The Man Who Saves the World
2018 · RESTORATION
Known to generations of cult-film fans as “Turkish Star Wars,” The Man Who Saves the World (1982) is one of the most infamous and beloved genre films ever made. Directed by Turkish exploitation master Çetin İnanç and starring action icon Cüneyt Arkın, it’s an adventure filled with space battles, skeleton armies, furry monsters, and kung fu fights—not to mention footage and music from a dizzying array of Hollywood productions. The result is a film so inventive and chaotic that it became a worldwide cult sensation decades after its original release.
In 2018, Ed Glaser completed the first-ever 2K restoration and reconstruction of The Man Who Saves the World from the film’s only surviving 35mm theatrical print. For decades, the movie circulated exclusively on VHS after its original elements were lost. Then, in 2015, the long-lost print resurfaced. It had spent more than 30 years in the possession of a cinema projectionist who never returned it. Because it was incomplete, missing sections were rebuilt from videotape sources to restore scenes damaged or removed over decades of exhibition. The project also included new English subtitles and extensive color restoration and grading. The film premiered at The Cinema Museum in London in its restored form before touring the United Kingdom and later screening as part of the Turkish Film Remakes festival.
Note: Screening and distribution rights are controlled by the film’s rights holders and are not available through Neon Harbor.
