James Bond Meets Indiana Jones In Disney's Forgotten, Nazi-Punching Action Masterpiece

Published Oct 9, 2026, 6:38 AM EDT Erik Hawkins is an award-winning writer and editor who's been obsessed with cinema since he was old enough to hold Roger Ebert's Video Home Companion in his hands. He lives in NYC, where he rabidly watches everything from the newest releases to the more odd and obscure, and regularly shares his thoughts on Letterboxd. From ghost-writing fiction and webisodes in South America to local news, trial coverage, and politics in NYC, he's rarely put down his laptop over the past 15 years. Long before he took on the established genre worlds of Jurassic Park, The Wolfman, and Captain America, director Joe Johnston delivered what's quietly one of the best adventures of the 1990s — and under Disney's umbrella — with the retro-actioner The Rocketeer. The impeccably crafted and unabashedly old-fashioned film was in development for years and flopped at the box office, barely earning its sizable budget back. But it's definitely Disney's best straight-up action-adventure and, streaming on Disney+, still delivers feel-good thrills today. One of the biggest pleasures The Rocketeer has to offer is James Bond himself, Timothy Dalton, complete with his patented suaveness and silky timbre, who plays a closet Hollywood Nazi looking to claim a piece of Howard Hughes' (fictional) prototype flying tech for the Third Reich; Billy Campbell and Alan Arkin play opposite him, as bumbling all-American heroes who are easy to root for. Most of all, Johnston demonstrates the same deft touch for old-fashioned, not-at-all-in-a-hurry spectacle that made his Captain America: The First Avenger one of the finest Marvel films. The Origins of 'The Rocketeer' Image via Walt Disney Pictures The idea of a film based on comic artist Dan Stevens' character The Rocketeer goes all the way back to 1983, just after the 1940s-throwback flying hero's first adventure was published. Stevens initially sold the rights to director Steve Miner, before creative differences put an end to that venture. Then, in the mid-1980s, Stevens and a screenwriting team shopped a Rocketeer film that was truer to his vision around to numerous studios, all of whom passed, he said in an interview. However, after the success of Tim Burton's Batman, Disney saw the opportunity to sell toys based on the character and greenlit the project. After a seemingly endless series of rewrites and back-and-forths, the $35 million would-be blockbuster went into production. Dynasty actor Billy Campbell plays good-hearted pilot Cliff Secord, who stumbles upon the Hughes prototype rocket pack alongside his mechanic Peevy (Arkin), not realizing that the piece of future tech is being sought by both the mob (represented by the glorious Paul Sorvino) and the Nazis, led by Dalton's Hollywood lothario Neville Sinclair. After Cliff uses the rocket pack to rescue an endangered pilot friend and becomes a national sensation, everyone and the FBI turn their sights on him. The film rockets toward a thrilling, rock'em-sock'em climax with the mob turning on Sinclair and his goons (Sorvino insists that despite his profession, he's still "all-American") and a massive Nazi airship entering the fray. What Makes 'The Rocketeer' Special The biggest reason The Rocketeer is just as much fun today as it was in 1991 is Joe Johnston's deft hand with genuine, old-fashioned thrills and fun. Much like Raiders of the Lost Ark, the film almost eerily channels the wide-eyed innocence and anti-fascist idealism of early 20th-century comics and serials. Its heroes are clumsy but good-intentioned and ready to sacrifice for love and country. Its villains are goddamn Nazis. It's not complicated — it's glorious. The analog effects, from the flying sequences to the ominous, hulking Nazi blimp, are close to flawess, and the film is shot steadily and not cut to ribbons to obscure what's happening. Johnston also had two aces in his pocket: Dalton and Jennifer Connelly as Secord's girlfriend Jenny, an aspiring actress. Dalton channels 007's charm and pushes it just enough over the top when in the guise of Neville Sinclair, an improbably successful Hollywood star who's hiding the fact that he's a spy for the Third Reich. And when he drops the charade, he's wicked enough that audiences in 1991 likely cheered when he met a fiery end. And Connelly is drop-dead gorgeous in era-defining ways throughout the film, fusing 1930s damsel beauty with more modern pluck (and disgust at the advances Sinclair makes upon her). Arkin and Sorvino also nail their roles, ensuring every scene and character beat is still a pleasure. On Disney+ today, The Rocketeer reminds us of the days when Hollywood was still willing to go for broke with old-school craftsmanship and gee-whiz adventure energy. Here's hoping one day, once the Marvel house style finally dies out, it will come back into vogue. Release Date June 21, 1991 Runtime 108 minutes Director Joe Johnston Writers Danny Bilson, Paul De Meo, William Dear, Dave Stevens Producers Charles Gordon, Lawrence Gordon