Kahpe Bizans (1999) User Reviews

very good movie

[dogankurban · 7/10 · 14 March 2009]

I think this is a very good movie. When you first look at it, the movie seems absurd, however, on the inside, this movie makes fun of the racial discriminations between the Greek and Turkish people. Also, the movie makes fun of the conservatives by saying that "doğu batı sentezinden kimseye zarar gelmez.(no harm would come out of eastern and western synthesis)All the jokes and comments about the old Turkish movies are original, all created just for this movie. However, the quotes from this movie have become clichés in such short notice that people who have watched this movie recently finds it very simple, which proves that this movie has impressed the Turkish nation quite a lot.

Not Very Special

[mustican · 5/10 · 19 October 2006]

Kahpe Bizans tells us the story of Yetis Bey(Cem Davran)and his struggle with Byzantian Emperor(Illetyus)in a humorous way. Illetyus dreams of his death and he is also told that a baby boy who is born will be killing him at the same day he wakes up from his dream. Illetyus orders his army to kill all baby boys born within a few days. At the same time, in another place in Anatolia, Super Gazi tells his wife to hide his children to a safe place to protect them from Emperor Illetyus' soldiers. She puts her baby in a basket and lets it flow with the river's water nearby. However, nobody nows the consequences of what is going to happen in the future in the palace. It has been promoted like a Hollywood movie in Turkey at the time with its trailer and famous ensemble. I felt so worried to miss the films premier as I had to move to the UK because that meant I wouldn't be able to see it in cinemas. Well, after watching it later on DVD, I must say I didn't miss much. It is not hilarious like it seemed in the trailer. Jokes are out-dated, actors are not matching perfectly together and scenario is messy. At some point it looks like a comedy soup. But salt and pepper is missing to make it tasty. Well, thats the expectation, isn't it? ** out of *****

for turks only

[jank123 · 19 July 2001]

Although they showed this movie even in foreign cinemas (for example: berlin) its nothing for other countries. The movie is making fun about the movies which were made in Turkey during the 80s. They were about the ottomon empire and their favorite enemy, the bizans empire (do you call them "bizans" in english too? i dont know sorry) Whatever these movies were pretty cheap and they were full of kung fu fighting scenes. The main character of these movie was Cüneyt Arkin, very known guy in turkey who is into martial arts. The movie name "kahpe bizans" means something like "whore bizans" in english. Those old movies had some funny mistakes. Such like the main character has an casio clock on his arm althought the movie is about the history. Or they are riding horses and we see a motorcycle or a car far away. these were small mistakes and this movie is making jokes about them. Its like turkish "hot shots" just like one other guy told in this site. There are too many jokes and not everyone can understand them. They are making more jokes then the naked gun did. And thats too fast for a human brain. I dont think you will like it if you are not turkish although its pretty funny and bright.

if turkish people like this film, I'm worried about the turkish cinema's future...

[nikmikyok · 1/10 · 28 March 2001]

I thank god I didn't go to cinema for this film. I would be very sorry for the money I gave. I saw it on tv and I couldn't beleive my eyes. I wonder if any film could be worse than this one. they spent millions of dollars to this film for nothing. awful acting and awful scenario. I think the other people who wrote comments are the man working from that film company ;) it's very big fiasco! in year 2000 can they still laugh at this kind of film? embarassing...

Bad acting horrific movie

[necroxeon · 1/10 · 11 February 2006]

Absolutely horrific film. Ameteurish and it isn't funny at all. Lead character played by Mehmet Ali Erbil is very annoying. Edits by E.T and star wars is just plain stupid.

Actor Yilmaz Goksal is the only good think about this movie. He should master his English and move to Hollywood. Hollywood can not find an actor with his qualities. Other than Goksal this movie is a garbage.

Director Gani Mujde is a comic writer and this movie is his worst written work to this date.

Music of Cem Karaca is another plus of this waste of money. Actor Sumer Tilmac also have some presence. Actor who plays the three sons has no talent what so ever.

A great comedy

[rawena_bll · 10/10 · 20 July 2019]

I love this movie and to me it is one of the best comedy works of turkish cinema history.

However if you are not familiar with Turkish culture this movie is going to be hard to understand. Consider it a parody of well known turkish classics and make sure you watched them. Jokes are layered and sometimes very subtle. Jokes are very hard to translate. There are a lot of puns that don't work in English. This is a sarcastic, gritty, campy take on every single cliche in Turkish cinema. These cliches reflect our society's insecurities and hangups, as well as weaknesses and strengths. So seeing a movie that makes fun of all these things indiscriminately was a fresh breath of air.

I also love absurd comedy. The more absurd the better for me. I legit cracked up watching this. The cast was great and the acting was good too.

This is an 'absurd comedy'.

[cmehmet · 9/10 · 5 March 2006]

This is an 'absurd comedy' and absurd comedies are absurd. There is no vagina or penis, just only breast in only one scene. To understand, you have to know old Turkish films. You know, the most difficult kind of film to translate other languages is comedy films. Because, you have to find exact reflections of the 'ideas' in other cultures. For example, this movie contains some wordplay. I see in other comments, it is mentioned that the directing and playing are bad. I do not know the director but the actors and actresses, who are the most known ones in Turkey and some of them are known worldwide, are very successful. In contrast, in this kind of films, the most important part of film is scenario. The producer and one of the scenarists, Gani Mujde, and Faith Solmaz, a caricaturist and scenarist, are the best ones in their branches. In addition, as to many people, the best caricaturist in Turkey, Selcuk Erdem, has helped the scenario.

One of the best Turkish comedy movies

[rosielove-74014 · 10/10 · 2 August 2019]

It is an absurd comedy of Turkish history. It is written very clevery. For foreigners , it can be hard to understand some of the inside jokes about turkish culture. But I think lots of people loves this movie and watched it many times. I hope rating of it gets higher .

Another masterpiece from Gani Müjde

[picrad · 9/10 · 25 May 2000]

Kahpe Bizans is the second film of the director Gani Müjde. It is basically a 'ZAZ team' type movie. It makes fun of the old Turkish films about national heroes like Karaoglan. And it simply excels in this. Good acting, lots of ingenuously written dialogues, best editing since the Eskiya and tons of clever jokes make Kahpe Bizans another milestone in Turkish film industry. I said another because Gani Müjde's other film Arabesk was also a masterpiece of the same kind. So I recommend you Kahpe Bizans as a good example of Turkish humor.

Salad varie'

[filozof · 25 December 2000]

Another bomb of laughter from the director Gani Mujde - a black comedy in the style of Hot Shots. Kahpe Bizans is full of ironic references to old Turkish films. The dialogues are clever and good examples of Turkish humour, but they will sound "Greek" to those who arent Turk. Why Turkish directors cannot overcome "locality"? Think of Asterix and Obelix versus Sezar: it is French, but still has something to say to all. Anyway if you have time to waste laughing continously, I recommend you Kahpe Bizans. 5/10.