At some point you have to admire the ambition. Nick Fury, director of SHIELD and one of the most powerful intelligence operatives on the planet, decides his best option in the middle of a heavily armed ambush is to go off the grid. In Washington, DC. One of the most surveilled, camera-dense, Secret Service-saturated cities in the Western Hemisphere. He pulls it off. Sort of. The Winter Soldier may have opinions about that.
This week, the MMM crew digs into minutes thirty-one through thirty-five of Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Five minutes that include a car chase Rob argues is a direct homage to Clear and Present Danger (a film the Secret Service apparently uses as a training video to this day, which is alarming), a weapons-system AI with more personality than most supporting characters, and the single most casual entrance of any Marvel villain in the entire MCU. When Dirty Dirty Bucky steps into frame in broad daylight, giant weapon in hand, absolutely unbothered, we discover that sometimes the scariest thing isn’t someone chasing you. It’s someone who already knew exactly where you’d be.
Also: Steve Rogers leaves his vibranium shield propped up in a hallway like it’s a wet umbrella, we name the Winter Soldier’s magnetic mystery weapon (“Skippy”), a 1990s film-within-a-film becomes the Rosetta Stone for this entire movie’s aesthetic, and J.D. Salinger’s son has a cameo in a Captain America film that explains a very specific Easter egg on a bookshelf. It’s that kind of episode.
Episode Notes & Links
- Clear and Present Danger (1994) — Harrison Ford thriller Rob argues is the direct blueprint for the car chase sequence; reportedly used by the Secret Service as a training film
- The French Connection (1971) — Pete and Kyle ID the low-angle car-mounted camera shots as a reference; connected through Bullitt as well
- Bullitt (1968) — mentioned alongside The French Connection as an ancestor of the practical car chase cinematography
- Avengers: Age of Ultron — Kyle notes this was the first Marvel film to use drone cameras; everything in Winter Soldier is practical
- Sebastian Stan — plays Bucky Barnes / The Winter Soldier; 57 IMDb credits; TV debut on Law & Order S13 E22 “Sheltered” (2003); born in Romania, became US citizen in his 20s
- Emily Van Camp — plays Sharon Carter / Agent 13; known for Everwood, Revenge, Brothers & Sisters
- Sharon Carter (Agent 13) — first comic appearance in Tales of Suspense #75 (March 1966); originally Peggy’s sister, later retconned as her niece
- “It’s Been a Long, Long Time” — music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Sammy Cahn, performed by Harry James’s orchestra with vocal by Kitty Kallen; released 1945, the same year Cap went into the ice
- All the President’s Men — on Steve’s bookshelf; a political conspiracy film starring Robert Redford (flagged as Easter egg)
- The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger — on Steve’s bookshelf; Easter egg pointing to Matt Salinger, J.D. Salinger’s son, who played Captain America in the 1990 film
- Captain America (1990) — Matt Salinger played Cap; Kyle notes he has a cameo in The First Avenger standing next to Stan Lee
- Thunderbolts* — Kyle notes the Winter Soldier uses the magnetic mine launcher again in this film
- Zorba’s Cafe — Greek restaurant at 1614 20th Street NW, Washington DC, next to Cap’s apartment building; Pete and Kyle recommend stopping by for a gyro
- Craft and Chaos — A podcast about making art while the world burns
- Superhero Ethics — New home of the Once and Future Parent series
- The Ethical Panda — Matthew’s TikTok
- TruStory FM
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What is Marvel Movie Minute?
Marvel Movie Minute is the deep-dive the MCU deserves — one film, five minutes at a time. We're working through every Marvel Cinematic Universe release in order, and this season hosts Matthew Fox, Kyle Olson, Rob Kubasko, and Pete Wright are going beat by beat through Captain America: The Winter Soldier — unpacking the craft, the comic roots, and everything HYDRA thought they could hide.
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