3) Captain America (1990)
Before Marvel and DC began investing billions of dollars into superhero films, few studios believed comic books had the potential to draw large audiences. Up until that point, most superhero lore was to be found on television, where shows like the Lou Ferrigno starring The Incredible Hulk and the campy Adam West-led Batman thrived.
Therefore, it was not a surprise that many of the comic book film adaptations came out low-budget, hackneyed, uninspired, poorly produced and embarrassingly inept. And few other movies typify this sort of approach more brazenly than Albert Pyun’s schlocky Captain America. Whether it was the horrendous acting, poor dialogue or maladroit editing, this 1990 stinker was made with the jaw-dropping high budget of $10 million.
Perhaps the director and/or producers pocketed some of that, because it certainly seems like almost none of the money actually made it to the film’s production or marketing. Having been released direct-to-video, it came as no surprise that the flick made a little over $10,000 back. Coupled with the universal panning from critics, Captain America stands as one of the most atrocious attempts at making a comic book film to date.
