Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow 571
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!
I can think of another... (Score:5, Funny)
Pretty sure that Attack of the Clones was also shot entirely in front of a blue screen.
Re:Huh (Score:5, Funny)
Re:I can think of another... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:I can think of another... (Score:5, Funny)
Angelini Jolie wearing an eyepatch? (Score:4, Funny)
Aha! (Score:3, Funny)
I Miss ol' Jon Katz's reviews (Score:5, Funny)
Couldn't you have put in a paragraph or two drawing parallels between this movie and Columbine? Or how it relates to globalism? Your plain vanilla movie review kinda feels naked without you attempting to link it in with current events or society.
GMD
Re:I can think of another... (Score:5, Funny)
Funny.. the first thought that came to my mind was the word "blew."
Re:Hey Great (Score:5, Funny)
Obligatory Futurama Quote (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Groundbreaking? (Score:2, Funny)
I kept waiting for Dorian Grey to sodomize some young boys but he never did. (Who the hell writes him into their story as some sort of superhero?)
FireFox (Score:4, Funny)
Re:My Impressions from the Commercials (Score:1, Funny)
Groundbreaking, my arse (Score:3, Funny)
What you said:
What you meant:
OK, OK, I know this film is just a cheesy knockoff of a pulp '30s-era sci-fi rag, but Angelina Jolie pops her tiddies out! TWICE!!!
Re:Angelini Jolie wearing an eyepatch? (Score:5, Funny)
-Peter
Re:My Impressions from the Commercials (Score:5, Funny)
I'll be in my bunk.
Re:I can think of another... (Score:5, Funny)
No one will go to see this movie (Score:2, Funny)
1) Angelina Jolie (and her lips..god those lips)
2) Natalie Portman
Hence the reason the movie "Hackers" is a favorite among geeks, as well as the continued success of the new Star Wars Trilogy (and in some cases "The Professional")
I'm sorry, Microsoft has patented the blue screen (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Groundbreaking? (Score:5, Funny)
I must have the abridged version of "The Picture of Dorian Gray."
-Peter
Re:I can think of another... (Score:5, Funny)
-bs
Re:I Miss ol' Jon Katz's reviews (Score:2, Funny)
I'd almost completely forgotten! (Score:4, Funny)
Oh yeah... now I remember. That was about the time I started browsing at -1.
Re:I Miss ol' Jon Katz's reviews (Score:3, Funny)
Re:I can think of another... (Score:3, Funny)
Yeah... (Score:5, Funny)
And you probably like women for their personality too. Wierdo.
Re:I can think of another... (Score:5, Funny)
Just think of it as an animated film and it will all go down better. Even the parts with live actors. :)
Re:Woo hoo! (Score:2, Funny)
So in a couple of years Conran's going to die in a hotel room after a night of drinking?
Well, the candle that burns twice as bright, burns out twice as fast...it's better to burn out, than to fade away...
Re:Woo hoo! (Score:2, Funny)
Re:My Impressions from the Commercials (Score:5, Funny)
Re:FireFox (Score:5, Funny)
Re:How about a plot too? (Score:2, Funny)
They definitely had no memorable explosions, that's for sure.
Yay for the little guy?!!!! BZZZZZT! (Score:2, Funny)
"Little guy with big ideas, can't bring them to fruition, needs to sell out to big media corps (TEH DEVIL!) to bring his dream to frution and expose it to the masses."
Now, if he had self-published, set up a website and sold his own DVDs, now that would be worth trumpeting.
This guy should be publicly flogged as a traitor, a collaborator with the evil corps! First against the wall when the revolution comes!
OT - Re: your sig (Score:1, Funny)
Re:Hey Great (Score:5, Funny)
Re:First intirely blue screen movie was.. (Score:5, Funny)
So there.
all the way back to "The Last Starfighter" (Score:5, Funny)
all the way back to 1984?
Never heard of Tron? 1982? CG all over the place?
You whippersnappers with your fancy Angelina Jolie-la-di-da and Jude Law-la-di-doo! Back in my day, all we had was Jeff Bridges and Bruce Boxleitner in neon jumpsuits. And we liked it!
Re:Great (Score:3, Funny)
Yeah, all Jackson got for his effort was shitloads of money, shitloads of great reviews, and shitloads of awards, including an Academy Award for Best Director. Okay, sure, he didn't win an Unobtanium Zrigny Award from the Unaligned Worlds Council for the Electromagnetic-Spectrum-Based Arts, but there was a lot of tough competition last cycle. Anyway, he wouldn't have been able to keep the award anyway -- possession of unobtainium by private individuals isn't allowed on backward worlds like Terra.
Re:Woo hoo! (Score:2, Funny)
Guilty pleasures (Score:1, Funny)
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.
Hmmm....
Sky Captain, Angelina Jolie
The Rocketeer, Jennifer Connolly
Yeah, I guess I can see how both those movies would qualify as aimless & exciting fun but harmless? Just as long as you don't "enjoy" those films too often (you know if you do that too much you'll go blind)
Re:Woo hoo! (Score:2, Funny)
Re:My Impressions from the Commercials (Score:5, Funny)
Re:John Carter of Mars! (Score:2, Funny)
Re:all the way back to "The Last Starfighter" (Score:2, Funny)
1984? I think I remember that book. Was it really like that back then? I'll have to ask my mom. She's almost done packing my lunch for school today.
Re:My Impressions from the Commercials (Score:5, Funny)
"Honey, *I* think you're perfect. But it's YOUR body, and if YOU think you'd want to change something, I'll still support you and think that you're perfect--just like I do when you cut your hair."
(An optional "but, yeah, that'd be hot!" is only allowed for those of us with loving wives who have grown used to sarcastic comments.)
Re:My Impressions from the Commercials (Score:5, Funny)
See, it's like a lottery. The coolness of the remote possibility of success is worth the probability of losing, and having to sleep on the couch for a week.
Re:I can think of another... (Score:5, Funny)
THEFT! (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Angelina Jolie Naked (was Re: My Impressions... (Score:3, Funny)
Brought back some memories here as well
-Jesse
Re:I can think of another... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:I can think of another... (Score:5, Funny)
But the reason that Anakin and Padme interacted so poorly must surely have been because the actors were filmed independently and then composited together!
Re:First intirely blue screen movie was.. (Score:2, Funny)
That's because they live in "Frence", somewhere between "Spein" and "Germeny" (and they go skiing in the Elps)
ooh, look! (Score:3, Funny)
And now we have something new! It's now cool to do the same thing to Angelina Jolie! Those same geeks who watched "Hackers" 67 times and jacked off wildly to every scene with Angelina in it now turn around and try to score points with their uber-arrogant crowd by claiming that Angelina Jolie, like "suxx0rs, d00d".
You know, if it were legal to sterilize you little twits I'd be out there with a pair of nail clippers in a heartbeat, doing my part to clean up the gene pool.
Max
Re:My Impressions from the Commercials (Score:5, Funny)
I recommend it to everyone.