A new, hitherto unknown and radically different, edit of the low budget 1990 superhero film Captain America has been found. The film was revealed in a screening last night on the user streaming platform Twitch to the astonishment of film fans who had tuned in to see what had been billed as a surprise screening.
Sporting a highly different, more non-linear story structure, tone and an additional twenty minutes of previously unseen footage, this new iteration of the film is the original cut made by director Albert Pyun before executives at producing company 21st Century Film Corporation took control and reformatted it into something more conventional.
According to Justin Decloux who streamed the cut and who has written a book on Pyun –
[Pyun’s] version has a radical structure, a completely different tone, and a very different synth score by (We think) his regular collaborator Tony Riparetti.
Decloux further elaborates –
You know all those WWII scenes in the theatrical release’s opening 30 minutes? In Albert’s Original Cut, they’re spread throughout the film as flashbacks in a non-linear order.
Instead of seeing the fight with the Red Skull by the rocket right at the start of the movie, it’s scattered throughout the film in clever ways, to the point that even in the climax, it intercuts the WWII Red Skull fight with the Present Day Red Skull fight!
And speaking of the Red Skull, one of the big sticking points with the producers was that Albert’s Original Version of the film wanted you to feel bad for the bad guy, as his origin was meant to mirror Cap’s, leading to an absolutely jaw-dropping tragic climax that must be seen to be believed.
I’m not saying this version is going to change everyone’s mind about the movie because, if anything, it double down on a lot of stuff people disliked, and it’s still got all the same problems of the original: A lack of action, “silly” costumes, and some definite “decisions” – but goddamit, in his original cut you can see a genuine authorial intent guiding an impossible production, to the point that out of all of Albert’s films, it may be the most emotionally coherent!
You can read Decloux’s full thoughts on the film over at letterboxd.
This film version of the iconic Marvel superhero is mostly forgotten by today’s audiences outside of a small cult of fans. Originally shot in 1989 for an intended summer 1990 release, 21st Century Film Corporation repeatedly postponed its theatrical debut for two years before finally pushing it to a direct-to-video release. Comics fans criticized the film for its low budget and some poor production values – the ears on Captain America’s cowl are unconvincing rubber and not actor Matt Salinger’s own.
Pyun, who also directed such 1980s genre faves as The Sword And The Sorcerer and Cyborg, died in November 2022.
Currently, it is unknown if there are any plans for this version of the film to get any kind of legitimate release, though Decloux says that Pyun’s widow is interested in getting this version of tfe film out to fans to see. The film was produced by 21st Century Film Corperation, which declared bankruptcy in 1996. The company’s library of films, which includes Captain America, went through a number of hands before coming to rest at MGM subsidiary Orion, with Paramount Pictures retaining television and streaming rights and Trifecta Entertainment & Media handling U.S. distribution.
It seems doubtful that MGM would be interested in giving this a physical media release, given the ongoing decline in Blu-ray Disc sales. It does seem like it could prove to be a good title for a boutique genre label like Shout Factory, who previously released the film on Blu-ray in 2013, Arrow Films or Vinegar Syndrome.
Pyun’s film was the third attempt to translate the character into live action. The first came back in 1944 in the form of a fifteen chapter Saturday matinee serial from serial powerhouse Republic Pictures starring Dick Purcell. In 1979, CBS, perhaps spurred on by the success they were having with their Incredible Hulk TV series, ordered two made for TV movies featuring Captain America. Starring Reb Brown as Steve Roger’s, the films did not generate any excitement in the ratings and if the network had any further plans for additional TV movies or a regular series, they were abandoned.
