As with a lot of people on this board, I discovered this DVD at Wal-Mart. Realizing that all kinds of things could go wrong, particularly since it was clearly going to be a low budget thing, I bought it in the remote chance that they would actually do the concept right. Happily they did.
Possible spoilers: The disc has copyright dates of 2000 and 2004 but the IMDb date of 2002 seems more accurate: people jumping off of buildings, successful terrorist attacks on American soil, the impotency of the superhero to solve all real life problems... the film very much feels like how superheroes were perceived even by many comic book readers right after 9/11.
To that end I don't necessarily agree with all the film's conclusions (I think the concept of the superhero as metaphor for aspiring for something greater is stronger than the filmmakers give it credit for) but the fact that a low budget film warrants analysis in terms of both the hero archetype and as a metaphor for 9/11 is very impressive.
If you want to take a chance on any $5 DVD at Wal-Mart or similar store, I'd make it this one.
Possible spoilers: The disc has copyright dates of 2000 and 2004 but the IMDb date of 2002 seems more accurate: people jumping off of buildings, successful terrorist attacks on American soil, the impotency of the superhero to solve all real life problems... the film very much feels like how superheroes were perceived even by many comic book readers right after 9/11.
To that end I don't necessarily agree with all the film's conclusions (I think the concept of the superhero as metaphor for aspiring for something greater is stronger than the filmmakers give it credit for) but the fact that a low budget film warrants analysis in terms of both the hero archetype and as a metaphor for 9/11 is very impressive.
If you want to take a chance on any $5 DVD at Wal-Mart or similar store, I'd make it this one.