Fred Z. Randall is a geeky spacecraft designer who gets the chance to make his dream come true and travel to Mars.Fred Z. Randall is a geeky spacecraft designer who gets the chance to make his dream come true and travel to Mars.Fred Z. Randall is a geeky spacecraft designer who gets the chance to make his dream come true and travel to Mars.
Bill Jenkins
- Mission Controller
- (as William Arthur Jenkins)
Featured reviews
I too thought this movie was hilarious! I saw it in the theater to appease my husband and it really took me by surprise. I laughed so hard I almost, well, you know... It's zany comedy is several notches above Jerry Lewis (who drives me nuts).
My favorites are the opening scene where young Fred is twirling in the dryer (we've all thought of it!) and the "Isolation Chamber" aka nuclear reactor: Fred plays with his socks and beats the pants off the competing astronaut. I have to contend that this is not only for children. Actually, adults will probably enjoy it more.
The other reviews missed mentioning the obvious references to "The Right Stuff." All of the training sequences in Rocket Man were taken from this non-fiction astronaut movie. It's obvious that the creators of this film wanted to make a funny and light space movie.
My favorites are the opening scene where young Fred is twirling in the dryer (we've all thought of it!) and the "Isolation Chamber" aka nuclear reactor: Fred plays with his socks and beats the pants off the competing astronaut. I have to contend that this is not only for children. Actually, adults will probably enjoy it more.
The other reviews missed mentioning the obvious references to "The Right Stuff." All of the training sequences in Rocket Man were taken from this non-fiction astronaut movie. It's obvious that the creators of this film wanted to make a funny and light space movie.
I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard during a movie. Harland Williams is a genius. "C'mon all you Chinese....." Who comes up with this stuff??? I got the feeling that the directors and writers just told Williams to work around the script and improvise whatever he wanted? Some of this stuff is so off the wall, you wonder just how much was scripted. And this is not your typical Jerry Lewis slapstick. Williams has a great deal of pure talent. Anyway watch it and just enjoy the wonderful absurdity that is Rocket Man.
This movie was very funny. A lot of the humor was very spontaneous and original. I love how he gets everyone to sing "He's got the whole world in his hands" and how he passes the time in the isolation chamber by conducting his own puppet show. Leonard Maltin definitely missed the boat by giving this film a bomb rating; considering that he called this film and Judd Nelson's "From the Hip" a bomb while giving two stars to "Senior Trip", Maltin has given me sufficient reason to take his reviews with a grain of salt.
This is a great film. It's definately the funniest Disney film i've ever seen, though, while being great slapstick comedy with excellent delivery by Harland Williams, it also gets in the morals & ideals rife in Disney films. This is unique in that it's the only film i know of that i could have watched with 10 yearolds while not being ashamed, and also watch with some buds with a few beers. It's great & unique in that way Harland Williams carries this film, which is understanding as it is a vehicle for him, but the supporting cast is also excellent and the film was great for me. Since there is constant association with the ground team, you don't get the boxed in effect that you find in many travelling films, e.g. Speed, Speed 2 & the film never slows down for me. The best bits to watch for are the machine that spins Williams round & the bitchin' Mr Magoo impression.
This movie is incredibly funny. I base a good comedy on how many times it makes you laugh - this movie made me laugh so hard I cried at least 3 times. It throws tons of jokes at you - Harland Williams is great as the computer specialist who gets his dream job of becoming an astronaut -- "what I'll do now is use what we like to call 'The right way" to show you how it's done." There was only one moment where one joke goes on a few seconds too long ("whole world in his hands" bit) - but other than that it a very inventive comedy that will make adults laugh just as much as the kids, maybe more. A surprise gem - one of the funniest flicks I've seen - give it a shot. 9 out of 10.
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaFor the surface of Mars, the filmmakers shot in Moab, Utah, where they found giant cliffs, red rocks, a lack of vegetation, and the overall scale of what could be a distant planet.
- GoofsWhen Fred arrives at work in his car there's not enough space to leave via either door so he goes out of the sun roof. Yet he's somehow able to remove one of the wheels which he wouldn't have been able to get any access to.
- Quotes
William Overbeck: How'd you like to be the first guy to die on Mars.
Fred Randall: Well sorry Mr. First to Show Inappropriate Anger on Mars.
- Crazy creditsAfter all the credits, we see the ultimate fate of the substitute flag.
- Alternate versionsTo get the PG rating in the UK 42 seconds were cut to remove a scene in which a child climbs into a washing machine and goes for a spin within it.
- ConnectionsEdited into The Land Before Time X: The Great Longneck Migration (2003)
- SoundtracksThe Martians Are Cowboys
Written and Produced by Andrew Dorfman
Performed by Rob Laufer and Andrew Dorfman (as Andy Dorfman)
- How long is RocketMan?Powered by Alexa
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $16,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $15,448,043
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $4,472,937
- Oct 12, 1997
- Gross worldwide
- $15,448,043
- Runtime1 hour 35 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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