Uncovering Curiosities: Astron-6’s MANBORG

I’ve seen a lot of films in my time; big budget, low budget and no budget efforts – but I’ve never seen anything quite like the 2011 film, Manborg. Steven Kostanski’s science fiction film falls into the latter category, it was shot on a shoe-string budget ($1000) and it has a unique visual aesthetic – think the Star Wars films meets RoboCop meets Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow by way of Robot Chicken. On acid.

The film begins with an injured soldier being brought back to life as the titular Manborg. Soon he’s fighting his way through a grim dystopia to destroy the evil Draculon, a bizarre futuristic dictator. It’s as crazy as it sounds, but the film has a tremendous amount of charm and innovation. There’s a passion deep within this production that keeps everything feeling honest.

The thing about Manborg is that it can’t really be reviewed. The film has to be seen to be believed as the normal rules for film reviewing don’t apply to this sort of cinematic effort. Kostanski and his co-writer Jeremy Gillespie clearly love science fiction actioners from the ‘80s and the film is a bizarre throwback to that era of ‘so bad it’s good’ cinema.

Manborg is the perfect movie to watch with a group of friends whilst pigging out on beer and pizza.