This is a ‘No Spoilers’ Review
I was 12 in 1980 and my science fiction roots hearken back to Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica. However something in me has always been drawn to the future that was envisioned by writers and artists in the 30’s, 40’s, and 50’s. Those images of space and rockets, creatures from other planets, and swashbuckling heroes off to save the world have always stirred the core of my imagination. Its as if the blood of my father and his father before him carried in it that boyish enthusiasm of John Carter, Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers, etc and passed it on to me. This affection for the science fiction of old was infused with new life the first time I saw a trailer for Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow a little over a year ago.
I saw this movie in its theatrical release and I just finished watching it again on DVD. It’s as if writer/director Kerry Conran and his brother Kevin reached inside of every 12 year old boy living in the first half of the 20th century and projected their collective imaginations onto the screen. Fighter planes and dirigibles, robots and ray-guns, dashing heroes and dazzling heroines-this movie has it all. The movie is set in 1939 and the commentary indicates that this is an homage to the 1939 New York World’s Fair “Building the World of Tomorrow” and its theme that technology was on the verge of bringing about a better world. This movie is also an attempt to pay homage to all the old science fiction and adventure books, comics, and serials of the 30’s and 40’s while breaking new ground in filmaking techniques. The movie received overwhelmingly positive reviews based on its look but the area that some critics found lacking was in the story. I feel like the film succeeds in both areas.
The film is beautiful to look at and, although not as awe-inspiring on the small screen as it was on the big screen, it remains a sight to behold. The Conran brothers and company crafted a movie that hearkens back to the early days of filmmaking while infusing it with rich color and depth that has to be seen to be believed. It is really unfair to attempt to describe this movie’s look in words as it is in the viewing that one can truly appreciate what they’ve done. It only adds to the wonder knowing that this was Kerry Conran’s first film.
The story is just what I expected it to be before I ever saw the film. It was written to honor classic science fiction and adventure stories and the characterization is dead on. The hero is herioc, the heroine is beautiful and resourceful, and the bad guys are bad guys. Simple? Yes, but exactly the right tone for the movie they set out to make. This movie has a good blend of action, humor, and romance that keeps the story progressing at a very entertaining pace. The producer really managed to hit it big with the casting of this movie as well. Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie and Giovanni Ribisi are perfect in their respective roles and a posthumous performance by Sir Laurence Olivier is icing on the cake. Repeated viewings are enjoyable if only to attempt to identify all the little references to other films, etc. Fans of the genre will recognize the nod to Star Wars Phantom Menace as well as visual references to Atlantis, The Island of Dr. Moreau, At the Earth’s Core, etc but the movie is chock full of harder to find items. The ‘making of’ feature points out the silhouette of King Kong on the Empire State Building in one shot and my wife pointed out the silhouette of Godzilla in the Tokyo newspaper after the first robot attack.
Technically the DVD is great. The sound and picture quality were very good, especially when utilizing a surround sound system. And speaking of sound, the music in this movie is appropriately heroic and the sound effects, from the machine gun fire to the old fashioned robot laser sounds, are just phenomenal. I had been hoping for some creative packaging given the unique creativity of the movie but it is your typical plastic package with nary a slip of paper inside. The 2-part making-of feature was very entertaining as was a gag reel with real and computer generated bloopers. 2 deleted scenes were interesting only in that it showed alternate ways in these 2 incidents that the story could have been advanced. I listened to a portion of the producer’s commentary and the writer/director’s commentary. While they both sound like they would be interesting to listen to I was disappointed in that I had hoped they would go in and point out all the little inside jokes and references that are obviously littered throughout the movie. Ah well, maybe in a director’s cut.
If you are a fan of this genre or if you just like fun, well-done escapist films then you owe it to yourself to check this out.
The Conran brothers are currently working to bring the Edgar Rice Burroughs classic, A Princess of Mars to the big screen.
For a truly immersive experience check out Crimson Skies. I’ve played this on the PC and it is the closest thing you can get to playing Sky Captain
