Acción mutante (1993)

Director:

Álex de la Iglesia

Writers:

Jorge Guerricaechevarría (writer)
Álex de la Iglesia (writer)

Release Date:

3 February 1993 (Spain)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Plot:

In a future world ruled by good-looking people, a terrorist group of mutants leaded by Ramon Yarritu kidnap the daughter of Orujo...

Plot Keywords:

Future | Terrorist | Planet | Mutant | Blackmail

Awards:

3 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Antonio Resines	...	Ramón Yarritu
Álex Angulo	...	Alex Abadie (as Alex Angulo)
Frédérique Feder	...	Patricia Orujo (as Frederique Feder)
Juan Viadas	...	Juan Abadie
Karra Elejalde	...	José Óscar 'Manitas' Tellería
Saturnino García	...	César 'Quimicefa' Ravenstein (as Saturnino Garcia)
Fernando Guillén	...	El ominoso Orujo (as Fernando Guillen)
Jaime Blanch	...	El presentador loco
Ion Gabella	...	Jorobado Maldito (as Ion Gavella)
Bibiana Fernández	...	Invitada de lujo (as Bibi Andersen)
Rossy de Palma	...	Invitada de lujo (as Rosi De Palma)
Enrique San Francisco	...	El novio ultrajado
Féodor Atkine	...	Kaufmann (as Feodor Atkine)
Felipe Vélez	...	García (as Felipe Velez)
Francisco Maestre	...	El abuelo (as Paco Maestre)

Also Known As:

Action mutante (France)
Mutant Action
Ação Mutante (Brazil) [pt]
Akcija mutant (Slovenia) [sl]
Akcja Mutant (Poland) [pl]
Aktion Mutante (Germany) [de]
Azione mutante (Italy) [it]
Operacja Mutant (Poland) [pl]

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

Spain | France

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Spain:18 | Argentina:16 | France:-12 | UK:18

Filming Locations:

Bardenas Reales, Navarra, Spain

Company:

CiBy 2000

Trivia:

The name of planet Axturiax, the mining colony where the second half of the story is set, is actually a pun on Asturias, a region in northern Spain, known for its coal mining.

Movie Connections:

Spoofs "Mission: Impossible" (1966)

Flawed but still outstanding!

I'm a real admirer of Alex de la Iglesia's superb supernatural comedy thriller 'The Day Of The Beast', so I was really looking forward to watching 'Accion Mutante', his previous movie. It started off superbly as a exciting, violent and witty black comedy about a gang of (mostly deformed) mutant terrorists intent on destroying "the beautiful people" and their mediocre, hypocritical society. They kidnap the daughter of a bourgeois business and hold her for ransom.

Fantastic! All was going great, the balance between satire, action and silliness was handled imaginatively, but half way through the movie changes direction, and becomes increasingly less interesting. The planet where Mutant Action land to make their exchange is populated by a family of grotesques similar to one's in Philip Brophy's equally bizarre 'Body Melt', or like some of the stranger characters seen in the comics of Garth Ennis. Unfortunately for me the movie loses focus at this point, all the earlier potential for surreal social criticism is abandoned, and it becomes a standard b-grade sci fi action flick with only a few good bits.

It's a shame to me that the movie didn't continue in the approach of its first half, because I think if it did it would be a classic piece of science fiction. As it is, with all its flaws, it's still better than 90% of American SF movies made in the last 15 years, and recommended viewing. Please track down 'The Day Of The Beast' though, it's sensational!