The Rocketeer

Howdy do. Today I thought we would hit the way back machine to an adventure with a costumed do-gooder that hides his identity to protect his loved ones, battle the mob and Nazis. No time for love, Dr. Jones. So strap on your pack, grab your helmet and pack a decent 1911. This is The Rocketeer.

I'm just borrowing Commander Cody's gear.

Based on the series created by Dave Stevens (artist for Tarzan Graphic Novels, Storyboards for Super Friends and The Godzilla Power Hour) giving this down on his luck pilot that discovers a rocket pack and proceeds to fight crime and Nazis. Disney bought the rights to this particular 1930s style Pulp Comic in 1985 where it stayed into development until 1991.

Cliff Secord (Bill Campbell of Dynasty, Once and Again, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Menno's Mind, Enough and The 4400) a happy-go-lucky pilot whose pockets are thread bared is trying to woo his aspiring actress girlfriend Jenny (Jennifer Connelly of Phenomena, Labyrinth,Of Love and Shadows, Mulholland Falls) while the FBI are chasing after some Nazi saboteurs making their way with a package, a rocket pack they sneak on the airfield Cliff and his mechanic buddy Peavy (Alan Arkin of Wait Until Dark, Catch-22, The In-Laws, Glengarry Glen Ross, Little Miss Sunshine and Argo)work on.

Peavy and Cliff have dumped all their savings into a plane that crashes and now forced to do a flying circus routine for their penny pinching boss. A buddy of theirs gets behind the stick to assure Cliff doesn't get fired for being out all night testing the rocket pack, but he starts having issues. Peavy and Cliff ready Cliff to go after their buddy.

Terry O' Quinn may go Stepfather on ya, Cliff.

With what appears to be a publicity stunt gets the attention of the mob, the FBI and the Nazis seeing the rocket pack in action. Who is this Rocketeer?

Jenny is all moon eyed over the number three box office actor Neville Sinclair (Timothy Dalton of The Three Princes, The Voyeur, The Executioner, Agatha and Chanel Solitaire) who seems to be more than he appears. Moving behind the shadows, he too expresses an interest in the rocket pack.

With the mob, the G-Men and Goosesteppers on Cliff's heels, he has to come to the conclusion is he doing the right thing? Can he continue as the Rocketeer? How much is getting hurled at him?

With a PG-13 rating, apparently there was a lukewarm vibe from critics due to the lack of explanation that this is based on a spybuster series. Not enough publicity for it in my opinion so the potential to sequels was dropped. Again this was a 35 million budget and yet made 47 million in the box office. So it would appear that a 12 million profit was something to sneer at in 1991.

Mr. Flynn, you've had enough to drink!

A few anachronisms with firearms, the German Walther P38 while created in 1938 didn't really go into production until 1940. The MP40 Submachine Gun also designed in 1938 but not widely used until 1941.

Just some mild nitpicking there. This has heart, explosions, love, action, gunfights and fist fights. Most kids should have enjoyed this with their parents. But what do I know? No kids.

Honesty Jake, where's your Dalton love? Tsk tsk.

Timothy Dalton Week: Licence to Kill

Felicitations good readers and welcome to Day 4 of Timothy Dalton Week and here's to a fun week thus far. As many of you know, Dalton wore the guise of Bond only twice given the delays, arguments and lengthy litigation causing the grinding halt of the third movie. While waiting for this to right itself, he was kept busy with Christopher Columbus: The Discovery but ultimately lost the role to Gerard Depardieu Columbus movie causing bankruptcy. Thankfully the mini-series: Scarlett had appeared in time and gave him the funding needed for the year as well as endearing himself to the American public allowing him to grace the small screen. Tired of the run-around and the need for new challenges for his acting chops. He took his leave and forfeited his latter three Bond movies. This is Licence to Kill.

Gasp!  Bond gets the girl!

In route with Felix Leiter's (David Hedison of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Romance Theatre, Fantasy Island, The Love Boat, The Colbys and Mach 2) impending nuptials, He and Bond (Timothy Dalton) get a tip that known druglord Franz Sanchez (Robert Davi of The Goonies, Die Hard, Maniac Cop 2, Predator 2, Profiler, Maniac Cop 3: Badge of Silence and Night Trap) with James at his side, they manage to capture Sanchez before he made it to international waters, dropping him in the clink and arraigning him for prison as the groom and best man made it in the nick of time for the wedding. The happy couple are ended abruptly as Sanchez was released at a costly amount dispatches Leiter's wife and leaves Leiter to a man eating tiger shark. The joint effort of CIA and DEA found Leiter and informed Bond.

Not on assignment, Bond proceeds to look into Leiter's attack and Sanchez's miraculous escape, creating some international incident with local PD, and CIA. So much destruction and mayhem causes MI-6 agents to accompany M (Robert Brown of Kill Me Tomorrow, Ivanhoe, Shake Hands with the Devil, It Takes a Thief, Escape by Night, Octopussy, A View to a Kill and The Living Daylights) to collect Bond, bring him in for questioning, reprimand and cancelling his authority as a Double O. Our seasoned veteran disables his fellow MI-6 agents without killing them and fled into the day.

So who is this Kaiser Soze anyway?

Trailing the money, Bond encounters Lupe Lamora (Talisa Soto of Licence to Kill, The Mambo Kings, Hostage, Harts of the West, Mortal Kombat, Spy Hard, Vampirella and The Island of the Dead), Sanchez's gilded lover who warns James to not anger a man as powerful as Sanchez but Bond views this as a matter of honor for his fallen friend. Managing to get a hold of Sanchez's laundered money and finding more information for the lovely CIA agent Pam Bouvier (Carey Lowell of Club Paradise, Me and Him, Sleepless in Seattle, A League of Their Own, Leaving Las Vegas, Fierce Creatures and Law & Order), which of course requires a fist and fire fight and naturally she is smitten by James and well... you know how that works. Will James be able to thwart Sanchez? Can he get his revenge? Will he ever return to MI-6??

Just a few observations at this time. This is a loosely re-write of Live and Let Die dealing with political corruption fueled by a drug cartel that only Bond seems to be able to handle. While I am not a huge fan of this era getting away from the latter Roger Moore standing, this is a vastly underrated Bond movie, providing both an amazing pace of action and story with a solid running time of 130 minutes. Granted the truck chase scene took a bit longer for my tastes but all in all, it was a good flick.

The most impressive aspect of this movie was Robert Davi's villain was not camp but sinister and on par with Bond's convictions and morals. A well flushed out character bringing his "A" game for it. Director John Glen is a pro at this game with Bond films (For Your Eyes Only, Octopussy, A View to a Kill, Checkered Flag and Christopher Columbus: The Discovery) as well as an editor for several of them gives time, love and effort and in this critic's humble opinion felt he did the name of Bond justice. Besides how many films can you say have Wayne Newton and Benicio Del Toro's film debut?

Truly miss my Beretta. 

Timothy Dalton Week: The Doctor and the Devils

Welcome back for Day 3 of Timothy Dalton Week. Today I found a horror film that Dalton was in. Oh yes it does exist and of all craziness stars Julian Sands, Johnathan Pryce, Stephen Rea, Twiggy and Sir Patrick Stewart. Where in the fresh hell could I have found this concoction of terror and talent? Well truth be told, I just looked on Dalton's filmography on IMDB, did some searches for the movie and boom. Yeah very light research on this flick. This is The Doctor and the Devils.

Class is dismissed and I need a vodka martini. Shaken, not stirred.

From the awesome power of Freddie Francis, director of such classics as: Day of the Triffids, Nightmare, Hysteria, The Deadly Bees and Dracula Has Risen from the Grave comes the tale that is actually based on a Dylan Thomas screenplay following the real life murder cases of William Burke and William Hare. These two men supplied fresh cadavers for scientists to study anatomy on during the Victorian Era in Scotland. Yes these two unscrupulous men would deliver fresh bodies to scholars because at the time of these studies, donation to science was deemed ghoulish and only convicted felons that were executed were allowed to be used for discovery, anatomy and physiology.

Doctor Thomas Rock (Timothy Dalton) , a brilliant scientist holds lectures by day to enlighten his students but is dissatisfied, forced to work on weeks old convicts that will not teach him anything new and exciting on the subject of death. To hone his skills of his profession he needs fresher bodies to work on given refrigeration is still in its infancy. His assistant Doctor Murray (Julian Sands of Warlock, Boxing Helena, Witch Hunt, Timecode, Rose Red and Blood and Bone) toils with what can be done when a pair of disreputable men approach him in a tavern offering their despicable talents for retrieval of the freshest of corpses. Yup, grave robbery.

Blast, we've been nicked!

Mr. Fallon (Johnathan Pryce of Voyage of the Damned, Loophole, Timon of Athens, Jumpin' Jack Flash, Ronin and Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl) and Mr. Broom (Stephen Rea of The Crying Game, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, The Break, In Dream and V for Vendetta) tend to this need against the increasing fierce competition with the added bonus that they manage to find the freshest of bodies to be worked on make more than a pretty copper.

Doctor Rock is conflicted with the immorality of this offer but the chance to having a chance to evolve his findings and elevate his science to a practice that will bring information for generations to come. The very building blocks of medicine hang in the balance as he must argue with his superiors on a regular basis, he becomes obsessed with his work, overlooking his newfound body snatchers in order to drive the advancement of science out of the dark ages and to the upper echelons of science as it belongs... but where are all these bodies hailing from??? How is it Fallon and Broom manage to acquire them so easily with little fuss or muss??

A few interesting tidbits for the lot of us Yankees. While shot in clearly Edinburgh Scotland there is not a single Scottish accent aside from Patrick Stewart's Professor Macklin. Everyone else manages a bit of Cockney and proper English so you get the feel you supposed to be in London but still confused overall. Julian Sands' character feels redundant as he does not really bring much to the screen, no fault to Sands, it is just a small role for a good actor to shine through. Twiggy enacts as a lesser prostitute but the vibe is we could have put anyone in this role and does not bring much to the table. I cannot say who was my favorite out of this movie because Pryce and Rea steal the show but Dalton's presence is felt throughout the film. All three of these men gave so much life to their parts.

The interesting bit for the Americans that Mel Brooks' company Brookfilms produced this Gothic tale and it was actually quite disturbing and entertaining at the same time. This being one of the first horror movies to be produced by Brooksfilms to follow directly after would be David Chronenberg's The Fly. With this dark fable written by one of greatest obsessed minds of the 20^th century, this is a gem hidden at the rental shelves for too long. Thankfully it has been out in DVD since 2005 and on Blu-Ray since October 2014 via Shout! Factory.

Sir, I think I dropped my signet ring in her spleen.

Blog 650!!!! Timothy Dalton Week: Antony and Cleopatra

I bid you all greetings and welcome to the return of Timothy Dalton Week. First off I would like to apologize for my lack of a write-up yesterday. My computer was infected with a Trojan (virus, not an ancient warrior nor a condom) and it took 5 hours for me to figure out what the bloody, bloody hell was wrong with it. By that time, I didn't even want to look at my screen much less view a film and give a comprehensive review on it. Today however is another day and we shall tackle a play adaptation, with the notion of a live play performance of an ancient love story that deals with honor, duty, love and betrayal. This is Antony and Cleopatra.

Your beard doth tickle.

Penned by William Shakespeare, this particular play has no such thing as a bit part in it. It is all encompassing and filled with drama, tragedy and good cheer. Our gentleman Timothy Dalton has the role of Marc Antony and an odd choice is Lynn Redgrave (The Bad Seed, My Two Loves, Chicken Soup, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, My Kingdom and Me, Eloise) to portray the Queen of the Nile, Cleopatra. This is a live performance taped in 1983 from The Royal Shakespeare Company this body of work challenges the whole cast but especially Dalton and Redgrave going from ranging emotions to the complexity of the dilemma they are both in. With the love of General Marc Antony to Queen Cleopatra, as he ignores his duties to Rome smitten by her beauty, charm and wit, she is promised to Octavius Caesar (Anthony Geary of General Hospital, The Young and the Restless, UHF and Fish Tank) the Empire is in dire straights with the Triumvir losing face with the Senate, Antony is called back to Rome to raise awareness that all is in hand and the united leaders have the Empire fully under control.

Is this Shakespeare or a Pinter play? Tempo, dammit!!!

Meanwhile, Sextus Pompey (Walter Koeing of Star Trek, Moontrap, Star Trek: Generations and Babylon 5) plots and schemes to rid himself of the triumvir and proclaim himself emperor while Antony must wed Octavious' sister Octavia (Sharon Barr of Bad Georgia Road, The Dirtiest Show in Town, Nuts, Dark Holiday and Trauma) as a sign of good faith to Octavious and make their households closer together.

Antony speaks with a local soothsayer (John Carradine of Stagecoach, The Unearthly, Kung Fu, The House of Seven Corpses, The Shootist, Shock Waves and Nocturna) who foresees a terrible fate where Antony would go against Caesar... you know by staring out goat liver and entrails. Got me on that one, it just sounds messy and probably smells worse.

With plot and counter-plot running course, each main character are at their wit's end which could ultimately lead to the downfall of the Roman Empire and the Egyptian Dynasty in total war.

Okay a few observations at this time. Historians have LONG since established given Egypt resides in Africa could we possibly get a leading lady of say a skin color a few shades darker than white??? HMMM???!!! Moving on, character actor Earl Boen (The Terminator, Terminator 2: Judgement Day, Curse of Monkey Island, Escape from Monkey Island, Black & White, The West Wing and Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty) blew me away as Lepidus caught between the middle of two power hungry men as he watches the triumvir collapse and is helpless to stop it.

Also, Walter Koeing is a far better actor than the Star Trek show or films would exhibit. I saw some of this as Bestor in Babylon 5 but as Pompey he blows you out of the water. Dalton's presence in this play is not merely heard but felt. This is one of those meat and potato roles that comes once in a lifetime and I felt he nailed it. I thought he captured the essence of Marc Antony and did this historic figure justice.

If you are unable to see the live play in your town and neighboring one, I would recommend this as an excellent example of one of the more complex plays by the immortal bard.

We demand surrender of all nuclear wessels at once!

Timothy Dalton Week: The Lion in Winter

Hail and hearty greetings to you all. Welcome to Day 1 of Timothy Dalton Week. It took me a fair amount of time as Amazon Prime is not infaliable but nevertheless I found a copy. Today we look at the adaptation to film of playwright James Goldman (The Lion in Winter, They Might Be Giants, Nicholas and Alexandra, Robin and Marian and White Nights) the visage of King Henry the II of England's political and personal struggles, joys and conflicts. This film marks two interesting facets of conversation, as it is Timothy Dalton's second film and Sir Anthony Hopkins' feature film debut. Believed in many's eyes as one of the highest grossing movies of 1968 and won three academy awards including Best Actress for Katharine Hepburn, this is The Lion in Winter.

Now then, what of Ming of Mongo?

Set in the year 1183 during the Christmas season, King Henry (Peter O' Toole of Lawrence of Arabia, Great Catherine, Murphy's War, Caligula, Creator, Joan of Arc and Troy) spends his latter years grooming and preparing his youngest son, John (Nigel Terry of Excalibur, The Last of England, Edward II, Covington Cross, Rules of Engagement and MI-5) for the right to his throne while Henry's enstranged wife Duchess Eleanor of Aquitaine (Katharine Hepburn of Stage Door, Bringing Up Baby, The Philadelphia Story, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, On Golden Pon and Love Affair) favors their eldest son Richard (Sir Anthony Hopkins of A Bridge Too Far, The Elephant Man, Othello, Silence of the Lambs, Dracula and Nixon) as the one true king.

Don't be such an old poop, Richard.

Great turbulence hits these fair shores as King Phillip the II of France (Timothy Dalton of The Three Princes, The Voyeur, The Executioner, Agatha and Chanel Solitaire), former husband of Eleanor demands his half-sister Alais (Jane Merrow of The Girl-Getters, The Hands of the Ripper, The Patrica Neal Story, Romance Theatre and Accused) be wed or the return of her dowry.

Being one of Henry's many mistresses, Henry plots to deceive Richard with a mock wedding and it will satisfy King Phillip's demands as well but Henry's middle child Geoffrey II and John both plot with Phillip to wage war on England. Appalled at his own sons, King Henry has the lot of them thrown into the dungeon while Alais has his heart and possibly future heirs to his throne.

Will war be on the horizon? Must Henry ask his people to take up arms with him? What is to be done with his traitorous sons?

A few observations now. With its combination of tragedy, drama and witty comedy, the dialogue alone will keep you captivated. The performances of this entire cast will mesmerize you and yes will this is not wholly accurate in fact, this film dares to be entertaining, have an astounding musical score and holds the spirit of the story. Admittedly while I adore Hepburn in all works I have seen her in, I could never have expected this performance of a cunning, bitter woman seeking vengeance on her less than faithful husband and to such meticulous detail. With his sentiment one minute and his bluster the next, you will feel as I did, O' Toole commands the respect of men.

The main castle is the actual Abbaye de Montmajour in the south of France while most of the interior shots was Ardmore Studios in Ireland. With almost seamless transition, blocking techniques and wonderful atmosphere, you forget that films of yesteryear truly set the bar. With director Anthony Harvey (Dutchman, They Might Be Giants, The Glass Menagerie, Player, Richard's Things and The Patricia Neal Story), the story shows all scope of life and what is intertwined with actions and consequences.

The true pain my dear, is starring in a film with Ben Affleck

Timothy Dalton Week

How do all and welcome to the week. You may know this next fellow as Heathcliff via Wuthering Heights, perhaps as Edward Fairfax Rochester, James Bond, Lord President or Alexei Volkoff of Chuck but I first saw the man in question as Prince Barin in Dino De Laurentiis Company's Flash Gordon.

Cannot wait to shave of this mustache.

This man at the age of 16 was a member of Air Training Corps saw a production of Macbeth and decided to become an actor from there on. Leaving school in 1964 he enrolled in the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and while he had not completed his studies in RADA he left to join the troupe of the Birmingham Repertory Theatre.

Working through BBC in TV his first appearance in film was as Phillip II of France in The Lion in Winter, followed by Wuthering Heights giving him an income allowing him to return to the theater with the Royal Shakespeare Company. Offered the icon secret agent role of James Bond in 1968 for On Her Majesty's Secret Service, our man declined stated Connery was too good to follow after, coupled with the fact he was 25 and felt he was too young for the role.

Told you I was shaving it off.

In 1986, while performing with the Royal Shakespeare Company with Vanessa Redgrave and Sylvester McCoy, Roger Moore retires from James Bond and again this man was approached due to Pierce Brosnan could not escape his ironclad agreement for Remington Steele so our chap is none other than Timothy Dalton put on the tux, wooed the ladies and dealt the beatings to the baddies.

Following his career to Penny Dreadful, this fellow has managed a career spanning 6 decades ranging from drama, action, comedy and even dabbling in science fiction. Hell about the only thing he really hasn't done is horror but don't count him out yet.

This week we shall sojourn into the TV and film works of Timothy Dalton and we will see why he is considered the apex of a proper gentleman of cinema and small screen.   

May keep the beard though.

007 Week: The Living Daylights

Welcome back Bond fans for Day 3 of 007 Week.  Today's Bond gets a lot of flack for not having what apparently is deemed the traditional good looks, wit and charm of the character.  I say to these naysayers that they are wrong.  While he is not in the same region as Connery or Moore I felt he met all the requirements of the iconic role and then some but perhaps I am biased given I was a huge fan of the Dino de Laurentis version of Flash Gordon and knew him as the Erron Flynn of Mongo, Prince Barin.  I speak of Timothy Dalton.  Consequently he had to fight tooth and nail for the role as Sam Neil, Pierce Brosnan (still in his Remington Steele contract), Lambert Wilson, Andrew Clarke and Sean Bean were all up for the part.  This is The Living Daylights.

No, I am not Remington Steele.

M: Gentlemen, this may only be an exercise so far as the Ministry of Defence is concerned.  But for me, it is a mater of spoils that the 00 section has been chosen for this test.  Your objective is to penetrate the radar installations of Gibralter. Now, the SAS has been placed on full alert to incept you, but I know you won't let me down.  Good luck, men.

Our movie opens up with what MI-6 consider a routine training exercise for the 00s based on a HALO jump,  5 mile swim and mountain climb.  Consider this the Iron man event for their performance record.  002 was captured and 004 have been slain by a mysterious assassin and is moving in on James Bond (Timothy Dalton of The Lion in Winter, Wuthering Heights, Flash Gordon, License to Kill, The Rocketeer, Hot Fuzz, Doctor Who and Penny Dreadful) as he manages to escape from the mountain face and pull his reserve shoot landing on nearby yacht with a lovely sun bathing beauty.  

Dr. Kimble is gunning for me!

His customary 2 hours late to report in, "M" (Robert Brown of The Newcomers, Wreck Raisers, The Message, The Spy Who Loved Me, Octopussy, A View to a Kill and Merlin of Crystal Cave) explains to Bond about a Russian general Koscov (Jeremy Krabbe of The Little Ark, Slippers, World War III, Jumpin' Jack Flash, A World Apart, The Punisher (1989), Kafka and The Fugitive)  wanting to defect, claiming his higher up is mad to the level of Stalin and plotting multiple assassinations and the possiblity of nuclear war.  A tag was found on 004's body claiming Smiert Spionom (an old KGB policy of assassins for spies or Death to Spies during the Cold War based on Fleming's SMERSH)  Bond is there at the opera to succeed in helping Koskov to flee the country away from KGB's prying eyes.  No sooner he is in MI-6 custody the another assassin bombs the English manor safe-house, guns down several operatives and helicopters the general away.

Dealing with the fallout of this SNAFU, Bond is assigned to find Koskov and take him back from General Puskin (John Rhy Davies of Shogun, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Best Revenge, Firewalker, Waxwork, Sliders, Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring and One Night with the King) who sent his assassin for him and his fellow 00s.  Revenge and professionalism seem to be going hand and hand.

Now some fun filled trivia about the movie.  Surprised?????

Our opening number recorded by A-HA and this is composer John Barry's last composition for the series as he moved on to American projects like  Indecent Proposal, The Specialist, The Scarlett Letter and Mercury Rising.  This is the last James Bond movie to use an original Ian Fleming title until 19 years later with Casino Royale in 2006.

Blast! No fiddling jokes apply here.