The Rocketeer Blu-ray review

            Long before Joe Johnston was an Oscar-contender director and even longer before he made Captain America, he made another superhero film. Celebrating the 20^th anniversary, The Rocketeer is finally available on high definition Blu-ray. Johnson’s abilities with a period superhero action spectacular can be seen in this early 90s blockbuster as clearly as was seen in Captain America.

            When test pilot Cliff Secord (Bill Campbell) has a test run ruined by a group of thieves, he finds a silver lining when they leave their loot behind. Cliff discovers it is a jet pack for a man to wear and fly; he is the first to test it out. Using the jet pack with his own helmet, Cliff becomes The Rocketeer. The thieves who originally stole the rocket pack aren’t pleased with this, all at the call of a Hollywood film star (Timothy Dalton) who is secretly a spy.

            Although Cliff is enjoying the allure of being The Rocketeer, he puts his girlfriend (Jennifer Connelly) at risk in the process. Coincidentally, she is an aspiring actress working as an extra on the set of the spy film star’s current movie. This all takes place during WWII, and it becomes clear that the Nazis are the ones who want the jet pack.

            The Blu-ray release features a digitally restored high definition presentation of the film, though there are no special features to speak of.