Captain America has Reb Brown as Steve Rogers, a guy fresh out of the Marines and looking to relax and drive his van up and down the coast of California. But then a friend from the past calls, and when said friend turns up dead, all bets are off. At the same time, Rogers's dad's old research partner calls him over to show him the FLAG serum his dad was working on. When the baddies that killed Rogers's friend almost do the same to him, the dad's partner needs to use the serum to save him, turning him into: Captain America! The baddies won't know what hit them.
I'm a bit of split mind on this, because this film is every bit the 70s TV movie it's supposed to be, from pacing to special effects, and so it's hard to compare it to a cinematic counterpart; but at the same time, Reb Brown is Captain America. It was like this is the part he was born to play. So then we're left with this thing that should have been a weekly TV show a la The Incredible Hulk or The Amazing Spider-Man, but wasn't, so this pilot and the film after it are just what remains of something that wasn't finished. I think in comparing it to the MCU Chris Evans Caps, in the 70s they couldn't make the suit the way they can now. That bright shiny thing wasn't doing anyone any favors, and when you compare it to the Hulk who was just Lou Ferrigno painted green, I think it had more camp than the show may have wanted. By the same token, it was exciting to see Brown don the suit and start taking down baddies. Ah, what could have been...
We often look at a stars career here on the DTVC and examine how they ended up in the DTV world. Here we can see what happened for poor Reb Brown. This was supposed to be it, the series that propelled him out of his frequent guest star roles and into his own series. Playing someone as iconic as Captain America on a weekly TV show would have opened so many doors for him--so much so we may not have had him here in the DTVC Hall of Fame, though Adam West played Batman for three years and still became a staple in DTV films. In watching this I couldn't get over how much he was Captain America, even when he wasn't in the suit. I saw that Reb Brown did an interview on YouTube with The Nerdery back in 2012, and he explained why the show never happened. Universal lost the rights to Captain America, after which Marvel wanted $50,000 per episode to use him, compared to $2,500 per show for The Incredible Hulk. From there we know that Marvel sold the rights to Cannon, which led to the Albert Pyun cinematic adaptation in 1990. In my mind, that seems short-sighted, because a TV show in 1979 could have led to all kinds of merchandising that would have made Marvel much more money--or the show may have fizzled after a season or two the way The Amazing Spider-Man did. I just imagine me as a child going to school with a Reb Brown as Captain America lunchbox, and think about how much better my life could have been. In you're curious about the interview, you can check it out here.
In the trivia there was also mention of possible crossovers with the other two Marvel series at that time, which also would have been too amazing for words. That's what made comics so great, the idea that I could read an issue of Spider-Man and see Cap help him; or even better, Daredevil and have Ghost Rider show up. When I look at the success of Arrow, I see the same thing: they started with the Green Arrow, added the Flash, and it grew from there. Now we're stuck with the MCU, but one thing I did like was how they had their Daredevil series, and in the second season they introduced the Punisher. The problem with those series though was they were 13-hour movies, and by episode 8 or 9 I would hit a wall. The idea of a more episodic Captain America that was kind of like the Six-Million Dollar Man is definitely more appealing to me; and then throw in crossovers and I think it would have been perfect.
One thing the film did that I think rankled some feathers was they took liberties with the origin story. He's no longer the WWII soldier given the serum and then frozen in ice. I was okay with it though. This is its own thing, I thought it was a better product of the 70s the way they did it here. For me, I'm more upset that the Silver Surfer and Adam Warlock weren't in the Infinity War movies than I am about a TV show about Captain America that redid his origin story. It is a slippery slope though, because sometimes we need that origin story as an anchor in order to buy the rest of what we're seeing. I think that was more important for Chris Evans's Cap, because I needed something like that to believe he was the hero; whereas Reb sold it for me the moment he drove his van into the first scene. (And I am aware of why Silver Surfer and Adam Warlock couldn't be in the Infinity War movies, but that doesn't make me any less disappointed that they made the movies without them.)
Finally, I want to touch on that point I keep making about how Reb Brown looks the part of Captain America, because it is iffy territory to say that a white, blond-haired, blue-eyed, beefcake is the perfect Captain America, right? It reinforces this idea that "American" looks a certain way and dismisses the many different ways that "American" can look. On that score, I've always thought Steve James would have also made a perfect Captain America. The build, the martial arts ability, and the screen presence all add up to gold in my mind. We live in a world now where I think that's a possibility, but back when this was made--or even when American Ninja was made, where Steve James was passed over for the lead in favor of Michael Dudikoff because Duds had that "all American look", aka blond-haired and blue-eyed--it would have been a non-starter to cast a Steve James as Captain America. It's a shame, because like Reb Brown, where it would have been nice to see what he would have done with Cap in a weekly series, the same is true about James, but at least with Brown we got to see it for two TV movies, while with James it never would have been considered in his lifetime, which is too bad.
And with that, it's time to wrap this up. While Brown is great here, I think it's important to keep in mind that this is still a 70s TV movie. While it's available on Tubi, I think it's a worth a watch, and a great way to celebrate the 4th, whether you're an American or not.
For more info: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078937
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