Harockerce
What a beautiful movie!
StunnaKrypto
Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.
Kodie Bird
True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.
Phillipa
Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.
bkoganbing
I used to love Rocky Jones as a lad, it debuted in 1954 when I was a mere 7 years old. Rocky was a chiseled hero of the space age, a space ranger working for the United Worlds. The United Nations was in its first decade and the world hoped it would help bring lasting peace to the planet. Those hopes were certainly transported into the future with the United Worlds. Note the similarity between the crowd Rocky and his crew worked for and the United Federation of Planets that employed the Enterprise a dozen years later.I also don't think it was an accident that actor Charles Meredith played the future Secretary-General of the United Worlds. His resemblance to the current president named Eisenhower residing at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, could not be missed.Rocky's crew consisted of co-pilot Winky, navigator Vena, scientist Professor Newton and a young kid named Bobby who Professor Newton took quite an interest in. Vena was always in short skirts and heels, not exactly regulation for space travel, but I guess she was there for the Dads. What Bobby was on those missions for still eludes me except as a boy toy. To hear Winky tell it he had a girl on every planet, but Rocky showed no discernible interest in the opposite sex.Of course special effects were pretty chintzy, but given that television was still in its own adolescence, understandable. The show was not terribly good in predicting scientific advancement. No computers or lasers are seen in this futuristic program. I recall one episode in which an abandoned moon was blasted with something called a tortanic missile to alter its orbit. Didn't work.But one thing I will always remember Rocky Jones for. There was a ruler Queen on one of the planets named Officius and her name was Cleolanta. That woman was pure evil and deliciously played by an actress named Patsy Parsons. Cleolanta used to give this seven year old nightmares. But I still watched the show.
shulma2002
I viewed Rocky Jones, Space Ranger as a child 50 years ago. By today's standards the SPFX are inferior but the stories were great: good against evil. It was entertaining and exciting. I'm sure that science fiction films and TV series made in the 60's and 70's, such as "Star Trek", have to thank Rocky Jones for many story lines. There was one episode where Rocky's ship becomes invisible due to a scientific breakthrough; a similar plot was used in "Star Trek" as well as in "Star Wars". We owe a lot to shows like Rocky Jones. It brought pleasure to many youngsters who could only dream about space travel. I still remember the plots and titles of many of those episodes; yet I cannot recall plots of shows I've viewed within recent years!
TEXICAN-2
Okay, it's been almost 50 years since I blasted off with Rocky every Saturday morning. And, even then, I can tell you the special effects weren't terrific, and the stories were probably 50's simple, but, it was good entertainment, and an exciting way to start the day. We didn't have Star Wars (etc.) back then, and this was still ahead of Forbidden Planet, so, you didn't expect much, you weren't let down. AND, most kid shows even at the theater were black and white (except maybe Disney), so the black and white TV wasn't a problem. I'm sure that if I viewed this series today, I might cringe at it, but, then again, if you make the effort to try to look at something this old the way you looked at it originally (thru the eyes of a youngster), it just might still be that fine entertainment it was then. Hopefully, someone will put all 39 episodes on DVD, that would be great.
brolsky
While there is little about "Rocky Jones, Space Ranger" to justify recommending it today, there is a certain value to considering the historical importance of what it was in 1954.I should say, that I grew up watching this program. I and one of my friends, joyfully, wrote away to the show and were rewarded with a Rocky Jones, Space Ranger Fan Club kit, which included a large, blue, scroll-type banner with gold tassels, a selection of cheaply reproduced head shots of the actors in character, and if I recall correctly, a couple of code rings that were nice but had no relation to the show.We both watched the show religiously and were thrilled by the adventures and the wonder of space travel. We both read science fiction and we were both precocious little intellectuals who understood just how poorly these shows approximated quality in that area. Still, it was fun, it was science fiction, it was for kids, and it was 1954-55.If you consider the plots, such as they were, and consider the headlines of those days then it should not be hard for you to recognize how idyllic Rocky's problems seemed to us.Yes, Rocky Jones KNEW what was right, but the '50s was a time when knowing what was right was very important. There was a certain amount of social commentary built into the show that said that doing 'the right thing' was more important than political concerns. Rocky Jones doesn't seem human to us today, because he is not paralyzed by doubts, he is serious about what he is doing, he is dedicated to fighting the bad guys who are clearly 'bad' guys. That a woman was aboard was ground breaking just as having a mixed crew was shocking when "Star Trek" hit the air waves. It was futuristic, and though it didn't go nearly far enough, it pointed the way to where our society has actually begun to go.Rocky was a hero. He was not an ordinary guy with some extra training. He could do no wrong, by definition. Heroes are always in short supply, so it is not surprising that others went to him for advice and took what he gave. The only real difference between a hero story then and one now is that today's heroes need to fight the system to do their heroic deeds and they are tortured by the fear that they may die alone because no one understands their truths.Certainly, there is more depth to a modern hero, but the question is, how often does that depth advance a hero story?As far as cheap sets and cheap effects go, they weren't for that day and time. They were pretty much state of the art for weekly television in the '50s. We, today, are spoiled by our current technology which makes much better effects cost effect where they were impossible before. Compare "Star Trek" to "Enterprise", both relatively low budget for their times. Consider "Bewitched" versus "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer".So, for a proper appreciation of "Rocky Jones, Space Ranger" in the context of what it was versus what it is now, let me say that it has no depth or artistry that survives its original time. There is no great artistic merit to the shows which would justify a week long retrospective. It was an afternoon syndicated children's show, which added wonder and hope to my life as a child. I would joyfully sit through an episode or ten, to revive old memories and to ruefully remark on how sophisticated I have grown and how technology has advanced. But, then, I am currently re-reading the Shadow and Doc Challenger novels for much the same reason and with much the same recognitions.There were great space operas in the literature that still hold up today for all their lack of modern sophistication and they reach all the way back to the '30s. There have not been many great science fiction films and fewer television shows until much more recent times. If you need examples, consider "Metropolis", "Things to Come", "Destination Moon", etc. as big budget films for their day compared to modern science fiction movies. (We'll skip movie serials completely.) As far as television goes, till the '60s, all I can remember are this one, "Captain Midnight/Jet Jackson", "Superman" and "Science Fiction Theatre" and none of these others offered adventures in space. I'm sure that others of us, can think of more, but I'm willing to bet, not many more.So, if anyone wants to put out a bunch of episodes on DVD, they've got one purchaser ready, with cash in hand.