Six-String Samurai

The plot is deliberately absurd and parodic: in a post-apocalyptic world where the Soviet Union won World War III and turned the USA into a desert, a guy named Buddy, equally adept with a guitar and a samurai sword, embarks on a journey with a boy he saved to find Lost Vegas, the capital of the future world.

The film was shot in Death Valley on expired and discarded film (which was going to be thrown away anyway), donated by Fuji. Due to a lack of funds, the actors were dressed in costumes found in dumpsters. As often happens, the film flopped at the box office (though critics praised it), but gradually became a cult classic.

The film's main achievement is that it brought to prominence the "Red Elvises" – an American rockabilly band made up of Soviet émigrés. Throughout the film, lively rock 'n' roll plays, often blending into Russian folk motifs.

"After shooting this essentially low-budget film, we kind of forgot about it for a while," said the band's leader Igor Yuzov. "But a few years later, people started coming to our shows dressed in strange costumes and shouting phrases we didn’t understand. Over time, after watching 'Six-String Samurai,' we realized that it all came from there. The interest in post-apocalyptic themes sparked by video games was a pleasant surprise for us."