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Captain America: Limited Edition Collection
R0 - America - MGM Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Anthony Arrigo (11th December 2011). |
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The Film
 Did you know that a “Captain America” film was made in 1990? No? Ok, good. Now do yourself a favor and forget I ever mentioned it. Don’t seek it out, don’t watch the trailer on YouTube – just erase from your mind the mere notion of another film featuring Steve Rodgers’ iconic alter ego and go about your daily life. I, unfortunately, know it exists; I have seen it, and it is a sad, ugly thing. It’s clear to me that the filmmakers involved here – everyone from producer Menahem Golan, creator Stan Lee and director Albert Pyun right on down the line – put forth no effort in making a decent film. They didn’t even make an enjoyable piece of shit. Instead, they apparently burned through $10 million (let that sink in for a moment) crafting one of the worst examples of a superhero film since the never-before-released “Fantastic Four” (1994) that Roger Corman produced. At least that was an ashcan production, and everyone heading the production knew ahead of time that it wasn’t ever going to be released. Someone, however, was delusional enough to think “Captain America” would be given a theatrical release in 1990. That never happened, of course, and it was instead dumped unceremoniously onto home video in 1992. I didn’t even know this film existed until it showed up on my doorstep, so I would imagine what little word-of-mouth it got sunk it fairly fast. Would you like to know the plot? Then go watch “Captain America: The First Avenger” (2011). Honestly, it’s the same basic premise – Steve Rodgers (Matt Salinger, the son of famed author J.D. Salinger), a weak-ass who wants to be a soldier, gets pumped full of some serious juice, fights his nemesis, Red Skull (Scott Paulin), and says lots of patriotic stuff. Oh yea, Ronny Cox, Ned Beatty and Darren McGavin also have roles in the film. If you’re any kind of cinema aficionado, you’ll at the very least appreciate their presence, though you should probably refrain from trying to figure out why they are appearing in such bad films. Actually, scratch that since they sometimes do their best over-the-top work in B-films. Don’t watch this. I don’t even think there’s a drinking game you could make out of it that would improve the experience. MGM put this out as part of their Burn On Demand program (read: cheap DVD-R) only to capitalize on the release of Marvel’s vastly superior film. The only people I could see with a remote interest in suffering through this are those who were unfortunate enough to see it as a child, but even those rose-tinted glasses are going to shatter once the film begins for 90% of them. Everything here is laughably bad, but in that uncomfortably embarrassing kind of way where you legitimately feel ashamed for anyone in front of the camera. I felt an equal amount of shame in front of my television.
Video
The image provided here might be considered passable if we wee talking about a 3rd generation VHS bootleg. Hell, for all I know that’s where they sourced this from because it absolutely underwent no re-mastering whatsoever. The picture is presented in 1.33:1 full-frame. It’s muddy, murky, hazy, soft, drab, poorly-lit… you get the idea. It’s an undeniably terrible transfer, but I’m also willing to bet it’s the best you’re going to get.
Audio
There’s an English Doby Digital 2.0 stereo track that sounds acceptable, although it has virtually no range to it at all. No subtitles are included at all.
Extras
The lone extra included here is the film’s theatrical trailer (1.33:1), which runs for 1 minute and 49 seconds. It wasn’t any easier to get through than the film, despite running for less than 2 minutes.
Packaging
The single (burned) disc comes in a black keep case. Unintentionally hilarious cover art should prevent you from confusing it with the more recent film.
Overall
I’d rather drink a bottle of bleach than even sit through the trailer again.
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