What started as an idea of paying tribute to everything that was great about 80s action films; buddy cops, cheesy dialogue, ninjas, dinosaurs and of course over the top action, Kung Fury swiftly picked up traction online and a Kickstarter campaign was underway. Adam Sandberg, the man behind Kung Fury, set out to make a short film which involves everything he loves about the 1980s.
He had always wanted to make a film about dinosaurs, robots and cops, and felt the 80s were a perfect decade to combine them all. Prior to Kung Fury, Sandberg worked as a commercial director, where he shot music videos and television commercials. Upon quitting his job, he focussed on writing and directing a comedy action film that pays tribute to the 1980s. In December 2013, Sandberg decided it was time to start a Kickstarter campaign, hoping he would reach the goal of $200,000 in order to make the short film. Little did Sandberg know, but the project was about to explode, exceeding anything he expected. In just under a month, the campaign garnered over 17,000 backers, combining for an incredible $630,000.
The plot reads like a wish list from any child who grew up in the 80s and 90s. Sandberg plays Kung Fury, a martial arts cop in Miami during 1985. His partner Dragon is cut down by a ninja and Fury is struck by lightning and bitten by a cobra, granting him immense powers. Kung Fury soon quits the police force after being assigned a new partner, Triceracop, meanwhile Adolf Hitler attacks the police precinct and kills the police chief, along with half the police force. Wanting to exact revenge, Fury calls upon Hackerman to send him back in time to Nazi Germany, in order to take down the worst criminal of all time. But the time travelling goes wrong and instead, Fury is sent back to the Viking Age, where he meets up with Barbarianna, Katana and Norse God Thor who sends him on his way to Nazi Germany in order to exact revenge on Hitler.
When production began, Sandberg didn’t have the budget for more than one police uniform, so all scenes with multiple cops are just shot with one actor in the uniform, with all the others digitally compositing them individually. In keeping true to the nostalgia, post-production effects were laid over the footage to give the appearance of a worn, VHS tape. Sandberg had hoped a further backing would allow them to shoot a feature length film, with a target of $1million. Upon completion, Sandberg announced he will release the film for free online.
The short film, running at 31 minutes, was released online on May 28th, through YouTube, Steam (PC gaming platform), the El Rey network in the USA and SVT2, a Swedish television channel. To coincide with the release, Sandberg bought 80s star David Hasselhoff onboard to actually record the film’s theme tune, and an accompanying music video. In less than 24 hours, the film received over three million views on YouTube alone. Outside of the online community, Kung Fury received high praise from many critics, even as far as being selected in the Directors Fortnight at Cannes Film Festival. When Sandberg was sitting in a viewing room of around 500 people at Cannes, Sandberg was worried how the prestigious festival would receive his film. Much to his surprise, the audience loved it, cheering and laughing throughout the showing.
Kung Fury is available to watch online for free on YouTube.