The Rocketeer is a comic superhero created by Dan Stevens in 1982. Being a homage to the Saturday matinee serial heroes from the 1930s – 1950s, especially icons like Captain America, the stories of a stunt pilot discovering a mysterious jetpack that gifts him with the ability of flight and uses it to stop crime, the comics were a nice homage to the earlier periods of comic books with war and governmental propaganda with a touch of old-fashion camp keeping it entertaining for kids and adults. Though a relatively underground comic, the development for a film was put into works one year after its creation, going through several directors, stylistic choices, and acting choices for so long that it put the film in development hell. However, in 1991, the film was released under Walt Disney Pictures, giving to the world The Rocketeer. Set in 1938 Los Angeles, California, a young stunt pilot named Cliff Secord (played by Billy Campbell) is given brand-new levels of flight when he comes across a jetpack that allows him to fly without the need of a plane. Unknown to him and his friend, Peevy (played by Alan Arkin), the jetpack is being tracked by the FBI, the famous inventor and aviator Howard Hughes (played by Terry O’Quinn) and movie star Neville Sinclair (played by Timothy Dalton) who wishes to get the rocket pack as he is a Nazi spy hoping to steal the technology to help them take over. With his girlfriend Jenny (played by Jennifer Connolly) caught up in the mess, Cliff has to doon the rocketeer outfit in order to stop the bad guys while saving his girl and the world in the process. Though the film did decently with critics, it was not the crowd-pleaser that the team behind the film were hoping for, not racking in enough at the box office to make the planned-out sequels, which forced them to be scrapped. As a typical rock-em sock-em comic book story, this film offers up enough high-flying action, likeable actors, a charming honest atmosphere, and campy charm to make it worth a viewing.

The idea of the film was jumped upon incredibly quickly after the comic was created, which meant that the decision for how the film would be made was very up in the air and took some time to figure out. Originally hoping to be a low budget film, shot in black and white and funded by independent investors, as well as featuring various character actors and being a homage to Commando Cody, the hero of the 12-chapter science fiction serial Radar Men from the Moon made in 1952. But after going through several directors, including Steven Miner and William Dear, the role was eventually given to Joe Johnston, who would later go on to work on Captain America: The First Avenger. His ability to capture the time period was very beneficial to the product; making the people, the environment and even the attitudes feel remarkably genuine to the 1950s. Under the Disney name, the film was constantly hindered by their control, trying to change the script, writers, time period, scenes, and acting choices. While this prevented the film from stretching out into more interesting territories as the plot is very standard and not that interesting, it works as a call-back to the classic tv and comic serials of the time period. The film has an enormous amount of camp that does not feel distracting as the environment and atmosphere is so authentic and well-established, creating a universe that feels very much like an old-fashion movie. The story is not necessarily an action film or even a superhero film; but rather an over-blown adventure film with more flying than any punches being thrown. This thankfully does not ruin the picture as the simple set-up and time period engross-ness allows for a little leeway in how different it feels from traditional action films.

Many of the talent behind this film would go onto various famous roles, being the film that started off a lot of their careers. While most of these names are famous and recognisable, the way they act and look visually matches the style of the 50s environments. The Rocketeer is a basic superhero caricature similar in vein to Captain America; a role model with larger-than-life abilities but with a humanistic edge and down-to-earth threats that kept in relatable. The acting for him needed to add something to a bit role but Billy Campbell does not bring anything that unique, which resulted in him being one of the few actors in this film to never go anyway. But for a standard role with not much meat, he does a pretty good job being likeable enough in and out of the costume. Jennifer Connolly and Alan Arkin provide good support, and Terry O’ Quinn makes for a very authentic and enjoyable Howard Hughes; zany and in his own world, yet with enough conviction and quiet stability that makes him come across like a Bond villain.  Timothy Dalton plays a pretty good bad guy; with his character being a great call back to the paranoia surrounding actors of the times about them being Nazi spies with specific homage to Errol Flynn. Its true that his plan for the rocket pack is so ridiculous and so clearly not effective that its hilarious to look at, but it works in a silly comic book universe and even in paranoid fears of what people imagined the Nazi were capable of at the time.

The visual effects for the film were distributed by Industrial Lights & Magic, a division of Lucasfilm, and was supervised by animation director Wes Takahashi, who has worked on several films with similar styles of action like Back to the Future, Top Gun, The Abyss, Hook and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. The way the flying scenes manoeuvre in the film is mixed between fast-paced moments where the computers take over, and the slower more grounded moments where the strings can take over. Both utilise their technology well and leave some basic but fun action set-pieces. There is not as much fighting as there is moments of heroism despite the action being pretty extreme when it comes to its motion, stunts, and explosions. Many people could be turned off by this, but a heavy focus on saving people and flying around as opposed to constant action is more in tuned with comics at the time as well as the overly diabolical villain going up against the stereotypical hero. The design of the rocketeer is a nice blend between realistic enough to blend in with the time period, but safe enough to not be silly looking when fighting crime. The music by James Horner is a very typical score from him; the tone and brightness of the music matches the campy atmosphere while the triumphant instruments match the heroic element.

Though not hated by any means and more so being forgotten after its release, The Rocketeer is better than people give it credit for. Maybe because of the time it came out, that Disney mainly bought the product just to sell merchandise, how quickly the name came and faded from popularity, or maybe because it wasn’t the typical action film that audiences were expecting, but as not only an adaptation of the graphic novel but also as a time piece adventure film, the movie handles itself very well. With a condensed simple story, likeable characters with great acting, nice effects, wonderful atmosphere and presentation, and all-around campy vibe, The Rocketeer comes across as an underrated film not given enough attention. With a future reboot in the making, it will be interesting to see if this high-flying man can stand the test of time and come back into the spotlight. Until then, this is a pretty good movie to check out until then.