Movie Review | Captain Barbell Boom!

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.

REELive the Classics | Captain Barbell

03.07.2019 – Captain Barbell is a fictional superhero in Philippine comicbooks first appeared in Pinoy Komiks #5 (May 23, 1963) originally a shirtless strongman that was created by Mars Ravelo and artist Jim Fernandez similar to the American Superman, Captain Marvel or Shazam, and Thor. The character evolved over the years. Like Darna, he also had an alter-ego named Tenteng, a thin, weakling and asthmatic person whose only dream was to become strong and muscular. The character was popular being portrayed by several Filipino actors in movies and television. There has been a memorable incarnation of the character in various shapes or form, but what stands out are the ones being portrayed by famous actors. Dolphy, the Philippine King of Comedy has portrayed the character as the third actor to assume the role after Bob Soler (Captain Barbell, 1964) and Willie Sotelo (Captain Barbell Kontra Captain Bakal, 1965). This was another take on the character as Ting-ting and Captain Barbell wearing the signature mask originally titled “Captain Barbell Boom!"