Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future: "Final Stand"

In “Final Stand” by J. Michael Straczynski, Captain Power (Tim Dunigan) and his officers attempt to save a group of captured humans before Sauron, re-charging nearby, can digitize them. 

Unfortunately, the humans are being held hostage by Kasko (Chaels Seixas), a genetically-engineered human soldier who strongly dislikes Tank (Sven-Ole Thorsen) and wants revenge against him.

Kasko makes a deal with Captain Power.He will release the hostages, and not detonate a bomb threatening his captives if and only if Tank agrees to fight him to the death, no armor allowed…

Hoping to buy the trapped people some time, Power has no choice but to agree to Kasko’s terms…

“Final Stand” is a strange episode of Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future (1987) and not a particularly strong one, even though JMS -- the series' finest writer -- is the author. The whole episode exists so that Tank can fight another soldier, mano a mano, but the battle itself feels underwhelming.

The episode never reveals the source of the personal conflict between Tank and Kasko, or why they are such bitter enemies. We know only that they are both genetically-engineered, or “freaks” as Tank terms himself.  Late in the episode, Tank also reveals that when he “escaped Babylon 5,” he thought he put that life behind him.

So yes, that’s a pretty direct allusion to another JMS universe, and one that was still years away from production. 

Clearly, however, it must be a different Babylon 5. In Captain Power the locale sounds like a military colony or camp where soldiers were “grown" or incubated.

Here the reference feels thrown in, like there is a huge back-story we need to know about Tank and the locale…but we get absolutely none of it.  

And worse, Kasko doesn’t feel like a very strong threat. Some of his dialogue is absolutely atrocious.  

At one point he says “Sad, really. You’ve lost the killer instinct.” Today that  line plays almost as parody.

Matters don’t get any better -- or any more three dimensional -- with Tank’s explanation of Kasko’s problem. “He’s crazy.”

Yes, but why does he hate you, Tank, and why does he want revenge?

Like "War Dogs," a couple of weeks back, one gets the feeling in "Final Stand" that the series was attempting to establish the supporting characters, giving them increased prominence in certain stories. But in both cases the writing feels off-the-shelf and cliched.  Hawk discovers an old flame in "War Dogs," and Tank meets an old enemy who makes him question his past in "Final Stand."  Neither story actually deepens our sense of the characters much.

Still, the episode’s end message is a good one.  As “Final Stand” suggests, the reasons why we fight are often more important than the fact of the fight itself.  Kasko kills for revenge, for some personal sense of blood-lust. Tank fights so as to save the hostages. There’s a huge difference there, and in that difference is the definition of heroism, as Power points out.

When Captain Power blogging resumes: "Pariah."

Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future: "The Abyss"

In “The Abyss” by J. Michael Straczynski (or JMS as he is known by his admirers), Captain Power (Tim Dunigan) and Hawk (Peter McNeill) conduct reconnaissance in Sector 7, and unexpectedly come under ambush from other humans.

The two soldiers are captured and interrogated under the command of an army general, Briggs (Michael J. Reynolds) who has gone mad. Briggs believes his new captives are moles working for Dread, and has them bound and ruthlessly interrogated, even slated for execution.

As Sauron and his minions approach, however, Power and Hawk must engineer both an escape from their captors, and a defense against the encroaching machine army.

“The Abyss” is the best Captain Power episode thus far (three in…), and after the narrative treading water of the last installment, a real relief to boot. 

Here, JMS provides a veritable orgy of new information about the series’ world, and manages to craft characters who feel like more than mere clichés.

One of the episode’s most interesting touches involved Lord Dread’s penchant for quoting New Machine Scripture. He talks of “machines casting off the flesh,” and it is a welcome indicator that the enemy in this brave new world isn’t just a two-dimensional “baddie,” but a life-form that mythologizes its history, and sees a destiny for itself.  A new social order is in the offing, one that hates and derides organic life-forms.

Captain Power himself is also handled with far more flair than previously, at least in terms of writing in “The Abyss." Here, he risks electrocution so as to activate his damaged power-suit, a dangerous gambit that pays off.  

And in the final battle, he shows some kick-ass combat moves, taking out a squad of Dreads after it has him surrounded.  In other words, “The Abyss” demonstrates why the other soldiers would feel such loyalty to Captain Power.  He is shown here to take deadly risks for his soldiers, and to be die-hard in bringing the fight to the enemy.

The episode also works in a good reference to Jean Renoir’s La Grande Illusion (1983), a film about the horrors of war.  

Here, the insane Briggs laments the fact that his war (with the machines) is a failure because it has not produced any great songs.  When he is digitized by Sauron, Briggs sings 1912’s “It’s a Long Way to Tipperary,” which was featured in the Renoir film, and is considered to be the big song (at least of the English...) of World War I.  

By using “It’s a Long Way to Tipperary,” JMS reminds us of mankind’s long history of warring with his own kind, an important commentary in “The Abyss,” since Briggs can’t seem to focus on the real enemy, the machines, and instead wants to execute Captain Power and his men.

One final cool bit of information also appears in “The Abyss.” Hawk reports that he knew Lord Dread (David Hemblen) before he changed into a cyborg, when he killed Power’s father.  This fact makes for an intriguing note about the series’ villain, and suggests that the world shown by this series is deepening. I hope we learn more about the history between Lord Dread and Power's family in the weeks and installments to come.

Next Week: "The Final Stand."

Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future: "War Dogs"

The second episode of Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future (1987-1988), “War Dogs” is a bit of a disappointment, owing in large part to the fact that the characters are handled with very little depth or humanity, and the story feels familiar and trite. Also, stock footage is repeated quite a bit in the episode.  There’s a claustrophobic aspect to the episode too, and a sense that it was assembled in a tearing hurry.

In “War Dogs,” Hawk (Peter MacNeill) patrols over Sector 24, attempting to pin down reports of an unofficial resistance group fighting there. In short order, he encounters the rebels -- who have attacked a Bio Dread convoy -- and helps out.  Unfortunately, the rebels take Hawk for a “Dread Head” and shoot him down.

When Hawk awakens, he learns that he is the guest of the “War Dogs,” a resistance group led by a romantic interest from his past, Vi (Kate Trotter). Her second officers include Keiko (Jane Luk) and Cherokee, who is played by Dances with Wolves (1990) star Graham Greene. 

Hawk and Captain Power (Tim Dunigan) petition for the War Dogs’ help in taking down a nearby Dread Installation, but the group is more interested in finding the mythical Eden 2, a city that may have survived the Metal Wars.  In fact, Vi is ready to retire, noting that the “war is over” and that she just wants to “live in peace.”

When Captain Power and his squad stumble into a trap, however, Vi and the War Dogs come to the rescue.  They understand that the conflict continues, and that they must play a part.

“War Dogs” opens with another sustained action sequence (like the attack on a Bio Dread installation we saw in “Shattered.”) In this case, the War Dogs combat a heavily-armed convoy, and the battle, while well-orchestrated, just goes on and on. In an episode that is only twenty-two minutes, to lose so much time in an action sequence -- when we don’t even know all the players yet -- seems like a questionable creative choice.

Then, also like “Shattered,” a female resistance fighter from the past (not Athena, but Vi) shows up to vex one of the team, but this time Hawk is featured, rather than Power. Vi has a different or competing agenda, and this agenda creates some tension for the heroes.  In other words, “War Dogs” is pretty much the same narrative as “Shattered.”

Stock footage of Hawk’s battle with the sky-flying Sauron from the previous episode is also rerun here, and the good Major is actually shot-down twice in the course of the half-hour. He survives both times unscathed, which makes one question the very premise: that this is a deadly war, fought with deadly weapons.

The Bio Dread Installation that Captain Power targets, meanwhile, boasts the same entrance (and guard formations) as the Sub-Station seen in “Shattered.” And, again, many of the same action beats are repeated in the attack on the base. 

Specifically, Scout uses his camouflage techniques to save the day, this time mimicking Lord Dread himself, and flummoxing the bad guys.

The most intriguing elements of “War Dogs” involve two things hinted at, but not seen. The first is the aforementioned Eden 2, another sanctuary, perhaps, for humans following the metal wars. The second is Project New Order,” a secret initiative launched by Lord Dread, and one that no doubt bodes ill for the soldiers of the future. 

On a personal note, I liked the slang term “Dread Heads,” which I believe was introduced in this episode. It adds a reality to the scenario, because enemies in war are always given derogatory names by soldiers. It is logical that the same idea would apply in this context.

Otherwise, War Dogs genuinely seems to be marking time a bit.  And the fact that the bad guys are mostly interchangeable machines without individual personalities or competing agendas -- like the Visitors on V, for example -- means that the episode transmits as a slapdash cartoon or shoot ‘em up for much of the time. Since the series is so connected with its toy-line, this is a shame. “War Dogs” plays a lot like kid’s stuff that the series writers needed to avoid.

Although “War Dogs” feels like Captain Power treading water or marching in place, the truth is that second episodes are often notoriously difficult ones to vet, as writers and directors move beyond an introductory phase and attempt to determine what kind of stories they can tell successfully. “War Dogs” fills a half-hour, but does so without any real depth or human interest. 

Hopefully, the series will hit its stride and find its mark soon. The next episode "The Abyss," is a good one.

Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future (1987): "Shattered"

With the original V saga now blogged in full, I’m going to switch gears for a while, and turn my attention to another eighties sci-fi TV program: Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future (1987 – 1988). This is a syndicated series that lasted for one season of twenty-two half-hour episodes, and is fondly remembered today by many fans.

Marketed in conjunction with an impressive line of “interactive” toys (vehicles, play-sets and action figures), Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future was created by Gary Goddard and Tony Christopher, and developed by writers including J. Michael Straczynski and Marc Scott Zicree. The series blended live-action material with late-1980s computer animation. 

A bit like V, Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future is also a story of human resistance fighters fighting a formidable enemy. The series is set in 2147 AD after “The Metal Wars,” and that destructive event pitted man against sentient machines. 

As the program’s opening narration reminds us: “the machines won.” 

Now a vicious warlord, Lord Dread (David Hemblen) rules the Earth from his base at Volcania with robotic minions like Sauron, and he uses a process called “digitizing” to defeat enemies, transferring their essences to the cyber world and a system called Overmind.

A post-apocalyptic series, Captain Power focuses on “mankind’s last hope” to defeat Dread.  In this case, that hope is Captain Jonathan Power (Tim Dunigan) and his resistance cell.

The group operates in secret out of an old military installation in the Rocky Mountains, and often consults with a hologram/A.I. system called “Mentor” (Bruce Gray). All members of the team can also activate impressive fighting power suits/armor featuring different offensive and defensive capabilities.

Those populating Power’s team include:

Major Matt “Hawk” Masterson (Peter MacNeill), a man who wears a suit that permits flight, and thus aerial combat. 

Lt. “Tank” Ellis (Sven Ole-Thorson)is the muscle of the group, as his name indicates. 

Sgt. Robert “Scout” Baker (Maurice Dean Wint) can infiltrate enemy lines in his power suit, and the premiere episode, “Shattered” begins with one such mission.

And finally, Corporal Jennifer “Pilot” Chase (Jessica Steen) expertly gets the team in and out of treacherous locations.

In the series premiere, “Shattered,” we join Jonathan Power and his squad as they infiltrate a Bio Dread Energy Sub-Station and destroy it. An angry Lord Dread realizes that Power must be eliminated and suggests that the answer to destroying Power rests in his past.

Sometime later, Power’s team receives a transmission on the Resistance frequency from Sector 19, which used to be the city of San Francisco. The sender is Athena Samuels, one of Power’s old friends.  Before the war, he and Athena used to spend time at the City Limits Book Store together playing chess.

Although his team members suspect a trap, Powers meets Athena at a rendezvous, and she promptly shoots him. 

Power survives, and soon learns that Athena had been digitized by Dread, and agreed to help him spring a trap in exchange for her release. Athena feels guilty over her behavior, but Powers understands her dilemma and they work together to beat back the attacking Dread Forces, including Sauron.

Perhaps the best way to understand Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future is by recalling historical context. The series was conceived and aired in the mid-1980s, a time of a national “apocalypse mentality” due to the Cold War with the Soviet Union. 

Several popular science fiction films of the time, including The Road Warrior (1982), Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome (1985) and The Terminator (1984) involved visions of a post-apocalyptic future in which man’s 20^th century civilization had fallen.  Of all those films, The Terminator seems to have had the greatest visual and thematic impact on Captain Power, since the series involve a clash between man and his (rebellious) machines, and is set in a future of ruins.

“Shattered” is clearly a low-budget show, and yet within a modest framework, it is visually compelling. The opening sequence set in the substation reminded me of the frequent boiler room settings of Blake’s 7 (1978 -1981). 

And just as those location scenes suggested an industrialized future empire in collapse, similar settings here suggests a world of machine construction lacking in humanity and warmth.  Later, the episode provides some vistas -- both miniature and studio-bound -- of destroyed San Francisco.  Again, budget is a factor, but the visuals are certainly adequate, if occasionally claustrophobic.

Already in “Shattered,” the writers seem to have determined (rightly) that the stories need to be modest and straight-forward given the budgetary and time limitations. After the opening battle, the episode settles down into a nice, emotional tale involving Power’s past. Athena and Power’s relationship is contextualized in terms of their favorite game: chess.  That’s how they got to know each other before the war, and now they play a kind of game of chess involving the future, with higher stakes.  And Athena is just a pawn being used by the real power, Lord Dread.

Yet “Shattered” never makes Athena into a villain, two-dimensional or otherwise. Instead, she speaks powerfully about slavery inside Lord Dread’s cyber-verse. “You don’t know what’s like in there, in the machine,” she tells Jonathan.  “It knows every secret…every shame…every hate and every love.” 

Commendably, Jonathan treats Athena with compassion and understanding, never blaming her for trying to kill him or working with the enemy. This quality of compassion permits the character to transmit as very likable. He is depicted taking chances rather than making decisions based purely on fear. 

“Shattered” tells its story of friendship against a back-drop of heavy action. The opener features lots of zippy, colorful laser fire, and the end features a confrontation between Power’s team and Dread’s in the air and on the ground.  

Yet the explosions and laser beams don’t outweigh the impact of the human tale, and I still remember that some critical voices of the day suggested that Captain Power had -- out of the starting gate -- found the right balance between conflict and drama; one that the more expensive, more heavily-publicized first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987 – 1994) did not.

If any factor visibly dates Captain Power at all today, it is not the storytelling (at least so far), or even the action beats, but rather the computer animation used to depict Sauron and other Dread minions.  The designs are great, but the execution looks prehistoric by today’s standards. 

Personally, I don't find the effects bothersome, any more than I find the effects from Land of the Lost (1974 - 1977) bothersome. You just sort of "tune" yourself to specifics of the program and its possibilities, and move on.

So join me Tuesday afternoons in the coming weeks, as I review further episodes of Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future.  Next week: "War Dogs." 

Power On!

Television and Cinema Verities: Captain Power Edition

“The moment action figure sales sank horribly in 1987…that’s the year in which Masters of the Universe went down from $400 million in sales to something like $7 million…Captain Power sold $70 million which was a great figure, if you look at the action figure lines that were coming out immediately after Captain Power – toy lines like BraveStarr – those weren’t even doing half that. But Mattel had these expectations, thinking it was going to be He-Man numbers in its prime…”

- Roger Lay Jr., Executive in Charge of Production, discusses the reasons behind the cancellation of the original Captain Power series and toy-line from 1987. From an interview of May 2014.