Turbo Kid - Blu-ray

Movie: The Future! The year is 1997 (!). Our earth is experiencing a never ending nuclear winter after acid rain and nuclear wars. In this world, there are no more laws, no more rules - only violence. Young scavenger The Kid (Munro Chambers) has had to struggle to survive on his own every day since his parents died. He has made himself at home in a small bunker, where he can pursue his love of comic books and find a little peace from the gloom of everyday life. But then he meets the mysterious girl Apple (Laurence Laboeuf), who won't leave his side. Although he prefers to be a loner, something like a friendship slowly develops between The Kid and the more than headstrong Apple. But before it can fully develop, the two kids must stand up to the sadistic Zeus (Michael Ironside) and his henchmen. And now The Kid must show if he, like his beloved comic book characters, has what it takes to be a hero. With courage and an ancient weapon, he faces down the enemy - and the battle for the Wasteland can begin.

Turbo Kid seems like a relic of the '80s. Perhaps a made-in-the-world effort from the legendary Cannon Films forge? The set, the effects and especially the music clearly suggest so. But far from it. The film was recently directed by the trio of Francois Simard, Anouk Whissell and Yoann-Karl Whissellin Canada. It's a really wonderful homage to the apocalyptic B-movies of the 80s, telling an inherently very conventional end-times story in a very original way. Especially at the beginning, as a child of the 80s, you can get lost in the loving set and the great synth soundtrack. Fortunately, the film never takes itself too seriously. Always remains a self-deprecating wink, which is expressed especially in the second half of the film in deliciously exaggerated trash brutality.

But the futuristic adventure plays a very big strength: because despite the really crude effects, the whole thing never degenerates into a pure splatter orgy, but always retains its almost naive charm. This is perfectly captured by Apple, whose strange behaviour is given a perfectly understandable explanation. It's nice that this doesn't destroy the special relationship between The Kind and the girl - on the contrary. From what develops between the two, the directors even manage to develop genuine emotionality in the end, despite all the trash and overacting. And that once again underpins that wonderfully nostalgic overall impression the film manages to leave.

Sure, Turbo Kid may not be particularly sophisticated. But in terms of retro charm, originality, and fun factor, this diverting end-times vision is definitely in the premier league. If you love the classic B-movies of the 80s, you simply can't miss this one. Absolutely worth seeing!!!

Picture + Sound: The picture is dominated by a slightly artificial-looking color scheme in which earthy, dirty tones predominate. The occasionally slightly exaggerated contrasts, on the other hand, actually cause a few minimal point deductions in what is otherwise a very good representation of detail. Overall, though, the visuals capture the atmosphere of the film very well. And the sound, which comes in an occasionally lively DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix, is also convincing with some good surround moments and atmospheric ambient sounds. Good!

Extras: Unfortunately, apart from the trailer and an image gallery, there are no extras of any kind. A shame!

Conclusion: Turbo Kid is a wonderful homage to 80s trash cinema. Brutal yet charming, over-the-top and extremely nostalgic, and just really great end-times fun! The Blu-ray presents the film in atmospheric picture and sound quality. The only downer is that there is unfortunately no bonus material. Nevertheless, genre fans - and especially those who are children of the 80s - should definitely grab here. Absolutely recommendable

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp