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Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004)
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Mon Jun 08, 2015 8:02 pm    Post subject: Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004) Reply with quote



I was all set to love this one plum to death. The trailers had me sold completely. Very Happy

Alas, the movie just didn't live up to the hype. First of all, a story set in the days of Technicolor shouldn't have a fuzzy, washout picture. It's like they didn't have the nerve to make it in black & white, and they didn't have the sense to make it in vibrant color. It should have looked like those magnificent Fleischer Superman cartoons

The money-saving strategy of doing so much with green screens works like a charm these days, but back in 2004 it just wasn't very convincing. The story was pretty good, but the fact that there was no real villain was sorta weak.

This is another of those movies that disappoint you the first time you see it, but you can enjoy it much more after you get over being mad at it for letting you down.

Although the critics gobbled it up with big spoons (oddly enough) the movie is considered a box office flop because it only made $58 million on a $70 million budget.

Too bad. A sequel might have done a better job.

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orzel-w
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PostPosted: Mon Jun 08, 2015 9:44 pm    Post subject: Re: Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004) Reply with quote

Bud Brewster wrote:
This is another of those movies that disappoint you the first time you see it, but you can enjoy it much more after you get over being mad at it for letting you down.

I think you've hit on a new movie classification category. We just need to figure out how to work it into a ratings system.
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Pow
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 10, 2015 9:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I was fascinated by this movie when I read that it was revolutionary in that it would employ a minimal of practical sets & would utilize virtual sets for the majority of it.

I liked the retro 1940s look of it very much. Reminded me of those great black & white Warner Brothers movies, as well as the terrific Superman cartoons of the 40s.

No, it isn't a perfect film. It does not capture the sheer fun & innocence of The Rocketeer for me. But it was intriguing with aspects of its plot. even if the entire film did not work.
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orzel-w
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 10, 2015 12:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

They lost me when the P-40 converts to a submarine.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 10, 2015 1:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

orzel-w wrote:
They lost me when the P-40 converts to a submarine.


-- and dove down into the water at 60 mph, as if that wouldn't have smashed the aircraft to pieces. Sure, it looked dramatic, but sometimes it's a mistake to chose drama over realism.

It's a tricky balance, but an important one to get right. And I may be in a small majority of folks who winced at the scene instead of thinking, "That was cool!"

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Rocky Jones
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 10, 2015 9:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

This is another one in the I-liked-it-but-most-everybody-else-didn't category. I completely enjoyed all the animated detail and the '30s sci-fi tech design. My only gripe was the sort of constant claustrophobic feeling of the film due to the actors obviously performing in front of green screens the whole film. The techniques for this have improved greatly since '04. Somebody had to make the initial mistakes to be improved upon and Sky Captain was elected.
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Custer
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PostPosted: Thu Jun 30, 2016 7:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

A bit of a trail-blazer, then. But I just uploaded these three images, so I might as well post them here:





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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Sun Oct 23, 2016 3:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

__________________________________

The trailer for this movie appealed to me because it emulated the Max Fleischer Superman cartoons.

__________________________________


__Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow: Trailer


_________

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)


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Brent Gair
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PostPosted: Sun Oct 23, 2016 3:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

This would have been a much better movie with somebody other than Jude Law in the starring role.

Jude Law is the most miscast actor in modern movie history. I'm sure he has talent but he shows up in the strangest places.

This movie needed an All-American swashbuckler in the title role. It required somebody who could channel John Wayne...not Leslie Howard (who was a genuinely heroic man but not the kind of actor this role needed).
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Sun Oct 23, 2016 6:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

I hadn't thought of that idea in relation to this film, but by gum I think you're right!

In addition to my burning need to have a movie present a sharp image and rich color (which this one did not), the film's "1940s serial characters" were all wrong!

Even Gwyneth Paltrow, whom I love, was miscasts.

Sky Captain and Polly Perkins needed to be more masculine (in his case) and less feminine (in her case). We did not get the macho man vs the ambitious female reporter this story called for. We got the cultured gentlemen vs the hapless and attractive Gwyneth Paltrow type (since there's nobody else who does that as well as she does, there's no other way to describe her).

We needed a tough Lois Lane type who subjugates her femininity to compete in a man's world!

Interesting observations, Captain Gair. I'll forward your suggestions to the Flight Commander, and he'll issue a mandate to the squadron about this.

Dismiss!

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
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scotpens
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PostPosted: Sun Oct 23, 2016 10:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bud Brewster wrote:
The trailer for this movie appealed to me because it immolated the Max Fleischer Superman cartoons.

I assume you mean "emulated"? I sincerely hope those classic Fleischer cartoons haven't gone up in flames!
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orzel-w
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 24, 2016 12:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

You beat me to it, Scotpens. Very Happy
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Brent Gair
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 24, 2016 8:46 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I thought Bud was trying one of those trendy catch phrases that all the cool kids are using.

You know...if something is really good, you say it's "sick".

I figured maybe this was new slang that I wasn't familiar with...example: "That guy was sick. Did you see the way he just immolated those cartoons?"

I was afraid to mention it because I didn't want you guys to think I wasn't hep.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 24, 2016 9:08 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Brent Gair wrote:
I was afraid to mention it because I didn't want you guys to think I wasn't hep.

Ah, don't worry about that, Brent. The only member of this board who's really hep is Eadie — and she's sixteen!

I'm semi-hep when I'm wearing my All Sci-Fi shirt and my Italian sunglasses. Chicks dig it. Cool



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Interesting Thought for Today: Imagine how much less active this board would be if I didn't make so many funny typos for people to joke about! Mayberry i should due moore of those! Very Happy
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)


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John Thiel
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 05, 2017 9:53 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sky Captain reminded me of a show I used to hear on radio, SKY KING. That was about an airplane pilot who had numerous adventures. It was complemented by Mark Trail, about a woodland adventurer who similarly ran into adventures, and Straight Arrow, about an Indian who knew the ropes pretty well. These were highly listenable. But SKY CAPTAIN was too camp and too surrealistic, reminding one also of a Dada film like The Age of Gold or The Andalusian Dog, to be similarly listenable and viewable. It had no real values and described turbulence and chaos.

Nevertheless it was interesting to watch. As far as I know it has attracted no separate fandom such as was attracted by DR WHO, and no cult following, unless the actors in it were cult followers of something else. I have it in DVD, a good buy.

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