'70s Trash?: Captain America II- Death Too Soon

 Ah, it's a New Year and I'm ready for new disappointments.  This is Captain America II: Death Too Soon, the (obviously) Sequel to the 1979 TV Pilot.  Why did it get 2 Pilots?  I should probably look that up.  In the meantime, what has changed?  Well, they randomly switched out their Lady Scientist and hoped that nobody would notice.  We did (obviously)!  Otherwise, this is a Sequel in every way.  I still don't know why they got this second chance, other than the ability for Universal to market the TV Movie as an actual Film overseas (like they did with Spider-Man and was done with Batman in the '60s).  Just think, Europe was sending Films by Francois Truffaut and other Arthouse Directors and we were sending them Captain America II!  We get some great, but also dubious Casting as we see Reb Brown and Christopher Lee teamed up for the first time.  The duo would reunited for another II Film- Howling II: Your Sister is a Werewolf.  Is this Film that bad?  To find out, read on...

Out at Muscle Beach, Steve Rogers is drawing an old Lady when he learns about some Muggers.

He arrives on his super-bike to take them down, though he does so in silly fashion.

First- he takes out one with the shield, which looks like it wouldn't knock over a gingerbread house.

Second- he chases a Dune Buggy ON FOOT rather than use his Bike.

The bad guy here is Miguel (just Miguel!) who is played by...Christopher Lee.

They throw in a bit about how nobody knows who he truly is, so it is not quite cultural appropriation.

Besides, the only fake I can stand is Fake Reb Brown from Howling V.

His plan is to make a kidnapped Scientist create a super-aging formula to hold Cities hostage for a ransom.

To find him, Steve has to follow some leads and go to...Oregon?!?

The Town is not friendly and is clearly hiding a secret.  That leads to some fight scenes to thankfully break up the monotony of Steve working on a Farm and romancing some lady.

Meanwhile, Lee hides out in a Prison and gets the formula to work... 

To prove the veracity of his claims (which are questioned loud enough for an impossible phone hack to hear), he has his people gas the City of...Portland.

Yes, the thriving utopia of Portland is where you should target and not, say, Los Angeles or NYC.
To expensive to shoot there, I guess.

We get far less motorcycle action in this one, but we do get a big stunt in the form of Cap jumping off of a Dam...which I guess was easier than just jumping OVER THE BAD GUYS.

Oh and he retrieves the bike with no issue too.

He eventually finds proof that the Town was the first test area for the formula.  Thanks to a dead Sheep, he knows the truth.

Meanwhile, a Panther given to the good guys to prove Miguel's formula works ages up, given us the concept I hope to use again- Time Lapse Panther.

I'll make that a Meme, dammit!

After finally suiting up again to take down the Prison, Cap must first face off with...dogs?  Really?

He breaks out and chases Lee down...for ages.  It's a good 5-10 minutes of Cap on his silly Bike-Hang Glider combo (ironic given Lee escaping Bond in a Car-Plane combo).

They finally face off and it is pretty anti-climactic.

Cap smashes the bottle of super-aging formula on Lee and he dies.  All is well...but no Series.  The End.

An improvement, but also a step back.  First off, the positive.  Aside from the silly helmet (there due to US Highway Safety Administration apparently), I like the suit.  Yes, it doesn't compare to the MCU one.  For a 1970s Cap outfit, I like it.  Just ditch the helmet when you're not on the bike.  Also be on the bike less- it's just silly.  Right- the positives!  I like that Cap is more proactive as a Hero in this one.  I like that they show off his super-powers in a pretty silly way.  Basically, there's a knock-off Six Million Dollar Man Sound Effect for him bending bars or throwing people.  Speaking of which, there's a funny bit where he beats up some evil Dock Workers...who just might be regular Dock Workers.  Oh well!  Lee does his best with the limited role, playing it straight and being menacing enough.  The Doctor and new Scientist Lady are sidelined to Lab Scenes and the like, which is disappointing.  The big problem- the Plot.  They make Cap hide out and look around a small Town.  It just turns into a pretty generic Story that could be featuring any number of Characters, but especially The Incredible Hulk.  Hell, if you want something that clearly followed this, you have The Greatest American Hero, which did this quite often.  As a bonus, New Scientist Lady is Connie Selleca, who was on that Show just 2 years later!  The Film starts out with promise, but soon becomes kind of boring and generic.  Speaking of which, here's them reusing the footage of Cap driving his Van around during the Intro (the one that was destroyed and rebuilt differently)...

Next time, I try to start making a dent in my random DVD pile.  What treasure or trash will I pick out next?  Stay tuned...