Fresh and Exciting

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Michael Jackson's the only man in existence who can make a rainbow t-shirt and white leather buckles look cool. I defy you to come up with someone else who could pull that off. Don't worry about it; it can't be done. Getting right down to it, CAPTAIN EO is one 15-minute long music video. And it is glorious. Vanity project? Sure, but when you actually see this thing, you know it just had to be done. The guy was at the height of his power - why not have your own Disneyland ride? And after all these years, it plays like a real '80s time capsule: the post-STAR WARS miniatures, the spaceship production design, the crew-members that looked like they were right out of RETURN OF THE JEDI . . . I loved that this all had that time-and-place stamp on it. It is undeniably of the '80s, which I'm sure is likely to turn off some; but for me, it's a real treat. You can find the full-length CAPTAIN EO on YouTube, but that won't ever do the movie justice. Not because it's not in 3D, but because you'd be watching it without the thrumming sound system of the theater. So I have to give Disneyland some respect (watch out for flying pigs) for bringing this back, regardless of their reasoning. It's the one reason I'm kinda bummed I didn't renew my annual pass. And I really like the way they treated this "Tribute" re-opening, showing a making-of video while you're waiting in line and piping the score through the speakers as you walk in. I've gotta say, I love the synth in this movie, and I really wish they'd release the soundtrack. "We Are Here to Change the World" and "Another Part of Me" are both go-to songs when I want to go back to this movie. It's just too bad there's no decent way to hear that slap-bass solo again. 9/10

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 is a much better film than anyone could have hoped. First off, I wish to remind people this a Disney-produced film. It was released into Epcot in 1986.Epcot was a complete bore in 1986. Except for the area with the countries, nothing deserved the attention that Captain EO did. When I visited Epcot, this film was so fun, I went back to see it in the first day seven times. It's only 17 minutes long, so I had enough time to see it seven times. It's an exciting film: very immersing and fun.It was directed by Francis Ford Coppola, and this film is as masterfully directed as Apocalypse Now and The Godfather, or anything else he's directed. It stars Michael Jackson.It released in 1986, which was about six years into the Reagan Administration and "the moral majority." This film crashes right through that mentality to fulfill a much-needed statement about the future of the human race, and also of human enlightenment. It pits a contrast of meaningful and non-prejudiced life against a black-and-white drone mentality. The meaningful, non-prejudiced, and enlightened perspective is symbolized by the film's protagonist philosophy: the loudness of the film in its multi-racial (or rather multi-species) dance routines, the rainbow on the lead character's shirt, and the lead character dressed in a white uniform. The lead is played by Michael Jackson. The protagonist philosophy depicts the good, while the antagonist's philosophy is symbolized as the evil aspects of humanity, the drone mentality: the spider-appearance of the antagonist leader mostly in black is similar to H.R. Giger's Alien from a few years before, the black-and-white and gray color pallet, the German expressionism, the robots symbolizing the drone mentality and fascism, and the planet's metallic-refused surface for industrial advancements. The antagonist leader is played by Angelica Huston, a white woman.Although this film appears to be a science fiction, it is similar to Star Wars in that they are both disconnected Westerns to some degree: the subject here is good versus evil as laid out by symbolism. This gives the film its weight. Or, it could be construed loosely as what happens to the inner universes of two people who fall in love, which could be symbolized by the protagonist being played by a black male star and the antagonist being played by a white female, although this idea isn't as developed as the former; but, both of them probably fit together somehow. It probably exemplifies the possibility of how the two could fit together when endured by love over hate. Love, not money, makes the world go 'round.The reason Captain EO is a very good film is half because of the importance of its statement to all enlightened existences and half because of the quality in its direction, its expression, its submersion, the technicality of its cinema. The special effects rival films like this one showcased by theme parks today, and according to one source is the most expensive film ever made, by the minute, estimated at over one million dollars per minute of the movie.Jackson performs two songs in the movie, "We are Here to Change the World" and "You're Just Another Part of Me." The latter track is on Jackson's music album "Bad" (1990) virtually the same way it is performed in the film. The other song does not exist in that form anywhere else; however, there is a song with this exact title on the album "Victory" (1984) by the Jacksons, an album on which Michael performs.Although I have not seen the film in at least the thirteen years since Disney withdrew the film in 1994, I remember being wooed by it during my teenage years. Epcot was very boring, and this film amazed me: I saw it seven times that day I first saw it. It's in "3-D." The room had special effects. When Jackson's space vehicle lands on the planet, fog fills the audience and stage under the screen image. When a character shoots a laser gun, the explosions occur on the ceiling of the theater. When the spaceship travels through space, the entire room is filled with stars. Even though I haven't seen the film for a very long time, I remember it, and I remember what sitting the auditorium was like: I felt excited by all of it.

Captain EO was the greatest attraction I'd seen in my life up to that time. As a matter of fact, it's still the greatest. I love theme parks and I've seen a lot of attractions. Spiderman at Universal comes close.I was in my twenties when EO was released and the film made me feel like a big kid. I wasn't too concerned about the plot and the acting as much as the effects, music and dancing. I got everything I bargained for and then some. I was sad to see it go. If they ever brought it back, I'd be first in line to see it!All I know is it was an attraction that I could feel. Captain EO was a trend setter. It ran as a 3D attraction, but it was more like a 4D. There was smoke and lasers to go with the 3D effects. I experienced Captain EO at least 20 times and every single time, there was roaring applause at the end.Great!