Captain Chaos

Captain Chaos
Dom DeLuise as Captain Chaos
Created by
Portrayed by Dom DeLuise
Voiced by Dom DeLuise
Information
Gender Male
Occupation
  • Mechanic
  • Adventurer
  • Hero

Captain Chaos is a fictional character in the Cannonball Run movie series. He is the alter-ego of mild-mannered mechanic Victor Prinzim (Dom DeLuise).

Victor is soft-spoken and unpretentious, but when situations arise that he himself is too timid to handle, Victor is compelled to don his satin cape and cowl and becomes the heroic Captain Chaos.

Psychiatrists have diagnosed Victor as having multiple personality disorder, but Victor himself is convinced that he channels the spirit of an actual living superhero who always manages to arrive just in time to save the day.[1][2][3][4]

Author David Quinlan wrote of Cannonball Run in The TV Times Film and Video Guide, stating [sic] "The best thing in the film is Dom DeLuise who, as the schizophrenic Victor, turns moments of stress into tubby superhero Captain Chaos!"[5]

Characteristics

Captain Chaos' costume (which Victor puts on over whatever he happens to be wearing at the time) is a long flowing orange satin cape and matching cowl with an attached black domino mask, and the word "chaos" written in white across the cowl's forehead (in the sequel film the cape and cowl are red). After Victor transforms into Captain Chaos, he speaks in a slightly lower voice register with basso profondo inflections similar to that of a typical cartoon superhero. His appearance is invariably prefaced by the vocal fanfare "Dunn dun DU-UH-UHNNNN!!", to approximate Chaos' theme music.

"...Him."

Most people who meet Victor are somewhat bewildered at the eventual emergence of his alter ego of Captain Chaos, whose heroism and courage are in stark contrast to Victor's milquetoast personality. Though Chaos is revered by others, he is viewed as an annoyance to Victor's boss and close friend, J.J. McClure (Burt Reynolds). Because of this, Victor is expressly forbidden to speak the name of Captain Chaos in J.J.'s presence, hence the reason Victor always cautiously refers to the hero simply as "...Him." (usually followed by a twinge of magical music).

Near the beginning of the first film, Victor makes mention of "...Him", but audiences are briefly left wondering who Victor is talking about until he and J.J. crash their test race car after being stopped at a police road block; when one of the cops asks who they think they are, Victor, in cape and cowl, emerges from the passenger side and introduces himself for the first time as Captain Chaos while J.J., whom he introduces as his "faithful companion, Kato", sits in embarrassment in the driver's seat.

Near the film's end, J.J.'s disdain for Captain Chaos boils over after he loses the race, and J.J. angrily rips the cape and cowl off of Victor's person, but Victor almost immediately dons a new alter ego he names "Captain USA", whose cape and cowl are similar, only blue in color, spangled with white stars and with "USA" embroidered onto the cowl's forehead.

In the sequel film, J.J. is more tolerant of the good Captain when he shows up during a fight with the mafia.

Abilities

Captain Chaos' "powers" include:

  • Increased strength and endurance, fueled by rushes of adrenaline when Victor feels threatened.
  • Fearlessness; Captain Chaos will jump into the middle of any melee with fists and feet flying, effortlessly subduing any and all of his opponents, standing with arms akimbo and laughing in hearty triumph amid his enemies' defeat.
  • Expert driving skills, which are at least known to veteran racer and Cannonball opponent Jamie Blake (Dean Martin), who derisively refers to Victor as "The Blimp", but then warns his partner Morris Fenderbaum (Sammy Davis Jr.), "When he puts on that mask, he'll blow your goddamn doors off!"

Origin

In the first film, when Pamela (Farrah Fawcett) asks Victor how he came to know Captain Chaos, Victor explains:

Filmography

The character of Captain Chaos as portrayed by Dom DeLuise has appeared in The Cannonball Run (1981), Cannonball Run II (1984), and his alter ego, Victor Prinzim, appeared (in doll form) in the Robot Chicken episode "Gold Dust Gasoline" (2005), voiced by DeLuise.[6]

Notes

In the initial screenplay draft, the alter-ego of Captain Chaos was termed "Rahul." [7]

Washington Redskins' tight end Chris Cooley (2004-2012), was given the nickname "Captain Chaos" by his teammates. This nickname was created when teammates bet him he would not go out to the opening coin toss and introduce himself to the opposing team captains as "Captain Chaos". He did, and the nickname stuck.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Brian Thomas (2003). VideoHound's dragon: Asian action & cult flicks. Visible Ink Press. ISBN 1-57859-141-4.
  2. ↑ Scott Von Doviak (2005). Hick flicks: the rise and fall of redneck cinema. McFarland,. p. 113. ISBN 0-7864-1997-0.
  3. ↑ Brock Yates (2003). Cannonball!. MotorBooks International. p. 262. ISBN 0-7603-1633-3.
  4. ↑ Jason Wood (2007). One hundred road movies. BFI. p. 31. ISBN 1-84457-160-2.
  5. ↑ David Quinlan (1998). The TV Times Film and Video Guide. Batsford. p. 116. ISBN 0-7134-8443-8.
  6. ↑ "Robot Chicken Season 1 Episode 3 - "Gold Dust Gasoline"". "Death Race". 16 September 2011.
  7. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KI5tFG32uI
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.