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List Price: $9.98 | | Label: Paramount Home Entertainment
Salesrank: 14740
Released: January 25, 2005 |
| Our Price: $3.49 |
| Used Price: $0.01 |
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MPAA Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
IT'S SKY CAPTAIN TO THE RESCUE IN THIS HIGH-FLYING ADVENTUREWHERE HE MUST TEAM UP WITH INTREPID REPORTER POLLY PERKINS &CAPTAIN FRANKY COOK TO STOP THE EVIL DR TOTENKOPF FROM CARRYING OUT HIS PLAN TO DESTROY THE WORLD!
Description of Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (Widescreen Special Collector's Edition):
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
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (Widescreen Special Collector's Edition) Reviews:
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow... Isn't a sky captain like a steward? 
2009-11-19 - Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow: 8 out of 10: It was King Kong that made me fall in love with the movie. He doesn't appear himself (unlike ring mate Godzilla who cameos in silhouette in a Japanese newspaper.) but his ship and his friends are there and his tree is there. You know the moss covered tree that covers the impossibly deep chasm. To one he uses to fling helpless sailors to there death like some kind of lumberjack games blood sport. There the tree is in glorious faded color just as I left it in the imagination of my seven-year old self.
I was enjoying myself up to that point mind you I had for one thing decided that this was an Anime rather than a regular film. (The giant robots make this illusion much more palatable as did an annoying performance by Miss Paltrow. In anime, the female characters are usually whining up a storm.) This allowed all the plot holes, substandard acting (along with Gwyneth Paltrows overbearing performance we have the thespian talents of Jude Law) and scientific flubs to fall by the wayside. I just sat back and enjoyed the ride.
A tour de force showing from Angelina Jolie as an eye-patch wearing British Commander also refreshes the movie halfway through. One wishes the film were about her and not the tepid whining leads.
Much has been made of the use of CGI but let us face it. It is simply easier to put CGI effects on an artificial background rather than place them in photo-realistic settings as the snakes of Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid or the wolves in Day after Tomorrow have proved most recently.
Sure Sky Captain is far from perfect. An actual villain would have helped and been more in line with the serials it was emulating. The dialogue sounds like George Lucas wrote it. In addition director Kerry Conran is more an art director than a story teller, but try telling that to the seven year old in me that kept saying, "Cool what's next".
Before there were watchmen...
2009-10-30 - Here's hoping that director Kerry Conran has not fallen under the curse of studio execs who dispatched more than one gifted novice with the words, "You'll never work in this town again!" Sky Captain is a great romantic adventure movie, heavy on the scifi and the parallel reality, made all the more astounding because of post-production craft. It is obvious that the movie came together after the actors went home, but it is almost as if you are drawn into this drawn-in world and get to spend some quality time there. As a special treat, the good witch and Lawrence Olivier make cameo appearances. The true seeker will first want to see the 1936 blockbuster, Things to Come.
Successful creation of a comic strip adventure 
2009-10-09 - If the concept of an action filled comic book style adventure leaves you cold avoid this picture. If it can amuse and entertain you, then this will be satisfying. The characters are consistent, well formed, and authentic within the logic of its generic type; that is, they act logically in terms of the premise. Stunts are quite well done while the hardware is anything but penny-board masquerading as space ships. All looks as it should look in such an adventure. I have no idea of which age and sex groups it will most interest, but is is certain to have wide appeal.
Fun And Adventure For Sci-Fi Fans
2009-08-09 - Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow is a very enjoyable sci-fi adventure movie. Set in 1939 New York, the basic plot revolves around the mysterious disappearance of a group of scientists that coincide with giant robot attacks on major cities across the world. The prime suspect in these events is a Dr. Totenkopf (German for death's head and symbolized by a skull and crossbones). Trying to get to the bottom of the plot is Joseph "Sky Captain" Sullivan (Jude Law) and reporter Polly Perkins (Gwenyth Paltrow). Their journey takes them around the globe as they unravel mystery piece by piece until Totenkopf's plot reaches its climax at the end of the movie. Along the way, they are assisted by Sky Captain's weapons specialist, Dax (Giovanni Ribisi) and Captain Francesca "Franky" Cook (Angelina Jolie).
The plot movies along at a good pace after the opening sequence. Law and Paltrow have good chemistry, but one would expect that as they have worked together previously. Their banter back and forth is reminiscent of that of Harrison Ford and Carrie Fischer in the Star Wars movies. Paltrow's Polly also has some Lois Lane qualities as she never forgets that she is after the story. She also plays the Jimmy Olsen part as photographer, and she has trouble keeping up with her camera and film. Law's Sky Captain comes off as the typical rogue hero character. He is a vigilante in the vain of Batman; however, he is called by a special radio signal rather than the visual "bat signal".
The visual effects of Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow are likely to be polarizing. The film was shot entirely on blue screen sets with all of the background filled in by digital artists and finished with an antique style. It gives the movie somewhat of a whimsical tone and sets it apart as not of this world. Viewers can gain a larger appreciation of how the film was put together through the special features "Brave New World I" and "Brave New World II". These also give the story of how the movie came to be, and it seems writer/director Kerry Conran's 15 minutes of fame as the movie did not cover its budget. However, the finances should not diminish what they accomplished.
Overall, the movie is very enjoyable. It is one that boys/men of all ages will like. The special features are interesting and enrich the viewer's appreciation of the film that they have seen.
Overall: B+
Warm Homage to serial sci-fi 
2009-05-06 - As a kid in the '60s, I used to watch the old sci-fi serials from my parents childhoods. Buck Rogers Flash Gordon etc, they were hokey even by that time, but still a lot of fun.
This week I had some time to kill, so I put in my DVD of Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (Widescreen Special Collector's Edition) and like those old serials it was fun, and corny, but unlike those old movie shorts it has Angelina Jolie, and Gwyneth Paltro (playing strong women), and some very cool CG animations that the old movies couldn't even imagine.
So here's the deal, this is not what we expect in modern sci-fi, but if you are in the mood for something fun with some old time flavor, Sky Captain should do just fine!
