Customer Reviews

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow [Blu-ray] [Blu-ray] (2010)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I can't really understand anyone seeing a film with a title like "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" and complaining it didn't have enough depth. After all, it isn't as though the old Flash Gordon serials, or whatever else inspired this, had deep philosophical discussions and incredibly subtle characters.

Considering the ponderous and detailed effort that went into this film (the actors worked with blue screens, and almost literally everything else is special effects) it's amazing that it's also light on its feet enough to include humour and not take itself too seriously. Even the main villain is generated from images of Sir Laurence Olivier (dead since 1989, raising mildly troubling ethical questions). And it all done on a lower budget than you'd expect, though if the film has one major flaw it's probably a bit too much going on, so that eye has too much to take in. Just because you can animate three hundred enemy ships doesn't actually mean you should. Jude Law and Gywneth Paltrow are well cast because they look as though they could belong to the late thirties when the film appears to be set.

Roger Ebert talks about the "gee-whiz vigor" old serial adventures had, a "naive faith in science and pluck," and that's certainly to be found in Sky Captain. Sure, it's a little incongruous to see 1938 fighter planes going up against giant robots. And in a film where the characters say the "First World War" when the second one hasn't happened yet (they'd be saying the "Great War" probably) it's far too easy to get into nitpicking and miss the point. And the point, by the way, is the sheer fun of it. I fell for this film the moment I realised the giant robot beams had the same sound effect that was used in the 1953 War of the Worlds.

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow is without a doubt the most faithful reproduction I have seen of 1930's and 40's science fiction cinema. Director Kerry Conran not only captured the innocence of the decade but also much of the visual flare that has made retro so cool in a modern era where technology has become cold and lifeless by design. Already hailed by many as ground breaking for it's completely computer rendered back drops and special effects it's hard not to be impressed with the world Kerry and his brother have envisioned. While the CG work here is obvious it never detracts from the enjoyment of the film. One gets the feeling that Conran is aware of the limitations of the technology and that instead of shying away from it he embraces it as did the pioneers of early cinema. Jude Law is perfect here as the strong headed hero fly boy and Gwyneth Paltrow brings just the right amount of Tomboy Lois Lane charm required for her role. The script is a little stunted and the acting a little cold in places but it is all done with tongue firmly planted in cheek and on repeat viewings more of the story and minor details reveal themselves. This is the most original Sci Fi story to emerge from Hollywood in a long time and as the studios become more enraptured with the cerebral and lifeless offerings that are pouring out of production houses currently this may the last Gee Whiz film you'll see for some time.

I am not a Jude Law fan but I have to admit he was great in this picture. If you buy this to see a Angelina Jolie movie you will be dissapointed because she only has a small role (but she looks incredible in this movie)The technologie used in this movie is second to none. After seeing this movie you will understand that they can do anything in movies now. The sky is the limit. Also the Blu-Ray has great documentaries on how this was made.
This was a great hommage to 50's Sci-Fi movies.

Sky Captain wants to be what Star Wars and Indiana Jones were in their respective debuts. Star Wars was based on the old sci-fi serials, like "Flash Gordon", with a dash of "Lord of the Rings". Raiders of the Lost Ark also took its cues from the serials, like "Lash LaRue". However, those films were infused with a serious approach, state of the art filmmaking, and a welcome updating, in terms of dialogue.

Sky Captain attempts the same. Using a bold approach with CGI effects (which, alas, will look terribly dated in no time at all), it wants to recreate those sci-fi serials, with a cue to the more serious work of Fritz Lang's "Metropolis". The casting is spot-on (both Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow easily pass as 1940s stars of the silver screen), and the design is beautiful (especially the sequences in New York City), and everyone tries their best.

Unfortunately, it all comes off as too lightweight. Raiders, Star Wars, and the recent King Kong were a lot of fun, but they always took their subject matter seriously. You became lost in their worlds. Throughout Sky Captain it never seemed anything more than a clever parody of an old film. Which is too bad. The film is fun, and its heart is definitely in the right place. It has a unique look. But somehow it is forgettable fluff. Which is okay - but I think this movie is just a nudge away from being truly great. I look forward to what this director does next.

Everything positive I could say about this movie has already been said by Amazon's review. It's too bad that we don't get enough sci-fi movies each year. This is a very nice mixture of old style SF with today's special effects. Very entertaining and funny at times and it doesn't take itself too seriously.

usually a special feature consists of a few intermittent seconds of interview dispersed between scenes of the movie you have already watched, or more annoying-about to watch. not sky captain. Sky captain includes a documentary behind the scenes look at production at every stage. i got the feel of the enormity of the work done on this movie, and a feel of what it might have been like if i were a part of sky captain's production team. i watched the special feature first, and appreciated the main feature much more.

It is unfortunate that such a movie with so much potential(see the six minute short included on the disc that was the genesis the director touted around Hollywood to get the thing made) had so little to offer when all was said and done.
The movie has a quite sumputous sepia toned look throughout,art deco buildings and even a late 30s P-40 Curtis Warhawk fighter plane complete with sharks teeth on the nose(the captains' preferred mode of transport).
However long on LOOK this movie is does NOT compensate for the stilted and see through plot that runs through this movie like so much water through a sieve.The science fiction pulp mags and 30s/40s serials that obviously inspired this movie had more depth and originality to them than this very shallow and cheap imitation.
Jude Law as the titular sky captain does as good a job as he can considering the material he has to work with and Gynneth Paltrow shows us once again why she is one of the top most wooden actresses in Hollywood today.
All in all this is one BIG disappointment;nice to look at but nothing under the hood.

Why does the 'world of tomorrow' look like 1930's Art-deco? You know? The past? Nice attempt to create the feel of old crappy Hollywood serials, but it felt like there were only 5 actors (and people) in the entire film and the purposefully bad dialogue and characterization was pretty annoying after five minutes. It might have worked better if it actually seemed like the actors were in the scene when they were filmed, instead of pasted in from shots made in a broom closet. If you want cool footage of dirigibles and flying robots, go see Hayao Miyazaki's Castle in the Sky. I'm pretty sure the director did.

Actually, if the critical faculties are turned off, this really isn't a bad time waster, even if the sepia-tone makes things look out of focus instead of creating a sense of nostalgia.

I can appreciate what the filmmakers tried to do here - pay tribute to those pulp comic books and campy sci-fi films of the Golden Era (which I love, by the way) while also trying to revolutionize the whole art of CGI effects - but there's really no hiding the fact that Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow is one dog of a movie. I'm not talking about an adorable little Yorkie or even a cute but annoying Chihuahua; I'm talking about one great big mangy, mud-covered, tick-infested, shaggy mutt of a dog. The whole story is ridiculous, the script is consistently groan-inducingly dreadful, and the acting is about as bad as I've seen in a long, long time. Don't count on Angelina Jolie (in little more than a cameo) to bail this one out; it's way too far gone before she ever shows up.

So what do we have here? Well, in what is best described as some futuristic 1930s world (and how crazy does that sound?), there's some mad scientist sending legions of humongous robots to reek havoc all over the world. It's like The Iron Giant was seduced by the dark side of the force and then cloned a bazillion times. On the ground, we have the intrepid and incredibly annoying reporter Polly Perkins (Gwyneth Paltrow), who's on the story of several missing scientists when the giants attack. Helpless authorities send out the equivalent of a bat signal to Sky Captain, aka Joe Sullivan (Jude Law). This guy apparently spends all of his time flying in his P-40 just waiting for a call to save the world (and don't even get me started on the whole "gas mileage" issue). As the story progresses, Perkins and Sky Captain team up to discover who is causing all of this mischief so they can track him down to his hidden lair and save the world. In between aerial battles and visually incredible flying sequences, our two heroes constantly snipe at each other over their former love affair. No matter how tense the action gets, or how few seconds the world is away from annihilation, these two always make the time to bicker like a couple of teenagers who just broke up. The addition of Franky Cook (Angelina Jolie) aboard her top-secret flying platform somewhere over Asia only adds fuel to the extended lovers' spat.

I won't even begin to describe all of the science fiction shenanigans writer-director Kerry Conran throws into this film (the words "everything but the kitchen sink" come to mind). All of these special effects are, I suppose, the real selling point of the film. They are - for the most part - quite impressive, and the whole movie certainly has a unique look and feel to it, what with basically everything but the prominent actors being a creation of CGI effects. I'm sure the actors had quite a time performing all of their scenes in front of blue screens, but they never really had much of a chance given the mediocre script. I have mentioned just how dreadful the dialogue in this film is, haven't I? Conran doesn't just run a gag into the ground - he tunnels all the way through to China with it. And it continues all the way through the final line; I really wanted to just slap somebody after this movie finally ended.

As impressive as the CGI effects of this movie are, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow actually offers compelling evidence that CGI-created films such as this are not a good idea at all - I never bought into the idea that these characters were actually in the environment, and that necessarily prevented me from connecting to these characters at all. Special effects do not a movie make. I mean, a rose is pretty to look at, but I don't want to stare at one for over an hour and a half. It really doesn't take very long for you to get used to the unusual look of this film, and after that point you're left with nothing more than bad actors delivering painful dialogue from a mediocre script. My oohs and aahs were greatly outnumbered by my groans and "for Pete's sake" comments during the film.

The order was place late yet it was received well in time as a gift for my son at Christmas to go with a blueray player.