Did you know that before this Summer’s blockbuster Captain America: The First Avenger there was another Captain America movie? I certainly didn’t but when I was given the opportunity to watch the 1990 movie the comic book geek in my said, yes please!

Here is the trailer.

My impression of the movie

While the movie starts a little like the movie that came out this year in that a boy is given the super soldier serum treatment (they don’t call it that here though). The process takes place in a secret facility that is infiltrated by a member of the Red Skull’s army. A defector doctor is the one who does the process and who ultimately dies by the hand of the infiltrator. Then it is up to Steve Rogers to take on the Nazis all by himself because the whole process to become a Super Soldier died with the doctor.

The movie was very dark. And by dark I mean shot practically in the dark. This was probably out of necessity because of the special effects and costumes. The story gets right into the action with very little character development. Steve looks like a typical all american guy however he must have had polio or something because he walked strangely before his super soldier treatment. With special effects being what they were in the 90’s there wasn’t any CGI or anything like that. However there was a fairly good story that followed the life of Captain America from his start to his rebirth after being thawed from the ice.

I’m very surprised that when I was in High School in 1990 I was not aware of this movie. I would have thought it was something that I would have seen. I don’t remember hearing about this movie at all. Watching it now, the movie feels very much like one that was made in the 80’s and not the 90’s. When I look at the movies that came out in the same year and I see many that had much better special effects. It felt more like a made for TV movie that would have been in theaters. The music was B role as well. However, if you enjoy comic book movies even those that don’t quite hit the mark you might enjoy this one.

I did some research on the movie on IMDB and there are some very interesting bits of trivia that go along with this movie. It was never released in the US until recently, like this year because of Captain America: the First Avenger. Director Albert Pyun toured the country with his director’s cut. Again I didn’t hear about this movie getting a theatrical release but I did hear about the DVD release. It wasn’t the best movie out there but wasn’t the worst either. It would have been great in the 70’s because that was the feel I got from the movie or the early 80’s but certainly no the early 90’s.

The movie is now available for the first time on DVD. It can be obtained through MGM’s Manufacturing on demand.

Here is the official Press Release regarding Captain America.

Experience The Original Adventure CAPTAIN AMERICA
Available on DVD for the First Time Ever

The Very First Avenger Makes His Long Awaited Debut On DVD on July 19th

LOS ANGELES (June 16, 2011) – Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment’s “manufacturing on demand” (“MOD”) program is excited to announce its newest addition, CAPTAIN AMERICA, available on DVD as part of MGM’s Limited Edition Collection. Based on the bestselling Marvel Comics series, CAPTAIN AMERICA stars Matt Salinger (What Dreams May Come) as a crime-fighting superhero whose strengths and abilities may save the United States from nuclear destruction.

During World War II, a brave American soldier (Salinger) volunteers to undergo experiments to become a new super-soldier, codenamed “Captain America.” Infiltrating Germany to sabotage Nazi rockets pointed at the U.S., Captain America faces off with Nazi superhuman warrior Red Skull (Scott Paulin, The Right Stuff) who defeats the hero, throwing him into suspended animation. Frozen for 50 years, Captain America is found and revived only to find that Red Skull has changed identities and has targeted the President of the United States (Ronny Cox, RoboCop) for assassination. With America on the verge of utter chaos, it is up to one man to save the day!

CAPTAIN AMERICA also features supporting performances from Ned Beatty (Superman), Darren McGavin (A Christmas Story), Michael Nouri (Flashdance) and Melinda Dillon (Close Encounters of the Third Kind) and Kim Gillingham (“One Big Family”). The DVD will be available for sale on online retailers everywhere.

About Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. is actively engaged in the worldwide production and distribution of motion pictures, television programming, home video, interactive media, music, and licensed merchandise. The company owns the world’s largest library of modern films, comprising around 4,100 titles. Operating units include Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc., United Artists Films Inc., MGM Television Entertainment Inc., MGM Networks Inc., MGM Distribution Co., MGM International Television Distribution Inc., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Home Entertainment LLC, MGM ON STAGE, MGM Music, MGM Consumer Products and MGM Interactive. In addition, MGM has ownership interests in domestic and international TV channels reaching over 130 countries. For more information, visit www.mgm.com.

About Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment
Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, LLC (TCFHE) is a recognized global industry leader and a subsidiary of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, a News Corporation company. Representing 75 years of innovative and award-winning filmmaking from Twentieth Century Fox, TCFHE is the worldwide marketing, sales and distribution company for all Fox film and television programming, acquisitions and original productions on DVD, Blu-ray Disc Digital Copy, Video On Demand and Digital Download. The company also releases all products globally for MGM Home Entertainment. Each year TCFHE introduces hundreds of new and newly enhanced products, which it services to retail outlets from mass merchants and warehouse clubs to specialty stores and e-commerce throughout the world.

Disclosure: I was provided with a copy of the movie for the review. The opinions about the movie are 100% mine.