Marvel's 1990 Captain America Movie Shot An Entire Day With No Film In The Camera

Albert Pyun's "Captain America" is a low-budget curio that began its life in development at the Cannon Film Group, which was overseen by legendary schlock producers Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus. The project migrated to a new studio when Golan left Cannon, but it retained famed B-movie luminary Pyun at its helm. Although Captain America was a pretty well-known Marvel Comics character, superheroes were still not considered financially viable by most studios (Batman and Superman notwithstanding), so its budget remained at $3 million. Ultimately, "Captain America" was filmed in a haphazard fashion. It was completed by 1990 and meant to premiere theatrically, but it didn't see the light of day until it went straight to video in 1992.

As brave explorers of below-the-surface superhero cinema can tell you, "Captain America" sucks. The script stinks, and star Matt Salinger doesn't bring any notable charm to the titular role. The Captain America costume is accurate to the comics, although it infamously covers Salinger's ears with a pair of rubber ears that are definitely noticeable. The film initially features Captain America's nemesis, Red Skull (Scott Paulin), but transforms him into a traditional gangster figure halfway through its runtime. But the worst part of the movie is its sloppy editing. Its fight scenes are visually incomprehensible, while its pacing is all over the map.

Back in 2013, Pyun was interviewed about "Captain America" by the Flexible Head 'blog, and he admitted that the entire production was a shoddy affair. Pyun liked the idea of making "Captain America," but the funding was always an issue and the production frequently ran out of resources. And, yes, he and the crew shot for an entire day without loading film into the cameras. The fact is, they just ran out of film and had wanted to save face.

Pyun noted that he'd been a Captain America fan since his childhood, adding that he liked the script. The initial draft that Pyun read was a period piece that took place entirely during World War II, and the director liked that approach. Captain America, after all, has always been a remnant of that era, so it was fitting that he should have a wartime story à la the "Indiana Jones" movies. Golan happily hired Pyun for the job, as the latter could definitely make the film on a shoestring budget while also providing a notable, high-profile release for Golan's new, post-Cannon production company. 

But then everything fell apart. When asked if "Captain America" began on a disastrous note, Pyun replied, "You could say that." Nothing worked out, and no one could afford anything, including that actual physical film stock that all movies required. As Pyun recalled: 

"It was shot in Yugoslavia, and the funding never really materialized. The budget was supposed to be almost $4 million, but the production company was never able to close the bank loan. It was quite a tense situation. We couldn't even afford film stock towards the end. The shoot happened one day with no film: We just pretended we were shooting, because we didn't want to let people know that we'd run out of film and didn't have the money to buy any more! I'm sure Joe Johnston experienced exactly the same thing!" 

Joe Johnston, of course, directed 2011's "Captain America: The First Avenger" as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. That film had a budget of, at least, $140 million, so it's unlikely it ran out of resources at any point. Pyun was just having a sarcastic laugh.