Watch Epic ’80s Inspired Viral Short Film Kung Fury
“Knock Knock. Who’s there? Knuckles!”
What started as a 2 minute trailer attached to a 2014 Kickstarter campaign has since morphed into a 30 minute short film that touts 17,713 backers and well-over a half million dollar budget.
That project is aptly named “Kung Fury,” the tale of a cop whose partner is cut in half (the long way) by a rouge martial arts master only to be simulatenously struck by lighting and bit by a cobra giving him visions of Shaolin temples, which instantly infuses him with unrivaled mystical martial arts abilities and a penchant for deliciously bad puns. A power he decides to use to take down evil the ’80s way. Following me so far?
The budget was more than enough to give Swedish writer/director/star David Sandberg the right amount of financial lubrication to make this short film something that is undoubtably ’80s, yet completely unique at the same time. Don’t believe me? What if I told you that this short features a Triceratops Cop, a frenzied hominid arcade machine looking to brawl, and a giant Thor… and that’s just to name a few of the films many eccentricities? Excited yet? Well get excited! “Kung Fury” is 30 minutes of fromage filled fun and unexpected (and never before seen) action events. Sandberg masterfully captures a fantastic and seedy world littered with cinematic artifacts from the 1980’s.
Although Sandberg is a somewhat unknown, he has brought relatively bigger names into the fold such as “The Lonely Island’s” Jorma Taccone to play Adolph Hitler and none other than “Baywatch”/”Knight Rider” beefcake David Hasselhoff, who crooned out an original (and so very ‘80s) tune titled “True Survivor.” The Hoff also has a special cameo towards the end, a cameo that I shall not spoil.
I know what you are thinking, triceratops cop, giant Thor, arcade robots engaging in fist-a-cuffs, isn’t this going to be a cheesy mess? Yes! it is a cheesy mess, and all the better for it. The internet agrees, given that after only one day on the inter webs, the video has already accrued over 3 million views with over 130 thousand thumbs up. You will certainly be left salivating over what acid-washed and neon colored ’80s based madness Sandberg and his Laser Unicorns productions will bring us next.
