Captain America

I will not hear a word spoken against this fine movie. It's great for watching when getting together with your sarcastic friends. You know the ones I mean. The kind that rent a schlock horror movie simply so they can make fun of it.

The production values may lag, the acting may make you wince, and the origin of Captain America is shattered into a million zillion pieces.There is, however,one thing that makes it the greatest Captain America movie of all time: The Captain America movie from 1991! That one makes this one look like Citizen Kane. Plus, this one has a motorcycle!

Yes folks, if terrorists ever force you to choose one Captain America to watch at gunpoint, make it this one.

You have to wonder why the producers of this T movie bothered to make it at all, since it has almost nothing to do with the Captain America of the comics. This Captain America is apparently the son of the original Cap, and is given the super-solider treatment after being seriously injured by bad guys looking for secret documents involving his old man. As if this plot isn't bad enough, the new Cap wears a loose variation on the real Cap's uniform, including a motorcycle helmet in place of the winged hood. He also carries a tiny, see-though plastic shield that looks like it wouldn't hold up in a storm, never mind stop bullets. Cap ride around on a motorcycle, righting wrongs and catching up with a bunch of bad guys. Hunky Reb Brown is an OK Cap, but the movie is a dog. A followup effort from 1990 with Matt Sallinger is only slightly better, but that Cap spends most of the flick in street clothes, and comes across as a poor man's James Bond as he pursues the Red Skull. Except this Red Skull is not the Red Skull of the comics. Yeesh.

Captain America (1979)

** (out of 4)

Made-for-TV film has Reb Brown playing ex-Marine Steven Rogers who gets out of the service and plans on taking it easy but instead he learns of an experiment his father was working on. After an attempt on his life, Steve is given this secret serum and soon finds himself becoming Captain America and fighting crime. The Marvel character was previously brought to the big screen in a Republic serial and while I'm not overly familiar with the comic I had heard plenty of negative things about this film. I had heard some call it the worst comic-book adaptation in history while others simply called it one of the worst films of the decade. I don't agree with either of those opinions but I'll admit that this is a pretty silly little movie that has very few "good" things going for it but what makes the film work is the camp level, which is pretty high. There are all sorts of problems with this film and a lot of them can be placed at the feet of the director. For the life of me I couldn't understand why no one could tell how silly this thing was and I really question how several of the scenes are edited together. There are moments where it seems one thing is going on and then out of no where something else will start up without anything in the middle to connect them. It seems like much of the story is happening so fast that little bits and pieces are just missing without any reason. Another problem is that the screenplay contains some of the dumbest dialogue ever. The highlight of the film for me is when Brown is upset that he's been given this serum and he complains to the doctor that he'll have to go through the rest of his life never knowing when it's going to be his turn to die. Umm, everyone goes through life not knowing when it's going to be their turn. Did this guy think he had control of it before taking the serum? A lot of fans hate Brown in the lead but I thought he had the right look for the part but the acting leaves quite a bit to be desired. I thought some of the line delivering was really bad and there were a few moments where it appears like he forgot his line for a split second as there are some strange gaps in between words. The supporting cast really isn't all that memorable but some of the performances add a touch of camp. CAPTAIN America is far from a good movie but at the same time it's not nearly as bad as its reputation would have you believe. I wouldn't recommend this movie to anyone except those who like a little silly camp.

Stan Lee, shame on you! This is the true origin of the Cap!

Reb Brown..I've previously judged you solely by Space Mutiny, but I began to see the light of realization that he's done other movies providing amusement and entertainment. Unfortunately, Captain America comes up short in that department, but the whole 70s made for TV look gives it charm in a B grade good kind of way.

On the plus side, Reb plays Steve Rogers as a laid back, good hearted guy from Cali. Add hilarity points for the very haphazard process for how Steve becomes his alter ego. Sheesh, the guy is an artist who loves to drive up and down the coast. Look at the can of worms you've opened up you baddies! The first half involves Steve reasoning (a lot) with Simon and dealing with a bizarre twist of events. The second half includes semi-action scenes including the testing of Cap's new toys and finally taking a stand against these bullies who've been giving Steve trouble from the get go.

Ignoring the fact that this was a pilot for a canceled series, and if it's not taken too seriously, this is an enjoyable romp where sides of beef and oil slicks have never been deadlier. Come to think of it, if Reb wasn't in this one, then you really would have yourself a real stinker. Thankfully, there's a second helping of Captain America goodness in 'Death Too Soon'.

Oh, boy where to begin? Ok, Marvel Comics, until recently, seemed to be cursed with horrible adaptations of their characters. The lone stand-out was the Hulk, but it was more Fugitive than "Hulk Smash!". Following its success, though, we got this movie. Poor Cap, he should have stayed frozen!

The movie suffers badly from budget, with effects that were bargain basement even then; and a script that sounded like Snoopy wrote it on top of the dog house. Reb Brown looked good physically, but he was about as wooden as an oak. Still, he was better than Matt Salinger. Steve Forrest had starred in SWAT, not long before this; but watching him here, you wish he had taken a bullet in that series.

The motorcycle was cool (at least when I was 13, in 1979) and the shield/windshield was at least creative. The costume, oh man, the costume! According to Mark Gruenwald, the late editor of Cap and other Marvel Comics, the production changed the costume and Marvel had to beg them to change it back. The final scenes in the film show Cap in a close approximation of the original costume. The funny part was, the commercial breaks would display line art of Cap in his traditional costume.

Cap was given abilities closer to Steve Austin (the Bionic Man, not Stone Cold) than Steve Rogers, but it worked OK; there just weren't any spectacular stunts to make it interesting.

Ultimately, the film proved successful enough for a sequel, but not well enough for a series. Still, I'll take it over the Matt Salinger film any day! (An Italian Red Skull? Uggh!)