by Jonathan Klotz
| Updated
Tim Burton position Batman In 1989, Hollywood studios were forced to pay attention to comic books, but instead of introducing teen heroes or the X-Men to the public, they went back to the popular series of the 1930s and pulled Dick Tracy, Shadowand Phantom From naphthalene. Disney decided to do something different and adapted a 1982 comic but set in the 1930s, bringing… The missile To the big screen 1991
With an iconic costume, a former James Bond as the villain, a rising star as the damsel in distress, and the weight of the Disney marketing machine behind him, The missile It should have been a success. Instead, Pulp Bounce flopped and Disney lost millions of dollars in the process, thanks to a massive marketing campaign and poor timing, leading to a little sci-fi movie you may have heard of called Terminator 2.
The missile He is Cliff Secord (Billy Campbell), a young stunt pilot who comes across a rocket kit stolen from Howard Hughes by gangsters, and thanks to mechanic Peavy (Alan Arkin) who repaired it, is able to take to the skies. You’ll believe a man can fly when the Rocketeer makes his first public appearance, rescuing an old pilot who takes Cliff’s place, and immediately causing a sensation. With no powers and a lot of responsibility, Cliff is thrown into the middle of a conspiracy involving the Nazis, the FBI, and a Hollywood stuntman.
From James Bond to the mustachioed villain
Although Cliff fly is fun to watch, older viewers will appreciate Timothy Dalton’s short-lived but memorable film. James Bondas Neville Sinclair, the scene-stealing villain who pauses before twirling his mustache. Film fans during the summer of 1991 were spoiled with sightings of both Alan Rickman, the Sheriff of Nottingham, in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, who chewed the scenery, and 1930s film star Dalton, who spat out every line with the gravitas of a west London Shakespeare production. It’s an explosive performance that didn’t get the attention it deserved at the time.
Dalton had to go over the top with his performance because the actual plot of The missile It’s very fluffy, and there are fewer scenes of Cliff flying than you’d think. The Nazis want the missile group to create a legion of flying soldiers, Howard Hughes and the Americans want it for the same reason, but for the forces of good, and Cliff is in the middle, because he needs to use it now to rescue his girlfriend Jenny (Jennifer Connelly) from Neville’s clutches. That’s it, that’s the whole movie, and it’s great.
What the film lacks in plot, it makes up for with stunning visuals straight out of a novel, and dialogue to match. During the summer of 1991, you couldn’t look away from the image of Cliff’s famous pose next to the American flag before he took the fight to the airborne Nazis.
At the same time, gangster Eddie Valentine (Paul Sorvino) finally realized he was working for a Nazi, and dropped the line “I may not make honest money, but I’m 100% American,” a phrase and moment that has been used countless times since, including during the 1990s Batman and Captain America specials when joker He turns against Red Skull.
Subverted by a massive marketing campaign
The missile It has great moments, but compared to today’s blockbuster superhero films, it’s also slow-paced and heavy on dialogue. It sounds like a great movie for kids, but even in 1991, it struggled to attract an audience.
Opening in fewer than 2,000 theaters, it grossed just $9.6 million in its opening weekend, eventually churning out $46.7 million, barely exceeding its $40 million budget, though not adjusted for inflation, it earned more than it did in 2024. Border areas. The problem is that the film may have been affordable, but the cost of the marketing campaign is greater than the cost of the film itself.
In 1991, you couldn’t get away from The missile Promotions related to everything from Pizza A shack of souvenir magazines, a Disney Channel special, a licensed NES game, M&M’s, and a novel from Peter David, midway through his legendary career. The amazing structure Comics that Disney made sure were at every school book fair that year. A staggering $19 million was spent on TV ads alone, half of the film’s entire budget.
The film itself is a fun adventure, but by the time it came out, everyone was exhausted by the constant marketing campaign, and to make matters worse for the film, the summer of 1991 was a hit. Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves Came out the week before, and Terminator 2 It was released two weeks later, preventing teenage audiences from actually thinking The missile It wasn’t great, from seeing it in theaters.
Regular theatergoers wanted to see one of the best shows Science fiction Movies of all time, and the best Robin Hood of our lives, about a superhero that no one knew existed until the movie was announced.
Decades later, the Rocketeer has become a classic
Time is running out kindly The missile. Without the stifling push of Disney marketing and the option of watching other legendary films simultaneously, audiences decided that The Adventure of Cliff Secord was a great, unassuming film.
It helps that Jennifer Connelly continues to have the kind of career most actors can only dream of, and even as a damsel in distress, she owns the role. Connelly makes Jenny an active participant in unraveling the conspiracy, and she matches Dalton’s manic energy in her own, understated way by making the most of every second of screen time.
The missile It failed, but it wasn’t necessary, and this wasn’t the first time Disney He’ll drop the ball on a great movie by failing to market it properly. Twenty years later, John Carter I met the same fate today Tron: Ares It’s set to be another in a long line of high-concept films that have been let down by the marketing department.
If you haven’t seen The missileYou owe it to yourself to watch one of the best superhero movies of the ’90s. My neighbor Now on Disney+.
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