Search - The Return of Captain Invincible on DVD

I might be old fashioned, but this is a damn good film

John Acock | 09/02/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"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 I?m 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 one?s 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 that?s just because I?m English.
But in conclusion, this film will make you laugh, and if it doesn?t it might just make you smile. Well if you?ve got a sense of humour that is."

SO bad, it's great

J. Fisher | 03/28/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"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 classicMagnet On........"

Those bullets won't hurt me son! ("BAM") OUCH! OUCH!@ STOP S

CLINT BRONSON | las vegas,NV. | 04/19/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"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"

If you can find a film stranger than this, buy it!

M2 | Glendale, CA United States | 07/23/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"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."