| 03.14.2019 – Captain Barbell is a Filipino superhero created by Mars Ravelo and Jim Fernandez. The original concept of the character is inspired by a shirtless circus strongman.
But throughout the character’s story appearing first in Pinoy Komiks series Ravelo continue to refine Captain Barbell’s costumes as well as how the hero came to be. In other medium Captain Barbell, has been retold in movies and television and the most present one was from 2011 with a follow-up to the 2006 series both aired by the GMA Network. But as far back to the mid-1960s to the early 1970s Captain Barbell was portrayed by three different actors with the most popular one portrayed by Dolphy, the Philippine’s King of Comedy. There were no surviving copies of the two previous films and with ABS-CBN Film Restoration project this third iteration of Captain Barbell was restored back digitally remastered with the 4K quality format. It brought back the nostalgia about how Filipino films were produced during that simpler time. |
Last night’s premiere of “Captain Barbell Boom!” re-tells the story of Captain Barbell’s origin and adventures in a very much “Dolphy-nian” (if there’s such an inventive word) perspective.
The film was originally shown during Christmas season of 1973 back when Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) was non-existent competing against foreign films backed by a star-studded cast that has Lotis Key, Panchito Alba, and Babalu to name a few. It’s produced by Dolphy’s RVQ Productions that reinvigorates Captain Barbell in his own vision set in a small town, where Tenteng (Dolphy) dressed in rags, thin, but never asthmatic. Although, his character was beaten up and abused by his three brothers (four in the original comics) while taking care of his sickly grandfather portrayed by Bayani Casimiro Sr.
Most of the concept for “Captain Barbell Boom!” has been adapted from the 1963-1964comics by Ravelo and Jim Fernandez, where he got the golden barbell from the genie unlike being given to him by an old hermit. But this what separates Dolphy’s version of Captain Barbell to the previous ones and those other series that followed after is that it is more entertainment driven than being story-driven concept at the same time forward-thinking how elaborate RVQ Productions has assembled its cast and the value of the film’s production in comparison to today’s Filipino-made movies or television series.
The comedic tone and what makes this Dolphy-driven Captain Barbell take on the character is a standalone to other versions which are not a satire or spoof. What makes it memorable is the comedy style and those musical scenes have been part of trademark concept by RVQ Productions. If today’s Filipino-made films don’t take much risk in how elaborate the productions was back in the early 1970s with smart visual effects and how they spent the budget with a costume design that includes big set pieces like that giant crab that Captain Barbell has to deal with is no camera trick.
Of course, during this era, you can’t avoid how campy it was but it was glorious laughs from the starts and why Dolphy is the undisputed Philippines’ King of Comedy. You’ll never see the likes of this screen legend along with Panchito Alba and Babalu as the main draw for that timeless humor. Overall “Captain Barbell Boom!” is very much the nostalgic film that is now a novelty in this generation of superhero films dominated by Hollywood blockbusters.
“Captain Barbell Boom!” is back digitally restored and remastered to 4K quality is now screening as part of the Reelive the Classics film fest from March 13 to 26, 2019 at the Santolan Town Plaza.
Check the schedule for the screen dates HERE!
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