Rent The Rocket (2013)
3.5 of 5 from 128 ratings
1h 36min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
- A ten year old boy, Ahlo, who is believed to bring bad luck, is blamed for a string of disasters. When his family loses their home and are forced to move, Ahlo meets the spirited orphan Kia and her eccentric uncle Purple: an ex-soldier with a purple suit, a rice wine habit and a fetish for James Brown. Struggling to hang on to his fathers trust, Ahlo leads his family, Purple and Kia through a land scarred by war in search of a new home. In a last plea to try and prove he's not cursed Ahlo builds a giant rocket to enter the most lucrative but dangerous competition of the year: the Rocket Festival.
- Actors:
- Sitthiphon Disamoe, Loungnam Kaosainam, Suthep Po-ngam, Boonsri Yindee, Alice Keohavong, Karen, Chanthachone Latvongxay, Sumrit Warin, Samnuan Sankote, Jarunun Phantachat, Walter Van Veenendaal, Yuttana Muenwaja, Chaleam Ratchaborntong, Wattana Klumkrong, Sopheng Thammavong, Jittakan Chuannok, Nokaeo Chantatham, Wutthikorn Liyeeke, Udon Seesawat, Souphonie Fonglanat
- Directors:
- Kim Mordaunt
- Producers:
- Sylvia Wilczynski
- Writers:
- Kim Mordaunt
- Studio:
- Eureka
- Genres:
- Drama
- Countries:
- Australia
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 30/06/2014
- Run Time:
- 96 minutes
- Languages:
- Thai DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
- Subtitles:
- English
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Widescreen 2.35:1
- Colour:
- Colour
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- B
- Bonus:
- New feature-length commentary by writer/director Kim Mordaunt
- The Making of 'The Rocket', a behind the scenes look at the film
- Theatrical Trailer
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Reviews (3) of The Rocket
No English - The Rocket review by MD
This film has no spoken English or subtitles. What exactly was the point of giving it an English title?
2 out of 4 members found this review helpful.
Lucky choice - The Rocket review by AM
Laos is a narrow landlocked country which borders Vietnam to the west. In the Vietnam war, the Vietnamese ran their chief supply line through Laos - the Ho Chi Minh Trail. As a result, Laos was heavily bombed by the Americans.
Set not long after the Vietnam War, the Rocket follows a young boy who is seen as bad luck cure due to the circumstances of his birth. With Laos struggling to recover from the aftermath of the war, his family are forced to move around to survive, looking for a home. The boy is blamed for some of this and, alienated, he makes friends with two outsiders.
This is a story about family, redemption, recovery from tragedy. It's excellent. Watch it.
1 out of 1 members found this review helpful.
A Damp Squib. - The Rocket review by NC
Think about all those astonishing films from Iran. Or, as another example, the films of Ouedraogo from Burkina Faso. Now imagine if they had been made Hollywood-style. Doesn't bear thinking about? Behold 'The Rocket'.
What should have been a richly rewarding insight into the culture and traditions of Laos and its people, has been mis-shapen through the Australian Kim Mordaunt's hands, into a stultifying coming-of-age trial. It has already been made perfectly clear (more than a few times) that the child Ahlo's supposed fate is to bring bad luck to all around him, when Mordaunt gets him to shout "I am not cursed". Streuth, is that what the film is about? Being Hollywood-style, music intrudes at every possible point, just in case you couldn't figure out if this was a happy or sad bit. Being Hollywood-style, subtlety is avoided as if it was a contagious disease. Ahlo's bad luck involves the death of his mother, and setting fire to neighbours' property. When films of this kind use slow-mo jumps off buildings, a la 'Mission Impossible' it's time to watch something else.
Mordaunt may be asking for sympathy for Ahlo, but he is seen aiming a catapult at a monkey, and only stopped because a friend tells him it is the last in the jungle. Presumably it is all right to do it until only one is left? Maybe the dam construction company are not the only people devastating the environment?
'The Rocket' gets one star for its photography of the Laos countryside. Nothing else in the film deserves even that.
0 out of 0 members found this review helpful.
Critic review
The Rocket review by George Hooper - Cinema Paradiso
If there was any part of Beasts of the Southern Wild that I loved the most it would be the idea that anything can be made to look exciting and delightful through the eyes of a child. The film worked because it shined a light on the sense of imagination we had lost by growing up and The Rocket reminds us in a very similar way that imagination and dreaming can
The Rocket follows a young boy who travels across Laos with his family and his new friends to try and find a new home after they are faced with problems. However their journey is filled with strife and pain and when they finally reach their destination the boy tries to convince himself that he isn’t cursed by entering himself into a competition to make the titular rocket to try and fight back against the problems and heartbreak he has faced.
The way that children face adversity is unique and while the idea of fighting your problems with the mythical power of a Rocket building competition sounds ridiculous the film forces you to view it through a childs eyes, the eyes that see the world as a place full of wonder and possibilities instead of a world of disappointments, upsets and occasional misery. His journey may be harsh, things that happen cannot be taken back and his life is changed forever but the hope still exists for better.
The film turns a world of darkness into one of light through some beautiful colouring, some expert cinematography and a central performance that is unabashedly enthusiastic and hopeful that you can’t help but be sucked into it and enjoy the ride you are thrust upon. The film never once lets you think that life can collapse around you and while it's unrealistic it makes for a delightful story and experience I would happily suggest you watch.