Christopher Lee Is A Singing And Dancing Supervillain In Forgotten Movie You Can Stream Right Now
The Return of Captain Invincible is streaming for free (with ads) on Tubi.
To genre fans, Christopher Lee is often considered the ultimate celebrity. After all, he headlined countless horror films before turning in unforgettable performances such as Count Dooku in Star Wars and Saruman in Lord of the Rings. But he also starred in some really awful and insane films such as The Return of Captain Invincible (now available to stream on Tubi), and if you want to get an idea of how much this movie will melt your brain, check out the preview below.
In The Return of Captain Invincible, Alan Arkin plays the titular superhero who also goes by some fairly embarrassing nicknames (including “Man of Magnet” and our favorite: “Legend in Leotards”). He was once a World War II-era hero but was driven into forced retirement by a McCarthy-style persecution of superheroes. But when his old nemesis Dr. Midnight (played by Christopher Lee) steals a government hypno-ray decades later, the captain has to suit up once again in order to save the day.
This Christopher Lee movie ended up being a big flop (more on this later), but we can’t get over how much the plot has in common with some of the most influential superhero stories ever made. For example, heroes being forced into retirement before emerging years past their prime to fight bad guys is the driving plot behind Alan Moore’s iconic Watchmen comic (later adapted into a divisive movie by Zack Snyder). And this was the general plot of The Dark Knight Returns, the Frank Miller comic often considered the most influential Batman story in history.
While we can’t look you in the eyes and say that The Return of Captain Invincible is a good movie, it does have some unexpectedly awesome moments. For example, the movie contains three songs that were written by the same duo who brought us most of the best music from The Rocky Horror Picture Show. It’s undeniably fun to see Christopher Lee sing onscreen, and if you like the sound, be sure to check out all the heavy metal he recorded over the years (no, really).
One of the reasons this Christopher Lee film has been overlooked by audiences over the years is the fact that it ran into some distribution issues at the worst possible time. The movie was mostly filmed in Australia, and right before its release in the United States, its American distributor Jensen Farley Pictures went out of business. This meant it could garner no American box office, though the movie was eventually sold in the United States on VHS, LaserDisc, and (much later) DVD.
As you might expect, not getting a theatrical release in America really hurt the box office for this film. It was only released into theaters in its home country of Australia, making a mere $55,110. That would be a low box office sum for almost any film, and considering that this Christopher Lee movie had a budget of seven million dollars, this low box office meant the film was a genuine bomb.
Despite being a box office bomb at the time of its release, The Return of Captain Invincible has developed a cult following over the years as more and more fans have watched it. Right now, the film is barely clinging to a “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes with a 60 percent critical score (though it should be noted the audience score is a dismal 39 percent). Good Omens co-author Terry Pratchett effectively got the final word on this movie, noting that it had “bad moments pasted together with great songs” from stars like Christopher Lee, making it great for schlock fans who love a good tune.
Ultimately, while The Return of Captain Invincible isn’t the kind of thing you put on if you want to see masterpiece cinema, it’s a great movie to watch with buddies while you give it the full Mystery Science Theater 3000 treatment. That’s because it meets the criteria for entertainingly bad movies previously established by veteran YouTube film channel RedLetterMedia: it’s an awful movie created by filmmakers who thought they were making something amazing. It’s the kind of cinematic trainwreck you can’t look away from, and it’s worth watching just to see Christopher Lee steal each scene he is in.
