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3 Dev Adam (Üç Dev Adam; translated as Three Giant Men and sometimes referred to as Captain America and Santo Vs. Spider-Man) is a 1973 Turkish superhero film directed by T. Fikret Uçak and written by Doğan Tamer, based on characters created by Steve Ditko, Jack Kirby, Stan Lee, Joe Simon and Rodolfo Guzmán Huerta, featuring Aytekin Akkaya as Captain America and Yavuz Selekman as El Santo called to Istanbul on a special mission to stop the villainous Spider-Man and his vicious criminal gang.
| 3 Dev Adam | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical poster | |
| Directed by | T. Fikret Uçak |
| Written by | Doğan Tamer |
| Based on | |
| Produced by | Hasan Tual |
| Starring |
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| Cinematography | Orhan Kapkı |
| Edited by | Hüsamettin Üren |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | RENKLİ |
Release date |
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Running time | 81 minutes |
| Country | Turkey |
| Language | Turkish |
The Turksploitation film, which went on nationwide general release across the country on November 1, 1973, was completely unauthorized by the copyright owners of the characters depicted. The film was popular and thus spawned other rip-offs of many other similar major Hollywood productions.[1][citation needed]
Plot
editThe story unfolds in Istanbul with a violent criminal organization led by Spider-Man, a former professional wrestler turned supervillain, lashing out in the city by flooding it with counterfeit money. In a shockingly repulsive act, members of this organization mutilate a woman's face by using a boat propeller. In response to the crisis, a small task force, comprising Captain America, El Santo, and Captain America's girlfriend and sidekick Julia come forth to assist the local police in apprehending Spider-Man and the rest of his gang.
Julia, who successfully infiltrates Spider-Man's hideout, gets captured and transported to a remote location. Despite the perilous situation, she manages to send an SOS signal to Captain America. Taking swift action, Captain America rescues Julia, but Spider-Man eludes capture. Simultaneously, Mexico's national professional wrestler and superhero, El Santo, infiltrates the counterfeit operation disguised as a dojo. After being captured briefly, Santo escapes, carrying some very important incriminating evidence.
Captain America and El Santo embark on a mission to raid a crucial hideout central to the money counterfeiting operation, successfully shutting it down. However, Spider-Man seizes the opportunity to commit further crimes, including killing a couple, stealing a statue, and fleeing the scene. Subsequently, another intense confrontation between the heroes and Spider-Man unfolds, revealing the shocking ability of Spider-Man to spawn duplicates of himself upon spontaneity.
In an attempt to apprehend Spider-Man, Captain America and Santo go undercover in a nightclub, leading to a fierce confrontation with Spider-Man's gang. Overwhelmed, the heroes are captured and taken to Spider-Man's hideout. Displaying clever tactics, Captain America and Santo feign infighting, confusing their captors and enabling their escape. They eliminate most of the gang members, but Spider-Man arrives with his girlfriend.
During the ensuing chaos, Spider-Man's girlfriend is tragically struck by a stray shot from one of his henchmen. Spider-Man flees, with Captain America in relentless pursuit. After a grueling battle, Captain America seemingly defeats Spider-Man, only to be confronted by yet another Spider-Man. The fight intensifies until each Spider-Man is ultimately defeated.
As the heroes prepare to depart Istanbul, Captain America, driven by suspicion, notices a figure resembling Spider-Man sitting in the back of a taxi. Reacting impulsively, he runs to the taxi, then reaches inside and pulls the person's head through the window and then unmasks him, but only to surprisingly discover that it is just a very young boy wearing a Spider-Man professional wrestling mask. The boisterous and poignant twist concludes the very much so action packed tale.
Cast
edit- Yavuz Selekman as El Santo. The primary difference between this version of El Santo and the original is that the character in the film wears his mask only during certain situations as opposed to the original El Santo never blatantly being seen out in the open with his true identity revealed when he didn't wear his mask. He is referred to mostly as Santo during most of the film and is only referred to once as El Santo. His signature costume that he wears during the film resembles mostly his traditional professional wrestling attire that he was very well known for wearing during professional wrestling matches. Santo was very famous during the 1950s, the 1960s, and the 1970s and he was very well known in Turkey.
- Aytekin Akkaya as Captain America. He doesn't have his shield and his mask lacks the wings by his ears, but his entire signature costume is bulletproof. He is shown with only one superpower which is being telepathic and he only used this ability only once during the film. This version of Captain America is depicted in the film as him being a superhero and also as him being a professional wrestler. His signature costume that he wears during the film resembles mostly his traditional professional wrestling attire that he was very well known for wearing during professional wrestling matches.
- Tevfik Şen as Spider-Man. He is depicted as a supervillain with none of his abilities from the comics aside from him climbing buildings and having fighting skills. He paints part of his face white and he has strands of hair sticking out of his eye holes in his mask that resemble long eyebrows. His only superpower in the film is the ability to come back unharmed from death and other dismay multiple times and as well as spontaneous body duplicating in which all that is perceived as him making clones of himself. He is referred to mostly as Spider during the film and is only referred to twice as Spider-Man. This version of Spider-Man is depicted in the film as him formerly being a professional wrestler. His signature costume that he wears during the film resembles very little of his traditional professional wrestling attire that he was very well known for wearing during professional wrestling matches.
- Doğan Tamer as Inspector Orhan
- Deniz Erkanat as Julia, Captain America's girlfriend and superhero sidekick.
- Mine Sun as Nadya, Spider-Man's girlfriend and supervillain sidekick.
- Altan Günbay as Nightclub Owner.
- Ersun Kazançel as Bartender.
- Osman Han as Bouncer.
- İhsan Baysal as Bouncer.
- Ali Ekdal as Bouncer.
- Nilgün Ceylan as The Dancing Stripper.
- Mehmet Yağmur as Bekir, one of Spider-Man's gang members.
See also
edit- Dünyayı Kurtaran Adam – another Turksploitation film that used ripped-off footage, most notably from Star Wars
References
edit- ^ "Fantastik Türk Sineması - 3 Dev Adam (1973 Three Giant Men)". February 1, 2020. Archived from the original on 2020-02-01.