The Rocketeer

Post by **Ben** » March 1st, 2009, 4:41 pm

The Complete Rocketeer will be mine! What a lovely idea for them to go back and do it right.

GeorgeC · Post by **GeorgeC** » March 2nd, 2009, 8:26 am

Price breakdown for the IDW Rocketeer Collections (my prediction, going by how DC Comics prices its hardcover Archives and Absolute series) --

$40-$50 for the regular hardcover,

$80-$100 for the "Absolute" oversized (8-12) edition with the extra 100 pages of (mostly) unseen material (pin-ups, development sketches, story ideas, possible early comic treatment pages?)...

This is definitely an Internet PRE-order.

I can't afford to pay that at a shop. 35-50% off pre-order discounts are much appreciated!

Post by **Ben** » March 2nd, 2009, 2:21 pm

Is that expected list price? If so the $80-100 package might come in at $40-60 at somewhere like Amazon, which is my best bet of getting it. That being the case, the big expense will be shipping to the UK, so I'll likely only go for one of them and the oversized hardcover sounds like the one to go for.

I'm glad the second link there confirms 100 pages of extras...the first like says 10 and I was wondering if that was a big enough deal, but 100 pages...wow!

I came to Stevens' work through the movie, and later read the first Rocketeer story and was a fan of both. We still need the 1990 film in a decent two-disc (or Blu-ray!) edition, so maybe this renewed interest gets something moving along those lines.

GeorgeC · Post by **GeorgeC** » March 2nd, 2009, 3:06 pm

Nope... That's my prediction based on how other companies price their hardcover collections. No price has been announced yet for either hardcover edition, but I'd be surprise if they're much cheaper than my estimates.

The 8 X 12 deluxe is going to be way more expensive just because of size and sheer quantity of additional material. Expect that one to cost at least $70-$75. That's about average for an oversized book..

The regular will be at least $40 (my guess) because IDW is paying to have the whole series recolored. Recoloring and remastering is not cheap.

Those costs could have been amortized years ago had they resolicited The Rocketeer in monthly reprints but since fans (nowadays) are so short-sighted and want everything as one collection everybody wanting this hardcover will pay through the nose unless they get it through online discount.

Can't also disregard the fact that Stevens was just getting ready to re-present The Rocketeer comics in a new collection before he died. The last time any of these comics were in print was around the early-mid 1990s and that was only the second (and last) story arc that Stevens finished -- around the time of the Disney film.

DCBService is my best bet. They usually have among the best discount rates online. I just pre-ordered my last Absolute Edition (the next hardcover edition of V For Vendetta which was last printed in HC when the movie came and is way overpriced on used boo market) from those guys for 50% off! There's no way I'll get that from Amazon.com let alone a comic book shop. Most comic shops don't offer more than 10-15% off and that's only if you spend over $20 in pre-orders.

Post by **droosan** » March 2nd, 2009, 5:52 pm

I'd probably spring for a deluxe hardcover collection, just to have a nice copy of the complete series (and, of course, the sure-to-be-cool supplemental material) ..

.. but I'll never part with my original copies of the two Rocketeer trade paperbacks, since they are both autographed by Dave Stevens.

Post by **Ben** » March 3rd, 2009, 2:52 pm

Very neato!

Post by **Vernadyn** » March 4th, 2009, 5:41 pm

I'm not James Horner's biggest fan, but I love the music he came up with for the Rocketeer. Each 15-note phrase of the theme is very simplistic rhythmically, yet it's still amazing. Now, if only Iron Man had had that quality of music....

Haven't seen the movie in a very long time, and don't remember it well. I guess I'm going to have to find the DVD somewhere.

Post by **droosan** » March 4th, 2009, 10:51 pm

The Rocketeer DVD looks terrible, actually. Very 'noisy' and soft, almost as though it were mastered from a videotape rather than from film. It also has no bonus features to speak of .. and isn't even anamorphic, IIRC.

None of which diminishes the awesomeness of the movie itself. It's just a shame it hasn't yet been given the presentation it deserves.

Ben had suggested that Disney should do a 'Vista Series' DVD re-issue, awhile back .. an idea which I wholeheartedly support. :idea:

---------------

I do also love James Horner's heroic themes for The Rocketeer. But personally, my favorite Horner score will always be Krull.

Post by **eddievalient** » March 5th, 2009, 12:36 am

My favorite Horner score (and one of my favorite film scores of all time) is Once Upon A Forest. That was the first film score I ever bought (when I was 10), and I still think it's among his best, and least appreciated.

Post by **Vernadyn** » March 5th, 2009, 3:14 pm

I love the score for Krull too--more than Willow, actually. The flowing theme, trumpet fanfares, string flourishes, and pure energy of the first 5 or so minutes of the first track are giddying. Haven't seen the movie, though, and from what I've heard of it, I don't plan to.

Post by **Ben** » March 5th, 2009, 4:41 pm

I believe the Rocketeer DVD was mastered from the same letterboxed composite video master as the LD, which is why I still only have the CAV LD and not the DVD.

I'd love "Vista Series" equivalent editions for The Rocketeer, Dick Tracy and Evita, three sophisticated Disney/Touchstone releases that haven't gotten nearly near the attention they deserve.

On Horner...the guy frustrates me with his use of each score using bits of his previous ones. Even The Rocketeer - which I LOVE - uses a lot from the Treks and others. It's such a shame when almost the same cue turns up in a film he's scored. As such, my three favorite Horner scores - because they are the more original of his work before he then plagiarised them again - are Star Trek II, The Rocketeer and Titanic. Everything else he's done I've found to be little more than mostly deviations from those scores.

GeorgeC · Post by **GeorgeC** » March 6th, 2009, 1:40 am

I think you can say repetition is true for artists in every field.

Part of how you become efficient is developing a process and process, like it or not, does lead to repetition at times. There are also choices that have to be made for compositional purposes and sometimes you CAN'T do something new simply because it doesn't look or sound as good as an older piece.

How many angles can you shoot a photo from? How many different poses (that read well) can you draw a human body in?

With film music, a bit of repetition is good. John Williams used that to good effect in the original Star Wars trilogy establishing themes for several main characters (Luke, Leia, Vader, Yoda, the Force/Obi-Wan theme, etc.). You had to hear these themes pop up again when it was appropriate. He was basically borrowing operatic theme music devices.

On the other hand...

How many unique, new themes did John Williams come up for the last Star Wars trilogy? Not too many from what I've heard on the CD albums I own.

(Got all of them except for the expanded Phantom Menace release, the Clone Wars series, and the Shadows of the Empire CD soundtrack. Phantom Menace expanded in on the queque along with the Indiana Jones 4-CD soundtrack set. I'm still a nut for Williams' music from the original Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and Superman.)

I'm not as hard on Horner probably because I don't own as much of his music. I tend to collect scores to films I've seen and liked.

I do agree that he did repeat himself on Star Trek III, though. Still had a few nice bits in that underrated movie.

Post by **droosan** » March 6th, 2009, 1:43 am

Ben wrote:my three favorite Horner scores - because they are the more original of his work before he then plagiarised them again - are Star Trek II, The Rocketeer and Titanic. Everything else he's done I've found to be little more than mostly deviations from those scores.

Actually, Horner's Star Trek II/III scores are largely derived from the themes he'd composed for Battle Beyond the Stars, two years earlier. Krull (created between Star Trek II and III) also has strong similarities to both Trek and BBtS .. but its stronger heroic/romantic themes and frequent use of chorales elevate it beyond them, IMO.

I find Horner's 'signature' style quite enjoyable, and have never minded the re-use of certain elements among his works. But I can understand why others might find it frustrating.

Post by **Ben** » March 6th, 2009, 11:42 am

Y'know, Droo...I actually meant Battle Beyond The Stars.

Thinking back, I was trying to work out where those themes came from, and that was the earliest I got.

George...you really need to own more of the man's stuff before "defending" him. While other composers may use the same devices, motif concepts and even referencing their previous scores, Horner actually borrows lock stock and barrel. I'm surprised that no-one has done a comparison thing online, with his most used snippets. As opposed to being similar a lot of the things that people find frustrating is that the way he uses them, they may as well be lifted off that previous film's soundtrack album!

GeorgeC · Post by **GeorgeC** » March 6th, 2009, 3:35 pm

But it was a light defense!

I even admitted I hardly own any of the guy's stuff...

Seriously, though, I like his Star Trek scores and Titanic a lot.

(Have to admit as much as I dislike the first Star Trek motion picture, it may have the best score of the whole lot. No question the expanded soundtrack CD release in 1999 was the best version of that film's soundtrack released. The Inside Star Trek CD in that set was an added bonus, too.)

Again, I buys what I likes from movies I sees!