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Disney to Remake/ Reboot The Rocketeer

Exactly. And the existence of one good version hardly precludes the making of another, possibly better version.

I'm quite fond of the old 1940's version of THE THREE MUSKETEERS with Gene Kelly, Lana Turner, and Vincent Price, but the 1970's version directed by Richard Lester is arguably even better. Should they not have bothered back in the 70's because Musketeers had already been filmed umpteen times before?

Ditto for Batman, Tarzan, Zorro, James Bond, Robin Hood, etc.

There's also the fact that, honestly, complaining about remakes is like complaining that the sun rises in the east or that it gets cold in the winter. Hollywood has been making remakes since the silent era, and many Hollywood classics are actually remakes: BEN-HUR, THE MALTESE FALCON, SOME LIKE IT HOT, THE WIZARD OF OZ, THE FLY, THE THING, etc. Hell, Hitchcock once remade one of his own films (THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH) and so did Lon Chaney Senior (THE UNHOLY THREE, as a silent and a talkie). Remakes are a fact of life. They've always been around and always will be.

The more things change, the more they get remade!
 
I think it usually comes from a selfish place which is why I try not to be absolutist in the opinion over remakes. I have a feeling most people are responding to how familiar they are with the originals and whether they are interested personally in seeing those stories/characters/ideas revisited rather than how philosophically opposed to the universal concept of remakes they are. Don't get me wrong, I still have my opinions but I've been striving to just say what I personally think on a case-by-case basis than making any grander statements.
 
And let's not forget -- The Rocketeer is itself a near-remake, or rather a pastiche, of the "Rocketman" character who appeared under different names (the most famous being Commando Cody) in four Republic serials:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_of_the_Rocket_Men

And the Rocketman suit in the Republic serials was inspired in turn by the Buck Rogers comic strip!

Not to mention that the Rocketeer's girlfriend is a pastiche of a famous pinup model, his rocket pack was implicitly built by Doc Savage -- the whole thing is highly derivative to begin with! Not that that's a bad thing; lots of creativity is about taking pre-existing elements and paying tribute to them in a fresh way. But it goes to show how completely nonsensical it is to complain about reusing old ideas when talking about The Rocketeer. It wouldn't even exist if not for the reuse of old ideas!
 
Christopher said:
But it goes to show how completely nonsensical it is to complain about reusing old ideas when talking about The Rocketeer. It wouldn't even exist if not for the reuse of old ideas!
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And the villains in the original movie were thinly-disguised riffs on Errol Flynn and Rondo Hatton. The whole thing is a big nostalgic homage to the pop culture of an earlier era.
 
^ All of which are derivative stories about carbon-based life forms! Where's my superheroic movies about a pile of rocks, darn it! And those plastic rings that hold six cans of soda together - where's their love story?!
 
Gaith said:
^ All of which are derivative stories about carbon-based life forms! Where's my superheroic movies about a pile of rocks, darn it! And those plastic rings that hold six cans of soda together - where's their love story?!
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Paging Pixar . . . .
 
Beyond an affection for the original movie, I am would be happy to see it because there is really nothing else comparable to it now.

I can see why it would be grouped with Superheroes. But as others mentioned it was really based on pulp fiction and movie serials. Cliff did not have powers or even have a mission to fight evil. He was just a pilot who got a hold of a fantastic device by accident and did good with it.

Obviously the closest in style is Captain America. But Cliff is not a solider or superpowered. Also I am guessing that CA sequels will mostly take place in the present with some flashbacks.

I would hope however this is done the whole movie is not focused on his origin. Because it was really basic. He does not have much of a backstory. Maybe thats for the best.

The original comic did have veiled appearances by the Shadow and Doc Savage. Maybe Disney should get the rights to them too. If this works it could lead to a Pulp-Verse franchise. Not that its nessesary but it would make more sense than Marvel superheroes appearing.
 
Bottom line: I can't understand why anyone would object to this movie being made. For one thing, it's not like the making of this movie means that the original movie is going to be wiped from reality. It's still out there to be seen and enjoyed.

But let's be realistic, it was never going to spawn a sequel. It would have been lovely if it did. But 20+ years down the line, with Bill Campbell far from being a box-office draw? No Way! Instead, we're getting a chance to start all over again. And trust me, if this sucks donkey testicle, no-one will be more critical than me. But as it is, we're getting a new Rocketeer movie. And a week ago, we didn't have a new Rocketeer movie. So as far as I'm concerned, that can only be a good thing.
 
You know, come to think of it, I wouldn't mind seeing a reboot of Commando Cody. Maybe they could remake Zombies of the Stratosphere and convince Leonard Nimoy to make a cameo appearance. (For those who don't know, ZotS was the first time Nimoy played an alien.)
 
As far as I'm concerned, they can remake anything they want so long as they do it well. I watched the old Flash Gordon, Crash Corrigan, Buck Rogers and King of the Rocketmen serials as a kid, and I'd quite happily see remakes of any and all of them.

If the remakes turn out to be crap, well, I can forget they exist. It's not like tv channels show the originals every day anyway (perhaps if they did remake them, we might be lucky enough to see an airing of the original). But if they're good, then I get to see those characters again. Which, given tv's apparent reluctance to air those series again (and they were a staple of holiday time during my childhood) is the only chance I'll get to see them.

If anyone doesn't want to see the remakes, they have a very easy option. Don't watch.
 
Christopher said:
You know, come to think of it, I wouldn't mind seeing a reboot of Commando Cody. Maybe they could remake Zombies of the Stratosphere and convince Leonard Nimoy to make a cameo appearance. (For those who don't know, ZotS was the first time Nimoy played an alien.)
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Stranger things have happened. I mean, they convinced Raymond Burr to come back for Godzilla 1985!
 
^I'm more impressed that Godzilla vs. Destroyah (the 40th-anniversary movie) brought back Momoko Kochi, the female lead of the original Gojira.
 
And, of course, one of the positive side-effects of a successful reboot is that it often gives the original another moment in the sun: "where are they now?" articles, a deluxe new DVD edition, new TV screenings the weekend the remake opens, etc.

Heck, Edgar Wallace's original 1933 novelization of KING KONG gets reissued every time they remake KONG.

And I personally reissued the original Zorro novel by Johnston McCulley when the first Antonio Banderas film opened. That would not have happened if there wasn't a remake to cash in on.

And the Will Smith remake of I AM LEGEND put the original 1954 novel on the bestseller list for the first time in over fifty years! This was good news for Richard Matheson, who was quite happy to have his book filmed for the third time.

I'm sure Dave Stevens has no objections to a Rocketeer remake. Who wouldn't want to see their creation hit the big screen once again?
 
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