CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER

This is the best comic book movie to be released this summer. That is what it is, a comic book movie. It does not surpass that level but nobody ever said it had to. While not a Spider-man 2 or Dark Knight it fits in well as a first entry in an inevitable series. Perhaps not the fun, turn the formula on its head, film that Iron Man was, it is still an excellent comic book film that manages to have developed characters and a story actually propelled by plot rather than CG sequences (I'm looking at you Transformers 2 and 3). Still, even with all its positive attributes the film might've been largely a one time viewing for me, that is, if it hadn't been for Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter. My personal, and largest, issue with comic book movies has been their seeming inability to cast memorable and talented women in the leading lady spot. While the leading lady role has frequently been nothing more than a damsel in distress (other than perhaps in team up movies such as X-men), something unfortunately true even of Nolan's gritty Dark Knight films, here we find that is not the case. Peggy Carter is a female character who stands out amongst the many comic book movie female characters. She is strong willed, independent, can handle herself, never asks for help, doesn't take any crap and does it all in a period where women were undeniably treated as less than men. She does all these things yet she can still walk into a bar in the middle of the film wearing a red dress that leaves everyone at a loss for words. Even better than Peggy Carter's character, and the reason I named the actress rather than the character in my review title, was the casting of Hayley Atwell in the role. The character could have become something much different without a capable actress to play the balance of tough yet feminine. Worse it could have been filled by some less capable big name actress for box office draw. For years in comic book movies I have either dreaded or at best barely stomached the casting of female leading roles. Kirsten Dunst had her moments in the Spidey films but then would come the time when she had to be kidnapped and scream and holler for help, she also always needed a man in her life, if not Peter then another stand in to take his place. Batman Begins casting of Katie Holmes always seemed strange to me, why in a film full of lower status but credible actors would Nolan cast a more household name with much less credibility? Whatever the reason, she played the part but it is not the role anyone remembers from that film. The same goes for the sequel, in which I had high hopes Maggie Gyllenhaal would make welcome changes to the previously pitchy character, unfortunately I dare say that Rachel Dawes only became more helpless and became the one negative to be found in The Dark Knight. More recently I was disappointed to find Gwenyth and Natalie both playing supposed strong women but one (Pepper Potts) who is subordinate to a man who treats her badly and still needs to be saved in the end and the other (Jane Foster) fairly shallow and school girlish overall. While Jane only likes Thor at first because of his muscles, Peggy meets Steve Rogers/The Cap when he is a ninety pound weakling. We see her first tinge of interest in him when he is still this small, all based on his philosophies on fighting and dating. It is this established connection before he becomes a perfect male specimen that cements the story and keeps us truly engaged. Peggy and Steve truly bring out the best in eachother and actually share a common bond of struggling to break free from their respective stereotypes that allows the audience to believe in their relationship, one that is actually formed out of friendship first. The film is great and a wonderful starting point for a series, the ending is unique if only a plot device required for the Avengers tie in and I truly can't wait to see where they take Captain America in his sequel. He has by the end of the film, especially thanks to Peggy Carter, become quite a different hero with quite a different chip on his shoulders than any we have yet to see. So I have wondered why comic book movies don't cast relatively unknown actresses to play these parts and allow them to really create a character. Finally Captain America has done just that with the lovely Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter and I hope we see much more of it in future comic book films. The saddest part of Captain America and perhaps the thing that compells me to want to see it again Repeated times is that based on the ending it is very unlikely we will see the fantastic Peggy Carter/Hayley Atwell in all her glory in any of the sequels. They have some big shoes to fill when they inevitably try to create a Sharon Carter character, let's hope they take cues from however it was that they came to choose Hayley. **By the way, I would like it if Hayley or someone like her played Wonder Woman for DC, brits are already playing supes and batman might as well fill in the big three with a third, and let's not only have a more obscure actress with talent but one who can fill out the costume properly, no stick thing actresses such as when people were rallying for Megan Fox to play WW.

This is the first movie in the MCU timeline if you want to watch the movies in chronological order and the fifth if you watch them in release order (after Iron Man, Hulk, Iron Man II, and Thor). It tells the story of Steve Rodgers, a short scrawny kid who wants nothing more than to enlist in the army and fight for the United States in World War II. The problem is that he is about 5'5", 100 pounds soaking wet, and has asthma. After getting rejected time after time trying to sign up, he meets a doctor (played by Stanley Tucci) who developed a super-soldier serum and is looking for a worthy candidate to test it on. After Steve proves himself to be heroic during basic training he is given the serum and transforms into a six-foot-tall muscle-bound super-powered hero. The film sports a great ensemble cast including Tommy Lee Jones (who brings his awesome dry humor as the unit commander Chester Phillips), Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter, Hugo Weaving as the main villain, Red Skull, Dominic Cooper as a young Howard Stark, Sebastian Stan as Steve's best friend Bucky Barnes, and Toby Jones as Arnim Zola. Some of those characters, as anyone who has watched the movies and/or various TV series, would go on to have roles that were expanded well beyond what they are in this movie, and for other characters, this movie was a one-off. It is mostly an action movie, as you would expect, but also blends in drama, romance, and a lot of humor. Evans does a great job playing a goody-two-shoes character but giving him depth beyond just being a do-gooder. Atwell does a great job as Agent Carter, and Hugo Weaving pretty much steals every scene he is in. For those who get the 4k UHD set, the movie looks and sounds great in the format, especially if you have a big screen to watch it on. The picture is definitely an upgrade from the regular Blu-Ray. The UHD disc just has the movie itself, and then the second disc is the same regular Blu-Ray disc that was released before, which has the movie and the extras. The extras include a commentary track on the film by the director and the editor, then it has several making-of featurettes, the most interesting of which was, in my opinion, how they used a blend of CGI and practical effects to make Chris Evans look five inches shorter than he is in real life and emaciated at the beginning of the movie. Then there are some deleted scenes and trailers. So, if you like watching the bonus content, there is a lot there for you. The movie is very good and does a great job establishing the character of Captain America who, of course, is integral to every other movie that comes after it. If you watch this movie first it will make some things in other movies, namely the stand-alone Hulk movie, make more sense, but the post-credits scene which sets up The first Avengers movie will feel out of place. The 4K disc will probably be a double-dip for a lot of people who had already purchased the Blu-Ray, but I think the upgrade is worth it.

The Selfless Hero Marvel is a comic publisher that has enthusiastic fans and respect for their creations. The comic book logo beginning that flashes across the screen of every Marvel masterpiece initiates a sensation of excitement and suspense among the audience due to their reputation of stellar superhero films. Captain America: The First Avenger was directed by Joe Johnston. A man known for his interest and expertise in special effects and fantasy department, making him the ideal candidate for this superhero film. Throughout the film, Captain America: The First Avenger, Joe Johnston was the captain of incorporating symbols of color within characters and settings. Captain America: The First Avenger begins with a very mysterious and cold glacier setting with very dark lighting and unrevealed characters. The music by Alan Silvestri is very intense, suspenseful, and mystifying. The setting is quickly represented in 1942, the time of World War Two, when Captain America is introduced during the enlisting process. An enlistee announces, “Boy a lot of guys getting killed over there. Kinda makes you think twice about enlisting, huh?” Steve Rogers, later identified as Captain America, replies with a firm “Nope.” Steve Rogers is portrayed as a scrawny, driven, and desperate man who wants nothing more than to serve his country. Doctor Abraham Erskine is introduced into the movie by being intrigued by Steve Rogers’ intensified eager to join the army. Also, at this time in the movie, Stark industries is thrown into the mix when Tony Starks father, Howard Stark, speaks about a flying car and his new technology he is inventing. This uniquely foreshadows that Doctor Abraham Erskine, Steve Rogers, and Howard Stark will eventually be together again in another situation of experimentation when Steve Rogers is transformed into Captain America. When Captain America is transformed in the lab, he brings to life the American red, white and blue uniform that becomes his icon. His iconic outfit purposely stands out from the other soldiers because he has become their respected leader, their captain. As the scenes shuffle, we eventually come face-to-face with the lair of Nazi officer Johann Schmidt. His cold, dark, uninviting, yet modern room incorporates mainly dark colors with seamless highlights of fluorescent blue. The hints of fluorescent blue generate the connection to the Tesseract and how it has the power connect to the out of the world forces that exist. This is tied with Schmidt because he desperate searches for greater power and does this through rage. Joe Johnston used this technique to hint to the audience about Schmidt use of the Tesseract as an alternative power source and how the Tesseract drives Schmidt’s evil mentality. Schmidt reveals his true face for the first time when Captain America invades the Hydra site. He throws his fake human skin face into the fire below to show that the war between Captain America and him has begun and he is officially ready to fight. Schmidt’s true boiling red face explains the constant rage that is exemplified through his want for greater power. The music at the end of the film proves to be accurate to the audiences and the character’s emotions during the scene. Alan Silvestri incorporated slow, intense, and heroic music while Captain America drove the plane into the water. This exemplified the intensity of the sacrifice he made. Then, it almost immediately switched to cheers to reassure the audience that the Captain did the heroic job of ending the war and truly saving all Americans. Joe Johnston uses symbols throughout the film in a simple way. He does this by zooming in and drawing attention for the sole purpose of forcing the audience to notice and remember the symbol for a reason. The first symbol is shown to the audience during Joe Johnston’s technique of a flash-forward scene as the first scene of the movie. The audience is presented with Captain America’s red, white, and blue shield cemented underneath the ice. This initiates the audience’s thoughts that this movie revolves around American values and gives the suspenseful feeling of what could’ve occurred that lead to the hero’s symbol being inaccessible. The following symbol that the camera zooms up on is the octopus as the emblem on the front of the car that shows the obvious enemy side: Hydra. The last main symbol of importance that immediately comes to the audience’s attention is the Tesseract; the fluorescent, blue, and glowing cube that connects to extraterrestrial life. It is clearly depicted as a instance of importance because it was introduced with high interest from the villain character, Johann Schmidt, and was secretly hidden in the dark and dusty tomb. One main genre that was incorporated throughout the entire film was romance. The primary aspect of romance was between Steve Rogers and Agent Carter. Agent Carter was introduced as division supervisor and was consistently intrigued and impressed by Steve Rogers heroic qualities. Agent Carter never failed to have a glimpse of red on her at all times portraying her aspects of intimacy and female sexuality. Along with Agent Carter’s constant quality of red, she also has the typical outfit of red, white, and blue which tied her and Captain America together throughout the whole movie. Another genre that was illustrated was science fiction. The clips involving the Tesseract incorporate large amounts of science fiction because of its computer-generated qualities and capabilities. A majority of the weapons and soldiers that were under control of Johann Schmidt portray science fiction because they are futuristic and utilize the Tesseract as a power source. The genre of action is constantly displayed during battles between Captain America and the army against Hydra. This constant fight continues until it is finalized with a fight between Captain America and Johann Schmidt. The action on the American side is less advanced compared to Hydra due to the time period and lack of intelligence with futuristic materials versus Hydra has the brain of Schmidt’s extreme scientist that allowed Hydra to take their weapons quality and quantity to the next level making the fight harder to achieve for the Americans, but not impossible. The last, most important genre that was depicted in the film was the comic genre. The film’s comic qualities constantly make an appearance through the hero, villain, and storyline. The typical comic book plot shows through by having a hero that was introduced from the start and slowly found his duty to the world. Eventually, the hero developed an arch-nemesis to battle against until the end when the hero is forced to make a drastic sacrifice that gives him the ultimate hero reputation. Captain America: The First Avenger was a film created as an idealistic hero movie. Joe Johnston effectively incorporated different settings, lighting, special effects, and genres in order to give this film the spark it needed to be rated as a successful superhero movie. As a viewer in the audience, I believe Johnston worked hard to integrate scenes that truly depicted Steve Roger’s mental dedication to saving lives. In my opinion, the most crucial scene, was when the commanding officer of Roger’s division threw a grenade at the men to test their response and while every man ran away for their safety, Rogers ran and jumped on top of the grenade to sacrifice himself. This scene sparked my interest because I feel like it became a turning point for the audience to notice that Rogers was the clear candidate to be Captain America: America’s fighting hero. This scene goes to show that there are many undiscovered individuals out there that are willing to put forth the effort that is required in order to contribute to the greater good of society.

Captain America: The First Avenger is one of the greatest superhero origins film I have seen. The First Avenger works as a period piece primarily set during World War II that blends a little Indiana Jones into it, the latter of which is not entirely a coincidence, since director Joe Johnston was an effects artist and art director on Raiders of the Lost Ark. It is a load of fun. Chris Evans is wonderful as Steve Rogers, the character that becomes Captain America through the Super Soldier Serum. Compared to his role as a playful Johnny Storm in the two Fantastic Four films a decade ago, he plays an earnest character convincingly. Hugo Weaving portrays Johann Schmidt, a Nazi officer who is the commander of Hydra, a Nazi terrorist organization. Weaving plays the role menacingly. Another standout includes Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter, a fierce officer with the Strategic Science Reserve who eventually develops a relationship with Steve. Stanley Tucci is unrecognizable as his role as Dr. Abraham Erskine, the German scientist responsible for the serum. The effects are very good, for the most part. I really like the way they made Red Skull. On the other hand, I thought they could have portrayed pre-serum Rogers a little more realistically. Not only did I think the head-to-body ratio seem out of proportion, but Chris Evans did not alter his speaking voice in any way that would make you think he was at all physically weak. Instead, his voice sounded very stern, even though his digitally altered body not quite reflecting that. The film seems to be shot as if it were to emphasize that it takes place in the 40s, which I found a little off-putting. The technology incorporated in the story itself might make someone who lived through the period shake their head, but it seems to pull a lot from the science fiction imagined back in that era. The film score by Alan Silvestri fits with Captain America's patriotic themes. I received this film as a gift as a Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital Copy format. The casing is just like any other Blu-ray casing. Inside are two discs, one DVD and one Blu-ray. To obtain the Digital Copy, I had to use the DVD and insert it into my disc drive on my laptop. There are two options to download the movie, but really only one works. On a PC, you have an option to download it through iTunes or through Windows Media Player, but the latter option is no longer supported by Paramount. However, that's not all bad. If you download it to iTunes, not only can you play it on iTunes, but if it's linked to a Disney Movies Anywhere account, you can play it on any other platform your Disney Movies Anywhere account is linked to, which can include Amazon Video. The casing says the movie is a Digital Copy, not Digital HD. When I played it on Amazon Video, there seemed to be a SD and an auto option. When the auto option was selected, it showed that the film was playing on HD. However, when I switched between auto and SD, I could not tell the difference, but the same was true for my other videos on Amazon Video, so it may be that my laptop does not stream video quickly enough to run the film on HD, perhaps. It looks fine, nevertheless, although probably not as good quality as Blu-ray, which is why I opted for both. Anyway, I love this movie. I'd highly recommend it if you like superhero films, particularly those of a more positive beat, or period pieces set during World War II.

Colorful, nostalgic and splendidly executed on many fronts, CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER ranks with the most satisfying comic-book movies to date. Joe Johnston, who did such a fine job helming Disney's underrated WWII-period genre film "The Rocketeer" some 20 years ago, was the right choice to bring Marvel's patriotic hero to the screen in a confident, satisfying film that hits every note from its first frame to nearly its last. Chris Evans makes for a perfect Steve Rogers, the tough kid from Brooklyn whose motivation and courage are unfortunately not matched by his scrawny, weak body - one that prevents him from serving Uncle Sam in WWII. Rogers is continually rejected for service until his determination is noted by scientist Stanley Tucci, working for the U.S. military and who sees in Rogers the perfect candidate for their new Super Soldier program, spearheaded in part by brilliant Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper, playing none other than Tony "Iron Man" Stark's father). Rogers' transformation, though, at first applies mostly off the field of battle, with Captain America serving as a USO salesman for war bonds (there's a wonderful musical montage set to an original Alan Menken-David Zippel song). Much to the consternation of gruff colonel Tommy Lee Jones, Rogers eventually presses his way into service, saving an Allied troop from certain death at the hands of HYDRA, a Nazi off-shoot presided over by the evil Johann Schmidt (Hugo Weaving). Schmidt has not only been previously transformed by Tucci's doctor into the vile Red Skull, but has also corralled one of Odin's energy cubes and created a new destructive weapon that threatens the future of the entire world. "Captain America" does dial down the particulars of its war-time setting so as to not feel like too much of an "all-American" story, replacing any overt feelings of rah-rah patriotism with an overriding message that Rogers is a hero not because of his nationality so much as his courage and heart instead (as he tells Tucci's scientist at the beginning, Cap "doesn't want to kill anyone" but can't stand "bullies"). It's a decision that ultimately works, managing to make the picture more appealing to foreign markets while not turning the material into a completely toothless, "Politically Corrected" portrayal of the character either (a gambit that paid off with the movie having grossed $365 million worldwide, slightly more than half overseas). Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely's script confidently profiles Cap's dogged pursuit of the Skull with just a hint of romance (British newcomer Hayley Atwell is fetching as Peggy Carter), though supporting roles for the likes of Sebastian Stan (as Cap's sidekick Bucky) and Neal McDonough (one of the "Howling Commandos") come off as if they've been reduced in the editing room. Johnston's fondness for the material, though, is always evident, marked by crisply-edited action scenes that bring the vintage Marvel comics to life. Technically the movie is graced by an occasionally rousing Alan Silvestri score (his end credits "March" is just great) and cinematography by Shelly Johnson that was done no favors by the movie's 3-D exhibitions, which darkened an already limited visual pallet that overly accentuated green-screen. If there's one disappointment with "Captain America," it's that the film works so well, it's a letdown when the material moves into the present day for its inevitable "Avengers" set-up in its concluding moments - making one surmise that if there is a sequel, it's not going to involve the period setting and supporting characters from this exciting "Cap" to the year's super-hero efforts. (Perhaps some kind of time-travel device can send Steve back to the `40s?) Paramount brings "Captain America" to Blu-Ray and 3-D Blu-Ray this week in a number of different variants, including a limited-edition three-disc bundle. The 3-D for the movie is well-handled for the most part with depth-of-field effects, yet as I mentioned before, the cinematography is dulled even further from its standard appearance so I would recommend the 2-D version instead. The DTS MA soundtrack is dynamic throughout. Extras include five minutes of deleted scenes in HD with incomplete special effects that fans will find of interest, including a different introduction to the Howling Commandos and a longer ending. Seven Making Of featurettes give a slick, mostly promotional-type look behind the scenes while there's another brief, amusing "Marvel One Shot" with Special Agent Caulson (Clark Gregg) set in between this picture and "Thor." Rounding out the disc are trailers and a commentary track with Johnston, Shelly Johnson and editor Jeffrey Ford.

I love comics. Always have, always will. I doubt that anyone could beat me in Batman trivia. Or Green Lantern. Or Swamp Thing. Anything Darkhawk.... Okay, so DH is Marvel. Anyway. What I have always loved in comics is man's ability to overcome enormous tribulations without relying on so called 'super powers'. Knowing this, you can imagine how bad I wanted to see Captain America. Despite the fact that I am a DC fanboy. Marvel's latest addition to what will be the Avenger's film is a knock out of the park. The sense of the Cap before the super-soldier program is amazing. There's this 80-pound version of Chris Evans and he's the best. Loyal and morally strong, with a love of the American ideals. The transformation into a super soldier is amazing; he is shown 'over-using' his new body and all but trips himself up because he actually realize he's running faster on foot than the cars drive around him. His innocent patriotism becomes an unstoppable force, and it makes you believe that one man can indeed make a difference. I have to give a nod to Alan Silvestri's score for the film. It strikes a strong central theme that fits the balance between patriotism and honest strength and it sounds authentic to the mid-40's. Well done, good sir. Cinematography is marvelous. Together with the stages and authentic vehicles and storefronts, we actually feel that we've been engaged with WWII hanging over our heads. The BD is just as awe-inspiring. We have the Holy Grail of sound - a 7.1 Sound track; it's only the 2nd I've ever seen. We get several featurettes, all showing various technical tid-bits and it is not the same point-counting drivel some folk have thrown together on DVD or BD. They manage to provide the tech talk with their own appreciation of the source material. There's a short film featuring Agent Coulson which demands automatic laughter at the most unsuspected details. Worth the $25 of the Blu-Ray 2-disc. It's gonna be a classic, mark my words. I'm watching the film now with the commentary. Already it seems less 'stuffy' than most; a mixture of technical talk with fond memories. >>>EDIT: the commentary is actually pretty fun stuff, pointing out Easter eggs and hinting towards things to come. Alas, they provided no commentary on the post-credits scene. Not that they needed to; it pretty much speaks for itself.>>> But the best part is, we have seen some bit of what Marvel has in store for us. The Avenger's film is going to break a few benchmarks in modern film making. DC may have the Animated features each a tight and solid entry for the DCU, but beyond the Batman franchise, and possibly Green Lantern, DC just doesn't match the steam behind Marvel's power. I'm still holding out for a Flash feature film. I'll probably catch some flames from this review. But I have to be honest and objectionable. Marvel is reminding me of a time in my youth when I didn't know DC Comics existed. And the Avengers were one of my favourite titles way back then. I'm glad to see anything positive come from anything comic-book related. Makes the years of living as a geek somewhat tolerable. Almost.

Iron Man is a hero for today's generation. My cousin loves Iron Man because, he's cool and charismatic. I love Captain America because, he's the good guy. The success of the Marvel movies probably has a lot to do with the apparent trend that people are starving for nostalgia. So, you can sell-up the cool guy all day long but, in the end, you want the good guy in your foxhole. You might think that in saying so much, I'm taking this movie to be more than what it is: a movie. But, you have movies and, you have cinemagic. The cinemagic are the movies that sweep you up and make you cheer for the characters. Those are the movies that stick with you because, they embody concepts and, they're cathartic in the way in which theater was intended. This movie was decent. I've not seen the Iron Man movies, I've not seen Thor, or The Hulk, but, I have seen The Avengers. This movie was good; The Avengers was much better. But, for the way they portrayed Captain America in The Avengers, I had to see this movie. And, for Captain America, I loved this movie. I am not a comic book enthusiast but, I know quite a bit about comic book characters. Nor am I an avid movie go-er. I do, however remember when they released the previews for Captain America and, I just remember being disappointed, thinking this would be another over-hyped, modernized destruction of a very iconic figure of American culture. And, given the history behind the Captain America comic books, Captain America is a piece of Americana, in a sense that the current generations can't fathom. I was tired of the marvel movies, they seemed overdone and, it was a little painful to think that Captain America was going to fall into Hollywood's grasp. But, to my surprise, the screen writer and director for The Avengers did a really good job of writing the dialogue, to do Captain America some justice. I felt like they really cared enough about the embodiment of the character to keep the dialogue fairly true to what Captain America should represent. Now, truthfully, The Avengers would get five stars and, I would probably give Captain America four stars because, there are a few instances where I would've liked to see more of the Captain America from The Avengers in this movie but, it is almost like you get more of the really solid all-American out of the Captain America in The Avengers because he's a contrast to modernity. Where, in the Captain America movie, he's in his element, he doesn't stand out as much because, every man is nearly as quality as he is, he just happens to be the super soldier but, he's not such a stark contrast of character in comparison to his fellow soldiers. It's kind of the whole thing about: there's nothing special about him; he's just a kid from Brooklyn. And, the digital copy of this movie is CHEAPER than some of the others. So, buy it, watch it, and cheer for Captain America, you who would be commies.

Cap makes his solo appearance in this fantastic entry into the Avengers percursor film with a sock to Hitler's Jaw. Besides fantastic jobs in casting and performance, the ambiance of the film lends to a more classic tone backed by war propoganda and nods to the wartime fascination with advancement of science and technology. The wizards of the CGI department took Chris Evans from a ripped beefcake, to a 90lb runt, then back to full glory. After "Flaming On" as the Human Torch, many doubted his ability to perform a dual role, as it were, into another Superhero costume. In his portrayal, and rightfully so, I feel he played more as Steve Rogers and less as Captain America. He makes you look to the man at the core, the heart behind the shield, and the gentleness under the muscles. In making the classic cut, polite, All American Man stand ahead of the hero he becomes, he portrayed a vision of what we would exemplify as a representation of an ideal America in its values and character. Hugo Weaving delivers masterfully as the Red Skull, as not an over the top evil doer ala Dr. Doom, but as a depitction of the evil genius promoted from a Nazi Germany representation of what we envioned as the evil of our WW2 enemy. He has the smarts, determination, and ruthlessness to pull off a maniacal menace without making it look like he was trying. Both before and after shucking his fake face, he never had to sell you on the appearance, as that is not what made him devious or powerful. The environments, vehicles, costumes, and set pieces are a brilliant mix of 40's/50's World of Tomorrow mixed with classical American flair, and a dash of James Bond. The romantic subplot hints just enough to make it a tangible force, and the star supporting cast makes each character memorable and indespensible. Not only is it great to see a hero who unquestionably stands for what is right, it was great to see he did not need to a "Dark Hero" or live in a crime ridden metroplis. He lived the motto, "With Great Power, Comes Great Responsibilty." while wearing the bold colors of the Red, White, and Blue. Uncle Ben would be proud.

During World War II, Steve Rodgers wants nothing more than to join the army and to fight for his country but is unable to due to being a weak and sickly young man. He eventually gets a chance to prove himself when he is chosen to be part of an experiment to create a serum that could conceivably create the perfect soldier. Meanwhile in Europe Johann Schmidt, head of an organization called HYDRA, discovers an ancient and powerful device that could change the course of the war. The last of the individual films that lead up to the 'Avengers' movie, 'Captain America' is a greatly entertaining film and is probably one of my favourite Marvel film to date. Although the film itself is somewhat unsophisticated in its plot or execution, it still has some nice action scenes as well as some good humour and having a nice tone for the entire film. Chris Evans is good as Captain America himself, and Tommy Lee Jones is as great as always as Colonel Phillips, but it is Hugo Weaving who gives the best performance in the film as he hams it up (seemingly channelling the late Raul Julia in places) as the villainous Johann Schmidt, the Red Skull. The film isn't without its problems as some of the special effects are a little of a let-down and some of the tactics used in the battle scenes are rather simple. As well as this, there are moments in the film where it feels like it is doing nothing more than setting things up the 'Avengers' movie. These are relatively minor problems with an otherwise greatly entertaining film that is easily worth a full five stars.

Very Good movie, excellent DVD print, comes in hard dvd box/case and subtitles in many languages. I bought it at very low price which was not available later on.

"Captain America: The First Avenger" hat mich wirklich beeindruckt! 😊 Die Geschichte eines kleinen Jungen, der sich im Zweiten Weltkrieg behaupten will und durch ein Experiment zu einem Superhelden wird, ist solide inszeniert. Besonders faszinierend empfand ich die Verbindung zur nordischen Mythologie, die im Verlauf des Films immer wieder aufgegriffen wird. Hugo Weaving als Red Skull hat mir eine Gänsehaut verpasst, insbesondere wenn er seine bedrohliche deutsche Synchronstimme einsetzt. Die geschickte Nutzung von Propagandafilmen aus den 40er Jahren als Stilmittel hat dem Film einen einzigartigen Touch verliehen. Chris Evans als Captain America hat solide Arbeit geleistet. Die Action- und Spezialeffekte waren durchweg ordentlich und haben gut zum Gesamterlebnis beigetragen. Insgesamt war der Film für mich ein gelungener Abend vor dem Fernseher, der mit kurzweiliger Unterhaltung und einer interessanten Handlung punkten konnte. 👍 Der Bezug zu anderen Marvel-Filmen und die Extras auf der Blu-ray haben das Paket abgerundet und den Kauf wirklich wert gemacht.

From what i heard this is not considered the best Captain America movie or one of the best marvel movies out there but i disagree with that.I like very much the fact that this movie takes place in past.Its well suited that the director of this movie is the same guy who made another unrated classic movie that takes place in an old style era called 'The Rocketeer;.I like the origin story of how Steve Rogers become Captain America.Ok i must admit the Vilain played by Hugo Weaving is not very 3 dimensional or not one of the best bad guys out there.But i did like his look when he took off his skin and just looked like a red skeleton.It looked cool and bad ass lol.And it was the type of bad guy that was needed for this type of movie.The movie was about Steve Rogers anyways and the bad guy was not suppose to overshadow his story.The movie is full of great action.And the story is good.I like the adding of Tommy Lee Jones in the film and little details like Tony Stark's dad in the mix.As for the picture quality i can't comment on the 4k cause i only watched the bluray but the picture is really good.Its not the most detailed picture ever but that has to do with the way it was shot im pretty certain.I didnt see any DNR at all wich is good considering this is Disney lol.They didnt smooth anything over.The image is how it looked in theaters i am sure.The sound is a it boomy in the base department wich again is good considering its Disney lol.Extras are not too bad also.At least there is some.Anyways you definately want to buy this 4k when it goes on sale here.I got it around 21 dollars when the price came down wich is really a good deal on amazon for a 4k movie.

Good