This article was originally intended to run on May 4th to continue the celebration of Spider-Man 3’s release to theaters. Due to hectic scheduling it’s running just a few weeks late (hey, we’re not perfect). References to “last week’s article” mean our last Double Feature column. The Friday Night Double Feature continues on…

Last week we suggested a couple of non-typical superhero movies – films you don’t usually compare with the likes of X-Men and Spider-Man. The two movies (The Shadow and The Phantom) were both adaptations from the old radio days before we had heroes like Spidey in comic books to wow us.

While I was coming up with that list it occurred to me that there are a couple other movies that deserve some double feature attention. Today’s movies are even less the superhero type and more the pulpy heroes of the 1930s era. Still, they are heroes – make no mistake. These two films are just as much about slamming evil as last week’s choices.

Like last week, the initial inspiration for the list came from our Top 5 Superhero list compiled by the Cinema Blend team last week in honor of Spider-Man 3 in theaters today. After you’ve seen the wall crawler, check out this week’s double feature films, full of airborne swashbuckling types of days gone by. Or, mix and match this week’s list with our previous episode. As always, it’s about enjoying the movies, and what order you see them in doesn’t matter as much as just watching them.

The Rocketeer

I really thought Disney was onto something with the creation of The Rocketeer, the first (and only) film in an intended franchise. Bill Campbell plays Cliff Secord, a square jawed heroic pilot who dons a rocket pack and a helmet to fight Nazis. It had everything – action, adventure, flying men, evil Nazis, and Jennifer Connelly as the beautiful lady in distress. Sadly, audiences didn’t take to the film. As we point out all too frequently in this column, that doesn’t make it a bad movie, just misunderstood. The film does an excellent job of capturing the feel of the old serials, something it has in common with last week’s recommendations. Half of director Joe Johnson’s filmography includes those kinds of stories, including his contributions to the “Young Indiana Jones.” The little known part of The Rocketeer is that it really was an adaptation of a comic book hero (like Spidey). The character had first appeared in Pacific Comics almost a decade before the movie, making this a perfect companion film for this week’s theme.





Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow

Of course, if you’re going to go for pulp heroes, they don’t come much better than this most recent picture, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. Jude Law’s Sky Captain is the poster child for pulp heroes. He has the nifty kid sidekick who both gets the Captain out of trouble while getting into trouble himself (Dexter, played by Giovanni Ribisi). He has the lovely blonde who can fend for herself, but still needs the Sky Captain to sail in and save the day (Polly Perkins – that alliteration is especially important for characters like this – played by Gwyneth Paltrow). He even downs shot glasses of Milk of Magnesium instead of any kind of liquor. Sky Captain is a true hero for kids to look up to. Be warned however – if you’re not into pulp fiction and serialized stories, this is not a movie for you. The only people who I knew that were disappointed by the picture were those who expected something other than the advertising offered, which paid tribute to the old Superman serials (as does the film). I just wish the movie had done well enough to justify a sequel. I’d love to see that fighter plane come soaring in again to the call for Sky Captain!





Other super-hero spun tales worth including: Check out Cinema Blend's top five recommended super flicks!.





Enjoy our Double Feature suggestions? and maybe we’ll use them in a future column.