Captain America (1990 film)
Captain America | |
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Directed by | Albert Pyun |
Screenplay by | Stephen Tolkin |
Story by |
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Based on | |
Produced by | Menahem Golan |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Philip Alan Waters |
Edited by | Jon Poll |
Music by | Barry Goldberg |
Production companies | |
Distributed by |
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Release dates |
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Running time | 97 minutes[1] |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $3 million[2][3] |
Captain America (released in the Philippines as Bloodmatch)[4] is a 1990 American superhero film directed by Albert Pyun and written by Stephen Tolkin and Lawrence J. Block (aka Larry Block). The film is based on the Marvel Comics superhero of the same name. While the film takes several liberties with the comic's storyline, it features Steve Rogers becoming Captain America during World War II to battle the Red Skull, being frozen in ice, and subsequently being revived to save the President of the United States from a crime family that dislikes his environmentalist policies.[5]
Plot
In 1936, in Italy, the
Seven years later, the American government finds volunteer Steve Rogers, a frail
In 1992, Tom Kimball is elected
Rogers' body is found frozen in ice. He revives and escapes, making international headlines and alerting both Kimball and the Red Skull. After escaping Red Skull's thugs, Rogers brushes off reporter and Kimball's childhood friend Sam Kolawetz, who has long hounded the Skull, and hitchhikes to his wartime girlfriend,
Kimball is rescued by Captain America, and they lay siege to the castle. Red Skull pulls out a remote trigger for a nuclear bomb, but Rogers distracts him with the recording of the De Santis family's murder. Before the Skull recovers, Rogers uses his shield to send him off a cliff, killing him, and as Valentina prepares to kill Rogers, she is hit by his returning shield. United States Marines arrive, save the President and arrest the kidnappers. Rogers and Sharon embrace, and a news voiceover announces Kimball's environmental pact as agreed upon by countries around the world.
Cast
- Matt Salinger as Steve Rogers / Captain America[6]
- Ronny Cox as President Tom Kimball
- Garrette Ratliffe as Young Tom Kimball
- Scott Paulin as Tadzio De Santis / Red Skull
- Massimilio Massimi as Young Tadzio De Santis
- Ned Beatty as Sam Kolawetz
- Thomas Beatty as Young Sam Kolawetz
- Darren McGavin as General Fleming
- Bill Mumy as Young Lieutenant Fleming
- Francesca Neri as Valentina De Santis
- Michael Nouri as Lieutenant Colonel Louis
- Kim Gillingham as Bernice Stewart / Sharon
- Sven Medvešek as Pietro
- Melinda Dillon as Mrs. Rogers
- Carla Cassola as Dr. Maria Vaselli
- Wayde Preston as Jack Cooperman
Production
The first feature-length production of Captain America for theatrical release had a long and tumultuous production history. The film rights were originally purchased by Universal Pictures, who planned a theatrical feature-length film starring Jeff Bridges as Captain America, and Peter Fonda as the Red Skull. The writer, Jeffery Sprouse, later revealed a script and pieces of concept art that also included Falcon, Baron Zemo or Helmut Zemo, and Bucky Barnes as characters, when he was interviewed about the project. The film ultimately never got made due to issues reacquiring the rights.[citation needed]
The rights were then sold to
Golan left Cannon in 1989, and as part of a severance package he was given control of 21st Century Film Corporation and allowed to carry over the film rights to the Captain America character.[7] Director Albert Pyun, who had previously worked at Cannon, was brought on board and worked with the Tolkin script that originally started at Cannon.[7] In an interview with Cinefantastique, Tolkin explained some of the changes that he made from the original comic, including changing the appearance and character of the Red Skull: "I didn't think people wanted to keep looking at this horrible skull face forever".[9]
Principal photography began in 1989 and was completed in 1990. Entertainment Tonight also visited the set during making of the film, airing a segment in August 1989.[citation needed]
Release
The film was intended for release in August 1990,
The film was invited to screen as part of the 2013
The film also had its debut on
Reception
Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gave the studio cut of the film an approval rating of 12% based on 17 reviews, with an average rating of 3.70/10. The consensus states: "Lacking a script, budget, direction, or star capable of doing justice to its source material, this Captain America should have been left under the ice."[17] Some reviews and publications stated that the film is not quite as bad as some reviewers had said and that the director's cut was better than the studio version.[18][19][20][21][22]
In one of the few contemporary reviews, Entertainment Weekly critic Frank Lovece wrote, "The movie isn't merely wrong for kids – it opens in pre-war Italy with a sequence in Italian with subtitles, and a machine-gun slaughter – it's just all wrong", and decried the "shapeless blob of a plot" in grading the film "F".[12] Variety called it "a strictly routine superhero outing" and "this fantasy adventure is missing the large-scale setpieces" that audiences have come to expect.[23]
In 2016, Flickering Myth's Neil Calloway said, "It's not a great film, and is really only of interest as a pre-MCU curio for hardcore Marvel fans."[27]
The film gained some cult followings.[28] Film Trap's Justin Decloux mentioned the film as the one of Albert Pyun films he has liked.[29] 411MANIA's Bryan Kristopowitz rated the film 10.0/10.0 as the B cult films review.[30]
Home media
The film was first released on
The film was released on DVD as part of the MGM limited edition made-on-demand series.[14]
A
See also
- Captain America (1944 serial)
- Captain America (1979)
- Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
References
- ^ "CAPTAIN AMERICA (PG)". Castle Premier Releasing, Ltd. British Board of Film Classification. 21 November 1990. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
- ^ Thompson, Adam (18 June 2018). "The 'Captain America' You Probably Missed". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2020-10-01.
- ^ "Fantastic Four". Adam Cadre. Retrieved 2023-08-10.
- ^ a b "Grand Opening Today". Manila Standard. Kamahalan Publishing Corp. December 11, 1991. p. 19. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
AFTER 3 years of shooting, the final and the best CAPTAIN AMERICA VERSION IS HERE... A FILM CELEBRATING 50 years of CAPTAIN AMERICA [-] FROM MENAHEM GOLAN PRODUCER OF SUPERMAN...
- ^ "Bullet Points: Captain America (1990)". BPA. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
- Marvel.com. Retrieved 2011-04-04.
- ^ a b c d e f "The "Never Got Made" Files #66: Cannon's CAPTAIN AMERICA (1984–87)". Video Junkie. 22 July 2011.
- ^ "Best Films Never Made #33: Michael Winner's Captain America". One Room With A View. 2016-04-29. Retrieved 2017-09-26.
- ^ a b Florence, Bill (July 1990). "Captain America - Scriptwriter Stephen Tolkin on the liberties taken adapting the Marvel Comic hero". Cinefantastique. 21 (1): 11.
Captain America (Matt Salinger) rescues our kidnapped President (Ronny Cox). Columbia Pictures is now set to release the 21st Century Production in August.
- ^ Dutter, Barry (February 1990). Marvel Age #85. Marvel Comics. p. 11.
- cover-datedMay 1990.
- ^ a b Lovece, Frank. Captain America (1992) (review), Entertainment Weekly, July 31, 1992. WebCitation archive.
- ^ "Captain America (1990)". videocollector.co.uk. Video Collector.
- ^ a b "Captain America DVD Delayed, Cover Updated"
- ^ "Shout! Factory Announces SDCC 2013 Events | San Diego Comic-Con Unofficial Blog". sdccblog.com. 8 July 2013. Retrieved 2017-09-26.
- ^ "Captain America". Cinemax Asia. Archived from the original on 2013-05-26. Retrieved 2013-07-09.
- ^ "Captain America (1990)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 2022-10-28.
- ^ "REVIEW: CAPTAIN AMERICA (1990)". benspark.com. Benspark.
- ISBN 1-57859-154-6.
- ^ "Captain America 1990 Retrospective". poddtoppen.se. GeekVerse Podcast.
- ^ "DVD REVIEW: "CAPTAIN AMERICA" (1990) STARRING MATT SALINGER, RONNY COX AND NED BEATTY". cinemaretro.com. Cinema Retro.
- ^ "Review: Captain America (1990) Extended Director's Cut". robotgeekscultcinema.com. robotGEEK'S Cult Cinema.
- ^ Cohn, Lawrence (5 June 1992). "Captain America". Variety. Retrieved March 1, 2021.
- ^ Cindy White (26 August 2011). "Captain America DVD Review". ign.com. IGN.
- ^ Joey Esposito (30 May 2013). "Captain America: Collector's Edition Blu-ray Review". ign.com. IGN.
- ^ Victor Medina (September 9, 2011). "Captain America (1992) DVD Review!". Cinelinx. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
- ^ Neil Calloway (2016-04-24). "The Captain America Movie You Haven't Seen (And Probably Don't Want To)". Flickering Myth. Retrieved 2018-01-24.
- ^ "How to thrill movie audiences with superhero action on the cheap". marketwatch.com. MarketWatch.
- ^ Justin Decloux (July 19, 2017). "Albert Pyun Is A Great Director". FilmTrap.com. Film Trap.
- ^ Bryan Kristopowitz (July 12, 2017). "The Gratuitous B-Movie Column: Captain America (1990)". 411mania.com. 411 MANIA.
- ^ "LaserDisc Database – Captain America [77076]". lddb.com.
- ^ "Captain America (1990)". Blu-ray.com.
External links
- Captain America at IMDb
- Captain America at Rotten Tomatoes
- Captain America Archived 2015-11-02 at the Wayback Machine at Superheroes Lives
- Bell, Josh. "Chatting with Original Captain America Director Albert Pyun", Las Vegas Weekly, June 29, 2011. WebCitation archive.