite an eye opener. I never realized how expansive the landscape was for these films, and making all of these new discoveries was half the fun. On the other hand, the bummer is all of the movies I haven’t been able to view and review. Either because they haven’t been released on DVD in the United States, or that there have never been English subtitles added to international releases. I find my want list expanding everyday. A few titles I’m searching for…

Night Falcon was a movie released in the Thailand in 2004, and is about a girl who blames the titular hero for the death of her boyfriend. She realizes her mistake, becomes Falcon Girl and teams up with Night Falcon and Falcon Woman to bring down the villain Iron Mask and his cohorts. Not much is known about NF, it seems to have had a decent budget but must not have left much of a mark at the box office. I’d love to see it, if I could get my hands on a subtitled copy.

Falcon is just one of many from around the globe that have eluded me. One Country that loves their superheroes as much as we in the States do, is the Philippines. Captain Barbell and Darna are 2 capes whose film series go back to the 1950s… so far I’ve only been able to find 1 subtitled film for each. There’s also the purple and gold attired Fantastic Man (2003), a young gal named Super B and a host of others that comprise a list that stretches to infinity and… well you know.

From Mexico there is the 1969 comedy The Barefoot Eagle, which is the directorial debut of Alfonso Arau (best known for his portrayal of El Guapo in “The Three Amigos”). Filmed mostly with a hand held camera - it features gangsters, masked wrestlers and a pogo stick inspector who fights crime during his time off. I'd also like to get a hold of the popular Kaliman: The Incredible Man, which everyone from Netflix to Blockbuster says they have, but they don’t. What they really have is Kaliman’s inferior second movie… In the Sinister World of Humanon. The 2nd movie was bad, but stupid enough to enjoy for a laugh. But it’s the first that is supposedly pretty decent.

I’ve had better luck with Italy, though I still can’t locate the sequel to “Kriminal”, and I’ve been frustrated in my efforts to track down a copy of The Three Fantastic Supermen in Tokyo (1967). This is the 2nd movie in the series, and while none of the other sequels I’ve seen have matched the original. I’d still like to see this one (I’ve found it, but not in English). I’m also very curious about a movie released in 1979, called Super Andy, which is about Superman’s ugly brother. I don’t know if it has any merit, but that line alone is enough to pique my interest.

And those titles only scratch the surface. I haven’t even talked Turkey! So the quest continues and I keep my eyes open for anything that’ll pop up with English language dubs or subs.

Come on Falcon Girl, we need you in America... TODAY!