Manta, Manta

i can really understand that this film isn't rated very high, when you're not from holland or germany you won't understand this movie. it's primarely based on stereotypes / people that live in these countries. if you know people like this you'll see that every stereotype in the movie is portrayed just right! i love this "cult" movie.

This is a real cool and funny movie if ur european and where young in the 80s.

As the title says the story is about guys (girls) who drive opel manta (B model).

The dialog is good and theres great action.

"Manta, Manta" is lame and embarrassing in so many ways. What kind of derelict comes up with the idea of making a film about Manta obsessed German villagers and actually allows the hero to drive around in a pink, blue and yellow car? "Manta, Manta" is so cringe-worthy that it will give you wrinkles. And yet, I simply can't get enough of this addictively stupid, piece of crap. Even the ridiculous soundtrack is a guilty pleasure.

"Manta, Manta" represents the cinematic debut of Til Schweiger, after his run on "Lindenstrasse". He plays Bertie, a Manta driving idiot who challenges a Mercedes driving yuppie to a race, much to the annoyance of his peroxide blonde girlfriend, Uschi. Uschi, in turn, is asked to take part in a wet t-shirt competition by a Ferrari driving stranger who mistakes her for a prostitute as she waits for the bus. The plot becomes even more ludicrous when Bertie's friend Gerd falls in love with a radio reporter on an anti-Manta crusade.

This film is the reason why I became a Til Schweiger fan. He displays some of his future potential and definitely looks like a movie star, but his performance here is dreadful to the point of being hilarious. Bertie's drunken trip to the anti-Manta radio station is a fantastic low in modern German cinema. It's amazing to see how far Til has come since this trash - well, with the exception of "Driven", which is really "Manta, Manta" with better cars but without the charm.

In addition to the chance of watching a young and clueless Til, the movie also offers some great car chases and some of the worst fashion ever captured on film. I am fully aware that "Manta, Manta" is utter crap but that has never stopped me from enjoying it. Fans of bad movies and undiscerning rev-heads will be glad to have spent 87 minutes of their time with Bertie and his loser friends.

This film is probably only worth watching if you're from Western Europe. If you're not from there you miss the main point of the movie, portraying and maybe even exaggerating stereotypes.

The car the movie's title refers to, the infamous Opel Manta, is a car that has achieved cult status in Germany and is according to the general opinion mostly driven by 'socially unadjusted' people. Then again, if you look at the movie in a deeper perspective it might have a little more to it. You could see it as a movie about people with ambitions, (the mechanic that goes to university), setting your priorities straight (the main character that decides not to enter the race when he hears his girlfriend is pregnant) or about character (the 'loser' type that wins the final race).

I watched a different Manta movie a while ago, thinking it was going to be this one ... I was wrong, which I realized while watching the other one. It is quite inferior to this one. While this also has characters that are hard to sympathize with - and calling them silly would still give them more IQ credit than they deserve, this can be fun to watch.

I was especially surprised about how good Til Schweiger is in this one ... I don't usually praise his acting work ... then again, the "role" seems to be destined to be played by someone like him, so I guess it was a good fit. Manta is a car that many people made and still make fun of ... and you can see why, when you watch the movie ... but they are also people - the ones driving the car that is! So sit back and enjoy the craziness ... if you can.