merged: captain barbell

[diem]

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@wendellmb at revnetex, please keep on topic.. meron Love of the Condor Heroes thread, doon na lang kayo magkita...

REVIEW
‘Captain Barbell’ needs to fight for redemption

First posted 11:17pm (Mla time) June 06, 2006
by Oliver Pulumbarit
Inquirer

Editor's Note: Published on Page A2-4 of the June 7, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

THE first five episodes of “Captain Barbell�—GMA 7’s effects-heavy series about a tormented teen with superhuman powers, show some technical proficiency. But for all its snazzy digital effects, competent stunt sequences, and some decent acting, the series started off shakily, mainly because it mimicked many elements from other existing superhero stories. The title character’s revamped origin is more science fiction-based, and while there’s audacity in several ideas presented in its first episode, this re-imagining has led to an uncomfortable hodge-podge of “Smallville,� “Spider-Man,� and even “Terminator.�

Ambitious
This hasn’t gone unnoticed. One can look at certain scenes and situations and name the movie, TV show, or character that inspired them. Younger viewers may not be discerning of such things yet, but older ones could get distracted or turned off by the recurring non-originality.
As previously noted, the show started ambitiously. Cramped with superimposed digital wizardry and fancy props, the initial episode introduced a future, year 2106, when the Philippines is a major superpower, a place where scientific breakthroughs like genetic manipulation and cloning flourish.
A “Barbanium�-enhanced warrior, Captain B (Paolo Bediones) sends his wife and child to the past, to hide from a powerful “General.� There, a century back, Mrs. B (Snooky Serna) must prevent the General’s rise to power, but her time machine crash-lands and accidentally kills Pinky Amador’s pregnant character (her unborn daughter survives).
See the “Smallville� parallel yet? That daughter is an analogue of Lana Lang, Clark Kent’s love interest, whose parents were killed by a meteorite shower in the show’s first episode. Here, “Lana� is Lea (Rhian Denise Ramos), “Clark� is Teng (Richard Gutierrez), the kindly “Kents� are the Magtanggols (Dante Rivero and Gloria Sevilla), the über-rich “Luthors� are Viel and Levi Villian (Richard Gomez and Patrick Garcia), and “Smallville� is the thriving town of Marravelos. That’s just for starters.

Teng, not a costumed hero until episode 5, lives a traumatic life, just like poor Peter Parker. It’s exhausting to watch him repeatedly mauled by bullies and deal with the shocking demise of his adoptive father. Add a crazy Wolverine-like freak with glass shards for “claws� to the list... it’s so contrived sometimes, that we don’t root much for the hero, if at all.

Possibilities
It does make one wonder: Has Mars Ravelo’s concept become so dated that the show resorted to “cloning� parts of other properties? There can’t be a shortage of new ideas. The series’ creative team just needs to mine the existing mythology, and since this is a fantasy show, the possibilities are limitless.
Despite its imperfections, “Captain Barbell� shows promise. The big-budgeted series can still prove escapist to those who want their regular action fix thunderous and eye-popping. It just needs to overcome its major clunks immediately, and breathe life into an original Pinoy super-champ with more imaginative adventures and back stories.

[wendellmb]

yeah..right...


dili sad na grabe ka ot oi... ala ka kita sa next statement??

[king_coy]

this all plain simple, if you dont like the show, then don't watch it then go on complaining about its quality and how stupid the effects look, like your some techno-god who knows it all.

GMA-7 is just trying to be visual in communicating the technological advancements here in the country when it comes to tv productions. everything has its flaws, i mean, have you ever programmed something that didn't have bugs in it or runtime errors? Advancements? then you'll be saying, "luma na yang tech na yan". well, if you have a liquid-nitro cooled pc, then luma nga yan for you.

ganyan naman talaga tingin ng mga pinoy sa kapwa pinoy, when someone tries to be ambitious of something, yan na, critics kaliwa't kanan. they dont even look at the big picture. i mean these people are doing everything they can to provide us entertainment, without knowing if its entertaining to us, they simply just do it.

i do watch these shows when m not busy and i dont have any complaints about it. but, i do hate 24 Oras, cuz its getting more of a variety show rather than a news broadcast.

[nHaRuToH_XXX]

ok rah sad...8/10

[wendellmb]

yeah we/I know.. but we have the so called right to brag about the show(s) ... kay kita ra man gihapon ang mo suffer as a viewer if they keep on doing cr@p#y tv shows..

and about the visual... wala nakoy paki ana.. kay we all know naman nga sa pagka kron nga medyo wala pay kapagka-pagasa anag pinoy ana..

its really the plot/story why some people here go ballistic....

[diem]

@wendellmb, i agree with you bro... it all matters with the story... what good are technological advancements in cinematography and digital film effects when the heart of it all is just a Frankensteinesque rehash of popular foreign material like SMALLVILLE, SPIDER-MAN...

All we ask is a true honest-to-goodness ORIGINAL story of an ORIGINAL Filipino Hero that we could be proud of... is that too much to ask! Unique na ang kuwento ni Mars Ravaelo about a young man obtaining powers from a mystical object shaped like a barbell.. pero tignan mo naman ang ginawa ng GMA, porke't karamihan sa Pilipinas ay walang cable kaya wala silang muwang tungkol sa SMALLVILLE kaya inisip ng GMA safe sila sa pagsiphon ng storyline ng SMALLVILLE at ilutong pinoy a la Barbell kasi hindi naman alam ng majority ng Audience ang kuwentong SMALLVILLE...

Check out this excerpt from Dolly Carvajal's column on PDI

Still on “piracy� ... I’ve been swamped with e-mail protesting that “Captain Barbell� is a rip-off of “Smallville� (a series depicting the life of young Superman). To quote some of the viewers’ sentiments:
“Too many similarities—the main character arrived in a futuristic ship ... how he is found on the field by a couple in a red pick-up (down to the truck model) ... the villains were “infected� by that meteor shower-like arrival. Even the main character’s love interest—there are two girls (Lana Lang /Lois Lane?). Why can’t they just stick to, or expand, the original story?�

Well, well, well ... is Captain Barbell turning out to be a “pirate’� a la Captain Hook?
From Dollywood
First posted 10:42pm (Mla time) June 07, 2006
By Dolly Anne Carvajal
Inquirer

At eto pa galing kay Nestor Torre ng PDI rin....

On GMA-7, the big, new series is “Captain Barbell,� with Richard Gutierrez playing both the homegrown hero and his kawawa alter ego, Teng.

Alas, the “pathetic� alter ego role is too much of a stretch for hunky Richard, who has a hard time looking awkward, insecure and oppressed.

At this point in the storytelling, the alter ego has most of the scenes, so Richard’s ineptitude at playing the inept lad is a major problem of the show.

As far as the story goes, the production’s dramatization and visualization is generally eventful, but they also make too many references to the iconic tale of Jor-El, Clark Kent and Superman.

The show’s writers should strive to be more creative and Pinoy, because their work will otherwise suffer in comparison to the original.

We also note that the battling aliens in the show are supposed to come from an extremely advanced civilization, and yet, when they fight each other, they often end up resorting to mere fisticuff. How retro-“advanced� can you get?!

Also noticeable is the lack of vitality and cleverness of the child actor who plays Richard’s alter ego character as a boy. How can a kid who’s supposed to be so physically powerful have such a wan and listless persona?

Another problem is the show’s poor use of some of the gifted actors in its cast. Jackielou Blanco is in the show, but as of last viewing, she was made to do very little, just looking ornery and nasty as a relative who didn’t like the boy.

Jackielou can do this with two eyes closed and both arms tied behind her back, so please give her more challenging scenes, before she falls asleep in front of the cameras!

Finally, we note that, to make Richard’s kawawa character even more pathetic, he’s constantly assaulted by what looks like an endless stream of kiddie and teen kontrabida. This melodramatic ploy quickly overstays its welcome, so we hope that the show’s writers can think of other ways to keep their lead character productively miserable.

From Viewfinder
First posted 10:50pm (Mla time) June 07, 2006
By Nestor U. Torre
Inquirer
Â*

[Santini]

Yawn. I dont need to see the pinoy version of Smallville. And Captain Barbell is magic based, NOT science based.

A question though...was the Captain Barbell movie by Bong Revilla Jr. any good?

[king_coy]

yup, as i said, its a ripped-off of smallville, but then again, you could never doubt the digital part of that CB flick. this is just marketing. writers can write whatever they want, and you could say whatever you want, but will that stop sponsors from coming in to the show? will that stop little kids from patronizing CB? i think not, so what difference will it make. yes, its very true na di lahat alam ang story ng smallville and GMA-7 somehow saw that window and did work on it. manang labandera will watch it then go to bed afterwards and talk about it during her chores with her fellow labanderas. what m simply saying is that the common masa is the target audience of this kind of shows. if you say na nagpagod lang 7 para sa mga labandera, yes indeed, kasi yan ang target nila, second lang ang mga sosyal at pa-sosyal.

your asking for the original story of captain barbell on a soap opera which could run for 6 months or even a year? this is not a wakasan series or komiks. soon after, characters and the story will evolve.

at bakit nga ba kailangan pang gayahin ang smallville? why not, di ba? they just needed a headstart for the show, and surely, they will get ideas from writers and critics alike on how to continue the show. anyways, most likely, even if they did based this on the original, m sure na pangit pa rin ang mga feedbacks.

[diem]

@kingcoy.. the reality you say is true to a great degree.. but sa akin lang, sana irespeto naman nila ang audience.. kahit nga lang ang target nila ang mga 'masa' kunuhay, sana naman ibigay naman nila ng todo at totoo...

meron naman mga paraan, mga paagi na maaring gawing original ang Barbell kahit nga kumuha ka ng konting ideas mula sa ibang shows... ang problema kasi tapulan jud ang mga writers... like for example lang...

the main character arrived in a futuristic ship...
Sus, bakit pa? Eh galing man si Barbell from the future... bakit hindi nalang isang time portal tulad sa Terminator.. or kaya pag appear nila out of the time stream from the future into the present, biglang meron sumabog... tapos nandiyan na sila?

how he is found on the field by a couple in a red pick-up (down to the truck model) ...
iyun nga rin kaiinisan ko eh... bakit hindi na lang isang pulang jeep? multicab? pedicab? Or kaya pulang motor? para realistic, tagabukid mana sila.. di ba? Mas barato man na ang habal-habal kaysa pick-up...

the villains were “infected� by that meteor shower-like arrival.
so ibig sabihin time travel creates radiation that mutates the physiology and dements the mentalities of people? o basin kabahin ito sa barbanium ano---? hehehe murag okay pud ni... pero sa akin lang, since si Barbell ay isang fugitive from the future dapat from the future rin ang mga kaaway niya... muabot ang cyborg hunter para hanapin siya, at ang gagawin ng cyborg hunter is targetting and infecting people that Barbell cares about to do his dirty work, di ba para diabolical... how could a hero harm the ones he loves?

Even the main character’s love interest—there are two girls (Lana Lang /Lois Lane?).
Bakit o bakit why o why lagi naman meron love triangle... sa Darna nga noon hapit na nga nahimong love square... ug sa krystala pud... madami naman issues na puwedeng gamiton para makakamit ng dramatic tension ang isang love story diba? refer lang sa Love Problems... I need Advice thread sa Love is Forum...

totoo naman ang kasabihan 'you cannot please everyone' but sa mundo ng entertainment, ang maxim ay 'dapat LAHAT ay masaya.' Baka nga tama ka ma-evolve rin ang kuwento pero bale naman, mahalaga rin ang 1st impression di ba?

@santini, bro mas maganda ang 80's Captain Barbell, ayos ang tandem ni Herbert Bautista as Teng at Edu Manzano as Captain Barbell, meron din cameo si Darna doon-- astig plus cleverly funny pa... it was the 1st pinoy fantasy film that I watched as a child and it's a very pleasant memory... simple kasi ang kuwento kaya mas gusto ko pa ito kaysa Mulawin the Movie....

[king_coy]

@diemjudilla, thanks for the most informative insight and yes, mas ok yung CB na ginawa from the original story. Napanood ko rin yun when i was in my elementary days. anyways, yung digital aspect lang naman talaga ng show ang pinapanigan ko. pinipilit ko lang tanggapin kung ano na ang ginawa ng GMA-7 sa story ni Captain Barbell.

anyways, u mentioned about GMA-7 should respect the audience? well, for me, matagal ng walang respeto ang GMA-7 sa audience nila, including me. why did i say so? well, just try watching the telebabad marathon for once and you'll know. wala ng sked ang mga shows, late na mag-start, then, daming advertisements.

OT: if GMA-7 would want to hold true sa claim nila na serbisyong totoo, well, dapat reformat nila ang 24Oras kasi masyado nang mahaba para sa isang newscast at di naman importante ang ibang news na featured.