Movie Discussion – “Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow”
Timeshredder may be able to get a review up this
weekend. In the meantime, this should hold you over.
17 replies on “Movie Discussion – “Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow””
Ebert – 4 stars
From Ebert’s review:
“Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow” is even more fun than it sounds like. In its heedless energy and joy, it reminded me of how I felt the first time I saw “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” It’s like a film that escaped from the imagination directly onto the screen, without having to pass through reality along the way.
Re: Ebert – 4 stars
Okay, just got back an hour ago.
GO SEE IT. Strong pulp elements. Cool ideas. Mix Indiana Jones (the first one) and War of the Worlds, with a twist of the original Star Wars. The first 15-20 minutes, every scene is an iconic one, stuff you’d see in old pulp serials. The reporter on the phone? Check. Giant robots? Check. Man in office overlooking the city, shown from behind? Check. Fingers pointing in the sky? Check.
Breathtakingly done. The story, when everything is finally revealed, is clever as hell. I left the theater with a grin on my face. I’m going back Sunday.
based on what I read….
I am not really interested in seeing this.
Sounds like one of those non-cookiecutter movies that most movies fit into.
Re: based on what I read….
I am not really interested in seeing this.
Sounds like one of those non-cookiecutter movies that most movies fit into.
I AM really interested in seeing this.
I thats what I get for NOT previewing my post.
Re: based on what I read….
I am not really interested in seeing this.
Sounds like one of those non-cookiecutter movies that most movies fit into.
I AM really interested in seeing this.
I thats what I get for NOT previewing my post.
;-)
Posting drunk is hard : )
Can’t wait for tonight
Been looking forward to this ever since I saw the first preview months ago, and that was before I knew it was all digital…
Re: Can’t wait for tonight
Been looking forward to this ever since I saw the first preview months ago, and that was before I knew it was all digital…
You don’t notice. You can see small parts where, yes Virginia, it is CGI, but mostly you’re not looking. You’re absorbing the scene. Giant robots, flying aircraft carriers, Shangri-La…. it’s all there. I knew it was digital, but couldn’t tell where reality ended. Supposedly everything not actually handled is digital – you can’t tell. Again, it looks like one of those old adventure serials, but not constrained by reality (or SFX possibility) on what can be shown. I hope it makes a ton of money.
One caveat – at my theater (The Palace, Ft. Worth, TX), they were missing the second reel. Where all the exposition is, I believe. They said it was an error by the studio…but I was surprised that they hadn’t said anything before taking our money.
Anyone know where the soundtrack is? Someone mentioned (on slashdot, I think) that it’s available via streaming for free.
Please don’t post such long lines, it makes it very hard to read the page.
Sorry, figured that since this is using a version of Slashcode, that it would autoinsert the spaces.
Re: Can’t wait for tonight
Sorry, figured that since this is using a version of
Slashcode, that it would autoinsert the spaces.
I don’t think it is Slashcode. My understanding is that
Dave wrote it all himself.
Try This Instead
Actually, there is a simpler and more convenient way. You simply post an HTML link, like this.
To post a link, simply include the following line in your text:
<a href="put link here">put link text here</a>
For a better explanation, see this link. Also, be sure that the link begins with "http://".
Review on its way….
All right, I’m off to see this. The review will appear tonight or (more likely) tomorrow morning.
Re: Can’t wait for tonight
At first I found the color and the focus to be a bit distracting, they were emulating older serials that had been colorized, but after the first 10 minutes you get into the story and you forget about it.
I studied literature in college. That means I learned to anaylize everything. Just look at some of my other posts here at the Bureau and you’ll see what I mean. Please note that my studies did not teach me to stay on topic, now back to the topic; I saw this movie Friday morning… and I still haven’t take a critical look at it. It wasn’t a “great” movie worthy of inclusion on that disk we put on the deep-space probes, but it was just good clean fun.
I can’t remember the last time I saw a movie and had this reaction.
Re: Can’t wait for tonight
I did go see it last night (and fortunately, we got the whole thing ;-) ). It wasn’t as good as I was expecting, but it was good and I enjoyed it.
It’s definitely a comic book, with comic book physics: flying aircraft carriers? way cool, but it must be nice to have an antimatter energy source! and inertia-less water! Probably the worst was at the very beginning, with the airship docking with the top of the empire state building. If you’ve read anything about airships, docking is very tricky, and many people clinging to the ropes to get the airship pulled into the “dock” got carried away and fell to their deaths. Trying to do that a quarter mile in the sky would be near impossible. Then I sat back and said “ok, remember this is a comic book — they have difference physics” and enjoyed the movie…
So I give it a 7 out of 10: good light fun, but I don’t have a burning need to go see it again any time soon, though I do appreciate many of the subtle touches in it.
One technique I particularly liked was their version of the classic “plane flying over a map” to show the characters traveling long distances: they texture mapped the map over the “actual” terrain. It was very cool.
Re: Can’t wait for tonight
Probably the worst was at the very beginning, with the airship docking with the top of the empire state building. If you’ve read anything about airships, docking is very tricky, and many people clinging to the ropes to get the airship pulled into the “dock” got carried away and fell to their deaths. Trying to do that a quarter mile in the sky would be near impossible. Then I sat back and said “ok, remember this is a comic book — they have difference physics” and enjoyed the movie…
FYI… There were actual plans to use various skyscrapers in New York as docks for airships.
Re: Can’t wait for tonight
Probably the worst was at the very beginning, with the airship docking with the top of the empire state building. If you’ve read anything about airships, docking is very tricky, and many people clinging to the ropes to get the airship pulled into the “dock” got carried away and fell to their deaths. Trying to do that a quarter mile in the sky would be near impossible. Then I sat back and said “ok, remember this is a comic book — they have difference physics” and enjoyed the movie…
FYI… There were actual plans to use various skyscrapers in New York as docks for airships.
Correct. In fact, the building they use in the movie, the Empire State building was actually designed (or at least the 86th floor and up) to serve as a mooring point for dirgibles. The buiding was reinforced to handle the strain of an airship moored to the mast, and the mast itself was designed to allow an airship to anchor to it. It’s a really neat idea, just hella dangerous and didnt get far because of the risks involved.
And also, I immensely enjoyed this movie. I havent had that much fun in an action/adventure flick since the last Indiana Jones… I think they did an amazing job on this and I am definitely going back to see it again.
Ebert – 4 stars
From Ebert’s review:
Re: Ebert – 4 stars
Okay, just got back an hour ago.
GO SEE IT. Strong pulp elements. Cool ideas. Mix Indiana Jones (the first one) and War of the Worlds, with a twist of the original Star Wars. The first 15-20 minutes, every scene is an iconic one, stuff you’d see in old pulp serials. The reporter on the phone? Check. Giant robots? Check. Man in office overlooking the city, shown from behind? Check. Fingers pointing in the sky? Check.
Breathtakingly done. The story, when everything is finally revealed, is clever as hell. I left the theater with a grin on my face. I’m going back Sunday.
based on what I read….
I am not really interested in seeing this.
Sounds like one of those non-cookiecutter movies that most movies fit into.
Re: based on what I read….
I AM really interested in seeing this.
I thats what I get for NOT previewing my post.
Re: based on what I read….
;-)
Posting drunk is hard : )
Can’t wait for tonight
Been looking forward to this ever since I saw the first preview months ago, and that was before I knew it was all digital…
Re: Can’t wait for tonight
You don’t notice. You can see small parts where, yes Virginia, it is CGI, but mostly you’re not looking. You’re absorbing the scene. Giant robots, flying aircraft carriers, Shangri-La…. it’s all there. I knew it was digital, but couldn’t tell where reality ended. Supposedly everything not actually handled is digital – you can’t tell. Again, it looks like one of those old adventure serials, but not constrained by reality (or SFX possibility) on what can be shown. I hope it makes a ton of money.
One caveat – at my theater (The Palace, Ft. Worth, TX), they were missing the second reel. Where all the exposition is, I believe. They said it was an error by the studio…but I was surprised that they hadn’t said anything before taking our money.
Anyone know where the soundtrack is? Someone mentioned (on slashdot, I think) that it’s available via streaming for free.
Re: Can’t wait for tonight
Answering my own question:
http://demand1.stream.aol.com/ramgen/aol/us/aolmusic/artists/sony/various/skycaptainsoundtrack/various_skycaptainsoundtrack_lp.rm
Re: Can’t wait for tonight
Please don’t post such long lines, it makes it very hard to read the page.
http://shorterlink.com/?L56QMH
Re: Can’t wait for tonight
Sorry, figured that since this is using a version of Slashcode, that it would autoinsert the spaces.
Re: Can’t wait for tonight
I don’t think it is Slashcode. My understanding is that
Dave wrote it all himself.
Try This Instead
Actually, there is a simpler and more convenient way. You simply post an HTML link, like this.
To post a link, simply include the following line in your text:
<a href="put link here">put link text here</a>
For a better explanation, see this link. Also, be sure that the link begins with "http://".
Review on its way….
All right, I’m off to see this. The review will appear tonight or (more likely) tomorrow morning.
Re: Can’t wait for tonight
At first I found the color and the focus to be a bit distracting, they were emulating older serials that had been colorized, but after the first 10 minutes you get into the story and you forget about it.
I studied literature in college. That means I learned to anaylize everything. Just look at some of my other posts here at the Bureau and you’ll see what I mean. Please note that my studies did not teach me to stay on topic, now back to the topic; I saw this movie Friday morning… and I still haven’t take a critical look at it. It wasn’t a “great” movie worthy of inclusion on that disk we put on the deep-space probes, but it was just good clean fun.
I can’t remember the last time I saw a movie and had this reaction.
Re: Can’t wait for tonight
I did go see it last night (and fortunately, we got the whole thing ;-) ). It wasn’t as good as I was expecting, but it was good and I enjoyed it.
It’s definitely a comic book, with comic book physics: flying aircraft carriers? way cool, but it must be nice to have an antimatter energy source! and inertia-less water! Probably the worst was at the very beginning, with the airship docking with the top of the empire state building. If you’ve read anything about airships, docking is very tricky, and many people clinging to the ropes to get the airship pulled into the “dock” got carried away and fell to their deaths. Trying to do that a quarter mile in the sky would be near impossible. Then I sat back and said “ok, remember this is a comic book — they have difference physics” and enjoyed the movie…
So I give it a 7 out of 10: good light fun, but I don’t have a burning need to go see it again any time soon, though I do appreciate many of the subtle touches in it.
One technique I particularly liked was their version of the classic “plane flying over a map” to show the characters traveling long distances: they texture mapped the map over the “actual” terrain. It was very cool.
Re: Can’t wait for tonight
FYI… There were actual plans to use various skyscrapers in New York as docks for airships.
Re: Can’t wait for tonight
Correct. In fact, the building they use in the movie, the Empire State building was actually designed (or at least the 86th floor and up) to serve as a mooring point for dirgibles. The buiding was reinforced to handle the strain of an airship moored to the mast, and the mast itself was designed to allow an airship to anchor to it. It’s a really neat idea, just hella dangerous and didnt get far because of the risks involved.
For more reading, here are some links about the Empire State Building:
Empire State Building Official Website
TechnologyStudent.com
History.About.com
And also, I immensely enjoyed this movie. I havent had that much fun in an action/adventure flick since the last Indiana Jones… I think they did an amazing job on this and I am definitely going back to see it again.
Cheers
Jeff