Before Chris Evans donned the red, white and blue uniform in 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger, there were a few attempts to bring the character to the screen. There was the 1944 Republic serial, then in 1979 two television films (inspired by the success of “The Incredible Hulk” television series) came out. in 1990 Captain America hit theaters and largely went unnoticed.
A while ago it was released on DVD via MGM’s direct manufacture option. Now Shout Fctory has given the film a proper release on Blu-ray and included special features in addition to better picture and sound.
This film will certainly not surpass anybody’s opinion about the much larger budgeted 2011 film. The cast is bigger, the scope is bigger, and it fits into an overall set of films. However, I firmly believe much of the success the recent films based on Marvel comics properties can be attributed to this release. Previously there was Howard the Duck, which bombed, and The Punisher starring Dolph Lundgren which saw very limited distribution (for good reasons). Undaunted Captain America arrived and while it would be a few more years before another Marvel hero would arrive, 1998’s Blade, and the string of success would begin, the lessons learned are very clear. Where previous films took a number of liberties with the characters, Captain America strayed less from the familiar origins and offered up a (for the time) decent story.
Matt Salinger is Steve Rogers, willing to take risks with an experiment to serve in World War II because he is prevented by having polio. Of course the experiment is a success and before the process can be duplicated (stop me if this sounds familiar) the person is killed. And then there’s another super soldier experiment going on in Italy.
Quickly wrapping this story up we get Captain America froze and revived in the then near future of 1993. Here we get a familiar story of Red Skull, lost love, super soldier serum, and … well, if you’re at all familiar with the Captain America story, you’ll sort of know what you’re in for. Yes there are plot holes and unnecessary changes, but it’s a comic book film.
If this were the pilot for a television series, I imagine there would be a lot more praise for 1990’s Captain America. I am wondering if that was the initial plan and something before pre-production changed.
Is this 1990 film of Captain America good? That’s a relative and subjective term, but let’s just say this isn’t bad. It could have been a lot better, but it also could have also been a heck of a lot worse. I know it’s not exactly the ringing endorsement Shout Factory might be hoping for, because they put more effort into this Blu-ray than MGM did with the DVD. When compared with what has come since, this Captain America falls short. Despite its “PG-13” rating it’s not overly offensive or too inappropriate for younger viewers. This film really does feel in many ways like a “comic book movie” which is both a blessing and a curse. One has to remember when this was made, and how even the 1989 Batman film looks dated and pales in comparison to the recent efforts with the character in his trilogy.
Shout Factory did a great job putting this Blu-ray together. While not remastered in high-definition, at least the image looks cleaned up and appears much better than I imagined it would be. A new featurette interviewing the film’s director and star offers up plenty of insight and information and even if you’re not a major fan of the film or the character this is certainly worth checking out. I was sort of surprised with how candid they were. We learn that Howie Long was wanted to fill the role of Captain America as part of a dual role, how it felt wearing the costume on the set for the first time, budget concerns, where the costume is, and more.
If you’re a fan of the character, 1990’s film of Captain America is enjoyable if you go in with lowered expectations. Shout Factory put together a nice package considering the “value” of the film and treats it with a lot more respect that it got 23 years ago.