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Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
Set in a mythic version of the late 1930s, this movie is a stunning tribute to classic sci-fi serials, comics and pulp magazines of that era. Starting with a reporter investigating the disappearances of top scientists, the story quickly becomes a nearly constant barrage of giant robots, aeroships, submarine planes, ray guns and retro technology on a grand scale. The plot, which hurtles across maps of the world Indiana Jones style, definitely take a back seat to the effects. The character interactions are all predictable. But all of that is consistent with the genre, and for me it didn't get in the way of enjoying the hell out of this movie.
What sets this film apart from others is that every scene was shot against a blue screen. Except for some hand props and the actors themselves, the whole thing was computer generated. We've certainly seen plenty of CG, going all the way back to "The Last Starfighter" in the 80s, but I've never seen anything done so stylishly or so well. Perhaps the hazy, murky look is perfectly suited to both the 1930s atmosphere and the current state of the art of CG. It works.
The packed screening was followed by a Q&A with director Conran, who turned out to be an impressively low-key, likable guy. He started working on the film about 10 years ago with a blue screen in his living room, wondering whether he could create an entire movie in his Mac. The first 6 minutes took him 2 years. Initially he made an animated version, which actors later used as a guide as they mimed their way through the live version. When Paramount got involved they insisted on big-name actors, so the theatrical release is actually version 3. Hopefully all three will make it onto the eventual DVD. Conran mentioned that for his next project he wants to tackle Edgar Rice Burroughs' epic John Carter series.
The presenter, a filmmaking friend of Conran's, closed the screening with a joke about Pete Townshend meeting Eric Clapton in a London bar and commiserating about some new kid named Hendrix, "who's gonna kick our asses." He imagined that Spielberg and Lucas might soon be having a similar conversation somewhere in California. I have to agree that it seems like a distinct possibility.
Thanks to serutan for this review!
From the commercials about this movie, it looks incredibly cheesy, like an unwitting hollywood insult to the retro-future styling (not to mention their choice of an actress, bleh). It's good to hear otherwise.
-Jesse
Nothing says "unprofessional job" like wrinkles in your duct tape.
of the PC / Xbox game "Crimson Skies" when I first saw the previews.
I've seen the trailer a few times in the movie theatre, and it looks pretty impressive visually- soft lighting, retro color scheme, etc. I guess it doesn't translate as well onto the small screen.
I'm looking forward to seeing this movie, but I'll admit I'm starting to have CGI-fatigue.
CGI should be a tool to enhance a good, original story.
I rarely see original plots anymore being made into movies.
One notable exception though, is the recently made Oldboy, a Korean movie.
If you intend to see this work of genius, avoid spoilers at all costs.
the fact that it was one man's vision, and started in his garage using off-the-shelf software and a whole lot of time before any studios ever got involved.
Wired had an article about it a while ago, and i've been excited to see it ever since.
Horray for garage studios!!
There are 01 types of people in this world. Those that understand binary, and me.
Cheesy? Of *course* it's cheesy! It's for every kid who sat in a theatre with a big bucket of popcorn, grinning like a madman at every swoop and explosion that graced the screen.
I wasn't part of the pulp era, but I enjoyed reading pulp and Golden Age sf works. There's just something free-wheeling, childlike, and wondrous about the visions of tomorrow that those stories embodied. I still like space opera, with vast galactic fleets spinning out of a nebular cluster to go into battle with the dreaded Zorkanoids -- or whatever the evil space being of the moment was.
The trailers for this reminded me of another "guilty pleasure" film, "The Rocketeer." I suspect "Sky Captain" will join "Rocketeer" in my movie collection as something that is aimless, harmless exciting fun.
Actually, this would be kind of interesting. I've read the original series (my father named one of my sisters after Dejah Therece, the Princess of Mars) and loved the sheer retro campty style of the "smiling Virginian" sword fighting his way across the Red Planet.
If done "so seriously it's fun" like Sky Captain appears, it could be one hell of a ride. If nothing else, I love a good swashbuckling movie.
52 Weeks, 52 Religions with John Hummel
The real thing were written before physics was a respected scientific profession, and chemists and electricians were the cutting edge of technology. The World's Fair and the technological marvel of the Golden Gate Bridge are the settings for the Man of Bronze, a paragon of physical perfection raised by five scientists and flanked by his four comrades in arms, plus their pet monkey, pig and occasionally aided by Doc's sister.
They are slices of a different age, a different outlook. The world was as full of sinister forces as the headlines of today, but the steadfast belief that honorable and well trained (and euro-caucasian) men could triumph over evil was held as a truism. Airplanes were new, the world had just become global, but war had yet to span the whole planet.
Great books.
I have a strong feeling that this movie is based more on the modern steampunk and Sons of Ether (a la White Wolf's Mage) genre. A modern retake on an era, just like RenFaires have little to do with the actual Middle Ages.
--
Evan "Not for the Politically Correct sensitive"
"$30 for the One True Ring. $10 each additional ring!" -- JRR "Bob" Tolkien
What sets this film apart from others is that every scene was shot against a blue screen.
And you can tell. Up until now, I didn't know it was entirely shot in front of a blue screen, but every time I saw the commercial the thing that struck me was just how obvious the blue screen effect is. I just can't get over how awful (visually) this film looks, based on the trailer.
What sets this film apart from others is that every scene was shot against a blue screen.
The trouble is: It looks very much like that.
Good use of blue screening results in the characters looking like they're "there". From the commercials I've seen of this movie, it reminds me of one of those old CD-ROM games where they mixed live actors and CG backgrounds.
This one just doesn't work for me. It feels so artificial.
Does it make you happy you're so strange?