The Rocketeer On DVD: We Were Promised Jetpacks

The surprising critical and popular success of Captain America: The First Avenger—which even won over a lot of reviewers who had made no secret of their weariness over the whole comic-book superhero genre—inspired me to reach back all the way to 1991 for my Hidden Movie Gem recommendation this week for CBC Radio and celebrate The Rocketeer, the underrated adaptation of Dave Stevens' graphic novel by Captain America director Joe Johnston. Not everything Johnston has done has been a success—he was responsible for the third Jurassic Park film, as well as 2010's supremely disappointing Benicio Del Toro flop The Wolfman—but he has a sincere affection for old-fashioned movie genres that keeps me rooting for each new project he undertakes.

You can click here to listen to the segment. (I'm also pleased to note that I recently bought a new piece of editing software that has greatly improved the sound quality of my movie clips... that background hiss and rumble that you've all had to put up with for so long is now a thing of the past.)