Apatros Review Ep-0066: The Tramps in The Planet Wars [1978] ("Brazilian Star Wars")

AR-0066: The four-man comedy troupe "Os Trapalhoes" were Brazil's very successful local children's television show version of the Three Stooges, their comedy TV show lasting from the 1970s all the way up to 1993. Believe it or not, but these guys also made a parody of Star Wars that was a surprise hit in Brazil, cracking Brazil's Top Ten for 1978.

Plot-wise, the movie has Os Trapalhoes [loosely translates as "The Tramps", although you can also derive "The Bunglers" or "The Bunglers" from this] spending the night in the bush after getting into a bit of trouble with some local toughs, only to find themselves being called upon by an alien prince [The Brazilian Luke Skywalker] and his sidekick The Brazilian Chewbacca [who looks funky] to rescue his love The Brazilian Princess Leia from The Brazilian Darth Vader and his army of what could possibly be Death Troopers [a good forty or so years before "Rogue One" came out!]. What ensues are some loosely connected slapstick gags and some crazy fights, along with a disco club scene, because hey, this is in 1978 and disco still rules, baby!

To be honest, the movie is better suited for children under the age of seven, because anyone older than seven is gonna think this movie sucks Goanna eggs. Watching this beast requires some serious masochism on the part of the viewer, but otherwise the movie is better than it seems as the jokes are pretty funny. I watched this with both English subtitles and without and while understanding the dialogue is a matter of choice, in reality you don't need to understand Portuguese to get this film, as watching this in its native state makes it quite a trip. BTW the movie was shot on video then transferred to film, giving it an awesome bootleg look.

My Grade: D+ [Disappointing]

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