Just bought this Disney theme park attraction on a "bootleg" DVD because I was curious to see it again. The time I went to Disney World back in 2011, Captain EO was temporarily brought back at Epcot after Michael Jackson's death, complete with the 3D effects, and I remembered being thoroughly entertained by it.
How does it compare at home? Well, you don't get the awesome use of 3D at home for one thing, so that's gone, but it's still a great time.
If I was Captain EO as a stand-alone short, I would criticize the heck out of this thing. It's cheesy cornball up to 11, Michael Jackson's limited range of acting shows, the comical sidekicks are annoying, and the plot itself is nonsensical and is simply an excuse for Michael to show off his singing and dancing skills, which we all know he was amazing at. Like, the story of this short is Captain EO (Michael Jackson) using his singing/dancing skills in space where its literally a superpower and its used to devillain-ize creepy people??? Like, what???