Quote:
Originally posted by Rodney
You've probably seen some bits of the serials and not realized it. Commando Cody, aka the Rocketman, is the flying man in coveralls with a silver helmet/mask that looks like an old radio, and a couple of knobs on his chest. There were several Republic serials starring this flying hero in the early/mid 50s; although the name of the character, the name of his alter ego, and even the backstory changes from serial to serial, the costume stays the same.
These serials include "King of the Rocket Men" (aka "Lost Planet Airmen," "Radar Men from the Moon" (aka "Retik the Moon Menace"), "Zombies of the Stratosphere," and at least one other. These ultra-low-budget serials put the "cheese" in "cheesey:" for example, the sky is always blue in "outer space," and the evil alien invader's mega-death-machine is an old truck under a plywood shell with lightning bolts painted down each side. But they could be a great deal of fun. If you really want to know more:
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/G...622/ccsmou.htm
Commando Cody is at least a partial inspiration for the Rocketeer comic books and movie of the '90s.
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You're right, I
have seen clips of him flying around. It was like he was on a zip line.
I remember thinking, "He sure is flying in a straight line.".
I'm gonna have to check these out.
Thanks, Rodney.
Quote:
Originally posted by Rodney
One other thing: drawing on the idea (apparently acknowleged by the director) that "Sky Captain" is actually a sort of live-action cartoon, I do want to say that certain shots and features in the trailer reminded me a great deal of the Max Fleisher Superman cartoons from the early '40s. The Fleisher Supermans were very realistic, in a blocky, expressionist sort of way, "lit" like noir movies with lots of shadows and direct light sources animated in, and a lot of dim, low-light scenes. The scene in the trailer where a line of cops in semi-silhouette raise Thompson guns to shoot down the sky invaders is right out of "Mechanical Monsters," as are the giant robots in Sky Captain. I'm not claiming plagiarism, just homage. If you've never seen the Fleisher Superman cartoons, they're really worth a look. Much superior to all the other Superman TV cartoons that came after. I've got some on VHS, and I think they're on DVD also.
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I've seen a few of those on AMC or TCM, one.
I think you're right about their being better than later incarnations of Supes.
I remember one episode about a mad scientist that created these giant flying robots that broke into banks, and other treasure houses, and scooped all the loot up and flew back to his lair.
Lois hitches a ride to get the story and Superman flys to the rescue. (as usual)
I'm going to have to look at getting the dvd now that you jarred my memory.
Thanks.