‘Kung Fury’ Released, Fans And Critics Go Nuts
Kung Fury was the Hail Mary of an aspiring filmmaker seeking to carve a career for himself and, shortly after the 30-minute hyperviolent 80s kung fu extravaganza hit the internet, it’s been met with almost unanimous praise from fans and critics alike. The movie, which started as a rapid hit on Kickstarter, recently featured in the Director’s Fortnight portion of Cannes Film Festival and is now on its way to becoming a Hollywood feature movie.
Kung Fury writer, director, and star David Sandberg raised $630,000 when Kung Fury hit Kickstarter back in 2013, with the first $200,000 coming in the first 24 hours.
One month later, another $400,000 had been added. David Hasselhoff made a music video on YouTube that’s now pushing over 12 million views, and Sandberg has described the whole situation as “very surreal.”
You can check out the full Kung Fury movie right here on the Inquisitr. Website Fast Company spoke with both Sandberg and the WME agent who signed him. Simon Faber complemented Sandberg’s approach to getting noticed by giving fans a real taste of what the movie would be like should the Kickstarter campaign succeed
“It was smart. Rather than doing a scene or a character, he said, ‘If I were to do a full movie, this is what it would feel like.”
Sanberg told the publication how he had given up on his day job of creating music videos and commercials to follow his dream
“My plan was to shoot the entire thing and then do all the visual effects myself. I have a background in visual effects. But it turned out that it was way too much work and took too long and I was completely broke. I had to sell my couch and my TV to be able to afford rent and food. I was, like, at the tipping point. I told myself I needed to do something about this.”
Shortly after the release, fans and critics alike posted almost unanimous praise of the movie. IndieWire called it a “a legend in the making,” and Twitter has been going nuts.
Is Kung Fury the Best Movie of the Summer or the Best Movie of ALL TIME? http://t.co/gxqs1WnYzu pic.twitter.com/IukqtBN0VQ
— GQ Magazine (@GQMagazine) May 30, 2015
Just wrote a piece about Kung Fury for @NerdistDotCom. It belongs in the same class as Manborg, Wolfcop, and Turbo Kid. (aka awesome class)
— Scott Weinberg (@scottEweinberg) May 30, 2015
Watch ‘Kung Fury,’ A Hilarious Take On ’80s Action Flicks http://t.co/IYDgBkhbZu
— LAist (@LAist) May 30, 2015
The movie is essentially somewhere between an 80s action parody and pure homage to those golden years. That means it features everything from excessively violent home-brew effects, a sentient arcade machines, policemen with Triceratops heads, and more trimmed mustaches than the average Movember.
Did you check out Kung Fury? Let us know your thoughts.
[Image credit: David Sandberg]
