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Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
[2004] (REGION 1) (NTSC)

Starring: Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law, Angelina Jolie, Giovanni Ribisi, Michael Gambon
Director: Kerry Conran
Format: Collector's Edition Colour DVD-Video Full Screen Special Edition Subtitled NTSC
Released: 25 Jan 2005
Average Rating:

Customer Reviews

Only two shots left - By: B. Chandler, 18 Jun 2007
This is a 2004 view of what a 1930's view of the future could look like. Most of the CGI & blue-screen overlays had to be a tad fuzzy to make the scenes work. The language may be a tad stilted but it also is designed to be a thirties movie rendition.

Seems that somewhere towards the end of the last war a brilliant scientist with a vision disappeared & the whole Group 11 project was disbanded. Today top scientists are going missing & it is up to Polly Perkins (Gwyneth Paltrow) reporter-photographer to find the reason. Mean while it looks as though a destructive minus is ravaging the city (looking for something) & the only person capable of foiling the evil plot is, you guessed it, Joe "Sky Captain" Sullivan (Jude Law, of "GATTACA" fame).

Eventuallly Joe runs out of gas & only Franky (Angelina Jolie) can save him if there is time. Meanwhile Polly finds that her camera has only two shots left; can she make the best of them?

How can this daring duo & their pals foil the nefarious plot that may prove fatal to the world as we know it?
Wait for the comic book - By: Joseph Haschka, 05 Apr 2005
I don't know. I guess I've lost somewhere my capacity for childhood wonder.

Here in the mid-1930s, downtown New York & perky newspaperwoman Polly Perkins (Gwyneth Paltrow) are menaced by a horde of giant, flying robots (apparently) created by the mysterious German scientist, Dr. Totenkopf. To the rescue of Polly & the Big Apple comes Joe "Sky Captain" Sullivan (Jude Law) piloting a souped up Curtiss P-40 Tomahawk complete with teeth painted on the plane's nose as last seen on Claire Chennault's Flying Tigers of World War II fame. Sullivan is (apparently) an Army pilot flying out of a nearby, semi-secret air base. In any case, the airfield is soon devastated by giant robots of a different sort, which (apparently) kidnap Joe's Head of TechnoWhiz, Dex Dearborn (Giovanni Ribisi), but not before the latter manages to convey the information that Totenkopf's HQ is (apparently) in Nepal. So, off Sullivan & Perkins go to save the world & get a scoop, respectively.

While the visual presentation of SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW, done in a combination of richly colored elements against a background of sepia tones, is stunning, the plot is incomprehensible. Totenkopf & intentions remain pretty much nebulous, although his evil plan (apparently) involves a space ship designed to carry a male & female of the Earth's various species, like Noah's Ark, to ... where? Say, what? And the implied connection between Totenkopf & his stylized skull insignia with that of the Nazi SS-Totenkopfverbande (Death's Head Organization) was either too transparent or too obscure, I'm not sure which; the scriptwriters (apparently) remained on the fence about that one.

I found Paltrow attractive, as usual, but there seemed minimal vibes between Polly & the Sky Captain. From the dialogue, we infer that the two formerly had a complicated relationship as Joe repeatedly voices his suspicion that Polly had previously cut the fuel line of his airplane causing it to crash - a charge Perkins consistently denies. What was that alll about? I suspect that the couple's past history was more interesting than the present. In any case, there wasn't the delicious tension between the two as in, for example, ROMANCING THE STONE with Michael Douglas & Kathleen Turner.

There was one silly sequence in which Sullivan's Tomahawk retracts its air screw, dives into the ocean, deploys a water propeller, & continues on as a submarine as if nothing was amiss. Oh, puhleeeze! Chennault would've been appallled.

SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW was perhaps best seen on the Big Screen, or now maybe viewed on a gazillion-inch, home entertainment center HDTV. But, on my 27-inch standard TV, it just seemed silly with a capital "S". Wait for the comic book version.

A great throwback to the 1930s/40s! - By: Kurt A. Johnson, 10 Feb 2005
When massive robots descend upon the world, stealing important equipment for unknown reasons, to whom does the world turn? Why to Joseph "Sky Captain" Sullivan (played by Jude Law)! But, there is a deep mystery here, & if the Sky Captain is going to get to the bottom of it, he's going to need a lot of help. So, with ace reporter Polly Perkins (Gwyneth Paltrow) & the brainy Dex (Giovanni Ribisi) in tow, Sky Captain is off to save the world, & stop whatever horrors are going on.

OK, where do I start? First of alll, this is not a big-budget Hollywood extravaganza. Instead, this is an independent film that is the product of the creators' imagination & computer-enhanced elbow grease. The inspiration for this film is obviously the comics & adventure yarns of the 1930s & 40s, & any fan of those will recognize a lot of themes & standards - mad scientists, giant robots, art deco architecture, pilot heroes, & much more. Indeed, the movie seems to me to be the dream of one of those old illustrators from then.

Now, the fact that the main character is British (Jude Law), while another major character affects a British accent (Franky - Angelina Jolie) breaks off the feeling of 1930s-40s America, & gives the movie more of an international flavor, which in this day & age is probably for the best. But, if you are a fan of the old adventure yarns (as I am), this movie will seem like coming home! (Polly Perkins is so much like early Lois Lane - tough & letting nothing stand between her & her story.)

So, if you are a fan of the old adventure stories of the 1930s & 40s, then this is a movie that you simply MUST see. If you are a fan of computer generated action, then this movie will show you just where the future may lie. Oh, & by the way, except for one somewhat horrifying death scene, this is a great movie for the whole family.

My family & I loved this movie, & highly recommend it to you!