Every once in awhile you see a movie that should have been a big hit, but for some reason it didn't connect with a big audience. 1991's THE ROCKETEER is one of those films.
A very young Billy Campbell stars as a hotshot pilot Cliff, who stumbles onto a prototype jet pack that has him flying into a great adventure.
It's got great villains and heroes: (Lost's Terry O'Quinn as Howard Hughes, Timothy Dalton as an Errol Flynn like movie star with eyes for Cliff's girl (young and already good Jennifer Connelly). Alan Arkin rounds out the cast as Cliff's friend and mentor and he is as good as you'd expect.
Director Joe Johnston (Captain America, Jumanji) moves things along quickly with a lot of style, the special effects team and stunt team are first class, the music score by James Horner is one of his all time best.
Top all this off with a terrific action climax in and top of a Nazi dirigible over 1930's Los Angeles and you have a great time at the movies.
Family friendly but never dumb and decades before IRONMAN took the concept to the next level, The Rocketeer soared to a solid B.
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