The Rocketeer & Dick Tracy DVD questions (1 Viewer)

[Neil_Duffy]

Nothing short of scandalous that 'Rocketeer' has never been revisited.



Personally, I thought it was better than Last Crusade, but really, it's a different type of film.


It's lack of full blown popularity is one of them baffling ones... I think it was crushed in the Summer of 91 by Price of Theives and T2.

 

[andySu]

The region 2 UK version is encoded in Dolby 5.0, looks like a botched up issue there, but still the split-surrounds on it are indispensable!

 

[jim.vaccaro]

I recently picked up Dick Tracy for $6.76 from Deep Discount DVD. Haven't watched but the first few minutes yet, but the transfer seems a bit better than average on a 96" screen. Sound is great. I'd double dip for a 2 disc SE with a new transfer in a moment, though.

 

[Sten F]

The Region carries a DTS soundtrack. However, this one do calls for a 2-Disc set.

 

[donnie_d]

Dick Tracy is for $5.5 right now in DDD.still don't know whther i should pick it up or wait.what do you guys think?

 

[jim.vaccaro]

For $5.50, you can't lose. Get it.

 

[Kramer Lowry]

 

[MielR]

I'm waiting for the SE of Dick Tracy that digitally removes Madonna from the film.

 

[AaronMan]

I think the fact that it was a Disney movie was one of the reasons The Rocketeer didn't do very well. A lot of people just figured it was a "kiddie movie". I bet it would have done much better if it had been released through Touchstone. I remember attending a sneak preview and it was packed. People were cheering and all kinds of stuff. I thought the movie was going to be a big hit.

It looked just like the comic. And Jennifer Connelly has never looked better...

 

[Sam Favate]

Wasn't it released through Hollywood Pictures?

 

[gushin]

It is a great shame Rocketeer hasn't been revisted. I've wanted a good version ever since the the first DVD pressing. The movie is great fun.

 

[Jay Pennington]

Found on his website at http://www.davestevens.com/html/ds_qa_1998_may.html

 

[Lyle_JP]

No, the beginning of the film has always had the "Walt Disney Pictures" slate. I wouldn't be surprised if it was Hollywood Pictures or Touchstone overseas. In fact, I have the Japanese laserdisc. When I get home, I'll check to see if they used one of their other "studios" in Japan.

-Lyle J.P.

 

[LCD22]

Bill Hunt has posted in his latest Daily Column that Dave Stevens has died.

R.I.P. Dave

 

[Henry Gale]

By Valerie J. Nelson
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

March 13, 2008

Dave Stevens, an artist best known for creating "The Rocketeer" comic book, which reflected a fascination with Bettie Page that brought the 1950s pin-up queen renewed attention, has died. He was 52.

Stevens, whose home was in North Hollywood, died Monday at Emanuel Medical Center in Turlock, Calif., from complications related to treatment for leukemia, said his friend William Stout.

In 1981, Stevens was working as a commercial illustrator when a friend asked him to contribute a story to another comic book. His "throwaway idea," as he called it, was a succinct ode to 1930s-style, pulp-fiction adventures and movie serials.

The comic -- in which a stunt pilot battles evil after finding a rocket-powered backpack -- became a cult success. A decade later it was made into the live-action Disney movie "The Rocketeer" with Billy Campbell as the title character.

In trying to explain the comic's popularity, author Harlan Ellison wrote in the introduction to the 1985 graphic novel "The Rocketeer": The comics "are hip-deep in the right kind of nostalgia . . . adventure and affection, melded in just the right way. . . . "

 

[JonZ]

awwwww :frowning:

RIP

 

[javadrumboy]

Rocketeer is one of my favorite movies, and I agree that the DVD we've got now is disappointing. But I think it's realistic that we might get an upgraded Special Edition DVD within the next couple years.

In October, a definitive edition of Stevens' Rocketeer comics is coming out. And then in 2011, there'll be Johnston's Captain America movie coming out, along with it being the Rocketeer's 20th anniversary. Let's all keep bugging the heck out of Disney. They've got a true gem here.

 

[JulianK]

Sounds good - have you got any more info?

 

[javadrumboy]

I'm looking forward to this definitive Rocketeer compilation:

Comic Book Resources > CBR News: WC: Dunbier and Martin on IDW's ?Rocketeer? Collections

 

[John Sparks]

On the net is a cool pic in color of Commando Cody, Sky Marshall of the Universe and the Rocketeer flying together. It's neat to see how much of the Rocketeer was based on Cody.