The Return of Captain Invincible (1983)

Directed by Philippe Mora. With Alan Arkin, Christopher Lee, Kate Fitzpatrick, Bill Hunter. In World War II, Captain Invincible used his superpowers against the Nazis, and he was a hero. But when they accused him of supporting the Communists, he retired to Australia. Now, after a U.S. super secret super weapon is stolen, he's asked to come back to help. Unfortunately, he's an alcoholic now.

The Return of Captain Invincible is a 1983 Australian musical comedy superhero film starring Alan Arkin and Christopher Lee. It grossed a mere $55,110 at the Australian box office despite a budget of $7 million.

Alan Arkin, Christopher Lee, Kate Fitzpatrick, Bill Hunter, Michael Pate, David Argue, John Bluthal, Chelsea Brown, Max Cullen, Arthur Dignam, Noel Ferrier, Hayes Gordon, Mike Molloy, Philippe Mora, John Scott, Andrew Gaty, Brian Burgess, Peter Smalley, Steven E. de Souza: Movies & TV

This patchy, uneven combination of fantasy and musical comedy is hilarious in parts and embarrassing in others, though the premise has great potential in itself -- a screwball Captain Invincible is out to save the world from his nemesis, Mr. Midnight, the white supremacist. Captain Invincible (Alan Arkin) is wallowing in his cups in the Australian outback when he receives an unusual call from the American President asking for his help. Unusual because the Captain had no choice but to go into exile after Joseph McCarthy's Un-American Activities Committee became suspicious of his red cape, and he has never been sober enough to recover from the shock. This history is given in a mock newsreel at the beginning of the film. But now Mr. Midnight is threatening to dismember New York City by convincing all the ethnic groups to live along the seashore. Once they are situated on beachfront property, he will blast out a crack in the earth behind them, cut their connection to the mainland, and send them drifting off into the Atlantic. It seems the dastardly Midnight has stolen the ultra-secret hypno-ray and can slice off New Jersey whenever he wants. Weakened by depression and alcohol, Captain Invincible is nursed back to full throttle by Patty Patria (Kate Fitzpatrick) and is soon ready to zoom over Sydney to the far side of the globe -- after practicing in harness in front of rear-projected scenes. Meanwhile, Mr. Midnight and his sidekick are all set to defend their turf, and their ability to slice it up -- though the (American) patriotic sentimentality that prevails in the end, after several other songs have come and gone, is summarized in a rendition of

A cult Australian superhero flick starring Alan Arkin predated today’s left-of-centre caped crusaders like Deadpool by a quarter of a century

Question The First; What if I told you we were going to get a superhero musical comedy?

In WWII, Captain Invincible used his superpowers against the Nazis, and he was a hero. But when they accused him of supporting the communists, he retired to Australia.

An Australian movie about an American superhero directed by a French-born painter. What could go wrong?Country: Australia | Runtime: 90mins | Directo

Starring Alan Arkin (Edward Scissorhands) as the most unusual of Superheroes and Christopher Lee (Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of The Ring) as his devil...

the trailer for super hero parody "captain invincible".

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In WWII, Captain Invincible used his superpowers against the Nazis, and he was a hero. But when they accused him of supporting the communists, he retired to Australia. Now, after a US super secret super weapon is stolen, he's asked to come back, to help. Unfortunately, he's an alcoholic now... -- parody of superhero comic strips

In the fight against Fascism in Europe Captain Invincible was a shining hero and beacon of freedom for all Americans to look up to.

Director: Philippe Mora Stars: Alan Arkin, Christopher Lee, Kate Fitzpatrick and Bill Hunter Everything's superheroes nowadays, it s...

The early and mid-'80s witnessed the release of countless oddball action-hero movies that aimed to exploit the success of the Superman, James Bond, and Indiana Jones films while satirizing the genre. The best of the bunch, The Adventures Of Buckaroo Banzai Across The Eighth Dimension and Big Trouble In Little China, became deserved cult favorites, even as they failed to spawn profitable franchises, while also-rans Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins and Hero At Large were quickly forgotten. A would-be cult classic recently released on a no-frills DVD, 1983's The Return Of Captain Invincible falls somewhere between the categories. Hyperbolically billed as the "mother of all cult movies" on its DVD case, Invincible doesn't seem to have acquired much of a following, though with a cast that includes Alan Arkin and Christopher Lee, and songs by The Rocky Horror Picture Show's Richard O'Brien, its pedigree is impressive. Directed by Philippe Mora (who would later re-team with Lee for Howling II and direct Pterodactyl Woman From Beverly Hills), Invincible casts Arkin as the eponymous tights enthusiast, an old-fashioned superhero who becomes an embittered drunk after he's blacklisted during the '50s. Called on to save the world several decades later, Arkin must first sober up, re-learn how to fly, and get his computer brain and magnetic powers working so he can face arch-nemesis Lee and his army of henchmen. A strange, indescribable musical/comedy/fantasy that alternately recalls Dr. Strangelove, Rocky Horror, and Zapped!, Captain Invincible boasts enough interesting concepts to fuel a series, but instead of complementing each other, the ideas in Mora's surreal superhero spoof tend to collide with a thud. Combining flashbacks, newsreels, narration, cameos from FDR, Kate Smith, and Joseph McCarthy, broad stylization, and gratuitous use of speeded-up film, Captain Invincible flails from one self-consciously wacky scenario to another. If nothing else, Arkin and Lee do good work in the face of strident nuttiness and some of the worst songs this side of Grease 2. Captain Invincible may embody the concept of the interesting failure, but at least there's nothing else quite like it.