In 1936, a young and brilliant piano prodigy, Tadzio De Santis (Massimilio Massimi), is kidnapped from his home by the government and is subjected to an experiment by Dictator Benito Mussolini. The experiment was supposed to create a supersoldier. Tadzio was intended to be the first of these creations. The inventor of the procedure, Dr. Maria Vaselli (Carla Cassola), upset that a child is being used as the test subject, tries to stop what is happening but is shot at. She escapes and defects to the United States.
In 1943, Dr. Vaselli is working with the United States and has refined the procedure. Steve Rogers (Matt Salinger), a polio survivor, joins the Army and volunteers to be the guinea pig for the American attempt at the same experiment. The experiment is called Project Rebirth/Codename: Captain America. This time the experiment works, however, a Nazi spy, who has infiltrated the bunker, kills Dr. Vaselli. Steve kills the assassin, but the equipment needed to create more soldiers is damaged beyond repair and the inventor is dead. Steve is now the only supersoldier in the United States. The experiment has given Steve super strength and endurance. He is Captain America.
Tadzio, now a deformed supersoldier with red skin, has been given the name Red Skull. Working for the Nazis, Red Skull threatens to send an intercontinental ballistic missile to destroy the White House. Captain America is sent to stop him. Steve is captured and strapped to the missile. While the missile is bearing down on Washington, a young boy, Tom Kimball (Garette Ratliff Henson), takes a picture of the missile with Steve still strapped to it as it flies overhead. Steve manages to kick the rudder of the missile sending it off course. The missile ends up buried in the ice of Alaska with Steve still strapped to it.
In the 90’s Tom Kimball (Ronnie Cox) who is now an adult, has been elected president of the United States. Kimball ran on a platform of environmental integrity which is upsetting the military establishment, especially General Fleming (Darren McGavin). Fleming sells his soul to Red Skull and his underground cabal. Red Skull has gone through some extensive plastic surgery to get rid of his red skin; however, his face is still covered with scars. Red Skull plots to kidnap Kimball and brainwash him into becoming his pawn.
In the meantime, Steve Roger’s frozen body is found in Alaska. He is taken to a field hospital where he revives and escapes into the countryside. He makes his way to his former hometown in California where he finds that he has been in the ice for decades. When Red Skull hears that Steve is still alive, he sends his minions, led by his daughter, Valentina (Francesca Neri), to kill him but she fails. Learning of Red Skulls plans, Captain America heads to Red Skull’s stronghold to try to rescue the president of the United States.
“Captain America” was released in 1990 and was directed by Albert Pyun. It is an American superhero film and was based on the comic book character. The film was a direct-to-video sale but did have an international theatrical release and was produced by Stan Lee.
I was surprised that I enjoyed the movie more than I expected to. The opening is raw and powerful but there was still some silliness here and there that kept it from being a blockbuster. It’s tamer than Chris Evans’ version of the character, with less character development, and fewer special effects, but still worth checking out.
There were several shields made for the character. The ones used for close-ups were made of galvanized steel. Rubber shields were used for stunt work, and four plastic shields were used for throwing and catching. Ned Beatty's son, Thomas Beatty, played the young Sam Kolawetz. Matt Salinger, who plays the titular superhero, is the son of novelist J.D. Salinger, who wrote Catcher in the Rye.