Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

"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.

This is one of my all time favorites. Growing up with the Opel Manta as the car to have, I've even owned a few my self. One of my buddies actually bought "Berti's " manta from the film.Anyway. The movie is extremely goofy, and Germans don't always know how to put in funny elements into a film. That taken aside the movie is still goofie. But think back. 1991! What kind of close did you where back then, and what colour was your hair ? And then there is the whole Manta Manta thing.. Thats why the movie is worth to watch. It actually has some car chases that are quite good, and the guy doing the stunts eventually came to do some of the car stunts on The Fast and the Furious.The scene where Berti's Manta drives under a lorry was replicated some 10 years later in TFATF..For me this movie is a walk back memory lane. The movie might be a eye roller if you're under the age of 25, or over the age of 45 but the ones that remember the late 80's and early 90's will definitely get a good laugh or two :o)

If you're looking for a complex movie with difficult plots about you'd like to have deep going psychological discussions with graduated people you might wanna skip this one. Buf if you are in for a good laugh (and understand German since I believe there are no translations available) and want to have a insight look in the life of car tuning lovers of the early '90s this is great stuff. If you are into 'pimp my car' this is also worth watching - you'll see a lot of street-racing cars 'pimped' in the way it was fashion in the late '80s and early '90s in Europe. The theme is quite simple: a - not so clever - guy called Berti with a Opel Manta (a low budget European sports-coupe from the '80s which was very popular to 'pimp') gets competition in a street race from a guy with a fast Mercedes, and another slick guy with a Ferrari tries to get his hands on Bertis girlfriend. It looks like he's going to loose everything - but of course the good guy wins and there's a happy end.So the whole thing is quite predictable but it's packed in a humorous way with a blink-eye to the way people of the Manta-driving social class were living in that decade (like the shot from the street where Berti is living, and everybody's washing his car on Saturday morning and goes to the soccer game on Saturday afternoon). To catch those blinks you'd might have to have an understanding of the European culture and the way of living. Personally I the returning element of the DJ who's telling Manta jokes on the radio, like: Was geht 'n Manta fahrer durch den Kopf wenn er mit 180 gegen ein Mauert brettert ? Der Heckspoiler ! (What's on a Manta drivers head when he collapses with 180 km against a wall ? The rear spoiler !) So grab a few six packs of beer and invite some car loving guys to watch this one....

This is a real cool and funny movie if ur european and where young in the 80s.As the title says the story is about guys (girls) who drive opel manta (B model).The dialog is good and theres great action.