captainpower

DIRECTOR: Otta Hanus, Jorge Montesi, Ken Girotti
CAST: Tim Dunigan, Peter MacNeill, Sven-Ole Thorsen, Maurice Dean Wint and Jessica Steen.
COUNTRY: USA / Canada
YEAR: 1991
LANGUAGE: English
RUNTIME: 90 min

FEB.MO.VID SCREENING:
DATE: February 17th, 2016
VENUE: The Royal Cinema
FORMAT: Digital Print 
PRESENTED IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE HAND EYE SOCIETY

Created by Gary Goddard (MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE), written largely by J. Michael Straczynski (BABYLYON 5) and Larry DiTillo (BEAST WARS) and shot in and around Toronto, CAPTAIN POWER AND THE SOLDIERS OF THE FUTURE boasted impressive special effects, and a compelling story, as well as a unique interactive feature whereby viewers could buy a toy light gun that would respond to signals from the television during an episode of the show.
 
Interactive gimmicks aside, the show made for stellar sci-fi action as it spun its adventures of rebels battling evil robots in a post-apocalyptic dystopia with surprising emotional heft and weighty themes for what was originally intended to be a children's programme. The show routinely dealt with subjects like PTSD and genocide, and its larger story arcs overtly allegorized fascism in a cyberpunk context; you know, for kids!
 
Fortunately, such gloom and doom is offset with an infectious adventurous levity, thanks to the earnest and charismatic cast, and the copious amount of thrilling pyrotechnics and ground-breaking digital effects, including fully CGI characters courtesy of the pioneering artists at Toronto's own Arcca Animation.

FULL MOTION FANTASIA: AN FMV GAME SUPERCUT

Before the screening of CAPTAIN POWER, Laser Blast curator Peter Kuplowsky presented a supercut of video game clips that utilized full-motion-video (FMV) technology to tell their outrageous "cinematic" stories. This supercut largely focuses on the games spearheaded by James Riley for the SEGA-CD platform, and includes GROUND ZERO: TEXAS, NIGHT TRAP, SEWER SHARKS, SUPREME WARRIOR, SURGICAL STRIKE, and WIREHEAD.