Regal Pictures
promoted this film:
"There will never be another motion picture
like this.
We promise"
original
Filipino title DARNA...KUNO? [Darna...Supposedly]
also known as DARNA...FOR REAL?
director
Luciano B. Carlos and Max Ravelo (script)
starring Dolphy · Lotis Key · Brenda Del Rio · Celia
Rodriguez · Marissa Delgado · Ruel Vernal · Bella
Flores

DARNA...KUNO?
[Darna...Supposedly?] was produced by the official Darna production company
in the Philippines (Regal Studios) in 1980, when Vilma Santos retired
from the lead role. After almost a decade of playing the character, Ms
Santos wore the costume the last time in the blockbuster DARNA
AND DING the previous year. Series creator Mars Ravelo - believing
the character had also come to an end - allowed this parody to be produced
starring popular male comedian Dolphy as Darna.
The plot
deals with an equally bizarre situation. When the real Darna becomes pregnant
by two Japanese anime robots, Voltes V and Mazinger Z, she must pass her
superhero powers [and costume] to taxi-driver Dolphy to keep the world
safe from mayhem during her down-time as an expectant mother.
Both
Dolphy and Lotis Key play Darna [specifically, good Darna and bad
Darna, plus Brenda Del Rio is the pregnant Darna who gives the magic stone
to Dolphy in the beginning of the film [she shows up again at the end
with her newborn baby who is also wearing a Darna outfit]. Critical opinions
are expectedly mixed, some love the movie - as exemplified by the 7.6
IMDB rating - while others hate it. As with many
other productions from the Philippines, the film stock is murky and the
story takes (too) many twists-and-turns into cultural humor that do not
resonate for non-Filipino audiences. The first hour allows Dolphy to do
his comedy schtick, drifting in and out of character, albeit, with many
humorous moments. But for the second hour, male-Darna-in-the female-costume
fights vampires, tikbalangs, aswangs, and other enemies including bad
Darna who has stolen Dolphy's magic stone. The film also contains some
surprisingly effective moments of social awareness. For example, Darna
arrives in Hell to find a surreal tableau of young women in bridal costumes
imprisoned in golden cages waiting to be liberated by a kiss [see pic,
above right].
Perhaps,
the most important thing to remember while watching this movie is the
importance of Dolphy himself. He was a legendary Filipino comedian, considered
a national institution for many decades, from the late 1940s until his
death in 2012. His involvement here is paramount to everything else in
the production.

A
Filipino film; widescreen uncut (124 min.) version in DVD encoded for
ALL REGIONS NTSC,
playable
on any American DVD machine; in Filipino/Tagalong language with optional
English subtitles;
extras include Darna trailers.

SemiNudity/Cross-Dressing Jumor/Sexual Themes:
This film is intended for Mature Audiences
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