Now this is what I call a motion picture. You’ve got trampoline kung fu action in ancient times, multicultural heroes (a strong guy, a jumping-high guy, a martial arts guy), a tribe of fierce Amazons, romance, intrigue, comedy… perfect package! This encounter of the peplum genre mixed with Hong Kong battles is in fact a co-production coming from Italy, Hong Kong and Mexico.

So yes, I saw this on a big screen as a child, around 1975 or so, this incredible action picture that must be seen to be believed and is considered universally a real turkey, but it nevertheless made quite a mark on me for the Amazon society bit, an impression that follows me to this day, as I suspect that my love for strong female characters (in all terms of the word) took this key plot point as its seed. I even wrote some fiction about a bunch of Amazons battling it out in a Roman arena who are suddenly transferred through time to land on the busy streets of a modern city during rush hour! Imagine the confusion and mayhem! Bah, I still love my concept! Forget about 300 and Beowulf!

Despite its lousy script, Super Stooges Vs the Wonder Women’s first scenes depicts a deadly contest to elect a new Amazon Queen, the survivor being the lucky winner. The tone here is quite grim, a bit more violent than the following light-hearted silliness. In my then (then?) dumb innocent state, these first minutes became hauntingly mesmerizing because of their crude appeal. Sexy Magda Konopka (visually memorable in Satanik) plays here the determined Queen. I can also remember that this was a big deal at the time of its release, as local television ads screamed at us kids to rush to theatres and marvel at untold wonders of entertainment.

So here’s a poster which I admit isn’t the most memorable of all time (I think it’s the cover art of a VHS version), but I’ve still decided to share that little memory for the sentimental value. When you see things with a kid’s eyes, not matter how crappy it looks for others, it can still remains impressive when you put it into perspective. Oddly, I never had the opportunity to revisit this film, more than 30 years later, which remains strangely elusive on DVD.