Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #18115 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-02-21
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Box set, Collector's Edition, PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 102 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
While setting a milestone in the progress of digital filmmaking, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow resurrects a nostalgic fantasy world derived from a wide variety of vintage inspirations. It's a dazzling dream for anyone who appreciates the look and feel of golden-age sci-fi pulp magazines, drawing its unique, all-digital design from such diverse sources as Howard Hawks adventures, Fritz Lang's Metropolis, Buck Rogers, Blackhawk comics, The Third Man, cliffhanger serials, and the action-packed Indiana Jones franchise. Writer-director Kerry Conran's feature debut is also guaranteed to inspire digital dreamers everywhere, suggesting a paradigm shift in the way CGI-dominated movies are made. It's a giddy adventure for the young and young-at-heart, in which ace pilot "Sky Captain" Joe Sullivan (Jude Law) and intrepid reporter Polly Perkins (Gwyneth Paltrow) must save the world from a mad scientist whose vision of the future has tragic implications for all humankind. Angelina Jolie drops in for a glorified cameo, but it's the ultra-fortunate neophyte Conran who's the star here. His clever riff on The Wizard of Oz is a marvel to behold, and the method of its creation is nothing less than revolutionary. --Jeff Shannon

Synopsis
In writer-director Kerry Conran's debut film, ace pilot Joe Sky Captain Sullivan (Jude Law) reluctantly teams up with his former flame, journalist Polly Perkins (Gwyneth Paltrow), to uncover the mystery behind a group of missing scientists and a series of shocking robot attacks. Aided by gadgetry whiz Dex Dearborn (Giovanni Ribisi) and enigmatic military commander Franky Cook (Angelina Jolie), Joe and Polly must find out who is responsible for an increasingly elaborate scheme that may trigger the end of the world. A highly stylised, mostly computer-generated spectacle, SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW is a striking cinematic achievement. Steeped in the marvellous visuals of 1930s pop culture, Conran's movie is a loving tribute to that era, featuring clever nods to FLASH GORDON, BUCK ROGERS, and other adventure serials of the time. Beginning in a gloriously slate-grey, towering New York City, this movie follows its heroes from one intriguing locale to the next. Although the remarkable images of the film threaten to eclipse the characters at times, SKY CAPTAIN is very well cast, with the actors pitch-perfect for their respective roles, particularly the luminous Paltrow and the brainy Ribisi. And yet the stunning retro-futuristic design is always at the fore, making for a wonderfully unique movie.

Customer Reviews

Missing the point?
Bottom line - if, like me, you love Flash Gordon, King of the Rocket Men (incidentally, when's that going to get a release?) and Undersea Kingdom, you're going to enjoy this. And no, there's little character development or complex scripting. The reason being: it's a film about big robots and spaceships. Simple as that folks, if you don't get your jollies at the sight of a plane with flapping wings, this just isn't going to work for you. Me, I used to watch Manhunt of Mystery Island in the school holidays and this took me right back there again.

This is the anti-Star Wars (no faux-emotional undertones or god-awful 70s mysticism). It's what adventure films used to be like. If I want serious stuff, I'll watch Das Boot or Brazil. If I want to see Jude Law blow things up whilst Angelina struts about in an RAF fetish outfit and eye-patch, I think this is where I'll be.

In last weeks episode...
Most people reading these reviews will be aware of what Sky Captain is- a tribute to the Republic serials of the thirties and forties. The movie encapuslates some other elements of classic pulp material too, but its look is all old-cinema.

Stylistically the film can't be faulted- its image is spot on throughout, from the faint blurring to the use of heavy shadow, noir-style lighting. Even the framing of shots and shortcuts (mini-crowds for example) are produced in the conventions of the thirties and forties. The whole of the graphics lends itself to posters of the time and similar material. It is impossible to tell what is real and what is not- the computer-graphics are remarkable (most of what is seen isn't physcially real). The technical achievements are great.

The story follows the typical style of a serial- according to the commentaries the original script was to have seven chapters, it would have been interesting to see this implemented with a cliff-hanger on each one! there is a great deal of action, and some exposition. The plot is straightforward, but inventive, and continually pushes forwards to the very end. The global threat starts small and builds gradually from a bit of detective work to dramatic dog-fights and a multitude of secret bases!

The acting is very good from all in the movie. There have been criticisms of the acting being wooden, but this isn't really the case. The acting matches the style of the times the movie is set in, and paying tribute too. It also feels genuine, and is often very funny (intentionally)- the classic being the much-quoted Angelina Jolie line "Alert the Amphibious Squadron!".

It is hard to see what audience is being targeted by the film, if any- the movie is what it is and it does it very well. Essentially this is an action-adventure, but its styling is so strong that many may not understand or appreciate it- "why watch a black and white action film with stilted dialogue when I can watch a colour movie full of expletives?!". Anyone who avidly watched TV reruns of Republic serials will love it (King of the Rocket Men, Undersea Kingdom, Flash Gordon etc). Anyone who likes something a bit different will love it too.

Overall I think this film is great and well worth watching for its overt, yet unobtrusive, use of CGI (Laurence Olivier appears in a supporting role, despite being dead...)- its styling is a remarkable achievement and it is a genuinely fun adventure story firmly in the pulp tradition. Good for kids of all ages!

Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow
Superb genre-busting action featuring Jude Law as Sky Captain and Gwyneth Paltrow as Polly Perkins, an inquisitive journalist. Angelina Jolie pops into the film late on as a stiff and rather plump upper-lipped British Air Force commander and former flame of Jude Law's character.

A combination of film-noir, black and white sci-fi like the Flash Gordon or Rocket Man cinema series and all-out actioner and romance, the film manages a great deal of style and invention, while keeping the plotline moving on quickly. It is like nothing you have ever seen and will delight fans of retro / futuristic flying machines and robots. Maybe there is even an influence from Japanese monster movies like Godzilla.

Great performances from Law and Jolie as they camp it up with forties-style British accents and from Paltrow as she plays the dame with a mission and only two photographs left. A good dose of humour keeps the fantastic world the director has created from becoming overwhelming as well as offering up some great film stereotypes, including mad German scientists and plucky backroom boys ready to save the day.

So many films have influenced this creation it is hard to keep track, but it could be described as a combination of the Wizard of Oz, Lost Horizon, War of the Worlds and the Maltese Falcon. This kind of electicism makes for a great and surprising movie and a visual feast.