Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future: The Complete Series DVD Review

You may recall Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future. You may not. Allow me to refresh your memory. Captain Power was a live-action sci-fi series that aired in the late '80s. The show was produced to tie in with a new Mattel toy line. The collection of toys included several jets which allowed you to watch the TV show live and fire at glowing icons on the screen with your ship. If you hit a target, the ship would collect "power points." See the instructional training video below (which came with one of the jets):



The series itself takes place in the wake of a brutal holocaust. Intelligent machines have taken over (not unlike The Terminator), and the humans who survived must fight in a post-apocalyptic Earth to regain control. While the show is cheesy at times, with silly costumes, soap opera acting and other elements toned down to help appeal to kids, the narrative is anything but childish. Alas, Captain Power ran for just one season – canceled after the toy line failed to take off.

Still, fans of Captain Power fondly recall this surprisingly fascinating series. It's grown and evolved over the years, transforming into an '80s cult hit. Curiously, the show also seemed to have largely inspired the Borg -- the villain of Captain Power looks eerily similar to the Trek villains, namely Picard's Locutus. (FYI, the Borg first appeared more than a year after Captain Power had aired.)

To be frank, I had nearly forgotten about the show until sometime last year when I saw a video from the series pop up on YouTube. I ended up seeking out episodes of the show and found that most of the series was available, albeit in horrendously unwatchable bootleg quality. Still, Captain Power proved an immeasurably intense series, with rich characters, awesome action, great set design, a fantastic soundtrack and decent (not to mention ambitious) effects, including some early CG work. There was also a shockingly mature story underneath the silly names, goofy costumes and hammy delivery – a story that dealt with the darker side of humanity while openly dealing with death, compassion and redemption of mankind in rather profound ways (for a kids' show).

Captain Power is exactly the sort of show that needed to find its way to DVD, and now it has! It's easily one of the most mature, profound live-action kids' shows ever created. It pushed boundaries, advanced the genre, introduced some daring CG effects and defined awesome at the time, especially for kids who had yet to experience something gritty like The Terminator or Robocop. But, quite sadly, it went away too soon – its potential virtually untapped. With some luck this DVD set will inspire Mattel to revisit the series. I can only imagine what a big-budget reboot of this show could look like with today's production values and effects. As the show's creator, Gary Goddard, states in the DVD's booklet: I believe we will see Captain Power re-imagined for a new audience in the very near future. Fingers crossed.

This four-disc DVD set includes all 22 episodes of the show. Unfortunately, it does not include the three training videos that were available as part of the toy line. I'm guessing rights issues were the cause of their absence. In any event, they are still available to watch over at YouTube, in bootleg-o-vision.


The show is presented in full frame, mixed in stereo. Like so many shows of the era that arrive on DVD, Captain Power doesn't really look or sound all that great anymore. While the show appears to have been shot on film (as opposed to video), it looks as though only tape masters have survived. As such, quite a bit of degradation has taken place. Expect hazy, washed out visuals and numerous other tape distortions consistent with dated tape sources. The stereo track is passable, but hardly engaging, dragged down by hiss and other hiccups. However, compared to the YouTube bootleg versions that float around the internets, this DVD set is a pretty big leap in quality and should bring a smile to any fan's face.

Extras are really where things go from mediocre to completely awesome. The set includes six commentary tracks spread among the first three discs. The tracks feature many of the show's writers, producers, creators and even a few cast members. There's a lot of great trivia and insight here. It's clear that the folks behind this series honestly cared about the show they helped create, and their passion for the material is honest, heartfelt, and infectious.

Even better, disc four is dedicated entirely to extras! To start, there's the 90-minute TV movie titled Captain Power: The Legend Begins. It's basically a mash-up of the show's best episodes, but an interesting watch nonetheless. There's also a wonderful 94-minute documentary that delves deeply into the origin of the series, exploring the show's controversial side, ambitious nature and ultimate cancellation.


Other goodies include an art gallery, filled with some truly awesome artwork, a 5-minute featurette about the original promo trailer (as well as the promo itself) and an 8-minute discussion of the abandoned concepts and scripts created for the unproduced second season of the show. All told, this set features a remarkable retrospective for one of TV's coolest kids' shows. As an added bonus, the box set's awesome cover artwork is created by movie poster legend Drew Struzan. Coolness!

If I've refreshed your memory enough that you're once again intrigued by this series, pick this set up. There's a lot to love about this show. It's one of those series that actually works, even as an adult. If the show's ideas and themes have piqued your interest, give the show a spin as well. You might need to suspend some disbelief, and forgive the show for its low-budget trappings, but Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future is a series well worth revisiting or experiencing for the very first time.

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