Who Killed Captain Alex Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		1.5
Audio		2.5
Extras		5.0
Overall		2.5

Who Killed Captain Alex Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman June 17, 2019

Note: This film is available as part of Wakaliwood Supa Action Volume 1: Who Killed Captain Alex? + Bad Black.

“Wakaliwood” may well be an unknown word to many coming to this review, and there’s probably a good reason for that: it’s an “invented” coinage that comes courtesy of one Isaac Godfrey Geoffrey Nabwana, a native Ugandan who also brands himself as Nabwana IGG. Nabwana is one of a new breed of Ugandan filmmakers, and as is made abundantly clear in a number of supplements included on this “double feature” disc, Nabwana is not exactly shy about proclaiming his ambitions to make the Ugandan film industry the “next Bollywood”. Nabwana doesn’t even stop there, also stating that his ultimate ambition is to have Wakaliwood completely subsume “La La Land” as the global center of film production. That may be a pipe dream of rather considerable proportions, but the two films included on this set are certainly great examples of just how much can be done today on micro-budgets (there are several reports that Who Killed Captain Alex? was done for only a couple hundred dollars). Neither of these films is a model of narrative clarity or technical expertise, but there’s a certain Ed Wood-ian joie de vivre (and/or joie de mort, as the case may be, given the violence on hand) to both of these offerings which may well appeal to those who have a fondness for lo-fi entertainment that obviously is not taking itself very seriously.

Not to put it too cheekily, but for a film reportedly shot for less than $200, Who Killed Captain Alex isn't as bad as some may expect. It's haphazard, chaotic as all get out at times, and doesn't ever really manage a coherent storyline, despite having a patently gonzo plot that includes a murder mystery (as might be gleaned from the title), a group of villains called The Tiger Mafia, and a butt kicking martial artist who is a monk. The film kind of careens madly from weird skirmish to more "organized" combat, with a few moments given over here and there to supposed "character development". It's a fitfully engaging effort, but one with a lot of energy, and so it may make for an appealing enough viewing experience for those with a proper set of expectations.

Who Killed Captain Alex Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Who Killed Captain Alex is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of AGFA with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.37:1. An opening text crawl reveals that Nabwana IGG never expected this effort to be seen outside of his village, and so he deleted the original master files off of his computer, with the result being this is evidently sourced from an older standard definition source. The results aren't optimal by any stretch, but in some close- ups at least detail levels are decent looking. There is definitely a kind of "video-esque" look to much of this presentation, and there can be anomalies like slight "bleeding" around the edges of objects like you'll sometimes see in older, unrestored archival video. A lot of the presentation is quite soft looking, and even midrange shots can lack significant amounts of fine detail. The palette is generally rather robust looking, all things considered.

Who Killed Captain Alex Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Only a Dolby Digital 2.0 track is included, and it, while perhaps arguably not as problematic as the video element, also has some built in limitations, especially with regard to the force of some of the sound effects in the action sequences. Dialogue is generally presented cleanly enough, though there are (and I say this with tongue somewhat planted in cheek) "Hawks-ian" moments here where speakers overlap, and so the optional subtitles may come in handy for some listeners.

Who Killed Captain Alex Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

As mentioned above, both Wakaliwood films offered on this release are presented on one disc. While most of the supplements under each film are devoted to that film, there are at least a few that might be termed more generalist in nature, and so I'm including the sum total of the supplements in this listing:

Who Killed Captain Alex Supplements

• Director's Commentary (480p; 1:13:27) comes with a very interesting text prelude that mentions it was recorded under perilous circumstances, and also is appended to what sounds like a work print and/or preliminary version of the film, and so this piece runs longer than the "actual" film that is accessed by hitting the Play link on the Main Menu.


• Wakaliwood Kickstarter 2015 (1080p; 7:36) is a daffy appeal for funding.


• Fantasia Film Festival Q&A 2015 (1080p; 19:44)


• Welcome Videos stem from various screenings:

  Philamoca Philadelphia, PA (1080p; 2:26)

  
  

  Fantasia Film Festival Montreal (1080p; 1:20)

  
  

  Invasion U.S.A. (1080p; 1:14)

  
  

  Proctors Schenectady NY (1080p; 2:06)

  
  

  Third Man Nashville, TN (1080p; 3:35)

• Fan Videos

  Who Killed Captain Alex Animated (1080p; 00:53)

  
  

  Tebaatusasula Reloaded (480p; 00:40)

  
  

  Commando vs. Tiger Mafia (1080p; 1:51)

  
  

  Captain Alex Da Sequel (480p; 1:11)

  
  

  Paris vs. Wakaliwood (1080p; 5:28)

  
  

  Return of Uncle Nerfman (1080p; 4:05)

  
  

  We Love Wakaliwood (1080p; 1:02)

  
  

  Battlefield One Reveal Trailer (1080p; 1:06)

  
  

  Captain Alex Da Turkish Rambo (480p; 1:41)

  
  

  Captain Alex Anime (1080p; 1:31)

  
  

  Avengers vs. Tebaatusasula (1080p; 2:32)

  
  

  Put Your Hands in Da Hair (1080p; 1:00)

  
  

  Cool Cat Saves Wakaliwood (1080p; 3:43)

  
  

  Lets Watch Captain Alex (1080p; 4:01)

  
  

  Captain Alex vs. MLG (1080p; 00:58)

  
  

  Captain Alex vs. MLG Da Sequel (1080p; 7:06)

  
  

  Wakaliwood on House of Fools (1080p; 1:11)

  
  

  Captain Alex vs. Japan (480p; 1:26)

• Trailers and Commercials

  Ugandan Film Centre (480p; 2:25)

  
  

  Qadafi Kapati TV Commercial (480p; 2:01)

  
  

  Who Killed Captain Alex (Original Version) (480p; 1:44)

  
  

  Black (Original Version) (480p; 1:58)

  
  

  Tebaatasusula (480p; 00:41)

  
  

  Bukunja Tekunja Mitti the Cannibals (480p; 00:56)

  
  

  Rescue Team (480p; 00:47)

  
  

  Return of Uncle Benon (480p; 1:59)

• Wakaliwood Around the World (Part 1) contains an aggregation of promotional pieces:

  First Time on TV March 2013 (480p; 9:50)

  
  

  New Wave of Ugandan Action Cinema (Vice TV) (1080p; 12:14)

  
  

  IHE Search for the Worst (1080p; 29:21)

  
  

  CCTV Africa October 2014 (1080p; 2:59)

  
  

  Sahara TV Africa (1080p; 2:20)

  
  

  In the Field Ugandan TV (480p; 7:28)

  
  

  Weltspiegel October 2015 (480p; 7:51)

  
  

  NTV Uganda (1080p; 4:06)

• VJ Emmie, Uganda's Best Narrator is featured on an alternate audio track available under the Set Up Menu.

Bad Black Supplements

• Director's Commentary


• Behind the Scenes of Bad Black (1080p; 26:41) has more engaging if often pretty goofy candid footage.


• Fantasia Film Festival Q&A 2017 (1080p; 25:21)


• Welcome Videos all stem from screenings:

  World Premiere @ Fantastic Fest, USA (1080p; 1:20)

  
  

  Fantasia Film Festival, Canada (1080p; 3:10)

  
  

  Brussels Film Festival, Belgium (1080p; 2:50)

  
  

  Bucheon Film Festival, South Korea (1080p; 2:29)

  
  

  Supa World Tour (1080p; 3:46)

  
  

  Slovenia vs. Slovakia (1080p; 1:43)

  
  

  Estonia (1080p; 2:04)

  
  

  Seattle (1080p; 1:42)

  
  

  Orlando (1080p; 2:37)

  
  

  Australia (1080p; 00:53)

  
  

  Mumbai (1080p; 1:06)

  
  

  Paris (1080p; 1:03)

  
  

  Nashville (1080p; 1:30)

  
  

  San Sebastian (1080p; 1:04)

  
  

  New Jersey (1080p; 1:26)

  
  

  Vienna (1080p; 00:43)

  
  

  Kazakhstan (1080p; 00:43)

  
  

  Hollywood (1080p; 00:40)

  
  

  Wisconsin (1080p; 00:55)

• Music Videos

  Official Tourism Video of Uganda (1080p; 2:23)

  
  

  Thank You Grandma from Who Killed Captain Alex (1080p; 3:37)

  
  

  Buddha Fire by Nakos Riddem Masta (480p; 3:12)

  
  

  King Kong Loves Da Blonde One by Go Go Gorillo (1080p; 3:18)

  
  

  Time by The Shy Lips (1080p; 3:21)

  
  

  Nocturno by Cuchillo de Fuego (1080p; 4:31)

  
  

  Bruce U by Maniacs in Da Mailbox (1080p; 4:17)

• Trailers and Clips

  A Nice Audience in Texas (1080p; 00:29)

  
  

  Black (Original Version) (480p; 1:58)

  
  

  Who Killed Captain Alex (Remastered Version) (480p; 1:44)

  
  

  Ugandan Expendables Operation Kakongoliro (1080p; 1:53)

  
  

  Demon Village (1080p; 1:22)

  
  

  Revenge Ugandan Ghost Story 1 (480p; 1:19)

  
  

  Revenge Ugandan Ghost Story 2 (480p; 1:40)

  
  

  Eaten Alive in Uganda Clip (1080p; 3:21)

  
  

  Kasumaali Robot Test Footage (1080p; 00:08)

• Wakaliwood Around the World (Part 2) contains an aggregation of more promotional pieces:

  Ugandan Expendables on Live TV (480p; 2:12)

  
  

  Bad Black vs. MLB (480p; 1:44)

  
  

  Ebola Hunter is Cooming (1080p; 1:59)

  
  

  Madrid vs. Ebola (1080p; 1:17)

  
  

  Wakaliwood on Arte Creative (1080p; 7:17)

  
  

  Action Film Aus Dem Slum Wakaliga Zoom TV (1080p; 1:49)

  
  

  After Bollywood - Uganda Brings Wakaliwood (1080p; 2:41)

  
  

  City Magazine Africa (1080p; 9:27)

  Welcome to Wakaliwood - CNN International October 2018 (1080p; 23:55)

  
  

  Wakaliwood Meets Fangoria (1080p; 00:47)

  
  

  Birthday Message for a Supa Fan (1080p; 00:34)

• VJ Emmie is again featured, albeit this time evidently as part of the actual soundtrack of the film. That track and a "Behind the Scenes Commentary" track are available on the Set Up Menu.

Who Killed Captain Alex Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Who Killed Captain Alex may in fact be little more than a glorified "home movie", but it has a certain energy that some big budget American efforts never seem to be able to muster. This is a release of a probably less than completely artful film that in turn has limitations in its technical presentation, but whose supplemental package and the mere oddity of the film itself may make it a "must buy".