3. The Rocketeer (1991)
I have a confession to make. When this movie came out, I went and saw it for one reason only: Jennifer Connelly. And for that reason, I missed all the big names that are in this movie. I'm not sure if that is a good thing or not, but it is what it is. Watching it again, I was struck by all the stars attached to this flop: Timothy Dalton, Alan Arkin, Paul Sorvino, Terry O'Quinn, Clint Howard, Billy Campbell and the aforementioned Jennifer Connelly. And yet, you really can't blame the failure of the movie on the actors, or on the material. Both the basis of the movie, a fun, well executed graphic novel, and the overall script are great. The cinematography is well done, the sound mixing is subtle, the lighting, costuming, and music are all top notch. So what doomed this movie? The special effects. Just like the issue with In Search Of The Castaways, the special effects appear dated, shaky and second rate. and shaky is not a casual choice: Disney spent a wallet of money to create a "shaky cam" to make the scenes on the blimp look more exciting, but then decided it looked silly, so they digitally smoothed out the action after the fact. Wow. With all the special effects software out there these days, anybody can make impressive effects on their smartphone, so what this remake would need is something along the lines of new villains, a new timeline, and maybe a better costume. For a movie set in the early 1940's, a lot of the villains have been done to death, so maybe change the setting to today? And before the comic fans lynch me for messing with the classic, I am thinking along the lines of a new generation Rocketeer. Perhaps we have a poor college kid who inherits his grandfather's cottage, and along with it the Rocketeer suit. It is old, it is uncool, it is a comedy. Don't you think it is something Hollywood could get behind in a heartbeat based on the other movies they have had no problem with "remaking"??