Long before the Dawn of Man... There was Evil EVERYWHERE!!
This is a little neglected gem of a movie that i have very fond memories of staying up way past my bedtime to watch on TV. I was around ten years old, and it was a school night, but i was intrigued by the thought of a superhero musical starring Dracula himself: Sir Christopher of Lee! At that age i was into anything and everything superhero related: every Marvel and DC comic i could find, the Bill Bixby 'Hulk' series, the Nicholas Hammond 'Spider-Man' flicks, and even the old 'Batman' and 'Superman' movie serials that used to run on morning TV during the school holidays. But nothing could quite prepare me for the warped genius of 'The Return of Captain Invincible'!
From the dropout ex-hero's drunken ramblings of how he intercepted Skylab as it plummeted through he atmosphere ("I attempted to catch it... but it was moving... at great speed!"), through his rehab programme to become a fit and active caped crusader again and foil the plot of the diabolical Mr Midnight ("Hold on / Sit tight / You never, ever did right / Roll on Midnight / You're spoiling for the big fight!"), to the perfidious villain's tempting of the good Captain will the delights of alcohol ("Choose yer booze!") this was an unremitting joy that still lingers in my mind years later. Shame that it's apparently still not out on R2 DVD, but i may well try and seek out a region 1 copy if it's cheap enough, just to relive this little classic.
I'm insensible for Captain Invincible!
I, too, could be a superhero if it were not for the booze. Honest :-P
ReplyDeleteI think I mentioned it when you posted this before but it's weird how this came along at the same time Alan Moore was doing the first decontructionist take on the superhero with the first book of "Miracleman" which I have covered on my blog and which you should all go and read HINT HINT.
ReplyDeleteAlso reminds me of Grant Morrisons "Flex Mentallo" which I haven't covered because it's so bloody weird and I have no idea where to start, but Morrison would be the sort of person who'd be riffing on a film like this. I must check it out.
OMGZ I heart this film so much.
ReplyDeleteThen you have passed the test.:)
ReplyDeleteI have just spent twenty minutes watching the two great songs from this opus (Mr Evil Midnight and Name Your Poison) over and over on youtube. I need this DVD badly.
ReplyDelete