The Rocketeer is getting the reboot treatment

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Not sure how to feel about this. I loved the original movie, which came out when I was in high school. If this project effectively creates a sequel to the original, then the character shift is believable - though they better explain what happened to the original character, and what the new lead's tie-in is. If its a plain reboot that doesn't acknowledge the first movie, then better be extremely well done to make it worth while. If this is a Ghostbusters treatment, then forget it. Either way, they should still include a place for Howard Hughes...
 
Hmmmm.. I too loved the film, the flying, the shots (and Jennifer Connely!) A reboot? a re make? a sequel... Hmmm... I'll wait to post judgement..


"It's a vacuum cleaner!"
 
a sequel is Ok as long as they stay true to the original story, however I am with EXPjawa a Ghostbusters type reboot would suck. I loved the original movie old airplanes and jetpacks, I mean how many replica GeeBees do you see in movies.
 
According to that article it sounds like it is positioned as a proper sequel.

I never saw it when it came out, y'all are making me curious.
 
According to that article it sounds like it is positioned as a proper sequel.

I never saw it when it came out, y'all are making me curious.

I would say rent it, but that's a little harder these days with the death of Blockbuster... Wait for the DVD to be on sale on Amazon and grab it for $5.00. It's well worth it. Heck, it's well worth $10.00! OH heck, just buy the darn thing! You won't be disappointed. If you are, I'LL BUY the bugger from you...
I hope the reboot doesn't suck like a vacuum cleaner...
Adrian
 
Great movie. I just checked Amazon and the DVD is available for less tan $10. Used copies are going for from $2 to $4.
 
According to that article it sounds like it is positioned as a proper sequel.

I never saw it when it came out, y'all are making me curious.

I kind of like to think of the original as a classic, the camera work, costumes, effects is very vintage feeling but with modern techniques. They definitely had the right cast for the original as Timothy Dalton plays an excellent bad guy, Alan Arkin is perfect for the part he plays, and Jennifer Connolly welllllll she looks mighty fine.
 
$3.99 HD rental (not on Prime Video, unfortunately). Maybe I'll check it out one of these days...

Just to offer a counter opinion.... No offense intended to fans.

I saw it for the first time a few weeks ago with my wife. We both thought it was a cheesy Disneyesque movie with no real substance. It seemed to be geared toward kids, but then they kept throwing in shots of JC's cleavage. It is high on the silliness factor, and totally unbelievable,

However, I say all this having seen it for the first time at 49, not as a teen, and I have been spoiled by today's developments in CGI.
 
I read the article and it is not a reboot. AS with any movie if they cast it well and use a good script it has potential. From the article:

"The new take keeps the story in a period setting and offers a fresh view on the characters. Set six years after the original Rocketeer and after Secord has vanished while fighting the Nazis, an unlikely new hero emerges: a young African-American female pilot, who takes up the mantle of Rocketeer in an attempt to stop an ambitious and corrupt rocket scientist from stealing jet-pack technology in what could prove to be a turning point in the Cold War."
 
I read the article and it is not a reboot. AS with any movie if they cast it well and use a good script it has potential. From the article:

"The new take keeps the story in a period setting and offers a fresh view on the characters. Set six years after the original Rocketeer and after Secord has vanished while fighting the Nazis, an unlikely new hero emerges: a young African-American female pilot, who takes up the mantle of Rocketeer in an attempt to stop an ambitious and corrupt rocket scientist from stealing jet-pack technology in what could prove to be a turning point in the Cold War."
Agreed. Clearly not a reboot. I think that must be a current buzzword in the industry so every article calls every sequel a reboot. You'd think a writer with the Hollywood Reporter would know the difference.
 
Though technically not a reboot, I would still consider it so. The original characters may be there with a continuation of the story, but unless they pull a Force Awakens and have the same characters/and actors 30 years later, I would consider it a reboot/re imagining.
 
a young African-American female pilot, who takes up the mantle of Rocketeer in an attempt to stop an ambitious and corrupt rocket scientist from stealing jet-pack technology in what could prove to be a turning point in the Cold War."

At the risk of being frowned upon, I'll give the collective eye roll for pandering here. :eyeroll:
 
At the risk of being frowned upon, I'll give the collective eye roll for pandering here. :eyeroll:

Well, consider yourself frowned upon! Its not pandering if they are writing/casting an African American woman because they want to. I don't think there is a concrete way for us to know one way or the other what their personal beliefs are on the subject. Based on how alive and well racism still obviously is in the US, I'd say sticking with a typical hunky white dude and white girl with a great body would be the more blatant choice for someone looking to pander to the masses. And why is your eyeroll "collective"? Are you just assuming everyone here agrees with you? Has your experience on TRF so far indicated that most people agree with you?

I think it will be cool. I also saw it for the first time when I was a kid. Had the same allure for the aviation part of my brain that The Goonies had for the adventure part of my brain. Hopefully it will get made and we will find out!
 
If they cast her and she just happened to be an African American woman, that's cool. F they mention it- it's pandering. You don't hear people saying "and our Irish American male hero..."
 
That argument makes some sense, but I do think those sorts of determinations are made by writers and producers this early in the process, the media just doesn't go out of their way to mention it unless its worth mentioning. I also don't think pandering is the right word. It would be pandering if anyone involved didn't think it was acceptable for an African American woman to be in the movie, and they just put her in to appease their audience. Maybe bandwagoning? Regardless, I think if people make a stink about not enough African American representation in movies and people start casting them, everyone wins.
 
Any time they make a movie or story and change the characters to be "Racially Sensitive" or some P.C. crap like that I make a point of not watching that particular movie or show or whatever.
 
From a story telling point of of view, though, I think that changing the main character as such opens up a bunch of possibilities. If you consider the adversity and obstacles that such a person would've had to deal with in that era just to be a pilot, and then goes farther to become a hero, then it could make a great story if done right. That's the sort of thing that comic books have been doing forever. So, I have no objections - provided the story is one worth telling. Otherwise, I'm with Dave & Dave, and its a bunch a nonsense...
 
Ok y'all. We're talking about a comic book movie based on a character that has already been rebooted two or three times in some 1940's C-grade movie serials. This ain't Tolstoy or the Diary of Anne Frank. I say bring on the diversity ! :duck:

Oh, and Jennifer Connelly makes any movie she's in a better movie. :wink:
 
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From a story telling point of of view, though, I think that changing the main character as such opens up a bunch of possibilities. If you consider the adversity and obstacles that such a person would've had to deal with in that era just to be a pilot, and then goes farther to become a hero, then it could make a great story if done right. That's the sort of thing that comic books have been doing forever. So, I have no objections - provided the story is one worth telling. Otherwise, I'm with Dave & Dave, and its a bunch a nonsense...

But if it is anything like its predecessor, they won't handle it in any way that is realistic or compelling. They will try to make it a "feel good" story that glosses over the realities of that situation.

The first question I would ask is: were there any female African-American pilots in the 1950s? No? Then how can you have a realistic portrayal of something that has no historical precedent?
 
It's a movie about someone who uses a rocket jet-pack to fight Nazis and Commies. Looking for historical accuracy may be a mistake. Let's just say there may be logical flaws. Not like Captain America --- that was real, this is not. Get a grip, people!

I remember enjoying the first movie, but I honestly don't really remember it very well. I hope this one turns out well, despite the "controversial" lead character.
 
But if it is anything like its predecessor, they won't handle it in any way that is realistic or compelling. They will try to make it a "feel good" story that glosses over the realities of that situation.

The first question I would ask is: were there any female African-American pilots in the 1950s? No? Then how can you have a realistic portrayal of something that has no historical precedent?

Bessie Coleman? Willa Brown? And like samb said, this is based on a comic book story. If you watch movies adapted from comic books for their historical accuracy, you're going to have a bad time. Your post has less historical accuracy than this movie will.
 
I feel like I should take up for our friend Bat-mite here. I mean, as a comic book character himself, I imagine his view of historical accuracy may be quite different from our own. :rolleyes:
 
I think it's the fact that most people don't care about the racial background or gender of a character, and just want well-written characters that are well-acted in a well-directed movie. That's all we want.

It's just annoying when they go out of their way to point out things that have nothing to do with the movie. I don't care what "whatever-american" the actor is. Just tell a good story and don't make another movie that sucks. Please.

Either way, I'll wait for the reviews before I decide how to watch. I remember the 1991 "original". Campy, yes, but still a decent flick. Not worth owning the Blu-ray though IMO.
 
I'm not against having a woman, or black Rocketeer. But When it's the lead-in headline, It's being done for the attention that will bring, and to fluff the feel good aspect.

Historical accuracy is of no importance to me :) I'll be watching this regardless. The first rocketeer was great, but a box office flop. /disney re-cuts are typically B grade. This is a move meant to pump up a weak film

"hey these 5 projects are kinda crap" "well pick one, give it a black female lead and at least we can say we tried"
 
In other gender-flipping, movie-remake news, Channing Tatum will play the part of the mermaid (er... merman?) in a remake of Splash --- that's Daryl Hannah's role!
 
A possible reason for the casting decision I haven't seen mentioned yet:

Some filthy effin' capitalist at Disney thinks they might sell a ticket or two to the non-obsessed-with-anything-with-the-word-rocket-in-it movie going public. :2:

If they get Jennifer Connelly signed on I'm in. Or Jessica Chastain. Or that one from the ATT commercials. :p
 
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