No.35 : The Rocketeer (1991)

The Rocketeer at the IMDb

I had pretty good memories of ‘The Rocketeer’ but was slightly wrong footed from the start when the ‘Disney’ logo came up - surely the House of Mouse have done nothing that appeals to anyone over 10 years old? ‘Herbie Goes Bananas’ excepted, of course.

Well there is certainly no sex, drug taking swearing or nudity but seeing as it’s an old fashioned adventure romp it manages to navigate past these shortcomings and remain an enjoyable offering.

The film is set just before the second World War with Nazis, spies and saboteurs all over the shop. We open with a young pilot testing a new aircraft when he happens upon an FBI chase and cops a bullet in the engine for his troubles. He manages to get the plane back to the airstrip just as the Feds and the gangsters arrive, causing his already stricken craft to blow up. One gangster manages to hide his loot before being arrested and our man and his chirpy mechanic Alan Arkin are left to count the cost.

The airfield owner tells them they’ll have to break out their old clown plane to entertain the air show crowds but as they dust the old bird off they find what the gangster has left behind - a super duper jet pack, designed and build by Howard Hughes. Seeing its potential worth, our men decide to make a few bucks off the machine before handing it back; but elsewhere more nefarious plans are afoot.

Paulie out of ‘Goodfellas’ has been employed by Timothy Dalton’s dashing but traitorous actor to get the jet pack for his Nazi pals. He kidnaps the Rocketeer’s girl Jennifer Connelly and it’s up to our guys to get into lots of situations that could benefit from having a jet pack to save the day. With the plan exposed Dalton makes off with Connelly and her zeppelins, sorry in a zeppelin , with the Rocketeer in hot pursuit. You’ll pretty much guess the rest.

If you ask most people they’ll wax lyrical about ‘The Rocketeer’ and rightly so ; there’s a lot to like. For a start the cast is spot on with the slightly slow but oh so dashing Bill Campbell in the lead. It’s a shame he’s not gone onto greater things but he did at least get a decent gig in Ricky Gervais’ ‘Ghost Town’ a couple of years back. Connelly is good fun too especially as she spends most of the film in a low cut ball gown. Timothy Dalton is great as the moustache twirling bad guy reportedly based on Errol Flynn and Alan Arkin is his always likable self as the cheery mechanic.

The plot is pretty basic with all the action basically happening over a day and a night. He finds the thing, leans to fly it and then saves the day in it. I’m not saying he should have had a love scene with it too, it just seems a bit straightforward in terms of plot direction. The end scenes with the Zeppelin were a good idea as up to that bit the only use of the rocket pack seemed to be a means of getting somewhere quickly.

There is no sense of danger in the film and despite a Rondo Hatton-esque unkillable bad guy most of the deaths occur off screen and those that don’t have a comic element to them. The sets and costumes are great and the whole thing is evocative of a more innocent time in both the movies and the world in general.

If you think the plot is a bit slight or you think things fall together a bit too easily you may be right, but for the most part I’d say ‘shut up I’m trying to watch this nice film again - Jennifer’s dress surely can’t stand the strain this time around?!’.


THE Tag Line : Strap It On And Brace Yourself 73%

No.25 : The Phantom (1996)

The Phantom at the IMDb

The 1930’s must have been a tough time for criminals with a taste for antiquities, what with Indiana Jones, The Shadow (see No. 2) and now ‘The Phantom’. It's probably got something to do with the innocence of the time before the second world war, or perhaps the new technologies which meant that inter continental travel was possible. Personally I think the studios had a pile of spats that they needed to use up.

This tale opens on the highs seas with a big fight between some sailors and a gang of pirates. After seeing his Dad killed a young lad manages to escape overboard and is washed up on a remote island into the hands of some savages. Rather than stick him in the pot they train him up to be a crime fighter who wears a purple body stocking, as you do.

We fast forward to the present of the 1930’s and meet up with a scum bag gang of tomb raiders. We know they are bad as they cuss a lot and treat their child guide badly, but effectively they only do what Indiana does only with less style and budget. After finally realising their quest for a jewelled skull they encounter The Phantom and see him off rather easily.

Back in New York media mogul Drax is happy with his new treasure. Legend has it that once the skull is teamed up with its two compadres the bearer will become really tough and the Phantom can’t have that. After taking some guidance from his dead Dad, Patrick ‘The Prisoner’ McGoohan and stabling his frankly useless horse and wolf sidekicks The Phantom heads to the familiar streets of New York where the crime fighters are ten deep on Sixth Avenue.

The second skull is quickly sourced and these two handily point the way to the third on a big map conveniently located on the wall. As the baddies head off on their seaplane with The Phantom’s squeeze as a hostage our hero hitches a ride to the big set where their showdown will take place. Will the skulls be reunited? and can The Phantom save his girl and continue the line of masked adventurers that stretches back 400 years? Possibly not as there hasn’t been a sequel in 14 years…

I quite enjoyed this campy, derivative nonsense. ‘The Phantom’ clearly has his origins in the Saturday morning matinees and a lot of his baggage doesn’t really translate well into a modern film. He is a bit of a Bruce Wayne but without the gadgets and know how. He gets regularly bested in fights and although that may be to emphasise his vulnerability it just comes across as him being a bit rubbish. He has a faithful wolf and horse, both of which look so trained up that you half expect them to stop for a treat after every party piece.

The Phantom’s main power is that of the fear he puts amongst his enemies given his appaenent ghost like powers of being 400 years old. I know times are simpler but surely someone would’ve suggested it’s different men in the same suit?

Billy Zane is clearly having fun in the lead but suffers from the eternal dual identity problem of sounding exactly the same as his alter ego. At one point the leaves his taxi in his civvies and returns in his Phantom suit to the confusion of his cabbie. ‘Why the Halloween suit’ would’ve seemed a more likely reply.

Down the cast you get Treat Williams as the Howard Hughes like Drax, who clearly has lesser ambitions before his space station project can get off the ground. He does have an overly elaborate line in microscopes and his inevitable demise is a bit low key given what has gone before. The film also sees an early role for Catherine Zeta-Jones who plays a bitchy ball breaker. Her character arc is poorly defined but there seems to more than a bit of a lesbian motivation to her turn around - that plot I could have seen developed!

The film has pretty good production values and some cracking locations. It does look like the budget was blown prior to the big showdown which seems to take place in a ropey pirate themed restaurant. The film does however not take itself too seriously and although undemanding it is pretty good fun and certainly better than ‘The Shadow’. 58%

THE Tag Line : Better than ‘The Shadow’