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Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future (1987 - 1988)
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 22, 2020 11:50 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

You are absolutely right, David.

As you pointed out, too often the "reboots" that Hollywood makes not only lack the appealing qualities of the original, they don't have any redeeming qualities of their own! Shocked

My earlier posts now seems too kind to reboots when I said that they're usually made for the current generation, not the prior one. The movies and series you named are perfect examples of productions that held no value for ANY generation! Rolling Eyes)

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Pow
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 01, 2021 12:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

This was the very first television series to integrate live-action, CGI and digital effects.

Each episode cost $1,000,000. Unheard of for a Saturday morning series at that time.

Except for one week of location work, the show was filmed in a former Toronto bus depot where the sets were constructed.
The miniature practical effects shop was also in the same building.

The cast and crew reported that it was unbearably hot inside the building while shooting the show in the summer.

Jessica Steen who played Corporal Jennifer 'Pilot' Chase wanted to leave the show after its first season had it been renewed.

Jessica was never comfortable with the dark, post-apocalyptic setting for the series, or the violence.

The production was sad to lose her but respected her wishes. They decided to give her a meaty dramatic send off by having her character tragically die for the team. There's not an actor born who doesn't relish doing a BIG death scene.

If the show had gone to a second season, the plan was to replace pilot with a brand new female character.

Christine O'Connor, call sign 'Ranger,' would be that person.

Profile: Ranger is a former commando of the Special Forces of Earth Force. She is an expert with all types of weapons and fighting techniques.

She is six-feet tall, thirty years old, has long red hair and is beautiful and lethal. She has a sassy and brazen demeanor to go along with her fiery Irish personality.

Ranger was going to be a love interest for Lt. Michael 'Tank' Ellis.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 01, 2021 1:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

It's surprising that Jessica Steen disliked the show and her character, because she did such a stellar job creating the Jennifer "Pilot" Chase.

She continues to enjoy a long and successful career as an actress, something which her fans (like me) are very happy about. Very Happy

But I'm convinced that if the series had continued and used a plot like I described on page 1 of this thread — in which Pilot was digitized rather than killed, and then rescued from the data banks of Overmind by the team — it would have been a glorious season 2 opener! Cool

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Pow
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PostPosted: Tue Mar 02, 2021 5:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Second Season plans for Captain Power, had there been one.

The team is now on the run after the destruction of their Power Base by Dread.

They would attempt to activate another Power base located in the Arctic.

After the death of Jennifer in the first season finale, we find Captain Power is neglecting his duties because he is in anguish over the loss of Pilot.

He's now obsessed with killing Lord Dread, as well as Locke who betrayed the team, in order to avenge Jennifer.

Major Hawk assumes leadership of the team while Power goes off on his vendetta.

The team's quest for Eden II, a secret refuge for humans would continue.

Lord Dread would receive a new mechanical form. He would now be more machine than man.

Item: The production notes mention that actor David Hemblin who played Lord Dread would be brought back to provide Dread's voice only.

I wonder if that means Lord Dread would now be animated via CGI like Soaron and Blastaar? Or would a stunt performer be wearing a practical body suit as Dread?

A new army would be created of "Hunter-Seeker" troops.
They are a new Warlord-class Bio-Dread called Xenon.

A new assistant called Morgana II would have been introduced. Morgana II is a machine with the mind of Lord dread's former lover---Power's mother.

Overmind would have taken on an even larger role for the second season.

OM has a hidden agenda: digitizing all humans an erasing them from existence.

OM would keep this covert plan hidden from Lord Dread. To that end, OM would secretly program Soaron to assassinate Dread in the event Dread discovered OM's secret agenda.

The end of the series according to creator/writer J. Michael Straczynski would have Lord Dread discovering OM's plan.
Dread would then team up with Power and his team to overthrow OM and save humanity.

Twenty-two scripts were originally assigned for a second season, but it was reduced down to eighteen.

Oh why oh why couldn't there have been another season of this fantastic TV series?
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Krel
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PostPosted: Tue Mar 02, 2021 7:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pow wrote:
Oh why oh why couldn't there have been another season of this fantastic TV series?

As I wrote on the first page, Mattel withdrew from the show after they basically wiped out Mattel's toy line for the show. Without Mattel's sponsorship, there was no money for a second season. Matty Mattel was not a happy sponsor.

David.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 03, 2021 10:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

Me and my two children (ages 4 and 7) were the perfect fans of this show and the toys which were made for it.

We videotaped the episode and spent hours sitting on the living room floor in front of our old 25" console television, watching the episodes and playing with the toys whenever the battle scenes began.

I looked sort of like this.






Even my wife had here own ships, and she helped the kids customize the stick-on decals by doing what I did — using the portions of the stickers in between the intended decorations to make each of ships unique and beautiful! Very Happy

Notice the differences between the "standard" ships in the first images in each pair below, and my customized versions.









[


And we'd use the "room" settings which allowed us to fly the ships around through our darkened house, firing at each other in mock dog fights!

I doubt there were many families in America who enjoyed these unique toys the way we did — even though that's what Mattel hoped would happen.
Sad
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
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Last edited by Bud Brewster on Sun Apr 18, 2021 12:59 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Pow
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 03, 2021 12:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Some of the second season plots if we'd had a second season.

Captain Power and team would have had severe damage to their Jumpship, and crashed in a dense Canadian forest.

Wonder if the production would have done any actual outdoors location shooting in a Canadian forest? The series was based in Canada, but they did limited exterior shooting during the first season episodes.

And location filming is always costly to do. When J. Michael Straczynski created his "Babylon 5" sci~fi TV series, one of the ways he swore to keep production costs down was never to do any exterior filming during the run of his show.

I certainly can understand that mindset.

But I've always loved it when a sci~fi television show can go to interesting looking locales and film outdoors.

I found that anytime that Star Trek: TOS could afford to shoot outside the sound stage it really enhanced their episodes. Cost factor and inclement weather events have to be considered.

However, the result of filming outdoors just gives a production a bigger and more epic look for the small screen.

Captain Power & team would have been captured by an armed group known as "The Archers", carrying high tech bows & arrows in the forest,

The Archers are angry that Power and his team have destroyed a large amount of their prime forest. On top of that, the crash and subsequent devastation of their forest could alert Lord Dread to the area.

The Archers threaten to kill the entire team.

Lord Dread is made aware of this crash, and he sends his newest Bio-Dreads, the Hunter-Seekers, to attack the team and the Archers.

If they do not surrender, Dread will create a plasma storm to sweep over the entire area.

"The Observer" was the title for an episode where an alien race, or humans who escaped Earth, now sit in judgement of the planet.

One chooses to align with the humans — violating the non-interference directive.

I'm not wild about the possibility of bringing in aliens to the show. I think it would have been an uneasy and needless plot development.

Captain Power, Tank, and Ranger are marooned on a tropical isle. Dr. Severius conducts horrific experiments for Lord Dread in his island laboratory. The doctor has created a race of mutants with strange powers.

Not sure we need to add super beings to the proceedings.
I think aliens and superheroes distract from the show's overall theme.

I still feel that this show should be revived and updated.

It's premise is based upon AI, and that's in the news everyday. More than when the show ran from 1987~'88.

The excellent "Next" which was sadly cancelled recently dealt with a ruthless AI out to conquer our planet.

The CGI visuals are now light years beyond what they could do on Captain Power (although it was phenomenal at that time), so the robot warriors would be easily done.

Major advances in other areas of FX, along with the fantastic breakthrough of the LED Wall in creating stunning virtual sets, would all create an awesome looking show.

In the end, or should I say the beginning, the quality will rest upon the excellent scripting which the series had back in the day.

I'd seek out J. Michael Straczynski as writer and story editor again. He would in turn put together a top notch writing staff — perhaps some from the original show — and this show could take off once again.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 18, 2021 1:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

My family and I also had the VHS training tapes Mattel sold — beautifully animated mini-adventures in which Captain Power accompanied "new recruits" on brief flights to sharpen their skills.

Naturally these missions always just happened to encounter hostile Dread forces which Captain Power and his rookie pilots had to deal with! Shocked

The unique aspect of these VHS training tapes was the wonderful artwork, as well as the fact they were "pure action", with none of the live-action drama.

However, the actually stars of the show made brief appearances in live action segments, as you'll see in the example below.
Cool

_______)_____ Captain power Training 1 Part 1


__________


Obviously Mattel was hoping that fans of this show (like my own family of four) would take full advantage of all the ways in which their unique concept skillfully integrated a science fiction series with a new form of technology!

Unfortunately, there just weren't enough people like my little group of Captain Power fans to make this bold and exciting experiment financially successful. Sad

But I admire the way Mattel promoted the training tapes. Very Happy


____ 1980's VCR Game Captain Power Video Tapes


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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 18, 2021 2:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

After making the post above I discovered this 12-minute video which presents a fascinating explanation of why Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future got such a raw deal and did not succeed as it should have. Sad

Watch this video and learn the whole story about this amazing series' noble ambitions . . . and its completely unjust fate.


___ The History and Controversy of Captain Power


__________

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Pow
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 18, 2021 9:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Very informative, thank you Bud.

Poor Captain Power had the deck stacked against it from the start.

What a shame as it was a terrific show with wonderful production values. The CGI Bio-Dreads are awesome looking in design to this day.

The test footage for "Phoenix Rising" shows how fantastic the show would look with the benefit of today's enormous advances in visual effects.

It was strange that the series was geared towards kids regarding the interactive aspect but at the same time was quite mature with its themes.

Probably would have had a decent run on the Sci~Fi Channel had it existed at that time.

Never rule out a reboot. Star Trek, Lost In Space, Battlestar Galactica, The Twilight Zone, and The Outer Limits all came back from the graveyard.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Sat May 14, 2022 4:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

__________________________________________________

I hate to say it, but today's younger audiences and our current culture are just at odds with the original series, and any reboot would have to be so different to make it right for today, the producers would have to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Rolling Eyes

(I'm willing to bet that young people today have no idea what the phrase even means . . . Rolling Eyes)

My point, of course, is that a new show that was "inspired" by this classic would have to be so different that its original fans would hate it.

Therefore . . . why bother. Sad

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Pow
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PostPosted: Sat May 14, 2022 11:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

So do you mean that producers who would reboot Captain Power would avoid the dark and violent aspects of the show? Turn it into a talk-fest instead with minimal action?

That could well be true if it was going to made for a younger audience as a Saturday morning TV series like it was originally done.

The way to go with a revived version would be to aim at older audiences and not kids. Put it on the CW or SYFY Channel in primetime.

This way parents can decide if they want their kids watching the series or not. Lots of P.R. about the show not being intended for children would help.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Sun May 15, 2022 12:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pow wrote:
So do you mean that producers who would reboot Captain Power would avoid the dark and violent aspects of the show? Turn it into a talk-fest instead with minimal action?

That could well be true if it was going to made for a younger audience as a Saturday morning TV series like it was originally done.

Actually no, just the reverse.

I meant that the deep character interrelationships and the uncompromising moral stance the series is famous for would be considered "preachy", "corny", and "unrealistic" to today's young audiences.

Beside, the show was not actually made for kids. The Mattel sponsorship doomed it by promoting it as the video companion for their interactive toys. Read this.


10 Reasons Captain Power Was Not A Kid's Show
________________________________________________________

Despite the focus on moving a lot of merchandise, Captain Power's story was very mature both in tone and subject matter. Here are 10 reasons why Captain Power was not actually a kid's show, but one better suited for older audiences

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But the "kids' show" assumption that many people have was also fostered by the VHS tapes of short videos (both live action and anime) which were sold to be used with the toys. I own several, but they don't work with the toys when played on modern TVs. The televisions had be the old CRT kind to register on the toys' sensors. Sad

With all that in mind, a reboot would have a certain stigma attached to it. It would be viewed as just a new version of "that show that pitched toys to kids."

I suppose a reboot would be worth try, but I suspect it would end up like Space Rangers, a terrific series that the network dropped after just six episodes.

The loyal fan base for Captain Power is now 35 years older than when they first saw it, so it's composed of kids who loved it (and are now middle aged), or adults who loved it (and are now senior citizens).

So, a sizable portion of the target audience for science fiction series in general (18-30 year olds) don't have any fond memories of Captain Power.

Read the article below to get a sense of why Captain Power just might succeed in this day and age, even though Space Rangers didn't, despite being just as good. Sad


Cancelled Too Soon: Space Rangers (1993)



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Pow
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 11, 2022 12:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Captain Power: "The Ghost and the Ashes," is a fan produced CGI episode that continues the story of the soldiers of the future.

It is on Youtube and was made in 2021. It incorporates certain storylines that the original producers and writers of the TV show that would have been in the second season of the series had there been one.

The CGI designs and animation are excellent. The story engrossing. Fans will love it.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 11, 2022 11:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

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Holy Crap! They faithfully recreated the open of the show, scene for scene, in CGI, the original (magnificent) audio. Very Happy

This amazing!


Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future."The Ghost and The Ashes" Final Trailer


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___Captain Power: The Ghost and the Ashes. 2021.


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