| The Three Fantastic Supermen | |
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| Directed by | Gianfranco Parolini |
| Screenplay by |
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| Story by | Gianfranco Parolini [1] |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Francesco Izzarelli [1] |
| Edited by | Edmondo Lozzi [1] |
| Music by | |
Production companies |
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Release dates |
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Running time | 94 minutes [1] |
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The Three Fantastic Supermen (Italian : I fantastici tre supermen) is a 1967 superhero film directed by Gianfranco Parolini. The film was the first in a series of Three Supermen films.
The Three Fantastic Supermen was conceived during the period of a superhero film cycle during the mid-1960s in Italy. [2] Howard Hughes described The Three Fantastic Supermen as being patterned after the film Superargo and the Faceless Giants . [3] The director Gianfranco Parolini had worked in several genres including sword-and-sandal films where there are more than one hero helping each other achieve their goals. [2] He also commented on the stunts in the film, noting that they were done on set with actor Aldo Canti having to jump out of 20 feet high window, jump into a trampoline and jump into a truck which was moving at full speed. [4]
Parolini directed several Kommissar X films co-starring Tony Kendall and Brad Harris. Former stuntman Aldo Canti billed as "Nick Jordan" appeared in Parolini's Five for Hell and Sabata films. [5] The film was entirely shot in Yugoslavia. [6]
The Three Fantastic Supermen was released in Italy in 1967. [1] In his book Diabolika: Supercriminals, Superheroes and the Comic Book Universe in Italian Cinema, Roberto Curti described the film as a "reasonable box office success in Italy". [6] It was released in France on 3 September 1969. [7]
The film spawned several sequels where the trio of heroes showing up in Japan ( Three Supermen at Tokyo , 1968), Africa ( Three Supermen in the Jungle , 1970), Hong Kong ( Supermen Against the Orient , 1973) and the American West ( The Three Supermen in the West , 1973). [6]
In a contemporary review, the Monthly Film Bulletin noted that the stunt work of the title characters and their various stunt doubles "provide a welcome relief from the standard secret agent/judo syndrome" as well as that the "ingenuity of this comic strip adventure begins to pall after the first half hour, and the inevitable final holocaust in the master criminal's lair is brightened by the villain's diverting scheme to produce an army of robot villains who all look like the hero." [8]
From retrospective reviews, Roberto Curti described the film as a "mixed bag" taking too much material from its sources such as The Phantom , Zorro and Goldfinger . [2]
Fantabulous Inc. is a 1968 Italian-French superhero crime film directed by Sergio Spina and starring Richard Harrison.
Supermen Against the Orient is a 1973 Italian-Hongkongese superhero film directed by Bitto Albertini. It is a sequel of Gianfranco Parolini's 1967 film The Three Fantastic Supermen.
Kriminal is a 1966 superhero film directed and written by Umberto Lenzi. The film is about a thief and murderer called Kriminal who escapes from a prison and is chased after by Inspector Milton. It was followed by a sequel, Il marchio di Kriminal.
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Superargo Versus Diabolicus is a 1966 superhero film written and directed by Nick Nostro. It had the sequel in 1968, Superargo and the Faceless Giants directed by Paolo Bianchini.
Superargo and the Faceless Giants is a 1968 Italian-Spanish science fiction-superhero film written and directed by Paolo Bianchini. It is the sequel of Nick Nostro's Superargo Versus Diabolicus.
Flashman is a 1967 Italian film directed by Mino Loy and written by Ernesto Gastaldi.
Phenomenal and the Treasure of Tutankhamen is a 1968 Italian film directed by Ruggero Deodato. The film was produced by and starred Nicola Mauro Parenti as Fenomenal, a masked superhero who attempts to stop the theft of the mask of Tutankhamun from a museum in Paris.
Super Stooges vs. the Wonder Women is a 1974 superhero comedy film directed by Alfonso Brescia.
Ermanno Donati was an Italian film producer. Along with Luigi Carpentieri, Donati won the Nastro d'Argento award for Best Producer for the film The Day of the Owl.
3 Supermen Against the Godfather is a superhero film directed by Italo Martinenghi.
Tex and the Lord of the Deep is a 1985 Western film co-written and directed by Duccio Tessari and starring Giuliano Gemma and William Berger. The film is an adaptation of the Tex comic series that were popular in Italy. Previously attempted to be made into a production in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the film was eventually made by Tessari who adapted the film from the comics originally to be a pilot for a television series.
3 Supermen a Tokyo is a 1968 film directed by Bitto Albertini.
