(AfroGamers.com) Back in the late 2000s and early 2010s, a lot of media based around 80s nostalgia was made. Films such as Drive became a big thing because of its cinematography and the soundtrack, synthwave/outrun and chillwave were new forms of electronic music which became pretty popular in film, TV, and gaming. Films and shows from the 80s or entirely inspired by the decade started to get more attention.
Introducing Kung Fury
One such film was Kung Fury, starring and directed by David Sandberg. The film, released in 2015, is a time-spanning martial arts short film. It runs for roughly 30 minutes and has a great pace to it where you’d think you simply watched part one of a web-based mini-series. A detective in crime-riddled early 80s Miami is shocked by lightning and bitten by a cobra after witnessing his partner sliced in half by a ninja. The double trauma gives the detective kung fu abilities and he avenges his partner on the spot.
Yes, a lot happens early into the film. Jump to 1985 and Hitler has found his way in modern times and guns down some Miami PD officers through the phone—yes, this movie is pretty outrageous. Hitler, now the Kung Führer is the target of Kung Fury after killing the Chief of Police. He has to rely on Hackerman’s tech knowledge to travel back in time to kill Kung Führer in Nazi Germany.
Mind you, Kung Führer hasn’t been apprehended in 1985. The play is to use time travel to kill him before he travels into the future. After an accidental detour into the ancient Scandinavian times, Kung Fury arrives to face off against Kung Führer and his Nazis.
Why You Should Check Out Kung Fury
Look, it was hard to not entirely spoil the film in four paragraphs because it’s a fun as hell 30-minute short film that moves snappily. This film doesn’t drag at points or have a lull in the action. When there isn’t action, there’s absurd comedy. For this guy, it’s the perfect film because it hits everything I’d want from a film three times the length.
Of course, those are high demands when you’re looking at an hour-and-thirty or two-hour film that has an hour or an hour and change to fill. Keeping that pace for an action-comedy could be possible since the drama portions wouldn’t be necessary or could be shortened—or make it pieces of lore.
You definitely need some lore nowadays but we had Kung Fury’s origins in the first film. If anything, we need to know how Hitler got into the late 20th century when he was supposed to be a pack. I don’t even care why there is a triceratops as a police officer or an aggressive arcade robot—that’s just 1985 Miami. Google that sh**. You had Colombian cartels, robots, roving street punks, and time-traveling Hitler, alright?
So, why should check this film out? First, it’s only 30-minutes, that’s a TV show with commercials or a short weekly YouTube video on your hobbies. To a degree, you wouldn’t be losing much time since Kung Fury actually feels like a shorter watch than it actually is.
The other reason is for the fans of beat ‘em up games. Kung Fury is basically the film adaptation of a late 1980s-early 1990s video game that could’ve existed. It’s Double Dragon, Streets of Rage, Final Fight, and Rival Turf with a splash of Wolfenstein Nazi killing. Off the rip, I love that. I’m not hard to please theme and aesthetic-wise—it’s just the pacing of things where I become a severe viewer.
At any rate, Kung Fury will have a sequel slated to be released in November 2023. From the synapsis, it will feature more time-traveling, another villain, and it won’t be a featurette but a feature-length film. Now, I’m a fan of KF but the feature-length has me a little uneasy. At the same time, I’m extremely intrigued and want to see how this plays out as well as what it leads to for the Kung Fury series.
If you’ve seen Kung Fury, are you anticipating Kung Fury 2? Also, share your favorite 80s-inspired films—action or otherwise—in the comments!
Staff Writer; M. Swift
This talented writer is also a podcast host, and comic book fan who loves all things old school. One may also find him on Twitter at; metalswift.