The Return of Captain Invincible — The Return of Captain Invincible( Blu Ray/ CD)

From the early 1980s The Return of Captain Invincible is a wacky and charming superhero parody, that aptly and largely evenly blends comedy, action, musical, and satire. The film features Alan Arkin as a gone-off-the rail’s superhero, and Christopher Lee wonderfully hamming it up as evil mastermind Mr Midnight- with a good selection of Australian supporting cast. Here from the guys at Severin is a deluxe three-disc release of this lesser-seen/lesser-known superhero pictures- with the set taking in two Blu-Rays featuring two cuts of the film/ host of extras, and a CD taking in the film's soundtrack

The Return of Captain Invincible ( aka Legend in Leotards) appeared in the year 1983 and was an Australian production. It was directed by Paris born but moved/ settled in Melbourne, Australia Philippe Mora. In total he has twenty-six feature lengths to his name- these go from the gritty, grimy and violent Ozzie western Mad Dog Morgan(1976),  onto the southern gothic horror of  The Beast Within(1982), the hamming ‘n’ camping it up werewolf sequel Howling II- Your Sister Is a Werewolf(1985),  alien abduction drama thriller Communion (1989), and comedy thriller Art Deco Detective (1994).

The film kicks off with a series of flashbacks to the 1950’s America newsreel - as we see Captain Invincible(Arkin) doing all manner of heroic, if lightly comedic super-hero stuff. The final flashback clip shows the Cap on trail for being a possible communist- after this frustration/ disappointment, he leaves the country. We then flash forward into the 1980s- and we find he’s now down-under, and has turned into a boozing down and out. He gets noticed by blond policewoman Patty Patria ( Kate Fitzpatrick) throwing a car up in the air- and fairly soon big white-toothed US president(Michael Pate) has made his way to Sydney to try and convince the capt to come back, and help the country, as Mr Nightmare(Lee) is causing all manner of chaos with his plot take over the US, then the world.

Alan Arkin is wonderful, as the at first bumbling drunk- who tries to get the hang of his powers again- flying, powerful magnetism, and computer brain. Lee, as you’d expect is perfect as the master villain- and we even get a chance to hear his wonderfully deep baritone voice on a few of the musical numbers. Fitzpatrick is a good fit for the capt’s friend/ romantic interest. On the support side of things, we have a good cast- a few notable of these been recognisable Ozzie actor Bill Hunter as brash/no rubbish taken cop Tupper, and Pate as the all smiles US president. The film, for a superhero film, doesn’t have a huge budget- but Mora manages to make it look good enough. We have amusing flying through the air action, with Fitzpatrick sitting on him, there’s a wonderful wacky vacuumed cleaner shop come to life fight, a Jewish deli battle with a sausage cannon, and an explosion and cream cake final battle.

The film's musical element is never overdone, and the songs are often entertaining, amusing, and fairly memorable. With the tracks going from showy gospel tunes, female-led upbeat ballads, upbeat country/ light rock, and showy pop-rock- which nods towards the type of thing in Rocky Horror picture show. All in all, I was very much taken by all The Return of Captain Invincible had to offer- as the blend of action, comedy, and musical is done in a good/ balanced manner, and the subtle touches of satire/send-up never feel overdone, or get too wacky for their own good.

Moving onto this new three-disc set- first, off we’ll talk about the two region-free Blu Rays and their contents. The first disc takes in the theatrical cut of the film( 91 mins), and the following new extras/ new on-screen interviews- The Invincible Producer (20.38) with producer Andrew Gaty, An Eye For Ozploitation (8.59) with cinematographer Mike Molloy, Side Saddle Superhero Sidekick (8.36) with actress Kate Fitzpatrick, A Brit Playing A Frenchman In Australia (6.02) with actor Chris Haywood. Otherwise, on this disc we have Christopher Lee Performing one of the tracks off the film "Name Your Poison" on German TV, an Alternate Opening Title Sequence: Legend In Leotards, and a trailer

Moving onto the second disc- and we find the Directors Cut(101 mins)- and this is the version I watched- the print looks very clear and crisp, with the only downside being some of the flying shots looking a little naff now- but in a way, this adds to the charm of the film. Moving onto the extras on this disc, and first up we get a commentary track with director Philippe Mora and Mark Hartley who helmed the 2008 doc Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation!. And this is a chatty/most interesting track- they start off discussing the old newsreel footage, how it was created/ aged, and how it was inspired by the director's early doc work. They discuss how the impressive on the edge of a cliff shot was captured, and how they got the stunt man up there to roll around near it's edge. They discuss the work of the films Cinematographer Mike Molloy, Christopher Lees on-screen ad-libs, and the amount of Australian acting talent in the film. They talk about the film's songs, how they came about, and that the director wanted each to be from a different genre. Later on, they discuss the staging of the songs, and that many of the dances were local strippers. We get talk about the use of front projection, and how it’s used for the flying scenes. They chat about the film's creature effects, its effects in general, and the wonderful set design. Plus lots more- a most entertaining and informative track, which is well worth a play.
Otherwise, on this disc we get the following on-screen interviews- Creating Captain Invincible(23.44) with Philippe Mora And Screenwriter Steven E. de Souza. The Return Of The Return of Captain Invincible(41.39) with Philippe Mora And Beat The Geeks' Marc Edward Heuck. 

Lastly, we get the CD- this features ten tracks, taking in both the film's songs and the orchestral score by Will Motzing. This comes with a colourful double-sided postcard- with a cartoon of the capt learning to fly again, and on its reverse the track listing. The release is finished off with a reversible sleeve, with the edition we were sent having a colourful slip sleeve, featuring more cartoon artwork of the capt, and glossy texts on the front.

 

Without a doubt, The Return of Captain Invincible is one of the great superhero parodies- with the right blend of action, laughs and entertaining songs.This Severin edition of the film is certainly most impressive- with great new prints of the film, a good selection of extras, and the wonderful packaging topping the whole thing off- so another all-around winner from the label.