Author Topic: Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (Read 7754 times)

Perd Hapley · « **on:** December 10, 2007, 08:36:32 PM »

What did you think of it?

Likes?

Dislikes?

I went with option three.

Manedwolf · « **Reply #1 on:** December 10, 2007, 08:39:03 PM »

Loved the design. Beautiful art-deco world. Opening scene of a Zeppelin docking on the Empire State's spire in a snowstorm was beautiful.

The actors seemed downright bored, though. So, consequently, so was I. The leads had absolutely zero chemistry.

Perd Hapley · « **Reply #2 on:** December 10, 2007, 08:40:28 PM »

Would you call it "steam-punk"?

Warren · « **Reply #3 on:** December 10, 2007, 08:41:24 PM »

Given how the voting is going it looks like were flipping FF off.

I liked the idea of the deco/pulp world but the movie missed the mark overall.

Manedwolf · « **Reply #4 on:** December 10, 2007, 08:43:41 PM »

Quote from: fistful on December 10, 2007, 07:40:28 PM

Would you call it "steam-punk"?

No. Sort of an eternal 1938, Golden Age of Aviation and all that. The pulp stories. Rocketeer did that too, but better.

Steampunk is neo-Victorian stuff with all brass and wood tech and dashing gentlemen and dignified ladies. Steampunk is giant brass gauges with Roman numerals, spaceships with wood interiors and button-leather seats, and high tea on Mars. 20,000 Leagues under the Sea is steampunk design.

K Frame · « **Reply #5 on:** December 10, 2007, 08:50:30 PM »

I've never even heard of it.

Perd Hapley · « **Reply #6 on:** December 10, 2007, 08:51:11 PM »

Speaking of, what about the recent Wild West film? That would be steam punk, I suppose?

Manedwolf · « **Reply #7 on:** December 10, 2007, 08:58:56 PM »

Quote from: fistful on December 10, 2007, 07:51:11 PM

Speaking of, what about the recent Wild West film? That would be steam punk, I suppose?

Done really badly, but yes.

Steam-powered mechanical servants, ornate brass devices, and things that use lightning tend to be included.

The works, and supposed "lost" works of Tesla often get involved with that genre.

bedlamite · « **Reply #8 on:** December 11, 2007, 02:40:28 AM »

Never saw Sky captain. Heard it was lame and it disappeared from the theaters almost instantly, which is usually a pretty good clue to the suckiness of a flick.

CAnnoneer · « **Reply #9 on:** December 11, 2007, 03:07:09 AM »

It was innovative in some ways, specifically in combining graphics with living actors. It is amazing how few people were actually involved in what otherwise is a full movie. A sign of things to come? Demonopolization of high-end movie-making?

For me, the problem was the relatively weak story. However, I suspect that is not why it failed in the box office. The reality is that "steampunk" or whatever you call that style has a determined but relatively small following. It just requires too much infatuation with the respective time periods, in combination with the ability to suspend disbelief when looking at clunky goofy awkward tech by modern standards, a sort of industrial romanticism.

For those who believe the effects were the turn off, consider "League of Heroes". It was essentially the same "steampunk" but done on blockbuster hollywood scale, and it still failed at the box office. Overall, I liked both movies well enough, but I am clearly in the minority.

lee n. field · « **Reply #10 on:** December 11, 2007, 03:36:23 AM »

Quote

What did you think of it?

It's a comic book. 1938 that wasn't.

HankB · « **Reply #11 on:** December 11, 2007, 04:15:20 AM »

I view it as a comedy that just didn't work.

* Robot aircraft that flap their wings FAR too slowly to fly . . .

* A FLEET of helicopter-powered aircraft carriers, with rotors FAR too small to work . . .

* Fighter planes that turn into submarines . . .

* A P40 with more accessories than the Batmobile . . .

I think they may have started out trying to make a campy parody of old-time science fiction movies (Like Things To Come or the old Flash Gordon serials with Buster Crabbe) but it fell short; the plot, dialog, and direction of the film looked like it was done by a committee, and the characters (especially Angelina Jolie) looked as if they were having a hard time keeping a straight face . . .

Manedwolf · « **Reply #12 on:** December 11, 2007, 04:18:10 AM »

As I tell people, if you want a GOOD movie written in a stylized 1938, watch Rocketeer. They took the pulp magazines and did it right.

The opening scene always gives me goosebumps, since the first thing is a James Horner score piece as a GeeBee racing plane is rolled out of a hangar at dawn, prepped, cleared, and started, with that massive Wasp radial whining, coughing, then roaring into song from a close camera angle, with amazing Surround. Also, in widescreen, a Zeppelin coming in over Griffith Park Observatory is a complete "Okay. That's...really big" moment.

It's also got all the correct story elements. Gangsters, G-men, Nazis, a secret jet pack, a Valentino-like movie star, a brash pilot, Howard Hughes, an autogyro, a Zeppelin, and an extremely attractive, younger Jennifer Connelly. grin

Side note, the soundtrack includes two excellent period songs newly recorded, "Begin The Beguine" and "When Your Lover Has Gone", from the scenes in the formal dinner club.

There's also an animated B&W Nazi propaganda film in it that's shockingly close to the animation style of the real thing, showing how the "rocketmen" will spread across Europe and the Atlantic and bring the Reich, shown in its entirety.

grampster · « **Reply #13 on:** December 11, 2007, 04:29:22 AM »

What Mike said.

MechAg94 · « **Reply #14 on:** December 11, 2007, 04:36:02 AM »

Rocketeer was good IMO. Ditto Mike.

Weak storyline. I love how they fly the propeller plane all the way around the world. That would take days.

Glock Glockler · « **Reply #15 on:** December 11, 2007, 04:49:04 AM »

Hmmm, Angelina Joile with a Brit accent dressed in a black leather Nazi-like uniform, what's not to like? grin

Creeping Incrementalism · « **Reply #16 on:** December 11, 2007, 05:51:06 AM »

Anyone remember the movie Dune? That had a turn-of-the-century look to it, with the royalty wearing uniforms that look appropriate on cerca 1900 Hapsburg officers, 1900-era styling on the spacecraft, etc.

K Frame · « **Reply #17 on:** December 11, 2007, 05:54:25 AM »

Yeah, I remember seeing Dune in the theaters.

When it was released it was, far and away, the single most expensive film ever made.

I remember walking into the theater being handed a printed sheet -- a Glossary explaining terms and people that would be seen in the movie -- and I remember thinking to myself "This is NOT a good sign."

Overall, though, I LIKED Dune.

bedlamite · « **Reply #18 on:** December 11, 2007, 06:03:57 AM »

It's too bad Dune was cut in half for theaters. I saw a version about 10 years ago that was old at the time and recorded on SLP VHS, and it was much more cohesive than the theatrical release.

MechAg94 · « **Reply #19 on:** December 11, 2007, 06:33:56 AM »

Dune was a very complex book with a lot of politics and historical reference. Not the easiest movie to make. The movie was very strange. Much more entertaining once I read the book.

Perd Hapley · « **Reply #20 on:** December 11, 2007, 12:59:35 PM »

Quote from: CAnnoneer on December 11, 2007, 02:07:09 AM

For those who believe the effects were the turn off, consider "League of Heroes". It was essentially the same "steampunk" but done on blockbuster hollywood scale, and it still failed at the box office. Overall, I liked both movies well enough, but I am clearly in the minority.

Do you mean The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen? I've been meaning to see that. Anyone else like it?

Perd Hapley · « **Reply #21 on:** December 11, 2007, 01:00:08 PM »

Quote from: MechAg94 on December 11, 2007, 05:33:56 AM

Dune was a very complex book with a lot of politics and historical reference. Not the easiest movie to make. The movie was very strange. Much more entertaining once I read the book.

No kidding.

CatsDieNow · « **Reply #22 on:** December 11, 2007, 01:10:44 PM »

Quote from: fistful on December 11, 2007, 11:59:35 AM

Do you mean The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen? I've been meaning to see that. Anyone else like it?

That movie is on the top of my all-time hate list. Worst adaptation of a comic book - ever.

Strings · « **Reply #23 on:** December 11, 2007, 01:13:47 PM »

MechAg94 forgot the most important part of the original Dune: sand.

I read it in high school, and enjoyed it. A friend of mine read it in the sandbox: not as much like.

Sky Captain was ok as a rental to kill a couple of hours where you have NOTHING else to occupy your mind. That's about all it's good for...

Manedwolf · « **Reply #24 on:** December 11, 2007, 01:14:14 PM »

Quote from: fistful on December 11, 2007, 11:59:35 AM

Quote from: CAnnoneer on December 11, 2007, 02:07:09 AM

For those who believe the effects were the turn off, consider "League of Heroes". It was essentially the same "steampunk" but done on blockbuster hollywood scale, and it still failed at the box office. Overall, I liked both movies well enough, but I am clearly in the minority.

Do you mean The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen? I've been meaning to see that. Anyone else like it?

It's horrifically bad. I mean, really bad. MST3K bad, but nothing to laugh at. It just sucks.

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Author Topic: Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (Read 7754 times)

Warren

Strings