The Rocketeers -- sequel/reboot
#52
DVD Talk Godfather
Join Date: Apr 1999
Location: Gateway Cities/Harbor Region
Posts: 63,306
Received 1,819 Likes
on
1,132 Posts
Re: The Rocketeers -- sequel/reboot
@ the news and the outrage
#53
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Re: The Rocketeers -- sequel/reboot
I'm outraged that they didn't make her Asian-American in light of all the whitewashing that has had everyone so outraged over the past year. At least there'd be a modest yet somewhat relevant historical point of reference to inform the existence of such a fictitious 'Rockette' which they could reference when the inevitably outraged fingers started pointing. The closest America came to a Black female flying anything in that era never really got the opportunity she deserved.
#54
DVD Talk Legend
Re: The Rocketeers -- sequel/reboot
Whatever. I gave up on a sequel over a decade ago. This just sounds stupid, so it's yet another movie I'll skip.
There will be plenty of other non-stupid movies for me to go see over the next few years...
There will be plenty of other non-stupid movies for me to go see over the next few years...
#55
DVD Talk Legend
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 1999
Location: Building attractions one theme park at a time.
Posts: 10,800
Received 82 Likes
on
49 Posts
Re: The Rocketeers -- sequel/reboot
The Rocketeer is one of the greatest comic book adaptations ever made. It faithfully followed the style of Dave Stevens' original comics and was a beautiful homage to the "gee whiz" movie serials of the 1930s. My knee-jerk reaction was "WTF?" but after reading through the story description again, I'm kind of excited that it's a sequel-styled reboot. Dave Stevens never moved the character past the 1930s. The IDW continuations only recently pushed The Rocketeer into WWII. His Post-War adventures have never been told and is ripe for expansion.
Count me as intrigued.
Count me as intrigued.
#57
DVD Talk Godfather
Join Date: Apr 1999
Location: Gateway Cities/Harbor Region
Posts: 63,306
Received 1,819 Likes
on
1,132 Posts
#58
DVD Talk Legend
Re: The Rocketeers -- sequel/reboot
This doesn't bother me as much because frankly I never thought there would be a sequel and while the original is good I don't think it's as beloved of a name as a franchise like Ghostbusters .
#60
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Re: The Rocketeers -- sequel/reboot
Make her a lesbian and I'm in.
#62
DVD Talk Legend
Re: The Rocketeers -- sequel/reboot
I loved THE ROCKETEER, but I think Disney is really overestimating the fanbase (unless this isn't planned as a summer tentpole). I remember them promoting the heck out of the first movie, and it tanked, despite getting pretty good reviews.
#65
DVD Talk Hero
Re: The Rocketeers -- sequel/reboot
I think the movie was something that was ahead of its time, and it might have found an audience after "steampunk" entered the popular consciousness a decade or so later.
I also think Disney vastly overestimated the popularity of the comic; it was highly praised by fans, but it was also published in a scattershot manner as a series of back-ups to other comics from a range small publishers, the comics were really rare, and there wasn't much of a reprint program for it. Never mind that Dave Stevens worked at a snail's pace, and didn't make much of an attempt to finish it.
#66
DVD Talk Legend
Re: The Rocketeers -- sequel/reboot
I'll be interested if it's meant as a sequel set within 25yrs the first took place. I just don't agree with the "it will be this gender, and this race" mentality going in.
#67
Banned by request
Re: The Rocketeers -- sequel/reboot
I'm confused. Are you saying you don't agree with choosing the gender and ethnicity of characters in stories? Because literally every movie ever made has done that.
#68
DVD Talk Legend
Re: The Rocketeers -- sequel/reboot
Gender sure, but ethnicity...I disagree. Why not the best screen test? I believe JJ Abrams really wanted to cast a person of color for Finn, but I also believe Boyega gave the legitimate best screen test. It was never proclaimed from the mountaintop that this character shall be a person of color...at least they had the business sense to not say that.
#69
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Re: The Rocketeers -- sequel/reboot
Melissa McCarthy is perfect for this. Huffing and puffing running around with that pack.
#70
DVD Talk Legend
Re: The Rocketeers -- sequel/reboot
Here's the thing, this sequel/reboot has entered the Wild Wild West territory. "History be damned, reality be damned, we're going to change the character the way we want to change it, regardless of how historically ludicrous that would be!"
Just like James West could never have been a black man in the 1870's or 1880's (a black man trying to arrest white men back then would have eventually been shot or lynched, regardless of his authority - as wrong as that would be, a black lawman of any kind, federal, state, or local, just wouldn't have been accepted), you can't have your main character be a black female pilot in the 1940s! Such a thing never existed. It wasn't fair, it wasn't right, but that was reality.
The politically correct social justice crowd in Hollywood is out of touch with history. Or they think they can re-write it.
At least with Agent Carter the writers understood that a woman, even one as intelligent and badass as Sharon Carter was, would not have been accepted as a field agent by her superiors until she took matters into her own hands. But an, "African-American female pilot," in the 1940's? That never happened and it never could have happened. Not in that environment. There were only a handful of white female pilots in the 1940's. A black woman would have had zero chance of being allowed to learn how to fly. Again, it wasn't right, it wasn't fair, but we can't re-write history.
It's enough of a stretch to say that a rocket pack that allows a person to fly without an airplane could have existed. But to then say that something else that was practically impossible also existed at the same time? It stretches credibility and believability beyond the breaking point.
There are so many ways that Hollywood could find to include African-Americans, Hispanics, Asians, etc, that they don't need to do historic fantasy that attempts to re-write history and undo some of the wrongs that were done then. Hell, an argument could be made that trying to undo those wrongs minimizes them as it could lead future generations to believe that things weren't as bad for some groups back then as they really were.
An unlikely new hero emerges: a young African–American female pilot...
The politically correct social justice crowd in Hollywood is out of touch with history. Or they think they can re-write it.
At least with Agent Carter the writers understood that a woman, even one as intelligent and badass as Sharon Carter was, would not have been accepted as a field agent by her superiors until she took matters into her own hands. But an, "African-American female pilot," in the 1940's? That never happened and it never could have happened. Not in that environment. There were only a handful of white female pilots in the 1940's. A black woman would have had zero chance of being allowed to learn how to fly. Again, it wasn't right, it wasn't fair, but we can't re-write history.
It's enough of a stretch to say that a rocket pack that allows a person to fly without an airplane could have existed. But to then say that something else that was practically impossible also existed at the same time? It stretches credibility and believability beyond the breaking point.
There are so many ways that Hollywood could find to include African-Americans, Hispanics, Asians, etc, that they don't need to do historic fantasy that attempts to re-write history and undo some of the wrongs that were done then. Hell, an argument could be made that trying to undo those wrongs minimizes them as it could lead future generations to believe that things weren't as bad for some groups back then as they really were.
#72
DVD Talk Legend
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Formerly known as Groucho AND Bandoman/Death Moans, Iowa
Posts: 18,295
Received 372 Likes
on
266 Posts
Re: The Rocketeers -- sequel/reboot
Here's the thing, this sequel/reboot has entered the Wild Wild West territory. "History be damned, reality be damned, we're going to change the character the way we want to change it, regardless of how historically ludicrous that would be!"
Just like James West could never have been a black man in the 1870's or 1880's (a black man trying to arrest white men back then would have eventually been shot or lynched, regardless of his authority - as wrong as that would be, a black lawman of any kind, federal, state, or local, just wouldn't have been accepted), you can't have your main character be a black female pilot in the 1940s! Such a thing never existed. It wasn't fair, it wasn't right, but that was reality.
The politically correct social justice crowd in Hollywood is out of touch with history. Or they think they can re-write it.
At least with Agent Carter the writers understood that a woman, even one as intelligent and badass as Sharon Carter was, would not have been accepted as a field agent by her superiors until she took matters into her own hands. But an, "African-American female pilot," in the 1940's? That never happened and it never could have happened. Not in that environment. There were only a handful of white female pilots in the 1940's. A black woman would have had zero chance of being allowed to learn how to fly. Again, it wasn't right, it wasn't fair, but we can't re-write history.
It's enough of a stretch to say that a rocket pack that allows a person to fly without an airplane could have existed. But to then say that something else that was practically impossible also existed at the same time? It stretches credibility and believability beyond the breaking point.
There are so many ways that Hollywood could find to include African-Americans, Hispanics, Asians, etc, that they don't need to do historic fantasy that attempts to re-write history and undo some of the wrongs that were done then. Hell, an argument could be made that trying to undo those wrongs minimizes them as it could lead future generations to believe that things weren't as bad for some groups back then as they really were.
Just like James West could never have been a black man in the 1870's or 1880's (a black man trying to arrest white men back then would have eventually been shot or lynched, regardless of his authority - as wrong as that would be, a black lawman of any kind, federal, state, or local, just wouldn't have been accepted), you can't have your main character be a black female pilot in the 1940s! Such a thing never existed. It wasn't fair, it wasn't right, but that was reality.
The politically correct social justice crowd in Hollywood is out of touch with history. Or they think they can re-write it.
At least with Agent Carter the writers understood that a woman, even one as intelligent and badass as Sharon Carter was, would not have been accepted as a field agent by her superiors until she took matters into her own hands. But an, "African-American female pilot," in the 1940's? That never happened and it never could have happened. Not in that environment. There were only a handful of white female pilots in the 1940's. A black woman would have had zero chance of being allowed to learn how to fly. Again, it wasn't right, it wasn't fair, but we can't re-write history.
It's enough of a stretch to say that a rocket pack that allows a person to fly without an airplane could have existed. But to then say that something else that was practically impossible also existed at the same time? It stretches credibility and believability beyond the breaking point.
There are so many ways that Hollywood could find to include African-Americans, Hispanics, Asians, etc, that they don't need to do historic fantasy that attempts to re-write history and undo some of the wrongs that were done then. Hell, an argument could be made that trying to undo those wrongs minimizes them as it could lead future generations to believe that things weren't as bad for some groups back then as they really were.
Oh wait, Willa Brown.
Or Bessie Coleman, but she did have to leave to US to become a pilot.
Last edited by majorjoe23; 07-29-16 at 09:09 AM.
#73
DVD Talk Legend
Re: The Rocketeers -- sequel/reboot
Too bad there isn't a search engine that can prove everything you just said wrong.
Oh wait, Willa Brown.
Oh wait, Willa Brown.
It still stretches credibility. It was so rare that it is beyond highly unlikely that she would be the one to get the rocket pack.
Again, a Hollywood agenda trumps (pardon the term) reality.
Or Bessie Coleman, but she did have to leave to US to become a pilot.
I just have a problem with Hollywood history revisions that turn movies set in the past into fantasy. At least Sky Captain was an intentional bit of fantasy. When you double down on the fantasy aspects (using technology that didn't exist and saying that things that were extremely, extremely rare - like a black female pilot - coincided at the same time and place with that technology) it makes the movie that much harder to buy into.
Again, by making a black woman a pilot AND The Rocketeer just minimizes the wrongs done to blacks (and, to a much lesser degree, to women) in America at the time. It makes it seem like this was a possibility, when the reality was far different.
#74
DVD Talk Legend
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Formerly known as Groucho AND Bandoman/Death Moans, Iowa
Posts: 18,295
Received 372 Likes
on
266 Posts
Re: The Rocketeers -- sequel/reboot
It seems like a one-of-a-kind pilot is a great idea for a hero in a movie. Shouldn't the focus of heroes be the extraordinary, not the ordinary?
Or are you just settling for mediocrity? Ayn Rand would not be proud. But her Rocketeer would probably also have a trainpack.
Or are you just settling for mediocrity? Ayn Rand would not be proud. But her Rocketeer would probably also have a trainpack.
#75
DVD Talk Legend
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 1999
Location: Building attractions one theme park at a time.
Posts: 10,800
Received 82 Likes
on
49 Posts
Re: The Rocketeers -- sequel/reboot
The Tuskegee Airman were an elite group of African-American pilots in the 1940s. During WWII, they also trained as navigators, bombardiers, maintenance and support staff, and instructors. Although sometimes forgotten, African-American women are a significant part of the Tuskegee history. They were nurses, mechanics, supply pilots and secretaries.