CAPTAIN AMERICA and CAPTAIN AMERICA II: DEATH TOO SOON (1979) — A Dopey Double Feature
by Shawn Gordon
Captain America and Captain America II: Death Too Soon are available now as a DVD double feature from Shout! Factory.
If you ever wondered what Captain America was up to in the 70s, well you now have the answer. He was starring in a pair of schlock TV movies for CBS.
These films are obviously failed pilots for a would-be television series. CBS had already had significant success with the Lou Ferrigno The Incredible Hulk series (1977–1982) and to a lesser extent The Amazing Spider-Man (1977–1979). So Cap seemed like a logical next step, and like those other Marvel-based shows, it differed severely from the source comic books. This incarnation of Captain America seems to have confused the comic book hero with the Captain America that Peter Fonda played in Easy Rider.
Set in the time of bellbottom pants, Steve Rogers (Reb Brown) is an ex-Marine turned artist– yes, you heard that right. His father was a secret agent who in the 40s had the nickname “Captain America.” After a near fatal accident, Steve is given a “super-steroid” experimental drug to save his life that also endows him with super strength and reflexes. Designing a spandex costume based on one of his own drawings, he is now ready to take on evildoers.
Yes, the movie is every bit as corny as it sounds. Dull and slow to boot, Cap doesn’t even make his first appearance in costume until nearly an hour into the running time. Of course, the costume is so bad and silly looking, you wish he had stayed out of it. The whole thing feels very much of its era, but plays more like a dated cop show than a superhero adventure.
Cast as our hero is Reb Brown (Yor, the Hunter From the Future), a college football “star” who moved into “acting.” Brown has the physique of an athlete, but lacks the chops to have made it as an actor. He is also without an ounce of charisma. I guess he just ain’t no Lou Ferrigno.
It’s not difficult to understand why this did not get optioned as a series. Among the many problems with the show, the cheesy music on the soundtrack is almost too much to bear. The acting is threadbare. The movie is too serious to be much fun and too dull to be mistaken for exciting. It all makes Adam West as Batman seem positively inspired.
What is difficult to fathom is why a sequel movie was commissioned, but it was, and later that year came Captain America II: Death Too Soon — an ironic title because death did not come too soon. It couldn’t come soon enough for this series. Originally broken up into two hourlong episodes, this sequel fared slightly better by preceding the Stephen King adaptation Salem’s Lot on CBS.
Captain America II was an improvement thanks to the slumming presence of Christopher Lee as the main villain. An always reliable screen presence, Lee never failed to give it his all regardless of how good or bad the production was. This is a prime example of what a trooper he really was.
Lee “guest” stars as General Miguel, a “free-lance revolutionary terrorist,” according to Wikipedia. Miguel abducts a scientist (Christopher Carry) to force into researching ways to manipulate gerontology, creating a formula that accelerates the aging process.
There are a few unintentional chuckles that filter throughout the two movies, such as when Lee gets splashed with his own chemicals and ages rapidly with unbelievably cheesy make-up effects. Still, it’s not enough to really become camp.
The movies differ from the Captain America mythology, rendering him to point of being nearly unrecognizable. Also missing is his rogues gallery. No Red Skull. In fact the villains are a real letdown, just as much a bore as everything else on screen. Even Lee, as much as he contributes to the movie, is a pretty sorry bad guy.
Now available on DVD to get some quick cash from unsuspecting consumers. I can see customers either buying the disc by mistake, assuming that they are the newer and much better movies, or giving them a fair shake because of their low price. But I can’t imagine many people actually wanting these movies; they’re not really worth owning and were never that popular to begin with. I suppose that there are Christopher Lee completionists out there, God help them. But be forewarned, this is a sorry pair of films.
