Two Cents is a Cinapse original column akin to a book club for films. The Cinapse team curates the series and contribute their “two cents” using a maximum of 200-400 words. Guest contributors and comments are encouraged, as are suggestions for future picks. Join us as we share our two cents on films we love, films we are curious about, and films we believe merit some discussion. Would you like to be a guest contributor or programmer for an upcoming Two Cents entry? Simply watch along with us and/or send your pitches or 200-400 word reviews to [email protected].
Drama, Comedy, Romance, Science Fiction, Musical…cinema is filled with grand, sweeping, big tent genres. And yet, so often Cinapse’s particular brand of cinephilia dwells in the subgenres. Too numerous to list, subgenres are where the meat is really added to the bone of deep-cut cinema. And one of the greatest subgenres of them all is the post-apocalyptic picture! This month we’re celebrating the release of author David J. Moore’s World Gone Wild, Restocked and Reloaded 2nd Edition: A Survivor’s Guide to Post-Apocalyptic Movies with a curated selection of some of the Cinapse team’s very favorite and most beloved post apocalypse films – all of which are highlighted in Moore’s exhaustive love letter!
The Pick: TURBO KID (2015)
This week’s selection glosses up the post-apocalyptic landscape with some 80s sheen and Nintendo aesthetics. Featuring the great Michael Ironside as the villainous Zeus, this one introduced several younger actors to the world, launching Degrassi‘s Munro Chambers into a film career and introducing the talented Canadian Laurence Leboeuf to worldwide audiences. Fans have been clamoring for a sequel for years, but other projects and some truly heinous accusations against one of the directors (see Spencer’s thoughts below for a brief explanation) have derailed the possible future installments. For now, we still have this fun, bloody action gem to enjoy.
Featured Guest
David J. Moore, Excerpt From World Gone Wild, Restocked and Reloaded 2nd Edition: A Survivor’s Guide to Post-Apocalyptic Movies
A generation after the nuclear apocalypse and a nuclear winter, the world is an irradiated wasteland, devoid of fresh water. The Kid (played by Munro Chambers) has mapped out the perimeters of the wastelands, and he gets around on his BMX bike, salvaging what he can from what he finds on his trips through the urban wastelands. Most of the outlying settlements have embraced him as a useful scavenger, and he doesn’t have any enemies. He collects old comic books and remnants of the past (Rubik’s cubes, action figures, and tattered Viewfinders), and one day he comes across an odd character indeed: a plucky, annoyingly friendly young woman named Apple (played by Laurence Leboeuf), who literally attaches herself to him so that he’ll always be within reach of her should they become separated. They quickly become friends by default, and Apple’s skills at fighting are alarmingly efficient. While they might not seem like a perfect match at first, it becomes clear that the Kid needs Apple’s company when they run into trouble with the local warlord, a despot who calls himself Zeus (played by Michael Ironside from Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone). Zeus, a sadistic overlord who rules over a pack of bike-riding raiders, is out to find the last source of fresh water, and it’s revealed that he is also the murderer of the Kid’s parents, so clearly the Kid has a score to settle with him. When, by accident, the Kid runs across a Turbo suit and a powerful Turbo glove that shoots a pulse beam that can incinerate anyone it’s aimed at, he suits up and becomes a superhero whom Zeus and his hordes will have a difficult time stopping. Along with the always-game Apple (who turns out to be an android) and a bionic-handed arm wrestler named Frederic (played by Aaron Jeffery), Turbo Kid is the last hope of the wasteland. Stunningly spot on in terms of regenerating the lost era of postnuke adventures made in the early 1980s, Turbo Kid is easily the best of the nostalgia genre pictures made in the mimic style of stuff such as Hobo with a Shotgun, Father’s Day, Kung Fury, and Manborg, all of which tried and failed miserably to re-create an essence of what made those types of movies so endearing. From the first frames to the last, Turbo Kid—which is set in a post-apocalyptic 1997—retains an innocence to it that is nearly impossible to describe unless you watch it. Despite having graphic, over- the-top violence and some unnecessary uses of profanity, the film has a kid-centric sense of adventure and wonder not easily found in today’s ultra-jaded movie market. The film clearly has a low budget, but it has a great cinematic sense of scope and innovation and a fun sense of humor. To top all that off, it has a great synth score by Le Matos that recalls the ’80s. While the film might go overboard at times with the blaringly graphic violence, this is exactly the postnuke action film that fans of the genre have been craving. From writer/directors François Simard, Anouk Whissell, and Yoann-Karl Whissell, all of whom appear in the film in small roles and die on screen.
The Team
Spencer Brickey
Turbo Kid, for me, is one of those films that feels like returning to a different era of your life on rewatch. On that first watch, back in 2015, I was still in my early 20’s, stuck in a cramped one bedroom in a Podunk town in Connecticut, with dreams and aspirations ready to unfold when I finished my final year of college.
That Spencer was struck by the 80s stylization, impressed with the whole DIY feel, enthralled by the goopy practical gore effects, and smitten with the idea of meeting my own Manic Pixie Dream Robot. Turbo Kid felt both like a top tier love letter to the genre, while also something fresh and unique from bold new voices.
Kick ahead to 2024; I’m in my early 30’s, that was NOT my last year of college (took 2 more; got to love 7 years for a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism!), I’ve settled in Texas, and I now have a house, a wife, and a kid. Those dreams and aspirations turned into goals and long-term plans. What does middle manager Spencer think?
Still pretty good, even if time hasn’t been the biggest ally here! The DIY feel to the costumes, set dressing, effects, action set pieces, and mode of transportation still holds up, that spark of originality still very present. The gore effects are still great, and, now looking back, pretty rare in that era; 2015 was still mostly haunted house movies and the early days of the A24 trauma boon.
What definitely hasn’t held up well is that very specific sheen of “1980’s nostalgia” this is absolutely steeped in. The preceding near decade since Turbo Kid’s release has been absolutely inundated with faux ‘80s vibe media, mostly stemming from the popularity of Stranger Things. What felt cool and fresh in 2015 now feels overtrodden and borderline cringey at times.
Still, I don’t think I can ever be too harsh on this. I remember having such a positive reaction to this when it first dropped, and while that has waned in the proceeding years, that is just the curse of movies getting older; some survive the test of time, and others lose their luster. Turbo Kid and I will always have Paris (Manic Pixie Dream Robot), though.
Disclaimer: Also, getting serious for a moment, This, and everything else the filmmaker collective known as RKSS, now needs to be viewed with a certain critical lens, if really viewed at all, after the charges brought up against Francois Simard, one of the 3 directors. In the fall of 2024, Simard was charged with sexual assault on a child under the age of 16, with the two complainants being the ages of 9 and 11.
Julian Singleton
I’d heard about Turbo Kid as the scrappy post-apocalyptic indie that could for the last decade, but I was happy to seize the chance to finally give it a spin for this series. Like the warriors of its wasteland, major props have to be given to François Simard, Anouk Whissell, and Yoann-Karl Whissell for their rampant ingenuity throughout. The world of Turbo Kid feels just as fleshed out as it needs to serve the efficient story at hand, one that feels ripped from the textbook-margin doodlings of any imaginative grade-schooler. Gore and metal sparks fly, accompanied by all the quippy one-liners one can muster. Like the best of George Miller, all the backstory we need can be inferred from the trash people have turned into treasures. It’s a nonstop blast, especially considering the shoestring budget Turbo Kid’s creatives were working with.
The performances of the leads, though, are the true find of this film–especially the gentle, Amblin-esque chemistry between Munro Chambers and Laurence Leboeuf. While Apple’s incessant pep is initially grating, later revelations turn this character into a much-needed source of whimsy amidst the doom and gloom of the wasteland. Chambers’ central Kid is the action hero we all imagined we could be watching Mad Max at way, way too young, and his dedication towards that idea of comic-book heroism in the face of Cormac McCarthy-like hopelessness fuels the comedic nostalgia of Turbo Kid with essential, unabashed sincerity. Also, Aaron Jeffery’s arm-wrestling kiwi cowboy Frederick and Michael Ironside’s eyepatch-laden Zeus just flat-out rule, plucked from the Cannon films of yesteryear with all the straight-faced epicness of such peak trash cinema.
I can see myself firing up Turbo Kid alongside classics like The Road Warrior or modern ones like The Book of Eli or Furiosa, as its trio of directors manage to unexpectedly carve out a gateway film for younger viewers to enjoy the mayhem of worlds gone mad before they mature enough for far darker fare.
Justin Harlan
I love this movie! It’s genuinely one of the most fun films to come out in the past decade. For a gorehound like me, it delivers on the blood and guts. But instead of my typical horror fare, it’s a retro flavored post-apocalyptic action flick that’s delivering the viscera this time. Over-the-top blood, larger-than-life characters, and fun 80s inspired effects and visuals… what’s not to like?
Prior to prepping this week’s entries, I had no idea about the allegations against Francois Simard. RKSS has delivered some solid entertainment and it’s a shame to find out that Simard is a dirtbag. I won’t let it taint this film for me, but I sure hope that any further projects from the others do no include him in any way.
In direct opposition to Simard’s real life decisions, this film’s tone is pure joy for me. It never really drags, it bucks against the drab color palette of many films in this genre, and Apple is just a delight. Rahter than keep rambling, I’ll leave you with two short films before I wrap… the original T is for Turbo that RKSS submitted to ABCs of Death and a music video starring Apple!
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11/25 – The New Barbarians
