For an eye-popping, international look at "Star Wars" kitsch, head to the Grandin Theatre on Saturday night for the midnight showing of "Turkish Star Wars."

The movie will be introduced by Tilly Gokbudak, a Turkish-American Roanoke Valley native. Gokbudak, who is also a Hollins University film student, explained what the movie is and what it is not in an interview.

It is Turkish, but it is not "Star Wars." The movie's actual title is "Dunyayi Kurtaran Adam," which translates as "The Man Who Saves the World."

It got the nickname "Turkish Star Wars," however, because it is a very blatant "Star Wars" rip-off - so blatant that it includes scenes from the original "Star Wars" movie grafted into the film with Turkish actors. The plot has something to do with a Turk flying on a "Star Wars" spaceship. ("Turkey has very lax copyright laws," notes Gokbudak.)

It is not, however, a meaningless rip-off. The movie was made soon after the 1980 coup in Turkey and does have political messages about the gangs, corruption and chaos that followed.

It does not star Harrison Ford, but it does star "the Turkish Harrison Ford," Cuneyt Arkin, who was one of Turkey's biggest stars at the time.

It does not have Yoda, but it does have a bug, possibly a cockroach, that has been dressed up as a scorpion.

It does have good music, however, because the moviemakers simply lifted the music from "Star Wars," "Superman" and "Flash Gordon."

It is not in English, but does have subtitles, meaning viewers can enjoy such dialogue as: "Come on man! If you don't eat, your handsome looks will deteriorate." (Read more quotes at: www.imdb.com.)

It is bad, but not on purpose. Gokbudak compares the director, Cetin Inanc, to Hollywood's Ed Wood, who wanted to make good movies but made unforgettably bad ones. (There are good Turkish directors, Gokbudak insists, just not this one.)

"Turkish Star Wars" is not a good movie, but Gokbudak swears it is a highly enjoyable one.

If you enjoy it, you may also want to try the Turkish versions of "Star Trek," "Superman," "The Wizard of Oz" and "Deliverance."

- Tom Angleberger