Review of The Rocketeer (1991) by Travis T — 03 Oct 2010

This is my all-time favorite comic book movie- when my mom and dad took my big sister and I to Disney World the first time, this was the movie the place was going nuts over- and I did, too.

As a kid, I liked the idea of a superhero who used a jetpack to fly- I also thought he had a cool costume. When I got older, I began to appreciate the movie more once I understood the plot better than I did the first time I saw it- I loved the pulp era setting: retro-Hollywood, gangsters, a gorgeous pin-up beauty love interest, Nazi spies, and a monstrous thug.

The cast did a great job portraying the characters who originally appeared in comic pages written and drawn by the late-but-great Dave Stevens. Bill Campbell was pretty likable as the titular hero, Cliff Secord, a hotshot pilot whose life changes dramatically, thanks to an experimental personal flight device, built and designed by none other than Howard Hughes, played in the movie by the awesome Terry O'Quinn (John Locke, "Lost").

Jennifer Connelly was gorgeous and played Cliff's girlfriend, Betty, quite nicely- one tough chick who was easy on the eyes. Timothy Dalton, a former Bond actor, played the part of Neville Sinclair, the movie's villain and Errol Flynn-type actor/Nazi spy, to the point of where you wanted to get on the screen and punch him out. Alan Arkin as Peevy (Cliff's inventor friend), Paul Sorvino as Eddie Valentine (a crime boss), and Tiny Ron as Lothar (Sinclair's scary giant henchman) were great as well.

This movie really kept to the comic's spirit and Dave Stevens' original vision, which was a rare thing to see for comic book movies back in the day. It's a great nostalgic class to enjoy, and check it out when you can.