Captain Power et les soldats du futur

This is truly one of my most favorite shows of all time. Sure it might have been a little cheesy, but it was great. You learn what's happening in the opening monologue:

"Earth 2147. The legacy of the Metal Wars, when man fought machine and machines won. Bio-Dreads. Monstrous creations that hunt down human survivors... and digitize them. Volcania. Center of the Bio-Dread empire, stronghold and fortress of Lord Dread, feared ruler of this new order. But from the fires of the Metal Wars arose a new breed or warrior-born and trained to bring down Lord Dread and his Bio-Dread empire. They were soldiers of the future, mankind's last hope. Their leader, Captain Jonathan Power; master of the incredible powersuits, which transform each soldier into a one-man attack force.

Major Matthew "Hawk" Masterson, fighter in the sky. Lt. Michael "Tank" Ellis, ground assault unit. Sgt. Robert "Scout" Baker, espionage and communications. And Corporal Jennifer "Pilot" Chase, tactical systems expert. Together, they form the most powerful fighting force in Earth's history. Their creed: to protect all life. Their promise: to end Lord Dread's rule. Their name? Captain Power and the Soliders of the Future!"

I loved this show. Sure it was a little intense but when it was on, I was hooked. Jonathan Power was just a great 80's sci-fi hero. Soaron Sky Sentry used to scare the hell out of me when he'd show up and digitize people into pixels. Lord Dread was also very creepy. When I was kid, I had all the toys from Captain Power's fighter jet to Interlocker, and the videos which you could use with the ships. You had to try to see how many enemies you could kill by shooting the flashing 3D-ish flashing areas of enemies. You could also take damage too if enemies were shooting at you on the screen. If you took too much damage, the figure in the cockpit would be ejected! You could also use the ship to shoot at bad guys during the actual show, too.

It's too bad they only got one season out of it. More could have been done with it but I read that since the toys didn't sell that well during Christmas, they pulled the series. It was obviously aimed at kids as it was on Saturday Mornings, but kids may not have liked it because it was too serious or intense for them. I'd like to see it come back. They could probably do some great things and fix it up from the areas is lacked in the first time.

I watched this TV show in early 90s when it was on TV in Russia for the only time ( I was 12-13 years old then). And I liked it very much then though I had no idea about the toys and the reasons why this show hadn't been continued. In our post-communist country we had no idea about it and for me it was just a fun to watch something new, something we'd never seen before. Now I am 30 and I suddenly remembered this show. Unfortunately I failed to buy an official DVD or Blue-ray issue in Russia, so I decided to watch it on YouTube. And I was stunned! Now when I'm not that young I can feel the importance of such things like friendship, courage, honesty and love. They are so rare things in our self-help time. And this film gives you all it. Forget about biodreads, forget about metal wars, forget about blusters. This film tells us that no matter how circumstances are tough, real friends should always stay together. And while they are united they are able to deal with the most difficult problems in this world. And machines and all nano-technologies that are so popular nowadays will never replace the basic things that always stay with us. But unfortunately we forget about them too often. Definitely this show is not for kids. I think the main problem of this show was that late 80s wasn't the right time for it. It was certainly too deep and serious for children but I think it wasn't actual enough for then adults. What else can I say? I can say that when I watched the last episode I was completely broken. However I think it was a great ending. Because sometimes we have to lose too much to understand the importance of the things we have.

Great film! I hope finally I will be able to buy it on DVD or Blue-ray.

Captain Power & his soldiers of the future may have been saddled with one of the worst titles for a t.v. series, but don't let that fool you. It was one of the most sophisticated sf shows of its time.With terrific scripts,some of which were written by Babylon 5 creator J Michael Straczynski,a wonderful cast, and some cutting edge computer animated special effects,all make this series memorable.While it was a Saturday morning kids show, it managed to be dark & edgey in its atmosphere.The adults acted as such, & there were no stereotypical cute kids,cute animals, or funny sidekicks to distract us from the intriguing plots.In an interview with JMS that I read years ago,he said that he & the other writers decided not to approach this show as being just another Sat morning show for the tiny tots.They were going to write as mature & cool a show as they could & not limit themselves under any labels.The result was one dynamic sf series.What a shame such a fine show was cancelled because the interactive toy associated with the it was not a huge seller.

Earth. The 22nd Century. The evil Lord Dread has taken over the world, and with his machine empire seeks to eliminate the last traces of mankind and remake the world in the image of the machine. The only thing stopping him: a small resistance of humans, led by. . .Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future! A bit intense for Saturday morning, eh?

This was one of the best when I was a kid. Combining bits of "Star Wars," "The Terminator," and "Mad Max." And, unlike most shows from the 80's meant to sell toys, it actually had engrossing plots! It was the first TV series to use computer-generated special effects, and the first to have an interactive toyline. I tell you, science fiction doesn't get better than this.

I loved this show as a kid. Granted it is a bit short (20 mins per episode) but it was big budget and had some pretty mature themes for a "family" program (which made it appealing to children and adults).

Great fun even today, though it can be a bit campy at times. Unfortunately the VHS tapes are out of print, but you can trade them with other collector's on ebay (which is where I got some of mine). This was way ahead of its time, and fell out of favor because of stupid controversy (that it was "too violent" and that it somehow forced people to buy more toys.. ). In addition to the show there were "Training Episodes" made exclusively for the interactive home market. These tapes were basically shooting galleries much like the arcade rail shooters (a la "Area 51") featuring mostly animated effects.

It would be awesome (but somewhat unlikely) if the series was released in all its glory on lucious DVD (all 22 episodes, plus the gag-reel, character bios, interviews, and how about the Interactive Ship/Guns as an added bonus?).

The series ended on a rather dark note; a second season was planned but never aired. There was also a short "film" made using some stock footage for effects (since they were low on funds at this time) and supposedly new storyline (I haven't seen it). I have seen a PAL tape up for auction called "Dread's Revenge" that supposedly picks up where the last episode left off, but I don't know if this is any different than the "film" version of Captain Power that was posted on IMDB.

One of the biggest innovations of this tv phenomenon is that you could fire at the screen during the show at various "targets" (on the chests of the bad guys mostly) to score points, and when they fired back, you had to shoot their shots, or else you got hit. Even without the toys, the show rocked. It had humor, tons of action, and great special effects for the time. The show captured the post apocalyptic future very well.

Critics like Ebert gave it high marks. I think if the parent groups would have realized that the show was just a live action video game, no different than dozens of other shows out there (except for that fact that most of the others were all animated). The show was still great even without the toys (though the toys are great icing on the cake), and it often had good moral messages (war is hell, violence should be avoided if a peaceful solution is available, human lives are more important than machines, greed and lust for power leads to suffering, and about working together to solve problems). Finally, the characters were likeable, and the plots were interesting.

While the show owes much to the likes of Terminator, Star Wars, and Battlestar Galactica, it has influenced other science fiction movies and shows over the years, including Star Trek: the Next Generation (compare Lord Dread to the evil Borg), and RoboCop (does that armor not look familiar?). ; )

Still great after all these years...