User reviews

THE ROCKETEER

Aspect ratio: 2.39:1 (Panavision)

Sound format: 6-track Dolby Stereo SR

(35mm and 70mm release prints)

Based on Dave Stevens' graphic novel, this very un-Disney-like Disney movie is a joy from start to finish, a two-fisted tribute to the serials of yesteryear which combines nostalgia for the innocence of ages past with the Art deco gloss of a world on the brink of war. Bill Campbell (from TV's "Tales of the City") plays a 1930's air ace who stumbles on a jet-propelled device that allows its wearer to fly at high speeds, a device coveted by law enforcement agencies, gangland criminals, Howard Hughes (!), and a Nazi villain (Timothy Dalton) masquerading as a Hollywood heartthrob.

Handsome and talented, Campbell plays the title role with just the right amount of wide-eyed candor and boyish charm, and he's supported by a veritable who's-who of Hollywood's finest character actors, including Alan Arkin, Paul Sorvino, Terry O'Quinn, Ed Lauter, Jon Polito and Eddie Jones, alongside Tiny Ron as a hulking henchman clearly modelled after Rondo Hatton (courtesy of Rick Baker's rubbery makeup), whose speciality is - you guessed it - *snapping spines*! Sadly, Jennifer Connelly is unable to make much of an impression as Campbell's eye-candy girlfriend, an old-fashioned heroine who lacks autonomy and is almost entirely dependent on her co-star's strength and bravery. That small blip aside, director Joe Johnston (HIDALGO) plays the whole thing straight, without even a hint of camp (when Campbell asks how he looks in his spiffy 'Rocketeer' outfit, Arkin deadpans: "Like a hood ornament!"), and while the characters are mere stock figures, they're played with real integrity by an enthusiastic cast, and the film's many set-pieces culminate in a showstopping finale on board an exploding zeppelin high above the Hollywood hills! Yep, this is one movie where you *definitely* get your money's worth!!

Produced today, the script (by Danny Bilson and Paul De Meo) might have been co-opted by some overpriced 'star' whose off-screen notoriety could sap the magic out of every frame. It's the fact that Campbell WASN'T a household name during filming, and that the production dares to celebrate the movies of a bygone era without simultaneously mocking its references, which makes THE ROCKETEER so special. It carries none of the baggage that a major celebrity would have brought to it, and is simply a thrill-ride, no more or less, packaged and presented as a widescreen spectacle for audiences young and old (and DO try to see the film in its original Panavision dimensions). Incredibly, the movie underperformed at the American box-office, despite playing in 70mm (blown up from the original 35mm) at selected venues, though it has since found an appreciative audience on TV and home video. Originally released in the UK as ROCKETEER, an unnecessary abbreviation.

Rocketeer is directed by Joe Johnston and co-written by Danny Bilson, Paul De Meo and William Dear. It is based on Dave Stevens' comic book The Rocketeer. It stars Billy Campbell, Jennifer Connelly, Alan Arkin, Timothy Dalton and Paul Sorvino. Music is scored by James Horner and cinematography by Hiro Narita.

It took eight years to get to the screen, with many rewrites, changes in personal, changes in setting and etc, the only thing consistent was Disney's inconsistency. Once out the film received generally positive reviews but posted only a small profit, in the wake of a Tim Burton inspired reinvention of the Super Hero genre, Rocketeer fell away into cultdom, sequels planned were shelved and its reputation remains to this day one of being a misfire. Unfair say I! Rocketeer is a lovingly crafted adventure film, nodding towards the serials of the 1930s, it's awash with period Hollywood delights, Art Deco imagery, has a damsel in distress, square jawed heroics, Nazi villains, wonderful effects and a blunderbuss Zeppelin finale. Backed by beautiful smooth tone photography and an evocative heart stirring music score, it's a family friendly blockbuster that ticks all the requisite boxes. The quality of the action sequences still hold up today, and Johnston, who wanted the job big time, directs with a knowing grasp of the setting, and crucially he never once loses a grip on tone and pacing. There's no self parody here, no deep Fruedian dissection of the main character, just a honest to goodness good against bad axis, with a romantic cause deftly wafted over proceedings.

The role of Cliff Secord (Rocketeer) proved hard to cast, where Vincent D'Onofrio turned it down and "name" actors such as Dennis Quaid, Emilio Estevez, Kurt Russell and Bill Paxton auditioned for the part. Paxton, it's believed, was very close to getting it as well. Disney wanted an A list man, Johnny Depp and Kevin Costner were mooted, but Johnston had a feel for unknown Billy Campbell and managed to convince nervous Disney heads that he was perfect. Much of the scorn that has flown towards Rocketeer has landed at Campbell's door, again, this is unfair. It's hard to tell if one of those A list actors could have made the character work better, for it helps in this instance to not have a familiar face propelling the adventure. There's an innocence, an awkwardness to Campbell's portrayal that just sits right for a guy stumbling upon a rocket pack and finding himself submerged in a chase and harry battle against bad. He also has the looks, a handsome dude who creates a homespun based chemistry with the sensuous Connelly. It's Dalton's movie, though, he's having a devil of a time as the chief villain. Modeled on Errol Flynn and the spurious notion that he was once a Nazi spy, Dalton has the looks, the gusto, the moustache twirling shiftiness and a voice perfect for such material. A roll call of great character actors fill out the support slots, with Terry O'Quinn, Paul Sorvino and Ed Lauter particularly striking the right chords.

A smashing piece of escapism, no pretensions or ideas above its station. The willingness to tap into the basic premise of a comic book actioner and entertain in grand Hollywood terms, to be applauded. And I do, and I do love it so. 8/10

This film's a bit of a hard sell to general audiences. There have been more than a few knowing homages to serials (the Indiana Jones series being the most obvious), but this isn't really one of those. Rather than making a modern film that references old films, this is pretty much a serial with a $40 million budget and (at the time) modern effects. It's deliberately old fashioned and will work for you to the extent that you enjoy action stuff from simpler times. I do ... so I enjoy this.

I was chomping at the bit, waiting for this movie to come out, back in 1991. I had loved the Dave Stevens comics since I first encountered them (ironically, at the same time I had read about Bettie Page in an article about Bunny Yeager, in a photography magazine). The comic captured the spirit of 1930's aviation pulps, as well as the Doc Savage crowd. It also brought along that Republic Studios flavor. I couldn't wait to see this as a movie.

The movie captured the spirit of the comics beautifully. Sure it was disappointing that Doc Savage couldn't be included, but Howard Hughes made a sensible substitution. I was a bit annoyed that Disney felt they had to change Betty into Jenny, but with Jennifer Connelly in the role, I was in a forgiving mood. The film was full of action and humor, cliffhangers and character; just like Stevens' creation. If there was anything to criticize, it was the toning down of Betty/Jenny. Yeah, I know, this is Disney, and she was far tamer in the comics than the real Betty/Bettie Page; but, hey, a guy can hope.

Bill Campbell was perfect for Cliff Secord. He had that All-American look, with an impish twinkle in his eye. Watching the movie, you could see the excitement when he was flying, and that he was head over heels in love with Jenny.

Alan Arkin made a great Peevy, although he was far less cantankerous than his print counterpart (incidentally, Peevy was based on Doug Wildey, creator of Jonny Quest). He was more of a Connecticut Yankee than grouchy mechanic.

Timothy Dalton made a great pseudo-Errol Flynn. I wasn't too happy that they trotted out that Flynn-as-Nazi Spy nonsense; but, it works beautifully for the story. Paul Sorvino made a great 30's mobster, too. Add Tiny Ron as Lothar, modeled after Rondo Hatton, and you have some pretty fun villains.

Then, there's Jennifer Connelly, one of the most beautiful and talented actresses in Hollywood. As I said, I had hoped for a little sexier character; but, the compromise was still pretty good. Connelly brought both a wholesomeness and sex appeal to the role. She looked great in the period clothing, too.

Everything about this film worked. The period detail was first rate, from the costumes, to he set design, to the slang. The only thing that would have improved this would have been to make more films. This is a great film for the whole family and captures the spirit of Republic and the pulps as well as Indiana Jones did.

In 1938, in Los Angeles, the pilot Cliff Secord (Bill Campbell) crashes his plane after being hit in the air in a shoot-out between gangsters and FBI agents in a car chase; completely broken, his best friend and mechanics A. 'Peevy' Peabody (Alan Arkin) tries to fix an old plane to raise some money in an exhibition show. However, Cliff finds a package hidden by one of the gangsters with a rocket with belts and they find that the device allows man to fly. Meanwhile, his beloved girlfriend and aspirant actress Jenny Blake (Jennifer Connelly) succeeds in an audition to make a small part in a movie of the great actor Neville Sinclair (Timothy Dalton) that is ranked the third in box-offices. During a flight exhibition, the mechanic Malcolm (Eddie Jones) has an accident, and Cliff uses the rocket to save him, being called Rocketeer by the public. With his picture in the front page of the newspaper, Cliff is chased by the FBI, the gangsters and German spies that abduct Jenny and forces Cliff to rescue her.

"Rocketeer" is a delightful adventure that recalls those classics from the old times of Hollywood. There is a handsome hero, a gorgeous heroine, gangsters, Nazi spies, betrayals, in a pace of cartoons with a magnificent art decoration, cars and costumes recreating Hollywood in the late 30's. The story has great lines and uses real characters, like Clark Gable and Howard Hughes, in fictional situations. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Rocketeer"

A decent adventure story that has its moments but could have been far more interesting. That's a one-sentence description I would have of this movie, which I have seen several times. I keep expecting it to be better than what it turns out to be. I like it, but there is just something missing.

I love the late 1930s look to this film, which has great color and sound and a likable hero in "Cliff Secord," played by Bill Campbell. The rest of the cast is pretty attractive with Jennifer Connelly, Timothy Dalton, Alan Arkin and Paul Sorvino - another reason this film should have been more memorable.

The rocket scenes were terrific. I just wish they had more of them, or that the "rocketeer" had used his rocket to help more people than just his girlfriend.

The action scenes are a bit hokey but some subtle comedy helped make this Disney action flick intriguing enough for a couple of viewings.

I've always surprised when people don't like this movie. It was one of my favorites at the time, and it has aged very well. It's a real "retro 30's" picture, like "The Shadow", instead of being a modern reinterpretation of such movies like the Indiana Jones films (which I also like very much).

The reviews cover the plot enough, and there are no real surprises here, but it's great family fun. My kids really love this movie, and I end up watching it every year or two, and I have never tired of it. When it came out there were apparently sequels planned, but it got killed at the box office by T2, which ran over everything that summer, so Disney never did anything with the show. They have recycled the atmosphere and the music in the "Soaring over California" ride at DCA, and I have to say it always makes me wistful that the movie never got a sequel.

By the way, the movie doesn't follow the comics that closely, which I don't mind, but if you are a purist and a fan of the "graphic novels", you might keep that in mind.

The Rocketeer has almost all of the right parts to make it orbit the moon and back, but coughs and splutters and only manages a brief soar. The period setting in the golden age of Hollywood and a pre-war America has all of the innocence and wholesomeness you would expect from that era. The excitement of then-new technology leading to a high-tech future is hinted at, but is slowed down by the plot like a sprinter wading through melting tar.

Cliff Secord is a stunt pilot (played by the charisma-free Bill Campbell, who I have never heard of) who discovers a prototype jet pack designed and disowned by Howard Hughes himself. Cliff, and his friend Peabody (a much more likable Alan Arkin) experiment with the jet pack, but never make any solid plans for it. The movie loses altitude here. Instead of soaring into the stratosphere by giving a thrill ride into this new invention the movie too often deviates into a sub-plot with Jennifer Connolly as the girlfriend and Timothy Dalton as the villain, and the best thing about it.

What the Rocketeer should have done is establish the new-found jetpack within the first 10 minutes, given us about 20 minutes of the origins of Secord as a new superhero, and then spent the remaining 80 minutes fighting villains. It is so frustrating that every time the movie should finally take-off it cuts away to a story that drags it to a halt.

The production design and special effects are all top-notch. The pre-CGI sequences of the Rocketeer jetting around the sky don't look bad despite coming in at the tail end of the optical effects era. The anamorphic Panavision photography is extremely high-key, and this perhaps is a fault. If the film were a little more rough around the edges it might have worked in its favor. James Horner's twee, sweet-natured, treacle score was a misjudgment though. Silvestri or Goldsmith could have improved on it, but I guess that they were far too busy in 1991.

Despite its shortcomings it is a shame that the Rocketeer did not end up being as popular as the Mummy or Zorro series. Although Bill Campbell really does look like Brendan Fraser, who was also in Looney Tunes: Back in Action, which featured Timothy Dalton as a spy pretending to be an actor - exactly what he is in this movie. Weird.

It's easy to see why it has gone on to be a cult favorite, and it is still worth checking out.

I love this film. Absolutely love it. Can't help it. I'm a child of the 40s and this movie is about when I was a kid. The sets are great, the story is 40s, the cars, the cafe with the bizarre little gingerbread giving an impression of a gnome's hangout, the costumes, the hero with his wiffle hair style, the airplanes and even Howard Hughes. What more could you want? No, this isn't The Matrix with a lot of slick computer effects with mind twisting is it or isn't it real. It's clear who the bad guys are-- and they're bad, except when, of course, the mob types are swept away by patriotic feelings and fight the Nazis. It's got it all. A wonderful trip back into the 40s with near superhuman villans, beyond the pale heros and lovable sidekicks.

Watched this for the first time the other day, not knowing really anything about it. Still don't know much about the comic it is based off, but speaking on the movie alone I thought it was decent enough. Considering this came out almost 30 years ago, the effects were pretty good. The Rocketeer definitely gives me the impression of a steampunk hero.

I can't recall Billy Campbell being in anything significant since, and kept thinking to myself that he looked like Billy Zane; perhaps it was the hair. We all know the successful career Jennifer Connelly has had. Timothy Dalton was the stand out as the vile villain.

Not quite Indiana Jones, but gives off similar vibes, especially since it's the same time period. Imagine Indiana infused with Iron Man. A fun family action flick.

I was so sold on this movie by the reviews on this site. Everyone LOVES it! I bought a copy, settled down with my popcorn and a chock-ice and turned up the surroundosound and snuggled down on the sofa for a good entertaining romp.

Great music!

Great opening sequence!

• 40 minutes later I was bored stupid.

It takes SO long to set up what are (intentionaly) very simple situations and very 2 dimensional characters.

It looks great; don't get me wrong. Lighting, sets, costumes, make-up - terrific! Jennifer Connelly's breasts? Stunning! Script? OK I guess, there are some nice lines and the story is very predictable - but Gods above! the plod plod plod pacing!

I'm amazed to see this movie ran for only 104 minutes, it felt a lot longer.

The Rocketeer looks fantastic. LA in 1938 is colorful and convincing. All the characters look like they were chiseled from marble to play their roles - Campbell as the dashing, all-American hero, Dalton as the Errol Flynn-like Nazi villain. Paul Sorvino looks great in great big gangster suits. Jennifer Connelly fits the period costumes perfectly. Alan Arkin adds good comic relief as the mechanical genius Peevy. None of the leads has a problem with acting, either.

So why does this feel like it's just pretty cardboard cutouts? The script zooms along and then loses momentum when they hide the rocket pack and the gangsters shake down the diner. The big finale looks great but looks aren't everything. Somewhere in here is a film lacking in soul. I don't know if it's the actors, the writing, the direction... They certainly put the effort into it, and there's no reason not to enjoy the film, but somehow Indiana Jones and Star Wars grab you on the inside, and this one sits outside and just shows pretty colors. The production is so slick and well done it's a pleasure to watch. You could get a lot less out of a movie, but when they put so much effort into making it look this good it should feel good too. Funny movie alchemy.

When an elderly colleague experiences trouble during a stunt show, pilot Cliff Secord (Bill Campbell) straps on the mysterious prototype jet-pack found stashed in the cockpit of his plane and unwittingly becomes the news sensation known as The Rocketeer; he also becomes the target of dashing Hollywood star/Nazi spy Neville Sinclair (Timothy Dalton), who plans to develop the amazing invention for use in a planned aerial assault on the US by German troops.

Even with an undeniably fun concept, a great cast, and every tool in ILM's special effects arsenal at his disposal, Spielberg acolyte Joe Johnston fails to turn pulp-style comic-book Rocketeer into the absolutely awesome movie it could so easily have been. How? With too much talk and not enough rocketeering!

For a film based on a character who can blast through the sky with the aid of a jet-propelled back pack, The Rocketeer features surprisingly little aerial action, instead spending much of its time set on terra firmer. There's plenty of intrigue and suspense as Sinclair's hired goons (which include a hulking Rondo Hatton lookalike) try to locate the pack, and Jennifer Connelly as Cliff's gorgeous girlfriend is a pleasantly diverting sight (boy, would I like to get my hands on her massive twin boosters!) but none of this is a truly satisfying substitute for lots of fast and furious, rocket powered action.

Cheery family-friendly adventures in the same vein as Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Set during the waning years of the great depression, it's a snapshot of a very specific period when America was beginning to pick itself up by the bootstraps, the atomic age was looming and not even the sky was the limit. At heart it's a silly, grinning action gimmick that's backed by a tried-and-true storyline and a stylish, art-deco-meets-dusty-barnstormer sense of fashion. Although the plot is inherently cheesy and predictable, it's straight-laced and innocent enough, a clear homage to '30s adventure serials, that I was willing to let most of those shortcomings slide. The special effects haven't aged well at all, though, with several obvious green screens and a few rough, quick cuts sticking out in all the wrong ways. Timothy Dalton is disappointing as the pencil-stached villainous saboteur, but Jennifer Connelly and leading man Bill Campbell fully commit to the premise, picking up the slack adequately. Inoffensive and silly, it's as good as it was ever going to be; a wild kids' ride that the parents won't mind tagging along for.

The Rocketeer is a surprisingly good action/adventure film with wonderful pulp nostalgia. The film is based on an old comic book character and that's exactly how it feels, in the best possible way. It simply just reeks that old American nostalgia where men were men and woman had enough sass and spunk to power whole steamboats.

For me it's the characters that make this film. Timothy Dalton plays the perfect guile villain, Neville Sinclair, the most charismatically slimy Hollywood lead actor of all time. Every time he flashed that billion dollar toothpaste smile of his, you just want to punch the guy, while hiding your girlfriend and shaking his hand. In a sense, a villain you love to hate and hate to love. Wonderful role performance, easily the best in the whole film.

I was also pleasantly surprised by the side characters. Alan Arkin's Peevy Peabody is what I would imagine a poor and more down to earth Tony Stark to be like. A genius engineer, yet his presence fills the screen and when he starts talking, you stop and listen. The same with Jennifer Connelly's Jenny Blake, but in a whole different way. I can see why Neville falls for the girl instantly, and not just because she has some information that he wants. I mean that face and that smile... Good heavens.

Unfortunately pretty much the only character that did very little to me is the main character, The Rocketeer himself, played by Billy Campbell. He has this whole nice neighborhood guy thing going for him, but it's a bit too nice, if you follow. The man leaves very small impression and isn't quite identifiable or unique enough to stand apart from other adventure stock characters just like him.

But luckily the rest of the cast and the rest of the movie as a whole are more than capable to keep your interests raised and to provide you with a charming adventure with surprisingly decent special effects for their time, some great action sequences and that whole early 20th century charisma. If you like pulp settings, great adventure films and charismatic actors, this is definitely a film worth checking out.

This movie is what "Spysmasher" and "The Red Skull" wanted to be, but couldn't because special effects were too lame then and their budgets were too small. It's sad how a lot of critics dumped on Bill Campbell's performance in this movie, when he does precisely what he should -- he's the square-jawed, slightly naive, optimistic hero who is repeatedly double-crossed by the wily villain (if he were less of a Boy Scout and more of a James Bond, there wouldn't be any movie). Connelly and Arkin are just great as, respectively, the beautiful and plucky girlfriend and the brilliant mechanic father-figure/sidekick. If you liked those old serials, you'll love this movie.

Maybe the movie didn't have an audience, but if you watch the trailer it wasn't marketed right -- the trailer makes it seem like an Indiana Jones movie, and it is much more innocent (and sweeter) than that. Apparently Disney was planning to make another one, but pulled the plug because this one bombed at the box office. I recall expecting something else when I went into the theater, and being very pleasantly surprised by it. I was also very surprised when the movie wasn't a hit, but I even sort of liked the old Flash Gordon serials, so...

Another thing that is disappointing me at the moment is that I can't find any entries for the Spysmasher or Red Skull serials (the latter was the first one I know of with the Commando Cody character, although I don't recall him being referred to by that appellation -- I saw it 40 years ago, and then managed the catch the last hour or so in the middle of the night about 15 years ago one sleepless night, so it's kind of a blur).

Having discovered a top secret jetpack (like that used by James Bond in 'Thunderball'), it is up to a pilot to keep the device away from the clutches of Nazi spies in this action comedy set in Hollywood during the late 1930s. The jetpack is ultimately little more than a Hitchcockian McGuffin with rocketeering aerial theatrics surprisingly minimal, however, the film works magnificently thanks to its accurate portrait of the era in question. The movie provides a fascinating backstage insight into the filming of an Errol Flynn type swashbuckler and Timothy Dalton is excellent playing a Hollywood star based on Flynn himself. There are also fun brief turns by Terry O'Quinn as Howard Hughes, Bob Leeman as W.C. Fields and Gene Daily as Clark Gable in a blink-and-miss-it performance. The film is genuinely funny at times too; "you steer, I'll push" shouts lead actor Bill Campbell before making a stalling truck speed away, while Dalton's adamant claim "I do my own stunts" is a fun reference to his recently completed stint as Bond. It is no surprise though to learn that the film is quite divisive. With thugs who are more goofy than menacing and an awfully sweet central romance, the film well earns its 'family entertainment' rating, however, the historical nature of the story with plugs to old Hollywood actually makes the film more suitable to adults. Whatever the case, it is likely that all sorts of viewers will at least take something out of 'The Rocketeer'. The flag-waving patriotism is admittedly hard to swallow at times, but beyond this an amusing film awaits.

This is going to sound shallow, but I'm being honest. I only liked the 1940's classic Hollywood look that Jennifer Connelly and the Hollywood landscape had.

The rest was boring.

A great action adventure film from 1991 that proves to be enormous fun.

They don't make them like this any more.

When it first came out, I remember enjoying the first 30 minutes of this movie, then finding it a bit slow. This time around, I found myself appreciating the tribute aspects a bit more and enjoyed it in its entirety.

You'll like this movie a lot more if you know about the era and the real life counterparts of the characters that are referenced and portrayed. Without that knowledge, the movie might appear far more naive than it actually is.

The acting is generally spot on for the tribute tone of the movie and both the leads are outrageously good-looking people. If memory serves I developed a slight crush on Ms. Connelly after my original viewing of this movie. I'm sure I wasn't alone. I'm not sure it didn't happen this time. This was filmed long before she joined the Hollywood cult of the anorexic.

The FX are nicely done and the science is perfectly out of whack considering the genre that the film mimics.

All in all, I appreciate this movie and its honoring the past without becoming a schmaltz-fest. It's an action movie done in a thoughtful manner. I Like It.

The Rocketeer is a great action movie and fun to watch. Since it is set in the 1930s, the movie doesn't fail to effectively give it a nice '30s throwback look and feel to it. Bill Campbell did a good job as Cliff, aka the Rocketeer. Timothy Dalton's performance as the villainous Neville Sinclair, a Nazi in disguise, was a far cry from his role as James Bond, but effective nonetheless.

I read that there had been plans to make The Rocketeer a trilogy. It's too bad it never happened. It's hard not to wonder what might have been if the film had successfully spawned any sequels. But I would hope that we would have been given stories just as good as the original film, if not better.

In my humble opinion, no only is The Rocketeer is an enjoyable movie, but it's one of the best action films of 1991.