Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.5

Rocketman Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman August 14, 2018

Mars isn't the final frontier, but it may very well be the destination where NASA's future goes to die when the agency is forced to accept a genius, but extremely eccentric, computer whiz as the fourth and final member of the first manned flight to the Red Planet. Director Stuart Gillard's (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III) Rocketman is a zany live action Disney Comedy in the tradition of the studio's quasi-classic features like The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes and The Strongest Man in the World. An unlikely hero, a burgeoning romance, a lot of free spirit, plenty of silliness, and more than a little bit of luck all play a part in bringing man to Mars and making sure the Red Planet is never the same again.

My little blueberry!

Rather than play football “like the rest of the kids,” young Fred Randall (Brandon Kaplan) dreams of space travel, imagining his mother’s washing machine as a space capsule. But rather than become an astronaut in adulthood, Fred (Harland Williams) has become a genius computer programmer for NASA. He still dreams big, and he’s playing a big part in the next chapter of space exploration. He has designed the software that will guide man's first crew to the Red Planet, but his program is spitting out incorrect trajectories, the mission’s computer expert claims. Turns out that specialist was wrong, and he’s injured in the process of Fred proving his own work right. Rather than delay the mission, Fred is chosen to take part in a crash course in space travel and join the crew, which includes his crush, Mission Specialist/Geologist Julie Ford (Jessica Lundy), to take a coveted spot on the ship and in human history.

Despite some high end names in key roles -- William Sadler, Beau Bridges -- the movie obviously belongs to Harland Williams who plays Fred Randall with a silly conviction, nailing the character's quirky personality that's a dominant trait, even beyond his seemingly limitless genius and unusual physical endurance. His character engages in accidental slapstick throughout, inadvertently beating up characters, dropping a key item in the spaceship's toilet, even passing gas at an inopportune moment (yes, this is a movie that prominently features the first fart on Mars). It's all entirely goofy but it's also charming, even a stretch partway through when Fred is accidentally left to his own devices on the ship for months on end while his fellow crew members sleep in a sequence that seems like a precursor to the much more recent movie Passengers. The movie leaves no room for doubt in its "nail biting" finale; the audience will feel comfortable that the tension will pass with everyone safe and sound, but the saving grace is again Williams who hangs onto his character's comical theatrics even in desperate situations. Be sure to stay tuned to the very end for a funny little post-credits clip.

Rocketman Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Disney has impressed with its online exclusive movie club titles, and while Rocketman's 1080p Blu-ray presentation doesn't rank amongst the top-tier, it's certainly a passable image. The image retains its inherent grain structure. Details are very good but not quite great. The image pushes mildly soft-edged at times, but basic facial textures, clothes, and environments -- such as densely packed instrument clusters on the shuttle -- are nicely rendered. The movie's color palette sometimes pushes very red, leaving characters appearing sunburned. The effect is lessened in some spots but there's at least a mild warmth evident throughout. More showy colors -- orange jumpsuits, blue astronaut outfits -- deliver pleasing saturation and punch. Black levels are fairly constant on the strong end of the spectrum. A few artifacts appear here and there -- mild examples of aliasing and jaggies, mostly -- but essential image stability is just fine.

Rocketman Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

This DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack delivers a sturdy, but not always perfect, listen. Dialogue is not always well prioritized, such as during an early training sequence for a mission to Mars. Comm chatter is garbled and forced to contend with the chaotic din of surrounding elements, which might be realistic but makes immersion into the scene more difficult. Dialogue is a bit shallow as a general rule but is consistently perched in the front-center without too many instances when it's too terribly hard to hear. Surrounds occasionally carry details of prominence, such as cracking thunder that filters through the rears with good stretch and stage immersion, heavy Martian winds near film's end, and some prolific echoes that float through the entire stage when Fred plays in the isolation chamber. Music remains decently clear with good, mostly front end, engagement.

Rocketman Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Rocketman's Disney Movie Club exclusive Blu-ray release contains no supplemental content. The top menu offers only options for "Play" and "Scene Selection."

Rocketman Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Rocketman is a fun little movie without much replay value. Most of the gags hit the right notes, though there's nothing here that screams "classic comedy." It's a good 90-minute diversion, a cheerful little movie of good nature that's worth a watch. Disney's Blu-ray, exclusive to its online movie club, delivers decent video and audio presentations. No extras are included. Worth a look.