Captain America (1990)

Frozen in the ice for decades, Captain America is freed to battle against arch-criminal, The Red Skull.

Director:

Albert Pyun

Writers:

Joe Simon (characters), Jack Kirby (characters)

Stars:

Matt Salinger, Ronny Cox, Ned Beatty

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Matt Salinger	...	Steve Rogers / Captain America
Ronny Cox	...	Tom Kimball
Ned Beatty	...	Sam Kolawetz
Darren McGavin	...	General Fleming
Michael Nouri	...	Lt. Colonel Louis
Scott Paulin	...	Red Skull / Army Doctor
Kim Gillingham	...	Bernice Stewart / Sharon
Melinda Dillon	...	Mrs. Rogers
Bill Mumy	...	Young General Fleming
Francesca Neri	...	Valentina de Santis
Carla Cassola	...	Dr. Maria Vaselli
Massimilio Massimi	...	Tadzio de Santis
Wayde Preston	...	Jack
Norbert Weisser	...	Alaskan Surveyor
Garette Ratliff Henson	...	Young Tom Kimball (as Garette Ratliffe)

Storyline

During World War II, a brave, patriotic American Soldier undergoes experiments to become a new supersoldier, "Captain America." Racing to Germany to sabotage the rockets of Nazi baddie "Red Skull", Captain America winds up frozen until the 1990s. He reawakens to find that the Red Skull has changed identities and is now planning to kidnap the President of the United States.

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Plot Keywords:

captain | frozen | nazi | 1990s | american soldier | 

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Genres:

Action | Sci-Fi | Thriller | War

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Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Country:

USA Yugoslavia

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 December 1990 (UK)

Also Known As:

Captain America: Director's Cut

Filming Locations:

Yugoslavia

Box Office

Budget:

$10,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

21st Century Film Corporation, Marvel Enterprises, Jadran Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min 124 min (director's cut)

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Michael Winner was slated to direct when the film was in production at Cannon.

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Goofs

When he thinks the future world is a Nazi trick, Captain describes a movie he saw with a similar plot. He seems to be referring to 36 Hours which was not released until 22 years after he was frozen.

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Quotes

Red Skull: You remain a poor choice, little brother.
Captain America: Stop calling me your brother!

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Crazy Credits

Please support the environmental protection act of 1990

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Connections

Spoofed in Eostre: Die Letzte Ostern (2013)

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Soundtracks

Written in the Wind
Written and Produced by Barry Goldberg & Derek Power
Performed by Southside Johnny Lyon (as Southside Johnny)
Courtesy of Cypress Records

User Reviews

What could have been the start of a potentially great franchise

Half-way decent adaptation of the classic Marvel comics character, which many people either love or hate. Most of the half-way decency the film has it derives from star Matt Salinger, the son of over-praised asshole writer JD Salinger. In a role that could have been made comical or just plain bad by many other actors, Matt manages to imbue the character with an authentic feeling of sincerity similar to what Christopher Reeve gave to Superman and often missing from other actors in superhero films. Had this film been left with a bigger budget and gotten a big theatrical release it could very well have made Matt Salinger a star, or at least establish his name and allow him some leverage to pursue other roles in bigger projects like Helen Slater after the endearingly classic disaster "Supergirl" (1984). Actually I think both Dolph Lundgren and Arnold Schwarzenegger, respectively, were both considered for this role, but it's just as well that they didn't get it, seeing as how their accents would have worked against them playing this "All-American" hero. Although Arnold's name on the picture might have gotten it a theatrical release instead of going direct to video (a similar fate befell Dolph's "The Punisher").

After Steve Rogers gets pumped up by the super soldier serum he becomes Captain America and gets into a disastrous first mission that ends with him getting his ass kicked by the Red Skull, who straps him to a missile pointed at the White House. Cap narrowly manages to cut off the Red Skull's hand and wrecks the missile so that instead of hitting the White House it lands in the Arctic and freezes him there, but not before he is spotted by a little boy who grows up to be President Ronny Cox. When Cap thaws out, he finds that much has changed while he's been gone, like his old girlfriend and her now adult daughter. He also finds out that the Red Skull is still alive and still out to conquer the world. Naturally, Captain America catches up with the Red Skull and beats the crap out of him in turn ("Stop calling me your brother!") before saving the world.

The guy playing the Skull is ineffectual, but he's got a nice looking daughter. Again, the real saving grace here is Matt Salinger's sincere performance as the title character, but even that can only do so much against a weak script and boring villains. Still, I enjoyed this film and I feel that fans deserved a chance to see this in theaters. And now I hear that Brad Pitt wants to play Captain America! Oh the shame...