I have no memory of seeing "Excitement in the Air" in its original broadcast - which is surprising, given how pumped I was for "The Rocketeer" (enough to drag my family to Pizza Hut). But I would've had a deeper appreciation for this as a kid. It's not great.
What it does have (and this was a real perk for me as an adult) is Dave Stevens. The guy didn't do a whole lot of TV interviews, so this was a real treat. It also has Bill Campbell as emcee, and he's perfectly fine.
The problem (one of them) is the contemporary editing and production for a period movie. It's a little jarring to say the least. But more than that is that the time is divided between actual stuff from the movie and an aviation history lesson (Howard Hughes, Da Vinci, etc.) that so badly distracts from the main event. This is a hype package for a Summer movie, I don't want to see screen time devoted to real life sort-of rockets. Campbell even says the technology isn't there yet to send a man flying without wings. What's the point? There is some very nice behind-the-scenes footage, but you have to work for it. And by the time we get to the special effects details, they're here and gone before the credits hit.
C'mon, Disney. I know you had way more material to show here without making it a Rocketeer-hosted Discovery Channel special.
5/10
