Film
Movie theaters, reviews and showtimes in New York, plus articles, trailers and more
- Home
- Box Office
- Listings
- Trailers
- Features
Bookmark this page- Edition:
The Rocketeer (1991)
Director: Joe Johnston
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
In this comic book adaptation, chisel-faced pilot Cliff Secord (Campbell) discovers a rocket pack that enables him to zoom through the skies, only to find himself pursued by villains employed by film star Neville Sinclair (Dalton). Sinclair, a dastardly egomaniac, wants the rocket, but so do the Feds, since the Nazis are after it. Poor old Cliff can't tell the good guys from the bad. What's his actress girlfriend Jenny (Connelly) to do? Her man isn't earthbound long enough to finish a date. The late '30s are beautifully evoked, Hiro Narita's cinematography captures some lush images, and director Johnston has a freshness and lightness of touch. The rocket sequences are quite exhilarating, but the scenes in between are the problem; Cliff and Jenny make a bland couple, and the Fascist threat lacks real menace. Neat idea, peachy visuals, but there ain't much else to grip the imagination.Author: CM
Cast & crew
Director: Joe Johnston
Producer: Lawrence Gordon, Charles Gordon, Lloyd Levin
Cast: Bill Campbell, Jennifer Connelly, Alan Arkin, Timothy Dalton, Paul Sorvino, Terry O'Quinn, Ed Lauter, James Handy, Tiny Ron full cast
Genre(s): Fantasy
Duration: 108 mins
Most popular on this site
Features
To the letter
Forty years later, Costa-Gavras's Z still brims with fury.
Mind over matter
David Cronenberg reflects on a most bizarre body: his own corpus of work.
Fool's gold
Can an Oscar win lead to a cursed career? Here are five stories of postaward professional meltdowns.
We are the championed
Terrorists and teens abound in this year's "Film Comment Selects."
A history of violence
Matteo Garrone's kaleidoscopic Gomorrah wallops you with Italy's crime crisis.
True romantic
James Gray exchanges urban amorality for amour in Two Lovers.
Playing in the dark
MoMA salutes pianist Stuart Oderman's 50 years as the one-man sound of silents.
Junk bonds
Cast and crew recall the making of the classic NYC drug drama The Panic in Needle Park.
What do you think?
Post your review now