Sep 2014
Our hero...
Pop quiz no 1 – What do you know about Captain America?
Well, of course you know the basics.
In 1941, as US involvement in WWII seems inevitable, weakling Steve Rogers wants to enlist in the US Army to help fight the Nazis. His is quickly rejected, but his bravery and determination will not be undone, so he volunteers to take an experimental super soldier serum, which gives him increased strength, stamina, and resilience.
The rest, as they say, is history.
The blonde of hair, blue of eye (the very Jewish Kirby and Simon’s obvious take that to the Aryan ideal), winged of helm, and square of jaw, America’s bravest son kicked Adolf’s ass, with his shining shield and fierce right hook.
Take that, Kraut!
Frozen in the Arctic wastes after a plane crash during the war, he was awoken in the swinging sixties, into a new era. An era of Gods, mutants, monsters, and hippies. He’s Avenged, Defended, rebelled, re-joined, died and resurrected, and always stood up for the ideal of the American way…
Pop quiz no 2 – How much of this iconic origin is contained in Rod Holcomb’s 1979 made for TV Captain America?
To be perfectly honest, sweet fuck all.
Oh, he is called Steve Rogers, and he does become Captain America, and he does have a shield, but apart from that…
Captain America Take 2:
Yay!
Ex-marine, Steve Rogers, is making the most of his peace time, by cruising down the West Coast in his blue dodge van, crashing with old buddies, and making what living he can as a piss-poor artist. Unbeknownst to this gentle giant, he is being watched by nefarious agents, and government scientist Simon Mills is desperate to contact him.
When an old friend of his late father’s is murdered, Steve is reluctantly drawn into a web of conspiracy, involving his father’s work – the ultimate steroid compound known as FLAG, and somehow a neutron bomb (I have to confess, I’m not completely sure how the bomb got in there, but it appeared to be important at the end…). A murder attempt and emergency surgery later (shades of the Six Million Dollar Man, here) see Steve pumped full of FLAG to save his life, and eventually with his taking up the mantle of Captain America and beating the bad guys.
Now for the important stuff. Is it a good movie?
No, not really. I mean, I loved it, but then, I’m strange that way.
The plot is thin, and glacial in pace (in fairness, this was an intended series pilot, riding the tails of The Incredible Hulk, rather than a stand-alone movie), there isn’t an awful lot of Cap action, and he doesn’t even get his proper costume until the very end.
But, on the plus side it has Reb Brown as the main man, and a wonderfully serious Len Birman as Rogers’ mentor Simon Mills. It has an uplifting, funky ‘70s score,
More yay!
dumb mooks, a cheap plastic shield, and a motorbike that jumps. What more could you ask for?
Well, I could ask for Captain America, I suppose. So, how does this fare as a Captain America movie?
Sadly, not so well. For a start he only appears in costume for the last 20 minutes of a 97 minute runtime.
And, though Reb Brown certainly looks the part of a post-super-soldier-serum Cap, this Steve Rogers is a whiny bitch, who wants nothing more to bum around the Coast, not caring what day of the week it is, and painting his dismal paintings. He refuses to help until backed into a corner from which he cannot say ‘No.’ He doesn’t want to be involved, no matter what the stakes, and only the constant pushing from Mills to make him take a stand.
He moans about Mills saving his life, moans about doing any more service for his country, moans about his friend’s murder (which is fair enough, I suppose...), and nearly murders a human bomb with carbon monoxide poisoning. Not very Cap-like behaviour at all, if you ask me.
As well as the character flaws, the iconic Captain America origin is gone, replaced by this tosh. All in all, a pretty pitiful attempt.
Let’s see if they can do any better in Captain America II: Death Too Soon, starring Reb and Len, and a very surprising guest star…
Our hero...
Pop quiz no 1 – What do you know about Captain America?
Well, of course you know the basics.
In 1941, as US involvement in WWII seems inevitable, weakling Steve Rogers wants to enlist in the US Army to help fight the Nazis. His is quickly rejected, but his bravery and determination will not be undone, so he volunteers to take an experimental super soldier serum, which gives him increased strength, stamina, and resilience.
The rest, as they say, is history.
The blonde of hair, blue of eye (the very Jewish Kirby and Simon’s obvious take that to the Aryan ideal), winged of helm, and square of jaw, America’s bravest son kicked Adolf’s ass, with his shining shield and fierce right hook.
Take that, Kraut!
Frozen in the Arctic wastes after a plane crash during the war, he was awoken in the swinging sixties, into a new era. An era of Gods, mutants, monsters, and hippies. He’s Avenged, Defended, rebelled, re-joined, died and resurrected, and always stood up for the ideal of the American way…
Pop quiz no 2 – How much of this iconic origin is contained in Rod Holcomb’s 1979 made for TV Captain America?
To be perfectly honest, sweet fuck all.
Oh, he is called Steve Rogers, and he does become Captain America, and he does have a shield, but apart from that…
Captain America Take 2:
Yay!
Ex-marine, Steve Rogers, is making the most of his peace time, by cruising down the West Coast in his blue dodge van, crashing with old buddies, and making what living he can as a piss-poor artist. Unbeknownst to this gentle giant, he is being watched by nefarious agents, and government scientist Simon Mills is desperate to contact him.
When an old friend of his late father’s is murdered, Steve is reluctantly drawn into a web of conspiracy, involving his father’s work – the ultimate steroid compound known as FLAG, and somehow a neutron bomb (I have to confess, I’m not completely sure how the bomb got in there, but it appeared to be important at the end…). A murder attempt and emergency surgery later (shades of the Six Million Dollar Man, here) see Steve pumped full of FLAG to save his life, and eventually with his taking up the mantle of Captain America and beating the bad guys.
Now for the important stuff. Is it a good movie?
No, not really. I mean, I loved it, but then, I’m strange that way.
The plot is thin, and glacial in pace (in fairness, this was an intended series pilot, riding the tails of The Incredible Hulk, rather than a stand-alone movie), there isn’t an awful lot of Cap action, and he doesn’t even get his proper costume until the very end.
But, on the plus side it has Reb Brown as the main man, and a wonderfully serious Len Birman as Rogers’ mentor Simon Mills. It has an uplifting, funky ‘70s score,
More yay!
dumb mooks, a cheap plastic shield, and a motorbike that jumps. What more could you ask for?
Well, I could ask for Captain America, I suppose. So, how does this fare as a Captain America movie?
Sadly, not so well. For a start he only appears in costume for the last 20 minutes of a 97 minute runtime.
And, though Reb Brown certainly looks the part of a post-super-soldier-serum Cap, this Steve Rogers is a whiny bitch, who wants nothing more to bum around the Coast, not caring what day of the week it is, and painting his dismal paintings. He refuses to help until backed into a corner from which he cannot say ‘No.’ He doesn’t want to be involved, no matter what the stakes, and only the constant pushing from Mills to make him take a stand.
He moans about Mills saving his life, moans about doing any more service for his country, moans about his friend’s murder (which is fair enough, I suppose...), and nearly murders a human bomb with carbon monoxide poisoning. Not very Cap-like behaviour at all, if you ask me.
As well as the character flaws, the iconic Captain America origin is gone, replaced by this tosh. All in all, a pretty pitiful attempt.
Let’s see if they can do any better in Captain America II: Death Too Soon, starring Reb and Len, and a very surprising guest star…
I really liked the Serpent Society arc of the comics. Those are the main one's I got when I was younger as far as Cap goes.