"Manta, Manta" is a 1991 film directed by Wolfgang Büld. So far, he has been known mostly for sleazy school girl movie, car-related films like this one and some movies about punk. For writer Stefan Cantz, it was the first movie of his career. It did not look too different for Til Schweiger and Michael Kessler at this point. Both are very famous now in Germany and Schweiger even abroad, but at this point they were almost complete nobody. Schweiger played in the "Lindenstraße" back then. Tina Ruland was still unknown as well, but this movie and other films later on propelled her into the league of super blondes from the German acting industry. All 3 of them were in their mid-20s.
There is actual lots of stereotypical action in this film. Manta drivers are depicted as lazy, smelly, uneducated, horny, with stupid girlfriends who always work as hairdressers. Who cares if a Manta driver loses his job only to chase a girl in his Manta instead of working. All the guys' car action was as uninteresting to me as the girls' beauty contest. So the final race for 10,000 bucks was not exactly a truly memorable highlight of the movie. Admittedly the music wasn't too bad and I enjoyed hearing some classics. Schweiger, a trashy German poor man's James Dean at this point, plays the alpha Manta driver, Ruland his girlfriend and Kessler is a chaotic guy who wins the final race though and also gets a (not so) hot girl. Today, Schweiger is not only one of Germany's most known actors, but also directors and writers. Kessler is among Germany's most famous comedians and only Ruland does not really have a great career anymore as she was always more famous for her looks than her acting skills.
What I found slightly unrealistic is that the bitchy radio girl suddenly is interested in the not so stereotypical young Manta guy, but oh well. There's more wrong with this film than only this. At the end everybody gets their girl, Schweiger's character even gets a kid soon probably and all are happy when the Scorpions German reunion music kicks in. Looks like it was used in every movie shortly after 1989. I preferred the outro song for sure. Trashy song, but a bit of an earworm. Still, not a great film at all. Not recommended and only worth watching for nostalgic value. I don't know if there are still any Manta drivers existing almost 25 years later.
There is actual lots of stereotypical action in this film. Manta drivers are depicted as lazy, smelly, uneducated, horny, with stupid girlfriends who always work as hairdressers. Who cares if a Manta driver loses his job only to chase a girl in his Manta instead of working. All the guys' car action was as uninteresting to me as the girls' beauty contest. So the final race for 10,000 bucks was not exactly a truly memorable highlight of the movie. Admittedly the music wasn't too bad and I enjoyed hearing some classics. Schweiger, a trashy German poor man's James Dean at this point, plays the alpha Manta driver, Ruland his girlfriend and Kessler is a chaotic guy who wins the final race though and also gets a (not so) hot girl. Today, Schweiger is not only one of Germany's most known actors, but also directors and writers. Kessler is among Germany's most famous comedians and only Ruland does not really have a great career anymore as she was always more famous for her looks than her acting skills.
What I found slightly unrealistic is that the bitchy radio girl suddenly is interested in the not so stereotypical young Manta guy, but oh well. There's more wrong with this film than only this. At the end everybody gets their girl, Schweiger's character even gets a kid soon probably and all are happy when the Scorpions German reunion music kicks in. Looks like it was used in every movie shortly after 1989. I preferred the outro song for sure. Trashy song, but a bit of an earworm. Still, not a great film at all. Not recommended and only worth watching for nostalgic value. I don't know if there are still any Manta drivers existing almost 25 years later.