Králi videa

Without hesitation, I must admit that in this case I did not actually evaluate the quality of the document and its contribution to the global population and the environment. I simply gave this endeavor five stars for that crazy nostalgia. Those movies, which I saw with very shoddy dubbing and even worse picture quality... I am very grateful to the creators for the behind-the-scenes look, but especially for allowing me to reminisce. (16.04.2021)

Den vielen Superlativen, die dem Dokumentarfilm zu Recht zustehen, ist wenig hinzuzufügen. Was fehlte, war ein erläuternder Kommentar von jemandem, der die Insider-Sprüche und die Fan-Begeisterung hätte ergänzen, zumindest die Etappen des ganzen Phänomens skizzieren, ein paar Zahlen hinzufügen (Schneewittchen aus dem Jahr '37 ist ein atypisches Beispiel, ansonsten waren es vor allem amerikanische und asiatische Filme aus den 60er bis 90er Jahren, Porno war wohl deutsch, andere europäische Filme waren nicht primär von Interesse) und mit der Mainstream-Szene vor und nach 1989 vergleichen können. Einige der Paradoxe, wie lange es dauerte, eine bestimmte Schnellsynchronisation zu verbreiten, im Verhältnis dazu, ob (wenn) der Film schließlich offiziell veröffentlicht wurde... Es ist ein sehr schöner Korpus, der sich noch weiter fortsetzen ließe, aber es ist schon jetzt klar, dass an die Szene liebevoll erinnert wurde, und das absolut stilvoll. Einige dieser Aussagen erklären vielleicht sogar, warum die Dramaturgie der Billig-DVDs um 2010 herum so schief gelaufen ist, oder sie erinnern uns im Gegenteil an die klassischen Witze aus Troškas Sun, Hay and Strawberries. (10.03.2022)

It's romance. Watching totalitarian fragments of underground fandom, purely amateur work with sound, and enthusiastic projections of blue-red moving spots, where the plot is a subsidiary matter, I find fascinating. Just like the fact that it was not a fight against the regime, but just to see the most famous overseas films, who is playing whom in them and what they are about. I did not experience that time closely and only caught a whiff of videocassettes during the time of Intersonic in the mid-nineties. That's why simultaneous translations, improvised titles of famous gems, or successful people in other fields talking about sleepless and "overdubbed" nights seem unimaginable to me, as something that couldn't have happened. In a time when most watched hits are available in various qualities, on carriers and streams at the same time, I don't understand watching similar pieces as anything else but a rarity, with a perspective on the necessity of the time, and I don't understand why someone would watch something like this without irony (see the final few minutes), but everyone should enjoy whatever they want. But from the film, I still expected a bit more fun and unforgettable cuts from all the Huhňalů, Hrbolků, or Podpantofláků. Part of the digging of the resulting audiovisual horrors, when in the first and second viewer's plan it is the sincerest underground, is what the film promised to be. The transformation into a report from the fully launched nineties, when filming in a theater, no longer belongs here. It's no longer about piracy out of necessity, when the desired film couldn't be seen elsewhere and differently, but just because you don't want to wait for a cassette or television, and that's really just about laziness and voluntarily diminishing the experience. The final third really drags down the whole endeavor surprisingly decisively because I don't sympathize with it, and Pavel Hewlit rarely goes down the screen with a terribly unpleasant demeanor. At least the first half of the Kings will awaken a desire for times that (fortunately) will not return and the desire to watch some bloody B-movie from any source. 70% (05.03.2024)

What nostalgia. It took me back to those wonder days of my childhood. Excellent observations and surprising information. But it does omit to mention the main benefit of "speed dubbing" which was the amazingly unreal lines that became folklore amongst my peers. I liked the final comments about crazy men. And the admission by the detective is the icing on the cake. (16.04.2021)

Nothing more than a fan documentary whose qualities are determined by your love of the subject. The production design is terrible (the good-natured overvoice, staged sequences) but it matches the enthusiastic sloppiness often so iconic for this phenomenon. "Then the man with the camera in the theater didn't go to the middle of the fifteenth row as usual, but to some fourth row on the very edge. As soon as I saw that instead of the Universal Soldier sign there was just ‘sal Sol’, I knew it was wrong." (14.08.2021)