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.
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.