Welcome to the grand guignol! Mass murder and vast destruction await! Unless Dr. Vulcan receives $1 billion, he will use Professor Millard's "decimator" to destroy New York City! But Dr. Vulcan is at a hidden location 300 miles off the Atlantic coast, and the decimator's effective range is only 200 miles. Has Vulcan made an error? Will he really be able to destroy New York? Can Rocket Man stop him in time? The answers to these questions may surprise you! Now is the time to watch the final chapter of KING OF THE ROCKET MEN!
Commentary below (may contain spoilers).
Read after viewing final chapter.
The formula for most serials is for the hero(es) to face a potentially lethal challenge at the end of each chapter, overcome the challenge in the beginning of the following chapter, and then confront and defeat the villain(s) in the final chapter. The conclusion of KING OF THE ROCKET MEN is unusual for a serial because it represents a rare case in which the hero (Jeff King/Rocket Man) is ultimately unable to prevent the villain (Dr. Vulcan) from mass murder and wholesale destruction. Not only is Rocket Man powerless to stop the almost complete annihilation of Manhattan, he actually provides Dr. Vulcan with the means to do it! Professor Millard's "decimator"--a device capable of melting solid rock and steel--was destroyed in chapter 7, permanently buried by a raging torrent of molten lava. For a reason I cannot possibly grasp, Jeff King quickly constructs a more powerful decimator, and then carelessly allows it to be stolen by Dr. Vulcan's agents. If Jeff King had simply hid the plans, remained silent about their existence, and halted work on the decimator until Dr.Vulcan had been captured, there would have been no extortion plot, no terror and death for New Yorkers, and no obliteration of most of Manhattan's skyscrapers and infrastructure. Jeff King's poor judgment resulted in the deaths of thousands of people (millions were evacuated, but thousands remained) and countless billions of dollars in property damage. I can only assume that everyone is happy in the final scene of the serial because they are all completely delusional.
Commentary below (may contain spoilers).
Read after viewing final chapter.
The formula for most serials is for the hero(es) to face a potentially lethal challenge at the end of each chapter, overcome the challenge in the beginning of the following chapter, and then confront and defeat the villain(s) in the final chapter. The conclusion of KING OF THE ROCKET MEN is unusual for a serial because it represents a rare case in which the hero (Jeff King/Rocket Man) is ultimately unable to prevent the villain (Dr. Vulcan) from mass murder and wholesale destruction. Not only is Rocket Man powerless to stop the almost complete annihilation of Manhattan, he actually provides Dr. Vulcan with the means to do it! Professor Millard's "decimator"--a device capable of melting solid rock and steel--was destroyed in chapter 7, permanently buried by a raging torrent of molten lava. For a reason I cannot possibly grasp, Jeff King quickly constructs a more powerful decimator, and then carelessly allows it to be stolen by Dr. Vulcan's agents. If Jeff King had simply hid the plans, remained silent about their existence, and halted work on the decimator until Dr.Vulcan had been captured, there would have been no extortion plot, no terror and death for New Yorkers, and no obliteration of most of Manhattan's skyscrapers and infrastructure. Jeff King's poor judgment resulted in the deaths of thousands of people (millions were evacuated, but thousands remained) and countless billions of dollars in property damage. I can only assume that everyone is happy in the final scene of the serial because they are all completely delusional.
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Short film