Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) (1 Viewer)

[Vaughan Odendaal]

At the end of the movie I really don't see Steve Rogers as anything special other than theoretically a highly trained fighter on the order of Batman. He is above the ordinary but not a super-soldier.

Perhaps you missed the part where he bent the steel railing with his hands (in the compound) ? Or how he threw some of the soldiers like rag dolls into the air with single hand ? Heck, he kicked a soldier into the air with little effort. Batman can't do any of this. In addition he could run much faster than any human being. This was shown quite clearly when he ran after the car mid-way through the film. Batman can't do any of this either. The film showed plenty of evidence that he was a super-human. Not sure what movie you were watching. The guy is not Superman. He isn't Spiderman either. Spiderman can lift 10 tons. Steve Rogers is not in that power class. However he is super strong to a point where he can physically throw humans around like rag dolls and bend steel bars. In addition he has heightened regenerative abilities. This was also mentioned in the film. So he is a super-human. I'm not sure what feats you expected him to perform ? Throw cars around ? Heat vision ?

 

[Chuck Anstey]

At the end of the movie I really don't see Steve Rogers as anything special other than theoretically a highly trained fighter on the order of Batman. He is above the ordinary but not a super-soldier.

The film showed plenty of evidence that he was a super-human. Not sure what movie you were watching.

The film in which this supposed super-soldier was sent on a USO tour instead of using his abilities to fight or lead commando operations. The one where only The Red Skull stated (but not fully shown) Steve Rogers could defeat the entire lab's worth of security. The regeneration was only mentioned back-handed in the statement about him not being able to get drunk. At best there were bits and pieces of heightened abilities beyond a well-trained normal human and those tricks are performed by "normal" humans in over the top action movies as needed. Pick any big action movie with Arnie/Stallone/etc. or any martial arts movie and you will see the same bits and pieces of super-human feats but they aren't super-human in those movies' universe. The movie needed to work harder showing the difference between Rogers and his commandos, that's all.

 

[Vaughan Odendaal]

Pick any big action movie with Arnie/Stallone/etc. or any martial arts movie and you will see the same bits and pieces of super-human feats but they aren't super-human in those movies' universe. The movie needed to work harder showing the difference between Rogers and his commandos, that's all.

I don't recall any action movie with Arnie/Stallone (with the exception of Terminator) depicting them running at super human speeds. I also don't recall any action movie where the hero could bend steel bars. In these same movies you'll never see Arnie or Stallone throw a guy several feat in the air with a single hand like a paper weight. You'll never see it. The guy is the peak of human evolution. He isn't Superman. He has an above average build and can do things that no other human being can do. You will never see Arnie (with the exception of Terminator) or Stallone do anything as superhuman as was depicted in this film. Three things : 1) Steel railing...got bent the other way. No action film, however preposterous, has depicted someone doing this because it's just not possible in the context of those films. 2) Throwing human beings into the air like rag dolls. With one hand no less. 3) Running fast enough to catch a car. He also was able to jump extreme distances. No action hero (as a normal human) has been shown to do this. That is it in a nutshell. No need to try to rationalize things further. The guy was shown to be super-human, no matter how you cut it. In the context of THIS film, he is a super-human and was depicted as such.

 

[Vaughan Odendaal]

Frankly I think it's silly that we're even debating CA's skills in the film. Watch the movie near the end in the camp where he throws guys around like rag dolls. You would have to blind not to notice this. In one scene it looks like he's throwing a guy clean off his feat by 4-5 meters into the air....with one hand ! That's crazy. He kicks a guy clean off the ground by some distance.I don't know about you, but that is clear evidence that he is WELL above human power levels. I mean, in one scene he hoists a soldier right over his head and throws him out of an air lock. That might not be such a major feat since this is a super hero film but it's the way in which he does it. Just like the way he throws these people around like paper weights. The guy doesn't look like a body builder (he is clearly above average) but his strength and speed is several times greater than a human. Bending steel bars....well, this is what we call super-human. It's plain as day.. If you were expecting him to throw around cars then you'll be disappointed because he can't do that. Not in his power level, unfortunately.

 

[RobertR]

I agree that he was shown to be stronger-faster-better than an ordinary human. I also agree with the criticism that a training sequence should have been shown instead of the promotional campaign. Overall, it was enjoyable, but I liked Iron Man better.

 

[TheLongshot]

Originally Posted by RobertR

I agree that he was shown to be stronger-faster-better than an ordinary human. I also agree with the criticism that a training sequence should have been shown instead of the promotional campaign. Overall, it was enjoyable, but I liked Iron Man better.

I kinda understand why that's there, because they wanted some good reason for him to wear the costume. But, I think I would rather have him fight Nazis.


Personally, I enjoyed the film (at least, what I saw of it. I missed the end because I got a call from the people caring for my son saying that he had a bathroom accident and no change of clothes.) You know you are getting an old school film when everyone is slugging everyone else in the face. I liked the rather chaste but smoldering relationship between Rogers and Carter. For me, Hayley Atwell was one of the few redeeming qualities of The Prisoner redux, and she's no less delicious here.


Chris Evans continues to impress me. This is now the third movie I've seen him in (Johnny Storm in Fantastic Four and Lucas Lee in Scott Pilgrim) and there is no way I'd tie those three characters to the same actor. He really embodies the character fully as a man who is fully devoted to serving his country and its citizens. While it is popular to wink and nod at that, it is what Steve Rogers is.

 

[Patrick Sun]

I wish Joe Johnston wasn't the director for this film, as it's just dull and paint-by-numbers movie-making. Chris Evans has charisma to spare, and yet he is really lifeless in this film, and I blame Johnston's direction on Evans' performance. There are no surprises, no suspense. It's just 'there'. The script is boring. There are no dramatic decisions, just automaton-like plot point after plot point as the film rolled on. I also wish they'd use film camera instead of digital video cameras because this film set in WWII was screaming for it. As it looked with super-clean non-film look, it was just too "video-like" and looked too "current". Bad choice, but I'm sure it was cheaper shooting on digital video. I give it 2.5 stars, or a grade of C+.

 

[RobertR]

I kinda understand why that's there, because they wanted some good reason for him to wear the costume.  But, I think I would rather have him fight Nazis.

 

Personally, I enjoyed the film (at least, what I saw of it.  I missed the end because I got a call from the people caring for my son saying that he had a bathroom accident and no change of clothes.)  You know you are getting an old school film when everyone is slugging everyone else in the face.  I liked the rather chaste but smoldering relationship between Rogers and Carter.  For me, Hayley Atwell was one of the few redeeming qualities of The Prisoner redux, and she's no less delicious here.

 

Chris Evans continues to impress me.  This is now the third movie I've seen him in (Johnny Storm in Fantastic Four and Lucas Lee in Scott Pilgrim) and there is no way I'd tie those three characters to the same actor.  He really embodies the character fully as a man who is fully devoted to serving his country and its citizens.  While it is popular to wink and nod at that, it is what Steve Rogers is.

 

Oh, you missed the good stuff at the end of the credits! Something to look forward to. I'm very glad he was played straight and true, no silly campiness.

 

[Paul D G]

Took my son to see this today and we really enjoyed it - it was just a fun film. I wasn't a Marvel person as a kid, but I'm familiar enough, and I'm also aware that Thor and Capt America were made, not necessarily to be blockbuster movies on their own, but as preludes to Avengers. My only real criticism is that they should have pitched Chris Evans voice up a notch when he was skinny. His deep voice seemed really unnatural to me when he started talking and it kind of killed the effect.


I didn't realize it until we saw the post credits scene, but my kid had no idea there was an Avengers film coming up. When he saw that trailer he got so excited. It was the first thing out of his mouth when we got home. He didn't express an interest in Thor so I didn't take him to see it but now I'll have to so he gets a better understanding on that cube.

 

[Greg_S_H]

I kinda understand why that's there, because they wanted some good reason for him to wear the costume.

It also showed how this kid who was desperate to do his part got sidelined, and how the fame was starting to go to his head to where he didn't mind. Finally getting overseas in front of the real soldiers was a major wakeup call. Now, they could have skipped that and had him immediately assigned overseas and it would have been alright, but I kind of liked how he got a taste of how even he could lose himself to the mystique of "Captain America."

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

Better late than never dept. For various reasons, and despite my best efforts, I was never able to see the film in the theater or even rent the Blu Ray. So I finally saw it last night on VOD - streamed in HD via Amazon on my TiVo Premier. (Amazon gift cards are wonderful things. ) And I just had to say something about what a terrific film it is. First reactions? Wow! I actually started jotting down notes as I was watching. Note that this is from a fan who bought Avengers #4 (Cap's first appearance) when it first hit the newstands, and has always had a soft spot for the character and the team. Loved the following: The framing story with the opening on the Aritic ice. It had echoes of both versions of the thing, with just a hint of Spielberg. Did somebody say "paint by numbers" filmmaking? What movie were they watching? The cosmic cube (!) The hundred subtle pointers to other films and characters, like evoking Thor through Yggdrasil The dig at "Raiders" ("Hitler digs for trinkets in the desert") Hydra as a Nazi organization Not quite our world (World's fair in 1942 instead of '39. NY skyline different, Uni-sphere from '64 instead of Perisphere & Trylon of '39) The Original Human Torch as one of the exhibits Howard Stark The antique shop and the old lady as the front for the lab Vita-Rays (actually a later to addition to the origin story - 50s Cap?) Howard Stark The original uniform, triangle shield, Hitler punch and the Cap #1 cover The cheesy songs and dance numbers Stan Lee's cameo Cap's motorcycle Cap assembling the Howling Commandos (Dum Dum Dugan, Gabe Jones, etc. - minus Nick Fury) Bucky's death - kept the idea and the iconic image without the unlikely details "*I'm* not kissin' ya." Kinda pissed they gave the Red Skull Jack Northrop's Flying Wing, though Cap's sacrifice and the last conversation with Peggy - it evokes Flight 93 without exploiting it. The nod to "The Rocketeer" when Steve puts the picture of Peggy on the control panel of the plane (So *that's* why she's a brunette!) The kids playing on the street looked like Jack Kirby's Newsboy Legion SHIELD Agent 13 - who looked like Cap's lost WWII love - makes a sideways cameo at the SHIELD facility - "All agents - Code 13" (Plus she was played by Amanda Righatti from "The Mentalist" who looks real good in a '40s style hairdo and WAC outfit.) Next up? "Thor"! Regards, Joe

 

[Malcolm R]

This and Thor were two of my favorite films of the past year. I just watched this again last week and enjoyed it much more at home the second time, than in the theater where my only choice was dark, muddy 3D.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

My best friend said almost the same thing - saw both in the theater, loved them both, can't decide which was better. I'm really looking forward to Thor now. (And The Avengers, of course.) Regards, Joe

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Road to Endgame Revisit #1:
My original plan was to re-watch as many MCU movies as possible, in chronological order rather than release date order, ahead of Avengers: Endgame hitting theaters next month. But there are a lot of them, and some of them I've watched fairly recently. And I realized most of them have audio commentaries, and I've only listened to a few of them. So my new plan is to re-watch as many MCU movies as possible, with the audio commentaries on if I haven't already listened to them.

First up was Captain America: The First Avenger, the fifth Marvel Studios picture released, but -- set primarily between March 1942 and February 1945 -- the one that really kicked everything off. It would be tempting to think of the creation of Captain America as the event that caused the MCU to diverge from real history. But the timeline has diverged since the arrival of the Asgardians and the Frost Giants in Norway in 965 AD, if not earlier. This is the MCU's version of World War II, not a real historical accounting of the actual World War II.

Even with the sound off, I was struck by how distinctive the picture is from the Marvel look and feel that would become more and more standardized over the course of the subsequent pictures. It was the only MCU movie shot with the Panavision Genesis, a 1080p digital movie camera that was already ceding the market to the more advanced, higher resolution Red One and Arri Alexa digital movie cameras. It's also the only MCU picture photographed by Shelly Johnson, Joe Johnston's longtime cinematographer. The shot designs and lighting feel wonderfully nostalgic, halfway between Raiders of the Lost Ark and a Norman Rockwell painting. The production design, by Rick Heinrichs, is among the best of the cinematic universe. This was the most aggressive use of Lola's "cosmetic enhancement" visual effects up to that point, and it's still one of the best and most effective uses of that technology. Young Coulson in this month's Captain Marvel doesn't look anywhere near as good as skinny Steve did eight years ago. Alan Silvestri's score remains one of (if not the) very best of all of the Marvel scores.

Popping in the disc and having the Paramount Home Entertainment logo come up reminded me just how far we've come since Iron Man kicked things off.

Today, part of Marvel's pitch to new directors is that they know how to do the action and the visual effects, and they're looking for filmmakers who have the right story to tell. Listening to the audio commentary on this movie, I was reminded just how heavy Joe Johnston's visual effects background was, going back to the original Star Wars. Right from the opening scene set in the present day, which looks like it was shot in Arctic but was actually shot on a sound stage with some simple but effective techniques, it was clear that Johnston was one of Marvel's teachers in these areas. Director Johnston, DP Johnston, and editor Ford have an easy comraderie on the track, with Johnson primarily contributing anecdotes from set and Ford primarily contributing anecdotes from post-production while Johnston takes a more holistic view. Having Ford on the track is particularly interesting, since this was his first Marvel movie but he's been an editor on seven MCU movies since, including all of the Captain America movies and all of the Avengers movies.

 

[Sean Bryan]

Road to Endgame Revisit #1:
My original plan was to re-watch as many MCU movies as possible, in chronological order rather than release date order, ahead of Avengers: Endgame hitting theaters next month. But there are a lot of them, and some of them I've watched fairly recently. And I realized most of them have audio commentaries, and I've only listened to a few of them. So my new plan is to re-watch as many MCU movies as possible, with the audio commentaries on if I haven't already listened to them.

First up was Captain America: The First Avenger, the fifth Marvel Studios picture released, but -- set primarily between March 1942 and February 1954 -- the one that really kicked everything off. It would be tempting to think of the creation of Captain America as the event that caused the MCU to diverge from real history. But the timeline has diverged since the arrival of the Asgardians and the Frost Giants in Norway in 965 AD, if not earlier. This is the MCU's version of World War II, not a real historical accounting of the actual World War II.

Even with the sound off, I was struck by how distinctive the picture is from the Marvel look and feel that would become more and more standardized over the course of the subsequent pictures. It was the only MCU movie shot with the Panavision Genesis, a 1080p digital movie camera that was already ceding the market to the more advanced, higher resolution Red One and Arri Alexa digital movie cameras. It's also the only MCU picture photographed by Shelly Johnson, Joe Johnston's longtime cinematographer. The shot designs and lighting feel wonderfully nostalgic, halfway between Raiders of the Lost Ark and a Norman Rockwell painting. The production design, by Rick Heinrichs, is among the best of the cinematic universe. This was the most aggressive use of Lola's "cosmetic enhancement" visual effects up to that point, and it's still one of the best and most effective uses of that technology. Young Coulson in this month's Captain Marvel doesn't look anywhere near as good as skinny Steve did eight years ago. Alan Silvestri's score remains one of (if not the) very best of all of the Marvel scores.

Popping in the disc and having the Paramount Home Entertainment logo come up reminded me just how far we've come since Iron Man kicked things off.

Today, part of Marvel's pitch to new directors is that they know how to do the action and the visual effects, and they're looking for filmmakers who have the right story to tell. Listening to the audio commentary on this movie, I was reminded just how heavy Joe Johnston's visual effects background was, going back to the original Star Wars. Right from the opening scene set in the present day, which looks like it was shot in Arctic but was actually shot on a sound stage with some simple but effective techniques, it was clear that Johnston was one of Marvel's teachers in these areas. Director Johnston, DP Johnston, and editor Ford have an easy comraderie on the track, with Johnson primarily contributing anecdotes from set and Ford primarily contributing anecdotes from post-production while Johnston takes a more holistic view. Having Ford on the track is particularly interesting, since this was his first Marvel movie but he's been an editor on seven MCU movies since, including all of the Captain America movies and all of the Avengers movies.

I just rewatched this last weekend. It’s really good. Steve Rogers has become my favorite Marvel hero through watching these films (while I had no real interest in him from my comic book reading days) and this is the film that started him on his journey.

I feel like Joe and Anthony Russo, through the foundation of Markus and McFeely’s writing, have absolutely nailed the character. But Johnston, also through M&M’s writing, is a very close second with The First Avenger. I don’t think Whedon knows how to write Cap properly. His version of Cap in the first two Avengers films feels like a distant third to the Russos’ and Johnston’s. I see Cap, but I hear Whedon talking. So the common factor there has to be the writing of Markus and McFeely, but I still think the Russos’ directing adds that extra bit of magic. Johnston did a great job with The First Avenger as well.

 

[Tino]

set primarily between March 1942 and February 1954 -

1954? Or do you mean 1945?

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

1954? Or do you mean 1945?

I did mean 1945! Late night typo. The post has been corrected. Thanks for letting me know.

 

[Sam Favate]

Road to Endgame Revisit #1:
My original plan was to re-watch as many MCU movies as possible, in chronological order rather than release date order, ahead of Avengers: Endgame hitting theaters next month.

Even with the sound off, I was struck by how distinctive the picture is from the Marvel look and feel that would become more and more standardized over the course of the subsequent pictures. It was the only MCU movie shot with the Panavision Genesis, a 1080p digital movie camera that was already ceding the market to the more advanced, higher resolution Red One and Arri Alexa digital movie cameras. It's also the only MCU picture photographed by Shelly Johnson, Joe Johnston's longtime cinematographer. The shot designs and lighting feel wonderfully nostalgic, halfway between Raiders of the Lost Ark and a Norman Rockwell painting.

I did the MCU re-watch last summer with the kids. We did everything through Infinity War, in release order. It was terrific fun, and I saw a lot of connections between the films that you miss when you see them years apart.

I love the look of First Avenger. Always liked Joe Johnston movies. Wish he'd do more. (BTW, it was during the press tour for CA:TFA that Johnston said he wanted George Lucas to give him a crack at a Boba Fett movie, so there must have been at least discussions at that point of reviving the Star Wars films.)

I recently got the 4k of this film, which I have yet to watch.

 

[dpippel]

I just rewatched this last week, and the 4K UHD release is absolutely superb. It looks and sounds fantastic! If you have a 4K setup I highly recommend upgrading from the Blu.

 

[TonyD]

I’m up to this in my rewatch and I’m shocked this thread didn’t get to 200 posts.
Also surprised I didn’t comment before.

Anyway I don’t think I noticed the cameo of The Human Torch costume before.

Wouldn’t mind seeing some of the people who didn’t like this movie in here give their opinion now.

That Paramount title card surprised me.