The Rocketeer landed on Home Video today in 1992, after a lukewarm June 21st, 1991 theatrical takeoff.
The shadow cast by 1989’s Batman loomed large in the ’90s, and Hollywood spent most of the decade scrambling for the next big superhero-esque blockbuster franchise. While Underoo A-listers like Superman and Spider-Man were doomed to sit out the decade, crime-busters and mystery men from the pulp era seemed like the perfect way to infuse some nostalgia into the mix. Dick Tracy, Zorro, The Phantom, The Shadow – along with loving tributes like Darkman, The Mask, and The Rocketeer – all threw their silhouette on the silver screen with wildly varying degrees of success.
Of them all, The Rocketeer might be the most effortlessly cool. A love letter to golden-age adventure serials, Dave Stevens’ comic brought Art Deco aviation, mobsters, and Nazi spies together in one sleek, jet-powered package. Joe Johnston’s 1991 adaptation kept that retro-futurist charm intact, delivering a film that felt equal parts Raiders of the Lost Ark and Saturday morning matinee. It was also written by Paul De Meo and Danny Bilson, the dynamic duo you’d call on to write your Comic Book movie before David S. Goyer cornered the market.
A daring pilot with a stolen jetpack, a swashbuckling Errol Flynn-inspired villain, Jennifer Connelly in full noir leading lady mode – this one had it all. And yet, despite a killer score, stunning production design, and a tone that nailed the earnest, two-fisted heroics of its source material, The Rocketeer never quite took off at the box office. Blame bad marketing, blame the fact that audiences were still warming up to superheroes, or just chalk it up to bad luck – either way, it remains one of the best cult-classic adventure films of the era.