- Story
- Effects
- Sound Quality
- Bonus Features
Disney’s The Rocketeer is now available to own for the fist time on Blu-ray.
It’s hard to believe it’s been 20 years since The Rocketeer hit the big screen. I remember seeing it in the theater back in the Summer of ’91. At that time, I knew nothing of the Dave Smith comic that it was based on, but I was immediately drawn in by the story, characters and circa 1930′s look of the movie. Sadly, it wasn’t a huge Summer blockbuster for Disney. With a total box office of about $47.6 million and a budget of about $40 million, I don’t know if you can even call that breaking even.
The interesting thing is that despite it’s lackluster box office showing, it’s developed quite the cult following over the years. I think Disney has recognized that and rewarded its faithful cult following with a remastered hi-def version of the film at last!
The film stars Billy Campbell (TV’s “The O.C.”), Jennifer Connelly (“A Beautiful Mind) and Timothy Dalton (TV’s “Chuck”) and was directed by Joe Johnston (“Captain America: The First Avenger”). Set in 1930′s Hollywood, a young pilot named Cliff Secord stumbles onto an experimental jetpack. While struggling to keep it away from the mob and the Nazis (and through a series of mishaps) he dons the jetpack to save a fellow pilot (and friend) from crashing his plane and becomes “The Rocketeer”.
Timothy Dalton was pretty much a household name at the time of this movie, which was about 2 years after his last James Bond role in 1989′s “Licence to Kill” and 20 year old Jennifer Connelly was still and up-and-comer at the time (I like to think of this as the movie that really launched her career, even if it isn’t). Alan Arkin plays Peevy, cliff’s closest friend and father-figure and Terry O’ Quinn (you might have seen him in TV’s “Lost”) gives a nice cameo as Howard Hughes.
I loved this movie 20 years ago, I still loved it about a year ago when I picked up a copy on DVD and I love it even more now that I have a Blu-ray copy of the film. While it’s dubbed as an “Anniversary Edition” I wouldn’t go as far to say that it’s much more than that. While the restoration looks great, the only bonus feature on the disc was the original movie trailer. That’s it. No behind the scenes documentaries or special effects breakdowns here. But sometimes you have to be grateful for what you get, and I truly believe the folks at Disney listened to the pleadings of all the fans in finally putting this one on Blu-ray!
Click the link below to pick up a copy from Amazon.com
(It helps us out if you do!)
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