RocketMan (1997 Film)
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''RocketMan'' (also written as ''Rocket Man'') is a 1997 American
comic science fiction Science fiction comedy (sci-fi comedy) or comic science fiction is a subgenre of science fiction or science fantasy that exploits the science fiction genre's conventions for comedy, comedic effect. The genre often mocks or satirizes standard scie ...
film produced by
Walt Disney Pictures Walt Disney Pictures is an American film Film production company, production company and subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios (division), the Walt Disney Studios, a division of Disney Entertainment, which is owned by the Walt Disney Company. The st ...
and
Caravan Pictures Caravan Pictures, Inc. was an American film production company at Walt Disney Studios, formed by Roger Birnbaum and Joe Roth. Caravan Pictures' films were distributed by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution (now known as Walt Disney Studios Mot ...
, and distributed by
Buena Vista Pictures Distribution Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures is an American film distributor within the Disney Entertainment division of the Walt Disney Company. It handles theatrical and occasional digital distribution, marketing, and promotion for films produced and ...
. The film is a partial remake of '' The Reluctant Astronaut'' (1967). Directed by
Stuart Gillard Stuart Thomas Gillard (born April 28, 1950) is a Canadian film director, writer, producer, actor and television director. He is best known for directing the films '' Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III'' (1993) and '' RocketMan'' (1997). He also w ...
, it stars Harland Williams, Jessica Lundy, William Sadler, and
Jeffrey DeMunn Jeffrey P. DeMunn (born April 25, 1947) is an American stage, film, and television actor known for playing Captain Esteridge in '' The Hitcher'' (1986), Sheriff Herb Geller in '' The Blob'' (1988), Andrei Chikatilo in '' Citizen X'' (1995), Harry ...
. The film was released on October 10, 1997. It received negative reviews from critics, and grossed $15.4 million against a budget of $16 million.


Plot

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...
is training for the first
human mission to Mars The idea of sending humans to Mars has been the subject of aerospace engineering and scientific studies since the late 1940s as part of the broader exploration of Mars. Long-term proposals have included sending settlers and terraforming the p ...
, which will involve the spacecraft ''Aries''. Because of a supposed glitch in the computer navigation system, NASA looks for the original programmer of the software to understand why it seems to be broken. Fred Z. Randall, the eccentric and clumsy programmer who wrote the software, meets Paul Wick, the flight director of the Mars mission; William "Wild Bill" Overbeck, the commander of the Mars mission; and astronaut Gary Hackman, the computer specialist. Fred looks at the software and discovers that the problem actually stems from a mathematical error made by Gary. After a display of hard-headed stubbornness, Gary is hit in the head by a model of the ''Pilgrim 1'' Mars lander, suffering a skull fracture. NASA decides to replace him instead of delaying the mission. Fred is brought to NASA to see whether he has what it takes to be an astronaut. He goes through a series of exercises and does well, even going so far as to break every record that Overbeck had set. In the end, Fred gets the job. While getting ready to board the ''Aries'', Fred chickens out and refuses to go on the mission. Bud Nesbitt, who Wick claims caused the Apollo 13 accident (though Bud later reveals that Wick was responsible), tells Fred about three commemorative coins given to him by President
Johnson Johnson may refer to: People and fictional characters *Johnson (surname), a common surname in English * Johnson (given name), a list of people * List of people with surname Johnson, including fictional characters *Johnson (composer) (1953–2011) ...
. He gave one coin to
Neil Armstrong Neil Alden Armstrong (August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012) was an American astronaut and aerospace engineering, aeronautical engineer who, in 1969, became the Apollo 11#Lunar surface operations, first person to walk on the Moon. He was al ...
and another to
Jim Lovell James Arthur Lovell Jr. ( ; born March 25, 1928) is an American retired astronaut, naval aviator, test pilot and mechanical engineer. In 1968, as command module pilot of Apollo 8, he became, with Frank Borman and William Anders, one of the fi ...
. Showing Fred a gold coin reading "Bravery", Bud says, "It hasn't done me much good. Maybe it'll mean something to you." Fred then quotes the Cowardly Lion from ''The Wizard of Oz''. Fred, Commander Overbeck, geologist Julie Ford, and Ulysses, a trained
chimpanzee The chimpanzee (; ''Pan troglodytes''), also simply known as the chimp, is a species of Hominidae, great ape native to the forests and savannahs of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed one. When its close rel ...
, board the ''Aries''. Together, they will look for fossils on Mars. While on a video call with the president, Fred inadvertently humiliates Overbeck by leading the global population in singing " He's Got the Whole World in His Hands." To save on resources, crew members are to be put into "hypersleep" for eight months while the ship floats towards Mars. Ulysses purposely takes Fred's hypersleep chamber as his own, and Fred has to sleep in Ulysses' chimp-sized chamber. He sleeps for only 13 minutes and has to stay up alone for eight months. While looking at Mars's weather data, Fred notices severe sandstorms that could endanger the crew. He contacts Bud in Houston and tells him about the storms that are forecast to hit the landing site. If the crew gets caught in the storms, the crew members could be lost forever. Bud tells Wick about the situation, but Wick ignores him. The crew makes it to Mars after Overbeck chides Fred for being awake the whole time and using all the food—except food that the former despises (
anchovy paste Anchovy paste is a fish paste food product prepared using anchovies as food, anchovies as a primary ingredient. It is used as a condiment and as an ingredient in various dishes, such as Scotch woodcock, and is a mass production, mass-produced pro ...
, creamed liver, and gefilte fish)—for painting. They land the ''Pilgrim'' on the Martian surface. As Overbeck prepares to be the first human to step on Mars, Fred slips from the ladder and accidentally lands first. A day after the crew lands, the sandstorms arrive ahead of schedule. After almost losing Overbeck and Ulysses in a sandstorm, the crew lifts off from the Martian surface. Wick is replaced by Bud when it becomes clear that Wick does not trust his NASA crew. The ship has almost escaped the sandstorm when rocks kicked up by wind hit the lander. ''Pilgrim 1'' loses power and begins to spin out of control. Fred has to rewire the entire system, reboot it, and power everything back up in less than two minutes, or the ship will crash. With less than 20 seconds, he has to complete the circuit. He frantically searches for something and finally shoves the commemorative coin into the slot, allowing the lander to regain power. The crew safely returns to the ''Aries'', which is orbiting Mars. Fred asks Julie to dance with him in
zero gravity Weightlessness is the complete or near-complete absence of the sensation of weight, i.e., zero apparent weight. It is also termed zero g-force, or zero-g (named after the g-force) or, incorrectly, zero gravity. Weight is a measurement of the fo ...
to " When You Wish Upon a Star". He wears a silver tuxedo, and she wears a gold dress made from space blankets that he cut up during his accident with the sleep pod. As Fred gets ready for hypersleep one last time, Ulysses once again takes Fred's hypersleep chamber and Fred yells in anguish as the ''Aries'' begins its eight month journey back to Earth. In a
post-credits scene A post-credits scene (also known as a stinger, end tag, or credit cookie) is a short teaser clip that appears after the closing credits have rolled and sometimes after a production logo of a film, TV show, or video game has run. It is usually ...
, the crew's flag pole on Mars is shown missing its flag. It is revealed that Fred's
American flag The national flag of the United States, often referred to as the American flag or the U.S. flag, consists of thirteen horizontal Bar (heraldry), stripes, Variation of the field, alternating red and white, with a blue rectangle in the Canton ( ...
boxers, which were earlier used as a replacement for the original flag, have been stolen and worn by a
Martian Mars, the fourth planet from the Sun, has appeared as a setting in works of fiction since at least the mid-1600s. Trends in the planet's portrayal have largely been influenced by advances in planetary science. It became the most popular celes ...
.


Cast

* Harland Williams as Fred Z. Randall, an eccentric but brilliant software programmer whose sole dream was to go to space * Jessica Lundy as Julie Ford, an astronaut and the geologist and chimpanzee handler for the Mars Mission whom caught Fred's eye * William Sadler as William "Wild Bill" Overbeck, an astronaut who is the Commanding Officer of the Mars Mission *
Jeffrey DeMunn Jeffrey P. DeMunn (born April 25, 1947) is an American stage, film, and television actor known for playing Captain Esteridge in '' The Hitcher'' (1986), Sheriff Herb Geller in '' The Blob'' (1988), Andrei Chikatilo in '' Citizen X'' (1995), Harry ...
as Paul Wick, the flight director of the Mars mission * James Pickens, Jr. as Ben Stevens, the Director for NASA *
Beau Bridges Lloyd Vernet "Beau" Bridges III (born December 9, 1941) is an American actor. He is a three-time Emmy Award, Emmy, two-time Golden Globe Award, Golden Globe and one-time Grammy Award winner, as well as a two-time Screen Actors Guild Award nomine ...
as Bud Nesbitt, a veteran astronaut since the Apollo 13 mission * Peter Onorati as Gary Hackman, an astronaut who was the computer scientist for the Mars Mission until he was injured * Don Lake as Flight Surgeon * Blake Nelson Boyd as Gordon A. Peacock, an astronaut who Randall competed against to replace Hackman *
Shelley Duvall Shelley Alexis Duvall (July 7, 1949 – July 11, 2024) was an American actress and producer. She is known for her distinctive screen presence, her portrayals of eccentric characters, and her later productions in children's programming. Her acco ...
as Mrs. Randall, Fred's mother *
Gailard Sartain Gailard Sartain (born September 18, 1946) is a retired American actor who frequently played characters with roots in the South. He was a regular on the country music variety series ''Hee Haw''. He is also known for his roles in three of the Ern ...
as Mr. Randall, Fred's father


Production

The idea for what would become ''RocketMan'' came about from
Craig Mazin Craig Mazin (born 1971) is an American writer, director, and producer. He is best known for creating, writing, and producing the HBO historical disaster drama miniseries ''Chernobyl (miniseries), Chernobyl'' (2019) and co-creating, co-writing, an ...
, who was then an ad copywriter for Walt Disney Studios, and his writing partner Greg Erb. They were brainstorming movie ideas when the idea "What if ''
Apollo 13 Apollo 13 (April 1117, 1970) was the seventh crewed mission in the Apollo program, Apollo space program and would have been the third Moon landing. The craft was launched from Kennedy Space Center on April 11, 1970, but the landing was abort ...
'' starred a goofball instead of
Tom Hanks Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for both his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as an American cultural icon. Ha ...
" appeared the most marketable. Mazin presented the idea to his boss Oren Aviv, senior vice president, and marketing/creative director of Buena Vista, with Aviv bringing on
Jon Turteltaub Jonathan Charles Turteltaub (born August 8, 1963) is an American film director, writer and producer. Early life, family and education Turteltaub was born on August 8, 1963, in New York City, one of two children born to comedy writer Saul Turtel ...
as an executive producer who helped set up the film at
Caravan Pictures Caravan Pictures, Inc. was an American film production company at Walt Disney Studios, formed by Roger Birnbaum and Joe Roth. Caravan Pictures' films were distributed by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution (now known as Walt Disney Studios Mot ...
after pitching it to producer and Caravan head Roger Birnbaum. Mazin and Erb were assigned to write the script. Although the two had never written a film before, executives were so impressed with what was submitted that the project was fast-tracked through development. Harland Williams was cast in the lead role after turning down ''
George of the Jungle ''George of the Jungle'' is an American animated television series produced and created by Jay Ward and Bill Scott, who also created '' The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends''. The character George was inspired by the story of ...
''. He was dissatisfied with elements of the script and claimed to have rewritten it twice, though he went uncredited. Among his contributions include the extensions of the sound deprivation chamber and g-force scenes, Randall screaming after getting accepted (which Harland based on Miss America Pageants), and the scene where Randall and Julie bond over stars in the sky. Williams felt that the two had no scene where they connected and included it to make their romance more believable. The film was shot on location at the Lake Point Plaza in Sugar Land, Texas, in a recently constructed building for Fluor Corporation. The building exterior was dressed with NASA signage to give the appearance of shooting at the actual NASA site. The movie was also filmed in
Moab, Utah Moab () is the largest city in and the county seat of Grand County in eastern Utah in the western United States, known for its dramatic scenery. The population was 5,366 at the 2020 census. Moab attracts many tourists annually, mostly visitor ...
, for scenes on the surface of
Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...
. The filmmakers spent nine weeks at the Johnson Space Center, in Houston, Texas, shooting at the famous Rocket Park, the gargantuan Building 9 that houses all of the spacecraft mock-ups for the ongoing shuttle missions, and Building 32, which houses the world's largest thermal vacuum chamber and simulates all conditions of outer space (except zero gravity). To prepare for their roles as astronauts, the three stars attended the U.S. Space Camp at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in
Huntsville, Alabama Huntsville is the List of municipalities in Alabama, most populous city in the U.S. state of Alabama. The population of the city is estimated to be 241,114 in 2024, making it the List of United States cities by population, 100th-most populous ...
, riding in simulators and participating in other activities. Filming started on September 16, 1996, and wrapped up on November 25, 1996.


Release


Box office

''RocketMan'' opened in theaters on October 10, 1997. It came in at #6 during its opening weekend, grossing $4,472,937. The film's second weekend saw a -33.2% change in attendance, dropping to #7 at the box office, with a gross of $2,987,753. It would drop to #8 at the box office the following weekend with a gross of only $2,074,078. The film dropped out of the top ten during its fourth weekend, coming in at eleventh place with a gross of $1,454,836. It would fail to regain a top ten spot at the box office through the remainder of its theatrical run. By the end of its theatrical run, the film had taken in $15,448,043 in total domestic gross.


Home media

The film was one of the first Disney titles released on DVD (through a different distribution company, as Disney was not supporting DVD at the time) and soon went out-of-print. In April 2006, the Disney Movie Club began distributing a DVD re-release. On February 27, 2018 Disney Movie Club began distributing a Blu-ray 20th anniversary edition re-release.


Reception

On
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
, ''RocketMan'' has a score of 20% based on , with a weighted average rating of 4.2/10.
Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...
, however, gave the film three out of four stars, calling it "a wacky comedy in the
Jerry Lewis Jerry Lewis (born Joseph Levitch; March 16, 1926 – August 20, 2017) was an American comedian, actor, singer, filmmaker and humanitarian, with a career spanning seven decades in film, stage, television and radio. Famously nicknamed as "Th ...
-
Jim Carrey James Eugene Carrey (; born January 17, 1962) is a Canadian and American actor and comedian. Known primarily for his energetic slapstick performances, he has received two Golden Globe Awards, in addition to nominations for BAFTA Awards and ...
mold".


See also

*
List of films set on Mars There is a body of films that are set on the planet Mars. In the late 19th century, people erroneously believed that there were canals on Mars. Into the early 20th century, additional observations of Mars fed people's interest in what was called " ...


References


External links

* * * * {{Craig Mazin 1997 films Caravan Pictures films 1990s science fiction comedy films 1990s English-language films Films about astronauts Films about NASA Films directed by Stuart Gillard Films produced by Roger Birnbaum Films scored by Michael Tavera Films set in Houston Films shot in Houston Mars in film Walt Disney Pictures films 1997 comedy films American children's comedy films 1990s American films Films with screenplays by Craig Mazin 1997 science fiction films English-language science fiction comedy films Flatulence in popular culture