Highlights
- Captain America's 1990 self-titled movie is universally viewed as an awful film and has mostly been forgotten over time due to its cheesy era and forgettable plot.
- The movie features Matt Salinger as Captain America and Scott Paulin as Red Skull, but their performances and the script itself received harsh criticism from critics and fans.
- Despite its low budget and negative reception, the movie ends with Captain America defeating Red Skull and President Kimball instituting a progressive policy for the world.
Most fans of Marvel’s Captain America are going to associate Chris Evans with the character, but he’s far from the only person to ever play the symbol of freedom. Way back in the year 1990, Captain America jumped onto the big screen in his own self-titled movie, though many haven’t heard much about it thanks to it universally being viewed as an awful movie. Caught between the cheesy eras of the eighties and nineties, Captain America was a strange movie.
Starring Matt Salinger as the titular hero and Scott Paulin as Red Skull, the classic superhero movie has mostly been forgotten to time. It’s hard to compare this effort to the modern MCU, but when doing so, it is easy to see why so many people love the modern iteration of the character over this nineties version. With a suit that’s just a bit too comic book accurate for most people, this Captain America adventure is one that is forgettable and certified rotten.
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What Is The 1990 Captain America About?
Captain America (1990) | |
|---|---|
Director | Albert Pyun |
Screenplay | Stephen Tolkin |
Cast | Matt Salinger, Ronny Cox, Ned Beatty, Darren McGavin, Michael Nouri, Melinda Dillon, Kim Gillingham, Scott Paulin |
Release Dates | December 14, 1990 (United Kingdom) July 22, 1992 (United States) |
Runtime | 97 minutes |
Budget | $3 million |
Starting all the way back in the 1930s, a young child is kidnapped in order for a fascist Italian government to develop a supersoldier serum, though these methods result in Dr. Vaselli’s defection. In the midst of World War 2, Steve Rogers volunteers for the supersoldier program, and in his origin, is transformed from a dwindling polio survivor to a super-powered hero. Sadly, the defected Dr. Vaselli who’d been behind America’s supersoldier project is then killed by a Nazi spy. Those familiar with the MCU origin of Captain America may see many parallels, but that is where the parallels end for the most part.
The young child who was kidnapped in the beginning has grown to become Red Skull, a super being in his own right, but the new Captain America is sent to combat the threat he poses. Captain America ends up at Red Skull’s mercy, being tied to a rocket destined for the United States, but he is able to force Red Skull to cut his own hand off in order to avoid meeting the same fate that Captain America expected. With great effort, Captain America manages to send the missile off course, eventually crashing into Alaska, resulting in him being lost to time in ice.
Flashing forward to the nineties, Red Skull has set up his own criminal empire, complete with his daughter Valentina. Over the years, he’s been responsible for high-profile killings of key figures with interests against his own, resulting in Red Skull taking credit for the killings of JFK, and even Martin Luther King Jr. Due to how the public reacted to other killings, Red Skull orders the current president of the United States to be kidnapped as he is starkly against Red Skull’s fascistic nature.
Eventually, Steve Rogers is found and defrosted but he soon finds himself at odds with Red Skulls forces again. He tries to seek answers and understand everything he’s missed in the decades that have passed, causing Rogers to seek out his old girlfriend. He befriends his old girlfriend’s daughter Sharon, learning about all the time he’s missed, and eventually discovering that the president has been kidnapped by Red Skull’s forces. Knowing it’s his duty to protect America and put a stop to the villainy of Red Skull, Captain America launches into action once again.
What Is The 1990 Captain America’s Rotten Tomatoes Score?
Captain America really hasn’t received much love from critics or fans on Rotten Tomatoes, something the fantastic and goofy trailer might have had a hand in, managing to score under 20% among both groups. Critics have given the film a rotten score of 12%, with some seriously harsh words to accompany their low score. They are happy to criticize nearly every aspect of the film, from the performances to the script. A major critique from critics that just about everyone can share is that the film was clearly working with too low of a budget for how lofty of a production a Captain America movie should have been.
While fans have been a bit more positive toward the film (although likely not financially), it isn’t by much, with the general audience giving the film 19% overall. While general audience reviews aren’t always as eloquent as professional critics, they haven’t minced their words when it comes to voicing their disapproval of Captain America. It seems that many of the reviews from the general audience couldn’t even be bothered to make it through the entire film, citing how boring it was from the performances to the overall story.
How Does The 1990 Captain America End?
After learning more about the background of the Red Skull, Captain America and Sharon take the fight to the enemy. Sharon ends up getting taken prisoner by the Red Skull’s forces in order for Captain America to sneak into the facility. Navigating through Red Skull’s castle of horrors, Captain America is able to locate and rescue President Kimball before taking the fight to Red Skull properly. Never one to go down without a fight, the Red Skull has something up his sleeve to stop Captain America in his tracks.
Revealing that he has a device that will activate a nuclear bomb, Red Skull is only distracted momentarily by a recording of his family’s murder that Captain America had found earlier. Launching his mighty shield at the Red Skull, Captain America manages to kill the villain, and he even manages to take out Red Skull’s daughter with the rebound of the shield. With the Red Skull defeated, President Kimball is capable of instituting a progressive policy that sees much of the world agreeing to an environmental agreement to protect the planet. With the day won, Captain America and Sharon hug, knowing they are prepared to take on any foes that rise up to challenge the American way – even if he won’t be able to do it all day until more than two decades later.
Captain America
Captain America, created in 1940 by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby has become an icon of Marvel Comics. Acting as a major figure in the pages of comics while battling against foes like the Red Skull, Captain America has since jumped to the big screen to appear in various Marvel Cinematic Universe movies.
