Cliff (Billy Campbell, The 4400, Once and Again) ends up coming into possession of a strange piece of technology when an FBI chase causes a thief to stash the strange cargo in one of Cliff's planes. While the FBI believes the backpack rocket is destroyed, Cliff sees the device as a way to make ends meet for both he and his mechanic father-figure Peevy (Alan Arkin, Little Miss Sunshine, Edward Scissorhands).
What the pair don't realize is that the device is a prototype stolen from aviation engineer Howard Hughes (Terry O'Quinn, Lost). The thief is a hired goon and part of a local mob ring led by Eddie Valentine (Paul Sorvino, Goodfellas, Romeo + Juliet). To add another layer to everything, Valentine isn't even the one calling all the shots. The man who hired the thugs to steal with rocket pack is Hollywoodland movie star Neville Sinclair (Timothy Dalton), who is actually a NAZI spy wanting the device to bring it to the Fatherland and help his country's budding goal to take on the world.
After Peevy does some added work on the design, Cliff is able to actually use the device without getting himself killed. While the pilot gets a few tests in, he makes his big debut when he has to don the backpack and helmet to save an aged pilot during one of the air shows Cliff and Peevy work with. Needless to say, with the "Rocketeer" out in the open, everyone who is looking for the device: the FBI, Sinclair, Valentine and Hughes, all start looking at the small town airstrip to find out who has the rocket and who the mysterious hero is.
Throughout all of this, Cliff is trying to win back the hand of his love, Jenny (Jennifer Connelly), who is tired of seeing her long-term boyfriend going nowhere and not taking her acting career seriously. When Sinclair realizes that one of the extras on his set is the girlfriend of the Rocketeer, he begins to seduce Jenny in order to get closer to his goal.
While a good movie, there are some noticeably slow parts, but through it all, the early 1940's feel is dead on. Between the cars and the night clubs, The Rocketeer really pulls off the classic style. This, combined with the yesterday's tomorrow technology of the rocket pack itself, makes the movie an overall fun and fanciful adventure. As for how well the film holds up; The Rocketeer: 20th Anniversary Edition contains remastered visuals so that the flying-man doesn't seem quite so green-screened in and the surround sound seems to get the job done. There weren't any moments when I was blown away by the experience, but considering the film's age, I've seen worse.
Where The Rocketeer: 20th Anniversary Edition does fall short is in the special features. For a release that is supposed to mark the two-decade old release of the film, I would have expected more than just the theatrical trailer.
While The Rocketeer is a fun movie, it wasn't a blockbuster film. The story drags a bit at points, but the overall adventure feel is there. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be much advantage to picking up the 20th Anniversary Edition. While the Blu-ray release isn't expensive when compared to other films on the media, the older DVD version is both cheaper and still out there to buy.
