The Rocketeer (1991)
Directed by Joe Johnston
A stunt pilot comes across a prototype jetpack that gives him the ability to fly. However, evil forces of the world also want this jetpack at any cost.
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What critics compared The Rocketeer to
In some respects, Tomorrowland is reminiscent of another Disney movie, 1991's The Rocketeer, in that it has a retro-futuristic vibe that won't be for every taste, but which provides enormous entertainment for those who can get into it.
When young Frank (Thomas Robinson) is zooming around Tomorrowland in his homemade jetpack, there are shades of The Rocketeer, a sense of wide-eyed wonderment not seen much since Steven Spielberg's 1980s heyday, and even the "kids are smart, adults are dumb" theme of E.T. and The Goonies.
There are many nods to Saturday family adventures like The Rocketeer , and quite a few to the bicycle-riding kids of ET .
Frank's hologram guard dog is cooler than his jetpack, which looked a lot sweeter in 1991's "The Rocketeer."
As praise goes, Tomorrowland has moments of retro-tinged visual splendor that suggest a more technically advanced version of some of Joe Johnston’s films, particularly The Rocketeer , that eternally underappreciated Disney effort.
But director Bird (“The Incredibles,” “Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol”) is such a master of momentum, and has such a way with gadgetry that the film’s two-plus hours whiz by, with elements of “The Terminator,” “Hugo,” “The Rocketeer” “The Wizard of Oz” and countless other films flashing past.
Then again, perhaps Hollywood didn't quite forget, since Johnston got a second chance at a traditional period superhero story with the 2011 picture Captain America: The First Avenger.
Oh, and Joe Johnston (“Captain America: The First Avenger”) directs “The Rocketeer,” about a young pilot who ends up taking on a Nazi spy and his henchmen--which, for Johnston, at least, makes Captain America the second avenger.
Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely (co-writers of "The Chronicles of Narnia" series) wrote the screenplay, and Joe Johnston ("The Rocketeer," "Jumanji," "October Sky") directed it.
What also came as a surprise in “The First Avenger” was how similar the film felt to director Joe Johnston’s first comic book movie, 1991′s “The Rocketeer.”
Instead director Joe Johnston, who made the better and more focused “The Rocketeer,” seems intent on impressing us with larger and larger sets and populating the screen with armies foreign to any known battlefield let alone the product of the WWII period.
While his remake of The Wolfman was critically blasted (with the exception of this humble critic), Johnston’ 1991 film The Rocketeer still stands as an underrated WWII era tale of adventure, heroism, and good vs evil.
Joe Johnston’s aw-shucks homage to adventure serials and American can-do, The Rocketeer , invoked the mafia-Navy story a quarter century ago.
Standing somewhat apart from today's blockbusters-of-the-week, it hews more closely to such nostalgia-tinged projects as 1980's Flash Gordon and 1991's The Rocketeer, narratively simple adventure yarns that charmingly worked their straightforward delineations of good and evil into no-frills fun.
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Gone are the pulp machinations of Joe Johnston--this one is more The Empire Strikes Back than The Rocketeer, where the victories are Pyrrhic and the bad guys are smarter and better-equipped.
The first was a golden-hued romance directed with yesteryear style by Joe Johnston ("The Rocketeer").
Our hero is lured into breaking a safe at what turns out to be Pym's house, and finds what turns out to be the Ant-Man suit, which fits him even though it looks a lot like the suit from "The Rocketeer."
Let us assume that when ranking all the superhero movies, there is a top tier consisting of the first "Superman," the two Christopher Nolan "Dark Knight" films, "Spider Man 2" and maybe a couple of wild cards like "The Rocketeer" and "Hulk"--all brilliant and enormously entertaining works of cinema that will thrill viewers of all stripes.
The first time Spider-Man is seen in full costume, there's a musical bit that was EXACTLY out of the soundtrack for "The Rocketeer."
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Look at the first Iron Man, Wonder Woman, The Rocketeer, and Captain America: The First Avenger.
My advice to you Billy is this quote from The Rocketeer; 'Acting is acting without looking like your acting'.