The Rocketeer

1991
PG
1h 48m

IMDb RATING

6.6/10

63K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

Play trailer0:31

Steampunk Superhero Action Adventure Family Sci-Fi Thriller

A young pilot stumbles onto a prototype jetpack that allows him to become a high-flying masked hero.A young pilot stumbles onto a prototype jetpack that allows him to become a high-flying masked hero.A young pilot stumbles onto a prototype jetpack that allows him to become a high-flying masked hero.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.6/10

63K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

2,746

542

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 1 win & 6 nominations total

Trivia
Dave Stevens, the writer/artist of the original graphic novel, gave the film's production designer Jim Bissell and his two art directors his entire reference library pertaining to the Rocketeer at that time period, including blueprints for hangars and bleachers, schematics for building the autogyro, photos and drawings of the Bulldog Cafe, the uniforms for the air circus staff, and contacts for locating the vintage aircraft that were to be used. Stevens remembers that they "literally just took the reference and built the sets".

Goofs
When the Nazi agent is yelling at Sinclair, he shouts, "Ich habe meine Bestellung, und du auch!" ("I have my order, and so do you!") The German word for a military order is "Befehl." "Bestellung" is the order you give to a waiter.

Quotes
Neville Sinclair: [on the road leading to the Griffith Observatory] C'mon, Eddie. I'm paying you well. Does it really matter where the money comes from?
[siding with the G-men to fight the Nazis]
Eddie Valentine: It matters to me. I may not make an honest buck, but I'm 100% American. I don't work for no two-bit Nazi. Let the girl go!
[Neville laughs, then calls out - in German - a group of hidden armed Sturmabteilung German soldiers who promptly hold everyone at gunpoint]

Connections
Featured in Rocketeer: Excitement in the Air (1991)

Soundtracks
Der Hoelle Rache
from Queen of the Night's "Aria" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Performed by Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin
Courtesy of Laserlight Digital, by arrangement with Sounds of Film

User reviews195

Review

Featured review

10/10

wonderful, old-fashioned movie

I've always surprised when people don't like this movie. It was one of my favorites at the time, and it has aged very well. It's a real "retro 30's" picture, like "The Shadow", instead of being a modern reinterpretation of such movies like the Indiana Jones films (which I also like very much).

The reviews cover the plot enough, and there are no real surprises here, but it's great family fun. My kids really love this movie, and I end up watching it every year or two, and I have never tired of it. When it came out there were apparently sequels planned, but it got killed at the box office by T2, which ran over everything that summer, so Disney never did anything with the show. They have recycled the atmosphere and the music in the "Soaring over California" ride at DCA, and I have to say it always makes me wistful that the movie never got a sequel.

By the way, the movie doesn't follow the comics that closely, which I don't mind, but if you are a purist and a fan of the "graphic novels", you might keep that in mind.