Really, really bad.   It makes the 2011 version look like CITIZEN KANE.   The low budget and inept script really hurts the film.  It has that bad direct-to-DVD/ made for cable vibe with the really bad 1980s superhero kitsch.   Except for the beginning, you don't see the Red Skull look like the Red Skull and like the 2011 version, they find a reason to rush Cap off to present day.   Both Captain America films use World War 2 as a stepping stone without giving the films a chance to explore Captain America's adventures in World War 2 for a sequel.   I have seen better films from director Albert Pyun and his 1992 take on Captain America is one of his worst films (go see CYBORG or NEMESIS for some of Pyun's best work).

The Red Skull defeats Captain America in 1941 and straps Captain America to a rocket headed straight to Washington DC.   Cap is able to divert the rocket and it crashes in Canada which causes our hero to be frozen for 50 years until someone discovers him again.   He is off to face the Red Skull again soon enough after discovering what he has missed out on (the woman who waited for him for 15 years and all of the events in history).  A newspaper reporter is asked by the President of the United States (who saw Captain America zooming through the air on the rocket when the President was a kid) to bring back Captain America.   The President is kidnapped while in Italy. Soon after, Captain America is off to Italy to rescue the President and stop the Red Skull's plan to take over the world.

CAPTAIN AMERICA does have a half-baked plot.  All the talent involved from Darren McGavin, Ronny Cox, and Ned Beatty have acted much better scripts and been in better projects.  I think everyone did this one for the paycheck no matter what they thought of this film.      I found myself struggling to get through it when I realized how bad this film was and how much I enjoyed the 2011 version with Chris Evans.  Avoid this one unless you want to use it for a drinking game and go see the far superior 2011 version which is out on DVD in October.

this DVD review is (c)9-2-2011 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission.  send all comments to feedback@enterline-media.com