Early 90s version: Anyone who says Batman & Robin is the worst superhro moive ever, obviously hasn't seen this piece of go-se.

2005 Rumored Version: Optioned by Artisan, the same studio doing The Punisher. Now, I'm all for taking bad movies and remaking them, trying to do them better. Ocean's 11 is a good example, as the original, while a cult favorite, was nothign to write home about in my book. But I can't help but be very, very worried about this one. I mean, I'm sure some writer somewhere, someday could write a script that would be loyal to the comic character without, well, sucking major portions of ass like that version with Ronny Cox and Ned Beatty. But, like you I would imagine, I'm not terribly optimisitc.

I liked the 90s version.

Adam: AWAY WITH YE YA HERETIC! BURN HIM!*


*If you can't tell that that was a joke, maybe you oughta get some therapy kid. *wink*

I HATED the TV movies of Captain America. So boring.

Yes, now THERE was an adapation so far off the mark as to be forgettable. In the first one I think Cap's famous indestrictible shield was just a red and clear plastic thing that couldn't stand up to a bb gun. And does anybody even remember who played the Cap?
I didn't think so.
No cheating or looking up the name!

The ONLY good Captain America was the 1968 cartoon. Ya' gotta love that theme song...
"When Captain America throws his mighty shield!"

I can't wait for that to come to DVD in 2005!

I dunno, what about Easy Rider? That was a good "Captain America" movie. (If you don't catch the reference, then you need to find out the name of Peter Fonda's character.)

"I like to watch." - Chauncy Gardner

Will, IIRC it was Reb Brown. Also had Ronny Cox as the President.

Reb Brown was Captain America in the two 1979 Captain America made-for-tv movies, while Ronny Cox was the President in the straight-to-video version.

I just watched the second 1979 movie for the first time in perhaps 20 years, so here are my thoughts;

When the movie begins, Rogers dons his Captain America costume to fight back at a gang that's been targeting old people and their pension checks. He uses his 'shield' in a boomerang maneuver to knock down the first thug, while the second takes off across the beach on a dune buggy. Captain America gives chase. On foot. On sand. Leaving his high-power MOTORCYCLE sitting unattended near the guy that just got hit by his 'shield'! D'OH! And he still catches the dude, because he can run as fast as a dune buggy. As KAM would say...okaaaaaaay.

The second movie involves Christopher Lee as an infamous terrorist, using a scientist's formula to age people rapidly, eventually infecting the people of Portland, Oregon with it. In the meantime, Rogers befriends a widow and her son as a means of getting clues as to where Lee is hiding. The hero-meets-a-widow-with-a-troubled-son has been done so many, many times, notably with shows like Knight Rider and Incredible Hulk, but I can forgive this plot device because this is from 1979 and predates that cliche, but it's still pretty predictable. Also predictable is the small-town-living-in-fear-while-the-bad-guys-make-the-newcomer-unwelcome cliche. David Banner would have Hulked-out about four times if he'd been in Steve Rogers' boots.

Rogers seems to work for a science division of the government along with Connie Selleca (looking just as pretty as she'd later be in The Greatest American Hero), and for the most part she's a competent scientist until she tests a supposed cure on herself...AFTER she immediately infects herself with the aging drug! HUH??? Lee infected a cougar or mountain lion cub with the aging drug to prove it works, and as the show progresses we see the cat age to adulthood. Selleca's boss wants to test the alleged cure on an animal, but she says there's no time, and she volunteers to try it on herself instead of the cougar THAT"S ALREADY INFECTED! Whaaaa???

That 'shield' is goofy. It's clear plastic where the white stripes should be, and the central star is blue instead of white. I think the designer forgot that it was supposed to be a variation of the American flag, and last time I checked the white stripes weren't see-through.

The point-of-view scenes on the motorcylce that Captain America is riding are pretty good, as is the costume, however, it's all spandex, with none of the chain-mail/fish-scale upper body section like in the comics. Also, the oversized motorcycle helmet (which C.A. never takes off) makes his head look too big for even his muscular body.

Captain America is cornered on a dam by the small town thugs, and uses his turbo-boost to escape...BY SKIDDING DOWN THE DAM INTO THE WATER! Riiiight. And he survives the drop. And so does his motorcycle because he's back on it a while later, and it's apparently made of adamantium because it doesn't have a scratch and works perfectly.

And speaking of that motorcycle, I know it's a cool effect to burst out of the back of Rogers' snazzy 1970's Chevy van, but what's with all of the smoke blowing out of the van when he streaks out?

Rogers is following the terrorist's van making a drop-off, and is detected a mile and half behind it (in the dark!), and STILL manages to track the other van into the cliche small town of Belleville. He's identified as driving a green van, but later when he's spotted again, he's reported driving a blue van. Actually, it's a really dark blue van with red-white-and-blue stripes on its sides. I'd consider that a better description.

Reb Brown just doesn't strike me as the right choice. He's got an all-American boyish look to him, but I just don't see him as a superhero.

Captain America breaks into a prison to force terrorist Lee to get out (which is where he's been hiding and masterminding his aging plot), and even though he's a hero, guards are shooting at him. He's not a supposed-vigilante like Spider-Man, he's not unknown to the general public, so would that be like police officers shooting at another police officer? They were practically shooting to kill.

A laughable moment; C.A. needs to get out of the prison without using the guarded main gate, so he THROWS his motorcyle about 20 to 30 feet into the air at the edge of the prison wall, at which point it clears the bottom of the wall, and lands GENTLY, right-side-up! Amazing! Riiiight.

I liked the Six Million Dollar Man-type of reverberating sound effects whenever he used his super strength or speed or eyesight. His strength could almost rival that of Spider-Man in some scenes.

In the end Rogers buys the boy a dog to take care of (because his pet lamb died of the aging drug). Nice gesture, but taking take of a dog is quite different from a lamb. Also there's no indication that Rogers even cleared this with the kid's mother! And since the boy is no more than 10, his Mom will be the one taking care of this new pet.

All in all, an okay-time-waster, but not like the comic book at all. No Red Skull, and no Baron Zemo! AAAWWWWWWW!