The Return of Captain Invincible: Difference between revisions

 

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|[[Philippe Mora]]

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1983 Australian film

The Return of Captain Invincible is a 1983 Australian superhero musical comedy film directed by Philippe Mora, and starring Alan Arkin and Christopher Lee. It was a box office disappointment on release but has become a cult film since then.^[2]

The plot involves the superhero called Captain Invincible (also known as the ‘Legend in Leotards’, ‘Caped Contender’ and ‘Man of Magnet’) who is active during Prohibition, The Depression, World War II, and the early 1950s.

Once a popular hero to all Americans, the super-strong costumed crimefighter is forced into retirement by McCarthy-style government persecution in 1953.

A congressional investigation accuses the patriotic Captain Invincible of being a communist, citing his red cape and ‘premature anti-fascism’. He is charged with violating U.S. airspace by flying without a proper licence, impersonating a military officer and wearing underwear in public.

Angry at this bitter betrayal by the country he had fought to protect, he disappears from the public eye, moving to Australia and becoming a hopeless alcoholic.

Thirty years later, Captain Invincible’s old nemesis, the sinister super-villain Mr Midnight, re-emerges and steals a secret government super-weapon: the hypno-ray.

Tracking the former champion of justice down with the help of Sydney police detective Patty Patria, the US government asks Captain Invincible to return, and the story follows his attempts to return to super-heroing and redeem his reputation.

All he has to do is remember how to fly, regain control of his malfunctioning magnetic powers, and most importantly stay sober, his alcoholism now a kryptonite-style weakness his fiendish foe is all too willing to exploit.

The Return of Captain Invincible was directed by Philippe Mora, and produced by Seven Keys Production and Willara and distributed by Seven Keys in Australia. It was scheduled for release in the US by Jensen Farley Pictures, but the company went out of business days before the scheduled national opening; it was later offered on American VHS and laserdisc by Magnum Entertainment. A widescreen DVD later followed from Elite Entertainment Inc.

Lyricist Richard O’Brien and composer Richard Hartley, known for their prior collaboration on The Rocky Horror Show and its subsequent film adaptation, contributed three songs, including “Captain Invincible”, “Evil Midnight” and “Name Your Poison”.

After completion, producer Andrew Gaty, acting on the advice of his American distributor, recut. Mora objected and the matter wound up before the Minister of Home Affairs, Tom McVeigh, who declared that the film was not “Australian” and thus did not qualify for the 150% tax deduction available for investors. Gaty challenged this decision in court and won.^[3][4]

The Return of Captain Invincible grossed a mere $55,110 at the Australian box office against a budget of $7 million.^[7]

British fantasy novelist Terry Pratchett called the film “a series of bad moments pasted together with great songs and a budget of fourpence,” but said that he had watched it a number of times.^[8] Colin Greenland reviewed The Return of Captain Invincible for Imagine magazine, and stated that “Featuring hilarious musical routines from the man who wrote The Rocky Horror Picture Show and tongue-in-cheek aerobatics by the effects team from Superman, this eccentric, extraordinary and utterly delightful Australian movie has been unforgivably denied to British audiences until now. All credit to Entertainment in Video for discovering it.”^[9]