by Matt Sernaker, Managing Editor
When I was a kid, there were a couple of movies that I could watch countlessly – and, finally, one of these movies is available to own on Blu-ray: Captain America: Collectors Edition. Now, you might be confused about the Blu-ray release, since Captain America was just released by Marvel Studios in the last few years. The movie that I am referring to was originally planned to be a Theatrically Released Live Action Captain America movie (slated to be in theaters in 1990), but instead, ended up being a Direct-To-Video release in 1992. Maybe you have heard of it, or maybe you haven’t…Either way, I cannot begin to say how excited I was to hear about this release (I burnt out two copies of the film on VHS while growing up). While it might not be remembered as t he greatest Marvel adaptation ever, I think Captain America: Collectors Editor on Blu-ray stands on its own as being a fun (yet campier) take on the legacy of our hero in the red, white, and blue.
The 1992 Captain America movie had it all: Nazis, the Red Skull, Cap frozen in ice, and even the classic costume. Matt Salinger (Revenge of the Nerds) stars as Steve Rogers – aka Captain America. In this origin story, the Super Solider Serum was created by Dr. Vaselli (Carla Cassola), who defects to the US after having witnessed the forced creation of the Red Skull. Using her knowledge for good, she helps to create Cap, and unfortunately pays the price as she is gunned down by a Nazi spy. Armed with a special suit and shield that had been designed by the late Dr. Vaselli, Steve decides to use his gifts for good and sets out to stop a Nazi missile from being launched at the US. Steve arrives at the compound containing the missile, and meets The Red Skull, who quickly overpowers his “American brother”. In a twist of irony, the Skull attaches Cap to the missile so he can witness the destruction of the White House first hand. The missile is launched and Cap acts quickly to force it off-course, crashing it into…..Alaska. The story jumps forward to the 1990′s, where the frozen body of Captain America is found buried in the ice. Steve must now find his way through a world that he doesn’t quite understand. When the story flashes forward, we also get to meet President Tom Kimball (Ronny Cox – Robocop, Total Recall), who, as a boy, witnessed Captain America save the White House from last minute destruction. When Kimball is kidnapped by the Red Skull, Captain America (along with Sharon, the daughter of his lost love) must step in to save the day.
The kid version of myself can get past all of the nit-picky stuff, because this was Captain America stopping a creepy looking version of the Red Skull and saving the President. While the story has a lot of inconsistencies (the Red Skull being Italian annoys me now that I think about it), it was pretty decent take on the comic book genre for its day. Watching this movie again as an adult has given me mixed feelings. While it easily holds up compared to Howard the Duck (which to some is still considered a cult classic), it definitely took some “liberties” with the Captain America story. There is one opinion that hasn’t changed: Ronny Cox really stands out as being the best actor in the film, and was totally invested in his role as the President. Matt Salinger does a commendable job as Cap, but really doesn’t feel like he really the concept of Captain America. There are times you really have to wonder, how is this guy the best there is?
Special Features:
Captain America: Collectors Edition is being released thanks to Shout! Factory following their original release of the movie in 2011 . The film has been updated to widescreen format, and is available for the first time ever in high definition 1080p. How does it look against its DVD counterpart? Pretty good actually. Shout! definitely did some quality work trying to restore the content a bit more, and it is obvious compared to the DVD which looked more like a VHS rip. If you didn’t add this one to your collection when the DVD rolled out a few years ago, this is the best it is going to get.
Besides the update to 1080, the Blu-ray contains one other special feature,”Looking Back at Captain America”, a brand new interview with Director Albert Pyun and Captain America himself, Matt Salinger. The two discuss the process of making the film, budgetary constraints, and what their original hopes were for the feature. It is interesting to hear what could have been.
Overall:
This was my first introduction to Captain America growing up, and watching it again, I can say that it definitely wasn’t a bad one. If you haven’t seen this movie, I would highly recommend giving it a shot. I can honestly say that having it as an addition to my movie collection makes me very happy. I anticipate watching it several more times, at least (without the wear-and-tear of my ill-fated VHS copies), and enjoying the chance to relive fond childhood memories – Maybe even making some campy new ones.
Rating: 
ComicsOnline gives Captain America: Collectors Edition on Blu-ray 3.5 Italian Red Skulls out of 5.
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