Roger Ebert enjoyed the film, noting its homages to the film serials of the 1930s–1950s. Although Ebert cited the visual effects as being state of the art, he described them "as charmingly direct as those rockets in the "Flash Gordon" serials—the ones with sparklers hidden inside of them, which were pulled on wires in front of papier-mâché mountains". Leonard Maltin wrote that the "film captures the look of the '30s, as well as the gee-whiz innocence of Saturday matinée serials, but it's talky and takes too much time to get where it's going. Dalton has fun as a villain patterned after Errol Flynn". Peter Travers of "Rolling Stone" magazine also gave a positive review. ""The Rocketeer" is more than one of the best films of the summer; it's the kind of movie magic that we don't see much anymore", he continued, "the kind that charms us, rather than bullying us, into suspending disbelief".