The star-spangled Avenger has come a long way over the course of the last century. From his early days as a piece of propaganda during the Golden Age comics, to his current silver screen incarnation, Captain America has evolved to meet the needs of a given era. However, not all of the eras in the character’s history have been kind to him. In anticipation of Captain America: Civil War, Screen Junkies has released an Honest Trailer for the 1990 Captain America film. Check it out below and prepare to cringe.
This is an Honest Trailer that doesn't (and shouldn't) hold back. The 1990 version of Captain America was pumped out quickly with little regard for the character or quality of production in the process. Project Rebirth is depicted as just a bunch of lights flashed on a version of Steve Rogers who appears to be faking polio, and too much of the film seems played for Austin Powers-esque culture shock laughs. As the trailer also points out, the action is simply edited horribly, and there are a ton of scenes featuring Cap doing things we would never expect to see him do. He literally feigns a stomach illness twice in order to steal a car. That's right, twice.
Perhaps the most egregious offense in this whole movie is how terrible the props, make-up, and prosthetics are. For some strange reason the production thought it would be okay to give Captain America rubber ears instead of cutting holes for the actor’s ears, and totally thought that no one would notice what they had done. The same goes for the depiction of the (for some reason Italian) Red Skull, whose make up is absolutely terrifying in all the wrong ways.
Another interesting to note about this video is the fact that it completely highlights how the cinematic power balance between DC and Marvel has shifted in recent decades. When this version of Captain America was released in 1990, it was DC characters Batman and Superman who had dominated the box office up until that point. It would be another decade before X-Men and Spider-Man began to grab the attention of mainstream audiences, and another two decades before more obscure characters like Iron Man and Captain America would get a chance to truly shine.
We’ve heard of movies that are so bad that they actually seem good. Captain America does not fall into that category by any stretch of the imagination. It’s a terrible film that makes us so happy that we live in an age where superheroes are treated with the respect that they deserve by Hollywood studios. Many people are calling Captain America: Civil War the best silver screen outing for Steve Rogers to date, so make sure to check it out when the film blasts its way into theaters on May 6.
