Captain EO (1986)

How sad is this?

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

OK, so Disney is the out and out owner of this Michael Jackson Classic Music Video/Sci Fi Space Movie shot exclusively for Walt Disney Theme parks across the whole entire globe. Then when allegations of Pedophilia were leveled against Michael Jackson Walt Disney Studios ironically enough told Michael Jackson to Beat It and replaced Captain EO with Honey I Shrunk The Audience !Captain EO was the first and last movie Michael ever did for Disney. It was shot in Super 70mm Format so you are talking about a true wide screen movie here needing the full blown Digital 16x9 HD Overhaul Treatment.

I originally saw Captain EO in 1989 and was spectacularly under-whelmed by its mediocrity even then, the 'film' ostensibly an excuse for some of the biggest egos in the US entertainment business to recklessly blow a shed-load of Disney's cash.Now, with its star Michael Jackson having moon-walked off this mortal coil, this extravagant multi-million dollar musical spectacular has been reinstated as an attraction at Disneyland, giving me another chance to revel in all of its bloated, self-indulgent, 80s 'splendour'. And it's worse than I had remembered.Virtually plot less, loaded with unbelievably poor special effects from ILM (enhanced by really crap 3D), and boasting a particularly dreadful central performance from Jackson, it's hard to believe that this rubbish was written by the creator of Indiana Jones and directed by the man who brought us The Godfather.After a load of badly written space-flavoured nonsense aimed at a pre-teen audience (complete with crap cuddly hand-puppet aliens, ropey robots, and unexciting space-battle action), the whole thing turns into a garish musical nightmare of spandex, metallic make-up, and coloured lights as MJ belts out a forgettable track and struts his stuff in order to teach the evil Supreme Leader (Anjelica Huston) all about love, peace and understanding (a primo piece of Jacko schmaltz).Some novel in-theatre trickery (such as moving seats, wind machines, and lighting effects) adds a touch of fun, but Captain EO is unlikely to impress anyone but the most rabid of Jackson fans.

Captain EO (1986)** (out of 4) This Disney production runs 17-minutes and I've heard it cost nearly $17 million to produce so you can do the math there. Captain EO (Michael Jackson) and some puppets set up to defeat an evil Queen (Anjelica Huston) with dancing and singing. This Disneyland exclusive was considered a bust when originally released and time hasn't been too friendly. Watching it just hours after hearing of Jackson's passing, I couldn't help but feel his talent was wasted here as was the talent of the director Francis Ford Coppola. With those two together and a large budget I couldn't believe how cheap and corny this film looked. I'm really not sure where they spend all the money unless it went into the star and director's pockets because the movie is pretty much ugly from start to finish. The dance moves are pretty nice but the entire movie just seems so forced. The first eight-minutes are a movie but it doesn't mix with the music video of the second half. That music video doesn't mix with the first half so I'm really not sure what the point of this was.

Captain EO had was honey I shrunk...missed. Don't know what it is but it was way more fun. It's effects where awesome ad the music was fun. "Another Part Of Me" is found on "BAD" and "We are here to change he world" can be found on "The Ultimate Collection" . Michael Jackson actually does a great job of "acting" and the dancing is first class. Anjelica Houston is, as always, an under cooled witch. It disappeared from Disney in 1998 (paris) and is now replaced by honey... which has better effects but is less fun... Will it ever appear on DVD? Maybe on blue-Ray disc? It has a great soundtrack to demo a home cinema with. I think there are to many people involved in this film and the all have to agree I guess.