Plot: What’s it about?
There have been such movies based on comic book action heroes that have made us believe the impossible. Can a man leap a tall building with a single bound? Can a guy named The Shadow really disappear into thin air? And where exactly does Batman get ‘all those wonderful toys’? Along the same lines as these modern day classics comes a story about a man and his rocket. Let me rephrase that—A man and his rocketeer! The story starts out in Los Angeles in 1938, people are still saying things like “watch where you’re goin’ see…” and “hey that’s a nice dish ya got there…” (dish being slang for dame, er women) and a pilot named Cliff Secord stumbles into a rocket and a situation that will propel (get it) him into some serious trouble with the law, the germans and Howard Hughes among others. Hughes, the noted billionaire who was an early manufacturer of airplanes and worked closely with the government, has developed a rocket that straps around a person and enables them to fly! This being smack dab in the middle of World War II, obviously the Nazi’s want it so they can defeat the Allied forces and spread themselves around the world. So where does Cliff Secord (Bill Campbell), a lowly pilot fit in? Here’s how…Hollywood superstar Neville Sinclair wants the rocket (he’s a Nazi spy, but we don’t know that until later on), and has hired mobster goons, led by Paul Sorvino, to get it for him. He decides to romance Cliff’s girlfriend, er dish to get it from him. All of this escalates into an ending that has everyone against everyone, Nazi’s are in bushes, mobsters and FBI men are fighting on the same side and Cliff just wants to get rid of the darn thing so he and Jenny (Jennifer Connelley) can live happily ever after. Does it happen? What do you think? But getting there is half the fun. This is a very entertaining movie that came out before a little movie called Terminator 2: Judgment Day, so if got lost in it’s wake, but give it a try because there’s more to life than hearing “Come with me if you want to live”.
Video: How does it look?
Quite possibly one of the worst transfers that I’ve ever seen on a DVD. Most laserdiscs have this one beat. Obviously it is not 16:9 enhanced, but there are a few scenes where the 2.35:1 image does look so-so. Maybe the day will come when all DVD’s will be crystal clear, but this movie probably doesn’t have the selling power to render a repressing or a full-fledged special edition.
Audio: How does it sound?
Now here’s where the movie really suprised me. The box lists this as stereo, but it’s a Dolby Digital 5.1 extravaganza I tell ya. My sub has never worked so hard. Every time the rocket is powered, so is the sub. Great sound. For a movie nearly ten years old, this sounds like it was made last week.
Supplements: What are the extras?
It fails here too, the only extra you get is a trailer, and reel recommendations (not even good ones). Hope you like the movie, cause that’s about all you get.
