Customer Reviews

The Return of Captain Invincible

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This film has everything, attractive women without much on, an amusing plot, killer vacuums, hypnotic weapons, super heroes with faulty super powers and Christopher Lee singing some of the catchiest songs around. What more could one man ask for. Well this to have been re-released years ago, and Going Under on DVD as well, but lets not be greedy.
The basic plot (which Im not going to go into too deeply) revolves around my childhood hero, a certain Mr Evil Midnight, and his plans to become the American President by appealing to the white Anglo-Saxon majority (Or at least they will be in the majority once his cunning, but perhaps slightly racist, evil plan is carried out) The only thing standing in his way is a drunken wreck of a super hero and a mildly attractive Australian Police Person. Armed only with their skills and integrity they attempt to stop the Evil ones plans and make the world a better place.
Shame, I kind of like the idea of a genius being elected to the Oval Office instead of the usual people who get in, but maybe thats just because Im English.
But in conclusion, this film will make you laugh, and if it doesnt it might just make you smile. Well if youve got a sense of humour that is.

Finally my own copy of this cult masterpiece.

Just for plain loopiness you must watch, if not own this. Christopher Lee sings! The humour is corney but good natured, an everyday story of good versus evil (I have sent back the morally repugnant, socially decrepit peoples back to the bowls of the Earth they came from - Congratulations Midnight you really are a genius (or something similar)

This is a classic

Magnet On........

Here is a obscure one for ya a movie that came and went in 83
THE RETURN OF CAPTAIN INVINCIBLE... It is set in 1942 and Captain
Invincible is a overweight alcoholic who is forgotten till Christopher
(DRACULA)Lee wants to take over the world(don't the bad guys ever want
to do something else???) This is no MASTERPIECE by any means but if
you have Pot Pie in the oven or laundry washing give this a looksie!
Best moments are when a U.S.A. plane is getting shot by the NAZI'S
and Captain Invincible is sitting on the nose of the plane drinking
a beer and having a smoke while the plane is going down and the
pilots are freaking out(not to worry Cap. saves them) and my favorite
is Christopher(DRACULA)Lee doing a song? That was written and aranged
by Richard(ROCKY HORROR)O'Brian the music in this is like HORROR
and not Shock Treatment...Better than CONDOR MAN...
Have to confess saw this and thought of my Bro's MR.K.I.A Stan RUNKDAPUNK
and WOOPAK

In an era when so many films are either sequels, pre-sold or derivative, "The Return of Captain Invincible" stands as a one-of-a-kind. It is quite possible the strangest film ever made, but at least it acknowledges that strangeness, even glories in it. The gist of the picture is that a wartime superhero, Captain Invincible (Alan Arkin), falls on hard times when his country suddenly decides he is subversive (a plot device not unlike that in Pixar's "The Incredibles," twenty years later). Driven under by HUAC (in fact, stock footage of Joe McCarthy appears in the movie), the superhero becomes an alcoholic living in Australia. But when the evil Mr. Midnight (Christopher Lee), a once-and-future Nazi, rears his ugly head with a plan to rid New York City of minorities, the President (1950's Hollywood veteran Michael Pate) seeks out his former hero to save the world.

What really makes this film unique, though, is that it is not simply a superhero spoof but a musical, with numbers that range from country to jazz to Vegas to Broadway to rock to a very funny spoof of the "Can You Read My Mind?" flying love scene from 1978's "Superman." There are many other conscious parodies as well, including riffs on "Dr. Strangelove" and "Raiders of the Lost Ark" (Captain Invincible and the heroine find themselves thrown into a "snake pit" of living vaccuum cleaners). Arkin, who started his career as a folksinger, has a very pleasing voice and the amazing ability to adapt it to the style of the song (in one he imitates Bing Crosby, in another Sinatra). The real showstopper, though, is Christopher Lee's big number, a "Rocky Horror"-inspired rock song (by the same composers) in which Midnight tries to force Captain Invincible back off the wagon by tempting him with a well stocked bar. This is the film's best known scene, and it must be said that the sight of Lee singing and dancing with a bevy of scantily clad henchgirls has to be seen to be believed.

"The Return of Captain Invincible" has its share of dud gags, but overall, its infectuous goofiness and a few pretty good songs carry the day.

I had not seen this movie for years and when I came across it on Amazon I said I must have it. It is a mix between the Rocky Horror show and Greatest American Hero. An enjoyable movie.

A great to have a bunch of friends over and get drunk by...it is just that type of movie. It is so different than the norm that it gets bad movie bonus points. I will have to say it is the best romantic comedy/superhero/musical that I have ever seen...yet it is the only one. Although I must add that the movie drags in parts, but is really good in others. The musical numbers (bad or crazy as they are) make this flick.

This movie is exactly what it is supposed to be, a campy take off of Superhero movies.I really enjoyed it and found it very funny indeed.
It is not a movie for everyone but I enjoyed it for what it was.

We had this movie on VHS. Everyone we have shared it with was supprised and pleased. Great spoof on super heros. Unbeleivable songs, yes songs. Good story good acting.

I can't imagine the meeting where this film was sold. I can't imagine what studio thought "The Return of Captain Invincible" was a great idea. Think about how writer/producer Andrew Gaty and his co-writer Stephen de Souza must have pitched it:

"It's a movie about a superhero, but he's not a superhero any more. You see, his career was ruined by the McCarthy Communist witch hunts so he becomes a drunk and winds up in Australia. But it's a comedy because NO ONE takes superheroes seriously. And it stars Alan Arkin as the drunk superhero and Christopher Lee as the villain. AND it's a musical! With three songs by Richard O'Brien and Richard Hartley who wrote 'The Rocky Horror Show.'"

Who thought this was a great idea?

This movie, along with "The Pirate Movie", goes a long way to convincing me that Australians shouldn't make musicals.

Having said all that, and with the understood proviso that this is NOT A GOOD MOVIE by any means, this is an ENTERTAINING movie. It's the kind of movie that you want to show your friends to watch their reactions--especially if you don't tell them anything about it before hand. For example, the first song, with a stirring thirty second refrain of "Bullsh*t" that starts it, comes twenty minutes into the movie. Talk about surreal. If you had no prior clue that there was singing and dancing in the movie, you'd think that you were just watching a movie trying to be a campy superhero comedy. The song just knocks you for a loop. But the highlights have to be the VERY VERY strange musical numbers featuring Christopher Lee. On DVD, you can isolate these moments and share them with your friends without having to endure the movie that surrounds them.

I saw the movie first in its original VHS release. I can't say that I liked it, but it was memorable. I bought the DVD because of my memories of the Christopher Lee songs. They don't get much weirder than the climactic "Name Your Poison" number. The DVD pressing has no extra features and the screen aspect ratio is wrong. Even though the movie has been letterboxed and the transfer overseen by director Philippe Mora (Howlings II and III), the images are cut off to the left and the right. The end credits can not be read as they are chopped in half on the left hand side of the screen. It looks like the film was shot in 70mm but given a 35mm transfer. This causes some of Mora's compositions to suffer as he did put performers on opposite sides of the frame and in several cases, they are completely offscreen or cut in half in this transfer.

The script was co-written by Stephen de Souza (Die Hards 1 and 2, "48 Hours", "The Spirit" tv movie) tries to be funny. It misses the mark most of the time. It's hard to make camp work. You either have to be extremely outrageous (a la "Airplane!" or "The Naked Gun") or play it so seriously that the absudity becomes funny (the "Batman" TV show of the 60s). de Souza, who has admitted that he doesn't think people can take superheroes seriously, fails in making it work on either level. (Strangely enough, I kinda liked his script for "The Spirit." It was flawed, but seemed to have more affection for the material than his "Captain Invincible" screenplay.) The other writer was the film's producer, Andrew Gaty.

The songs are a mixed bag. The three by O'Brien and Hartley show some genuine wit (which should come as no surprise) and seem to have more in common in terms of style and tone with their score for "Shock Treatment" than "Rocky Horror." The other songs are mostly forgettable. I've seent he movie twice int he past week and I can't recall any of the music outside of the riotously absurd "Name Your Poison" number. The only other song to make an impact is Alan Arkin's heroes and villains number. I liked the lyrics, but the music (a country twang number) doesn't stick with me.

Each time I watched the movie, I couldn't help thinking "What a strange movie" every few minutes. It just gets weirder and weirder as it goes along. It's full of odd ideas and visuals, but most of them don't add up to anything. Just what is Julius (Mr. Midnight's sidekick)? If you think to hard about all the dangling elements and unanswered questions, you'll get a headache!

Bottom line: this is a great movie to watch with friends if you're looking for something to laugh at and be appalled by. Put this on a menu with "Buckaroo Banzai" and "Killer Klowns from Outer Space" for good mindless fun.

(C)2002 Joe Edkin

This is an excellent and funny movie, but there are a few things to be aware of before watching it. First of all, I sat down and watched this with little kids thinking that the PG rating really meant PG. What I didn't realize was that this was the 80's era standard of PG, meaning that it really should be PG-13 or perhaps even higher. I was shocked when I had to suddenly hit fastforward as topless woman suddenly went by the screen, and then a few minutes later a man began yelling profanities over and over and over. It was also a bit tiresome how absolutely annoying and stupid the Americans were depicted, stereotypically loud and vulgar to the point where I skip most of their scenes when I pop this video in.

Aside from that the movie was actually alot better then I expected. Alan Arkin, Christopher Lee, and Kate Fitzpatrick were wonderful in their parts, most of the songs were excellent (Arkin has a beautiful singing voice, and Lee's pitch is amazing). There were some things that were a bit annoying. The film is far from quality, the rest of the cast are a bit shakey, and there are moments when it almost seems as if there are scenes missing (The ending for instance seems quite incomplete), but despite this there is still something cute and fun about this film. Arkin was particularly enjoyable, infact, while there are some wavery scenes that missed there mark, none of them were his.

If you're ever in a dumb mood this is the movie to watch.

very short summary ***SPOILERS***

Captain Invincible (Arkin) is a thriving super hero until he is put under suspicion of communist sympathies. Angry and hurt the Captain dissapears.
Years later Mr. Midnight (Lee) is almost finished with a maniacle plot to take over, the government seeks out Invincible for help.
A Police Woman named Patty (Fitzpatrick) finds the Captain in Australia, now a lowly drunken bum who feels betrayed and doesn't want to help. It's up to Patty to help get him back into shape and help him remember how to use his powers.
On his way back up to the top he regains his faith in humanity and the American dream while foiling Midnights plot every chance he gets.