Captain America 1990 Vs. 1979: Which Patriotic Superhero Movie Was Worse?
by Jeremy Smith · /FilmWith the exception of Richard Donner's "Superman," the 1970s and most of the 1980s were lean times for comic book films and television shows. CBS scored with Lynda Carter as "Wonder Woman," but they fumbled the bag by casting the unremarkable-in-every-way Nicholas Hammond as Peter Parker in "The Amazing Spider-Man." Even though the show was a hit, the network seemed sheepish about having two superhero series on its schedule and cut the webslinger after two seasons.
NBC had no qualms about getting into the comic book adaptation business and struck a deal with Marvel that gave the network access to The Incredible Hulk, the Sub-Mariner, the Human Torch, Doctor Strange, and Captain America. The big green guy proved popular, legging out a five-season run, but the other characters sputtered or were left undeveloped.
The trouble with all of these series was that they were made on a TV budget and thus couldn't come close to capturing the splash-page excitement generated by Marvel's uber-talented stable of writers, pencilers, and colorists. Captain America was the biggest letdown because the network assigned Don Ingalls, a veteran of Westerns and cop shows, to write the flattest, most plodding Captain America adventure ever.
A decade later, when studios got serious about exploiting Marvel and DC Comics' deep bench of characters, there was hope that producer Menahem Golan and director Albert Pyun could do the character justice. Though he initially set his sights high, he wound up with a cut-rate Cap that was a different kind of wretched from NBC's botch job. As for which work holds the title as Worst Live-Action Captain America ever, I revisited both movies for your enjoyment and edification, and now that my eyes have stopped bleeding, I shall render my judgment.
Reb Brown and Matt Salinger were uniquely awful as Steve Rogers
Let's be honest: Steve Rogers is a dullard. He's a skin-and-bones boy scout who gets injected with a super-soldier serum that transforms him into a one-man army, but, sadly, there's nothing in that serum to pump up his lack of personality. The Marvel Cinematic Universe addressed this issue by casting the high-wattage Chris Evans and allowing his natural naivete to come off as charming.
NBC's "Captain America" went with Reb Brown, who's good and swole from frame one. At this point, Brown was probably best known for playing a jock who gets his girlfriend stolen by Ralph Malph on "Happy Days." He was also in John Milius' surfing classic "Big Wednesday," and he infuses his portrayal of Rogers with surfer-dude energy. Fresh out of the Marines, Brown's Rogers wants only to drive up and down the coastline in his conversion van and find himself (with his curly blonde locks, he looks more like Thor than Cap, but that was the "all-American: look in the late 1970s). And yet, even when the bad guys mess with his friends (and try to kill him), he maintains his California chill.
Matt Salinger, the son of legendary author J.D. Salinger, is also a Californian Rogers, but with his awkward energy and perpetually blank expression, he might as well be an alien lifeform. Salinger does look more comfortable in the role when he's in the suit, but overall, he's just crushingly bland. Fortunately, he's got a solid supporting cast surrounding him. Ned Beatty, Darren McGavin, Ronny Cox, Melinda Dillon, and Francesca Neri do everything they can to fill the personality vacuum, while Scott Paulin (Deke Slayton in "The Right Stuff") is a suitably menacing Red Skull. It's a shame Captain America never shows up.
Do you prefer a TV movie Captain America or a cash-strapped theatrical feature?
If you absolutely, positively have to watch a Captain America movie that's going to suck out loud, would you prefer an unfunny, extended episode of "The Greatest American Hero" or Albert Pyun ("The Sword and the Sorcerer") making a $3 million production look like $10 million? Given that I watched the NBC "Captain America" when it originally aired, my judgment is somewhat clouded by nostalgia. But my 2026 rewatch was brutal. The first 10 minutes of the movie are basically a montage of slow, easy driving along the Pacific coastline. When he's finally transformed into Cap, he displays his superhuman strength by slinging sides of beef around a meat-packing plant. There are some nifty motorcycle stunts (that era of television employed top stunt people), but this is small potatoes stuff for Captain America.
Pyun's film is admirably ambitious. Had he been allowed to cast Howie Long as the post-transformation Rogers, I think he might've knocked out a more-than-serviceable "Captain America." He gets legit grandeur out of his Yugoslavian locations, and gives us a gooey, grindhouse Red Skull (until they put Paulin in Scarface makeup). We also get to see Cap decapitate Neri with his shield. It's implied, but if you watch that sequence closely, there's no way the shield returns to his grip without severing her noggin.
Pyun's "Captain America" is intermittently bonkers, which I'll take over the television sameness of the NBC iteration (which, it must be noted, was directed by Primetime Emmy Award winner Rod Holcomb, who helmed the pilot and final episode of "ER"). No one was allowed to do their best work on these movies, so everyone got away scot-free.