Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future: Difference between revisions

[[File:Captain_Power_and_the_Soldiers_of_the_Future_6108.jpg|frame|~~[[Dramatic Half Hour]] [[Science Fiction]],[[Action Series]]~~]]

{{quote| ''"Power on."''}}

The thing was, Hollywood had precisely zero experience at this sort of thing, so they figured they'd need practice. There were a number of experiments in this direction in the late 80s, such as a murder mystery where viewers called in between acts to vote on who would turn out to have dunnit. But one of the more radical experiments in interactive television was ''Captain Power And The Soldiers Of The Future''.

The interactive element was this: the show was clearly and heavily [[Merchandise -Driven]]. Captain Power action figures interacted with electronic toys based on the show's transformation booth, fighter jets, and other hardware. These could interact with each other: the jets fired a strobe of light which a receptor on another jet could register as a hit. After five hits, the pilot would be ejected. Though the centerpiece of the merchandise line, the jets themselves only appear in the two-parter "A Summoning of Thunder", in which their appearance is so incidental as to smack of [[Product Placement]] (The bulk of the episode is a flashback, with the jets appearing in a few seconds of framing story).

But the ''really'' cool thing the toys could do was interact with the show itself: various things in the show emitted a strobe effect which would register on the toy: villains and heroes had strobes which the jets would register as targets (Red for villains, blue for heroes), weapons fire emitted a yellow strobe that would register as a hit (and viewers were gently reminded that hiding the jets behind their backs was cheating). The "power on" sequence would both reset the damage count on a jet, and activate the "power on" cycle in the transformation booth toy. At the end of each episode, one of the characters would step through the [[Fourth Wall]] to tell viewers what constituted a good score. Around the same time, three animated videos were released, ''Future Force Training'', ''Bio-Dread Assault'', and ''Raid On Volcania'', which fans could "Train" on between episodes. These featured the viewer as new recruit, designated "Pilot-1", who received training from the captain himself in piloting the XT-7 fighter, and undertook some dangerous missions. These episodes were animated by [[AIC|Artmic]], one of the companies responsible for ''[[Bubblegum Crisis (Anime)|Bubblegum Crisis]]'' and many other anime of the late 80's, and were surprisingly well-animated (they also [[Stock Sound Effects|recycle sound effects]] from ''Bubblegum Crisis'').

The show was a relatively early TV example of [[Dystopia|dystopian]] [[Cyberpunk]], and, though ostensibly aimed at children, was so dark and violent ([[Anyone Can Die]], which means people got [[Killed Off for Real]]) that one wonders how many parents were really comfortable letting their children watch it. All the same, it is difficult to believe that [[J. Michael Straczynski]] (later of ''[[Babylon Five5]]'' fame) was one of the creative minds behind it. (He did leave the show, though, when level of merchandising became ''really'' excessive in his opinion.) Other big Sci-Fi creators involved in the show were Larry DiTillio (of ''[[Beast Wars (Animation)|Beast Wars]]'' fame), ''New [[Teen Titans (Comic Book)|Teen Titans]]'' creator Marv Wolfman, veteran novelist and scriptwriter Michael Reaves, and Marc Scott Zicree of ''[[The Twilight Zone (TV)|The Twilight Zone]] Companion'' and ''[[Magic Time (Literature)|Magic Time]]'' fame. ''[[Howard the Duck (Comic Bookcomics)|Howard the Duck]]'' creator Steve Gerber was also slated to write for the unproduced second season.

Beyond the strobing villains, the special effects in the show made extensive use of CGI, and it was the first TV show to use CGI extensively. Watching it now, one can see why, since the computer-generated characters and sequences are of lower quality than one can achieve on the typical PC of today using only free software such as DAZ|Studio, POV-Ray and Blender. Still, at the time, it was mind-blowing.

* [[AIA.I. Is a Crapshoot]]: Overmind went evil after becoming rampant. Mentor, given the personality and appearance of Stuart Power, is fatherly and benign.

** Also all three of the animated videos, ranging from a mad dash down a gratuitous radioactive tunnel to an assault through Volcania itself.

* [[Christmas Episode]]: [[Wham! Episode|The]] [[Downer Ending|worst]] [[Killed Off for Real|possible]] [[Tear Jerker|kind]].

* [[Dressing Asas the Enemy]]: Scout's primary method of infiltration.

* [[Family -Friendly Firearms]]: Both the Power Team and their enemies use laser guns. Several characters also use firearms, but they don't do a thing against Bio-Dreads.

* [[Five -Man Band]]

** [[The Chick]]: Corporal Jennifer "[[Improbable Piloting Skills|Pilot]]" Chase. Rescued from the [[Does This Remind You of Anything?|Dread Youth]] and quite [[The Stoic]]; ironically, becomes [[Tear Jerker|the heart and soul]] of the team.

{{quote| '''Straczynski''': "''I've never talked about this before -- said I was in a thoughtful mood -- but I've known several people, friends, who've taken their own lives. In one case, I spoke to her just beforehand. Tried, through the phone lines, to reach her one more time, pull her back from the edge. I couldn't. Years pass. Time comes for me to write the last filmed episode of '''Power'''. Jennifer Chase is going to die, partly of her injuries, partly of her own volition. [[Creator Breakdown|Part of my life went into that scene]], in the way it was constructed, and what was said. And what was not said, what never had the chance to be said, and thus still burns. I knew that, at the crucial moment of that scene, he couldn't be near her, as I wasn't near my friend...it had to be long-distance, hearing but not seeing her, and the terrible pain of arriving too late. I cannot watch that episode without crying. Ever.''"}}

** This particular case is ''loaded'' with tropes: the character took the time to [[Fatal Family Photo|go through personal effects and mementos from previous adventures]], her relationship with Jon is ''[[A Death in Thethe Limelight|finally]]'' [[A Death in Thethe Limelight|put front-and-center]] (but can't express her true feelings, saying, "[[Cannot Spit It Out|It can wait]]," instead,) is (unwittingly) left to [[Hold the Line]] from [[All Your Base Are Belong to Us|an enemy invasion]], and has to perform a [[Heroic Sacrifice]] to save the Power Base's sensitive data when the base is overrun. At least she got [[Taking You Withwith Me|to destroy Blastarr]] ([[Nigh Invulnerability|we hope]]) along the way.

* [[Master Computer]]: The Overmind [[AIA.I. Is a Crapshoot|intelligence]], originally designed to stop wars between countries, initiated the Metal Wars against mankind itself.

* [[Mecha -Mooks]]: The Dread Troopers

* [[Merchandise -Driven]]

* [[One -Way Visor]]: the mooks and the heroes' [[Powered Armor]] have these.

* [[Precision F -Strike|Precision "D" Strike]]: Actually occurs in one episode. There's also a Precision "H" Strike in another.

* [[Putting Onon the Reich]]: Dread's Human goons are all dressed as Nazis. Interestingly, the actor playing Taggart/Dread also looks frightening similar to [[Adolf Hitler]], sans the iconic mustache.

* [[Shout -Out]]: To [[Star Wars]]'s Trench Run during the assault on Volcania. The ending credits recycle this scene, presumably to allow kids to interact with it with the toys.

* [[Taking You Withwith Me]]: Part of a [[Heroic Sacrifice]].

{{quote| '''Blastarr''': Surrender, by order of Lord Dread.<br />

* [[Well -Intentioned Extremist]]: Lyman Taggart sincerely thought that humanity would be improved by becoming [[No Transhumanism Allowed|a cybernetic organism]]. After becoming [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|Lord Dread]], [[Complete Monster|though]]...

* [["What Now?" Ending]]: The fate of the Soldiers of the Future after the series finale.

* [[Whole -Episode Flashback]]: "The Summoning Of Thunder," a [[Death Byby Origin Story]] for Stuart Power, and [[Start of Darkness]] for <s>Lyman Taggart</s> Lord Dread.

[[Category:Captain Power Andand Thethe Soldiers Ofof Thethe Future]]

[[Category:TV Series]]