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Underground > Film, TV & Theatre >

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow!

18:35 / 21.12.03

Trailer here

Jude Law as Blackhawk!

Gwyneth Paltrow as Lois Lane!

Angelina Jolie with an eyepatch! Grrrrowwwrrr....

I'd heard about this several months ago on AICN. I'd loved the idea, but feared for the execution. Til now, that is. The references to Max Fleischer's SUPERMAN cartoons are wonderful. I'm all a-tingle.

Now for the long wait till inevitable disappointment....

02:15 / 22.12.03

I suspect the most likely point of disappointment will be an insufficiently over-the-top protagonist—the reason I was one of the few people to actually like The Shadow was Alec Baldwin's delivery of lines such as, "Hey buddy: that's the U.S. of A. you're talkin' about!" I've never seen Jude Law in anything; is he likely to pull it off?

02:50 / 22.12.03

I've watched this trailer about a dozen times. I love every fucking thing about it. Summer 2004 can't come fast enough.

13:17 / 22.12.03

Saw the trailer in front of Return the King. It looked spectacular. Flying aces vs. giant robots. Perhaps the delivery of dialogue is a tad low key, given the source material, but it still looks very, very good.

14:23 / 22.12.03

I watched the trailer for the first time today; I've never heard of this project before. It's like a retro-futuristic cod-Forties science fiction WET DREAM! Jude! Gwynnie! Big fucking robots!

This is the movie I've been waiting to see all my life. Possibly.

19:48 / 22.12.03

They're not robots, Gridley. They're GIANT METAL MEN!!!

Gods, I love the pulp genre. This looks like it will so rock.

20:38 / 22.12.03

Metal men?!? Sweet!!

D Terminator XXXIII

18:41 / 18.09.04

If anyone's seen this movie, please report back if it's as great as I think it'll be...

Math is for suckers!

23:45 / 18.09.04

I saw it last night and I loved it. The visuals were great, each "chapter" of the movie had its own distinct feel. I thought Jude Law was really good, he seemed really comfortable in the role. It had some great moments that just mad me go "Wow, that was cool!". And it has revolutionized the "map to show traveling a long distance" thing. Seriously, no one will ever top the coolness of that.

22:17 / 19.09.04

ahem....

This should have been named Captain Kick-Ass and the World of Ass-Kicking.

Nothing more to be said, really.

22:27 / 19.09.04

I've been VERY put off going by the fact that Miss "I've done one good film" Big Lips Jolie is too prominent in the posters. I don't like her. Is it really that good? As in 'I, Robot-pleasant-surprise' good?

02:06 / 20.09.04

Angelina Jolie is barely in the movie. As for is it that good? I'd say it's pretty great overall, with a couple of parts that fall to only good. The chemistry between Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow was excellent, and really captured the 30s screwball comedy feeling that so many movies try and fail to capture. There were a lot of moments in the film where I was just completely in awe of a visual. I'd reccomend it, it's not rocket science, but it's a blockbuster type movie that's actually fun and escapist.

08:34 / 20.09.04

Oh my God, air pirates fighting the nefarious Dr. Totenkopf's steam-powered giants over the skies of New York! Intrepid girl reporters! Ray guns! Joy!

Going to see this sometime this week and I WILL love it. I've been a fan of the pulps since I was eight years old.

12:08 / 20.09.04

Stupid Sky Captain winamp skin screwed up my Winamp. I hate this venture already

13:08 / 20.09.04

It was pretty cool seeing all the old pulp/movie serial stuff done all CGI on the big screen, but I wished they would have put in a few less homages and maybe developed the ones they already had in there a bit more. As it was, one scene rarely had anything to do with the scenes before it (which is in itself an homage to the random plotting of many serials).

And I still don't think Gwyneth can act. She just sort of says her lines and expects people to love her for it.

Giovanni Ribsi was great though, and Jude Law put in his usual skilled (if unexciting) performance.

10:14 / 21.09.04

How was Angelina and her Flying Lips?

13:07 / 21.09.04

Sexy and attention-grabbing, yet so momentary as to seem like a figment of the imagination.

20:27 / 25.09.04

Possibly my favorite movie this year... Exhilarating fun, in the vein of old-timey fun-timey movie serials. It's Indiana Jones meets Star Wars meets Wizard of Oz. And I'll take any chance to stare at Gwyneth Paltrow for 110 minutes.

Now *this* is what 'feel good' movies are, dammit.

10:40 / 29.09.04

Loved it.
Didn't like Gwyneth (never have done) and Jolie's appearance was much better than anything Paltrow did throughout the whole movie. She had balls. And a big sky-ship-carrier thing.

There were a few (two?) really laugh out loud funny moments, one at the end that kills dead any schmaltz that could have ruined the film. The CGI worked for me, really, really worked. It wasn't real, nothing was real, you knew it, but you loved them for it.

Th initial invasion of New York scene is my favorite, far too many references in there for one viewing. Eagerly awaiting the DVD already. "Making Of..." please!!

08:22 / 07.10.04

ok- i saw it last night and really enjoyed it- good romping blockbuster- kind of Indiana Jones meets vintage Flash Gorden. Really cool.

I enjoyed the whole look of it- the whole vintage sepia wash made you much less concerned with the amount of CG going on here than you would be in say, the phantom menace- and because of this stylisation you have a much greater suspention of disbelief. Good work.
The story was great, maybe the script could have been tweaked a little as a couple of the lines did fall flat- but by and large a pacey story kept you engaged. The camera gag is in perfect keeping with the tone of the film- as is the 'did you sabatage my plane thing?' (trying not to give away spoilers for those that haven't seen it)- great sexual tension of the kind real blockbusters achieve.

My only real critisism was Jude Law- although he played the part well was he tough enough to play the dumb heroic fight ace? He's certainly no Harrison Ford... i wonder whether he would have got the part if he wasn't producing the movie? Maybe this is a symptom of the director being a first timer- i'm certainly not a jude hater as he's played some great parts- but he's usually better with a strong director (eg Road to Perdition- boring film but he gives a fucking great performance..)
anyway- really that's a minor point he played it ok and the story rocked.

Overall a good one for those wet October evenings...

Hopefully the film won't bomb? (the cinema i went to was empty- orange wednesday- opening week- eek) are we gonna get a sequal as it has set itself up quite nicely for more action- Maybe a prequel?

Hardly anybody seems to have posted on the movie?
anybody else seen it/ got an opinion?
It seems to be being marketed weirdly- I've seen no print ads and I live and work in central london? I know its low budget but it would be a real shame if it bombs cos its a shit load better than some of the $100 million+ stinkers that get promoted to death...

17:32 / 18.10.04

It opened in Amsterdam this weekend so I was lucky to see it. If there were any ads for it I missed them. Where's the publicity for it?

It took me a couple hours afterward to peel the grin off my face. My fave inanimate "homage" objects were the Hindenburg III and the log (and wrecked "Venture") from "King Kong." The acting was ok; it didn't have to be better than serviceable. The shiny look reminded me of Guy Madden's movies (why can't I find "The Saddest Song In The World?"). The 1939 Alternate World's Fair look made me hope that one day for a real film version of "At The Mountains Of Madness."

Pedant's corner: But where was Moxie? It was as famous as Coca-Cola then. And they wouldn't have said "Nanjing"; that was a product of late-'70s PRC language reform.

Now go rent "J-Men Forever!"

17:33 / 18.10.04

It wasn't so much promoted as grew up in hiding at the studio and then escaped when the security guard wasn't looking...

18:08 / 18.10.04

The sequel[s] need more Angelina Jolie, this is law.

Sky Captain and The Steam-Dragons of Nanking!
Sky Captain and Sun King of Paris!
Franky Cooke and the Pleasure Palaces of Mars!