Indonesia is a country in turmoil. The people are poor and oppressed by the Dutch Government. However one hope remains in the form of rebel leader Djaka Semboeng. His rebels and his famous fighting ability inspires the people to hang on. Van Shramm, the Dutch representative in Java offers a reward for the death of Semboeng and employs a mighty warrior, the invincible Kobar, to go after him. One short fight later Kobar is dead and Van Shramm turns to a magician for him. The magician resurrects the deadly of enemy of Semboeng, Kieten, to take revenge. Kieten faces Semboeng and defeats him - Semboeng is imprisoned and blinded by the cruel Van Shramm. However Van Shramm's daughter has fallen for Semboeng and frees him. Semboeng again faces Kieten and is overcome by his magic - finally being turned into a pig before escaping the prison! A kindly magician returns Semboeng to his human form and teaches him new skills that he will need as he prepares to face Kieten for the final time.
This is a very cheesy martial arts film. The story is not as complex as it sounds, the camera shots are very 1970's - in short this is the sort of film that should come to mind when you imagine a dubbed martial arts movie from that period. The film is very very cheesy - it's hard to describe, but that doesn't mean it's not fun to watch.
The camera constantly zooms in on people's faces to register their surprise - it's quite funny for most of it! Also the camera is used to hit tricks - like the main character is shown jumping off the ground, and then cuts to a shot of him flying through the air, it's not believable but it's often unintentionally hilarious! Also the acting is of a very cheesy variety - the fighter Kobar near the start of the film is a perfect example of the wonderful hamminess that's in this film - the terrible American dubbing in the version I saw didn't help the actors at all! The only performance that's a bit out of tone with the film is the character of Semboeng. He comes across as too self righteous and takes himself too seriously, at some points he even comes across as a Christ-like character (despite being a Muslim) in terms of what he says - at one point he is even paraded through the streets before being nailed to the prison wall, crucifixion-style. Semboeng takes a bit of the fun out of the film as he really is too sombre for this type of thing - but his fights are good!
The fights are generally ok - not great but ok. The effects are very cheap and nasty - they're surprisingly gory for the time, but the use of dummies and rubber effects make some scenes look very cheap and amateurish. One visual effect worth seeing is the huge overbite on the evil wizard - those are some big teeth!
Overall it's a film of it's time - it's very cheesy and pretty cheap, but it's quite interesting in it's own way and quite funny if you're in the mood for it.
