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The
Rocketeer
was one of my
favorite movies from
my childhood but it
was a bit of an odd
one for me. I went
and watched it in
the theater and then
I think I watched it
at home once or
twice after my
parents rented it on
VHS. So maybe it
wasn’t a favorite
but I did have fond
memories. There’s a
big difference
between watching the
movie when I was 8
years old and
watching it when I’m
28 years old. I will
say that. While I
still enjoyed the
movie- especially
the last half of it-
it’s not as cool as
I remembered it and
there are several
levels of ridiculous
scattered throughout
the characters and
the plot lines.
The
Rocketeer
is
based on a comic
that was written by
Dave Stephens and
published in 1982.
Disney took the
story from the comic
book and with Joe
Johnston behind the
lens, took the story
to novel in 1991. In
Johnston’s movie,
Cliff Secord (Bill
Campbell) is a young
pilot struggling
during the
depression. He
doesn’t have a job,
all he and a group
of three or four men
have is a plane and
the hopes that they
can make it run well
enough and Cliff can
fly it well enough
so they can win the
Nationals and get a
good chunk of
change. One day when
they’re testing
their plane, the FBI
chases a couple of
convicts onto the
airstrip and in a
machine gun fight,
Cliff’s plain gets
shot up and
destroyed. In fact,
Cliff barely walks
away from the whole
ordeal. While Cliff
is getting out of
the plane, the
convicts crash into
a hanger, and they
store their stolen
goods in an old
plane. This just
happens to be the
hanger where Cliff
and his crew operate
out of. The convicts
get arrested, Cliff
finds the stolen
goods, the stolen
goods turn out to be
a jet pack, and we
find out that an
evil movie actor
wants to get his
hands on the jet
pack. Cliff’s
girlfriend gets mad
at him for some odd
reason and she
begins to date the
evil movie actor. If
it sounds odd,
that’s because it
really is.
There
are some odd traits
with story of
The
Rocketeer.
First and foremost
has there ever been
more odd of a
villain than Neville
Sinclair (Timothy
Dalton) in this
movie. He’s the
third most popular
movie actor in film-
that’s how he’s
depicted in the
story. Then on top
of all of that he’s
played by Timothy
Dalton, he’s
devilishly handsome
and was casted
appropriately but
everything about
that character is
just odd. For 75% of
the movie we don’t
know what he wants
with a jet pack.
Until we figure out
what he wants with
it and who he really
is, it’s not
possible to take him
seriously. The other
weird character is
Jennifer Connelly’s
character Jenny.
Sure she’s
attractive and is
classically
beautiful but her
character is set up
poorly. We figure
out that she’s mad
at Cliff at some
point but she gets
mad at him for not
supporting her when
she doesn’t support
him, she’s extremely
fickle and she ends
up going on a date
with the villain
because he’s famous.
Those two characters
are the main flaws
with
The
Rocketeer,
they could have been
written and adapted
better.
The
Rocketeer has tons
of recognizable
faces, thats one of
the things I liked
most about it. Terry
O’Quinn played the
role of Howard
Hughes, you might
recognize him as
John Locke from
Lost. Then Alan
Arkin played the
role of Cliff’s best
friend, father
figure, and mechanic
Peevy and you might
recognize him as the
angry police chief
in Law and Order and
tons of other
similar roles.
Connelly of course
went on to star in
Hulk,
A
Beautiful Mind,
and loads of other
films too. And even
Bill Campbell who’s
never been extremely
notable, has done a
ton of things on TV
over the years.
The
recognizable faces
are great with
The
Rocketeer,
but extending beyond
that, the film was
directed splendidly
by Johnston with his
aerial shots being
fantastic and his
action scenes being
equally impressive.
Plus even though the
script could have
set up characters
and explained them a
little better,
Johnston did a good
job of getting
around that by
making a fast and
fun movie that never
takes itself too
seriously. It’s an
adventure more than
anything else, and
it’s a carefree one
at that.
The
Rocketeer
isn’t a cinematic
classic but it’s an
adventure movie that
doesn’t take itself
seriously and they
just don’t make
movies like that
anymore.
There are no notable
bonus features on
this Blu-ray. The
only thing that’s
available is a quick
preview for the
movie that’s
actually a full
screen preview,
which looks more
than a little rough
compared to the
quality of the
picture and sound of
the film. It’s not
flawless or as
pristine as it could
be but it’s a great
transfer and it’s
better than VHS by
quite a bit.
The
Rocketeer
is a carefree
adventure and a
wonderful film by
Joe Johnston. My
children love it
just as much as I
did when I was a kid
and that’s a really
unique thing. There
are several things
across the board
that could have done
better but there are
several things that
are tremendously
cool to watch and
enjoy. Despite its
shortcomings, it’s
still holds up
extremely well all
these years later.
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