Capt. Invincible’s Greatest Feat: Returning on Home Video

With its premiere on DVD, Philippe Mora’s “The Return of Captain Invincible” is at last “into the blue.”

Despite a checkered distribution history, the 1983 Australian musical spoof of superheroes has garnered something of a cult following among fans of Alan Arkin, Christopher Lee and “Rocky Horror Picture Show” creator Richard O’Brien, who contributed three memorable songs.

The flight to DVD was no less bumpy, with the tragic events of Sept. 11 casting a shadow on the film, whose rousing conclusion features the hero rallying the country while circling the World Trade Center.

Previously available on a now-scarce, poor-quality, pan-and-scan version released in 1988 by Magnum Entertainment, the film, like its tarnished hero, has at last found redemption. Elite Entertainment’s superb disc ($20) boasts a near-pristine transfer from the sole surviving negative and presents the film for the first time in the wide-screen format with a remixed Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack.

Deliberately hard to pigeonhole in the grand eccentric Australian tradition, “Captain Invincible” is quirky to beat the band. Arkin stars as the good Captain, “man of magnets ... legend in leotards, and an inspiration to America’s youth.” But his career as a crime-buster and Nazi fighter ends amid accusations of being a communist sympathizer, and he winds up in Sydney, Australia, a broken alcoholic.

Lee plays the “brilliant fiend,” Mr. Midnight, whose minions steal a top-secret weapon, the hypnoray. The now-decrepit Invincible must rediscover his superpowers to take Midnight down and save New York City.

You can be forgiven if “Captain Invincible” flew under your radar. Outside of two test screenings in Phoenix (under the title “Legend in Leotards”) and another in Wichita, the film did not receive theatrical distribution in the United States.

According to director Mora, the film “made it as far as the projection booth” before distributor Jenson-Farley Pictures went bankrupt the week it was to be released. A tangle of lawsuits and rights squabbles further hampered the eventual home video release. Magnum Entertainment went out of business in 1993.

This is what make its release on DVD so satisfying to Mora. “It’s tremendous to have it out there,” he enthused in a phone interview, “especially in a technically good form.”

Echoes actor Lee, who makes the most of his rare chance to do comedy and to sing on screen: “If it’s got a new public, fine, because I thought it was a great deal better than it’s been given credit for. Considering [the ridiculous superhero uniform] he was required to wear, Alan Arkin gave an extraordinary performance. Friends of mine who are opera singers in America told me they enjoyed the musical numbers, which I think are witty, well done and well performed.”

It was Mora’s inspiration to transform “Captain Invincible” (originally written as a straight comedy by Stephen E. de Souza) into a musical in homage to the songfests he thrilled at seeing while growing up in Australia.

“When I saw a musical, whether it was ‘Oklahoma!’ or even an Elvis Presley movie, it was a big event,” he said. “I thought there was an audience for them if I could just find an innovative way in, as did ‘Saturday Night Fever’ and ‘All That Jazz.’

“In the early ‘80s, when Australia was funding films with tax incentives, you could be experimental,” he said. “I had the leverage to say I want to do ‘Captain Invincible’ as a musical.”

For his lead actor, Mora originally sought James Coburn, who, having played Derek Flint, was seemingly no stranger to outrageous films. But he didn’t “see it,” the director said. “He told me, ‘Philippe, I just don’t get this. Why would I [in one scene] be attacked by vacuum cleaners?’ I didn’t have a good enough answer. The funny thing is, when we were doing the scene with Alan, he said, ‘Philippe, why am I being attacked by vacuum cleaners?’ I said, ‘Too late.’”

Mora, a friend of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” director Jim Sharman, recruited Richard O’Brien to contribute songs. “I thought he would get a kick out of writing a song for Christopher,” Mora said. “And he jumped at the chance.”

Though the film was made during what Mora called “more cynical times,” “Captain Invincible” was intended to be a sincere, star-spangled celebration of Americana.

Indeed, Mora contacted composer Irving Berlin for permission to use a clip of Kate Smith singing “God Bless America” from the 1943 Michael Curtiz extravaganza “This Is the Army.” Berlin was in his late 90s then but still went to his office to work. “The clip fit our movie so well,” Mora said. “I explained the film to him. There was a long silence. Finally, he said, ‘Mr. Mora, that will be $10,000.’” Mora paid.

While the DVD was in the works before Sept. 11, “Captain Invincible” went from oddball pleasure to something more poignant in the wake of the terrorist attacks. Following his triumph over Midnight, Invincible flies above New York City to the cheers of the crowd. “Together,” he proclaims, “we’re not alone. We’re not helpless. Together, we’re part of the roughest, toughest, biggest, kindest, fairest, bestest darn gang in the whole world.”

At a time when the entertainment industry was sensitive to any song, movie or TV show that unwittingly echoed the tragedy, Elite had to take a step back for fear of appearing to exploit the film’s newfound timeliness. Executives decided to digitally remove the image of the twin towers from the DVD’s box art.

“It’s almost spooky to see the film now,” Mora said. “It’s sad that it took a disaster to restore [the patriotic feelings] that were unashamed on my part.”