SKY
CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW ($30) is a visual masterpiece. This
motion picture is a genuinely spectacular homage to the movie serials of
yesteryear, brought to life with all the tender loving care that the
digital technology of the 21st can offer. SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF
TOMORROW is truly a triumph of art deco science fiction production
design that brings to life an amazing re-imagining of a 1939, that that
filmmakers of the last century could only dream about. Of course, SKY
CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW is also a brilliant exercise in
synthetic filmmaking, one in which, the actors were photographed in front
of blue screens; interacting with simple props and one another, while the
film’s extraordinary backgrounds were completely realized in the digital
domain.
What
I really like about the plot of SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW
is the fact that maintains that "aw shucks" innocence of
a vintage 1930s serial in its telling of its fantastical tale, instead of
trying to play things in the smarter and slyer fashion of modern movie. In
fact, the storyline perfectly captures the essence of this lost form of
movie entertainment, moving from one exciting moment to the next, as
though it were building cliffhanger after cliffhanger, in a multi
chaptered tale that would keep its audience coming back to the theater
week after week.
SKY
CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW stars Jude Law as Joe Sullivan, the
heroic 'Sky Captain' of the film’s title, who finds his services in
great demand when the world comes under attack by an army of gigantic
robots. Also entrenched in this epic mystery is Joe’s former flame, a
tenacious lady reporter named Polly Perkins (Gwyneth Paltrow), who has
connected the giant robot attacks to the disappearances of a number of
prominent international scientists that once worked together on a project
headed up by a reclusive, seemingly mad genius named Totenkopf (Sir
Laurence Olivier). However, finding Totenkopf and unraveling his ultimate
objective leads our heroes on a round the world adventure that requires
just a little help from Captain Franky Cook (Angelina Jolie), and her
amphibious assault squadron, which she commands from on board a sky borne
British aircraft carrier. The cast of SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF
TOMORROW also features Giovanni Ribisi, Michael Gambon, Ling Bai, Omid
Djalili, Trevor Baxter, Julian Curry and Peter Law.
Paramount
Home Entertainment has made SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW
available on DVD in a 1.78:1 wide screen presentation that has been
enhanced for playback on 16:9 displays. Having seen SKY CAPTAIN AND THE
WORLD OF TOMORROW in the theater, I can say that this is an utterly
superb looking presentation of this synthetic world and the motion picture’s
intended look. SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW features a
slightly soft focus look that allows the live action and the digital world
to blend seamlessly. Much of the time, the colors try to emulate the black
and white look of an old movie serial by utilizing a sepia toned palette;
however there are splashes of stronger hues throughout. Blacks appear
velvety, whites are clean and the contrast has purposely blown out
highlights on occasion. The image itself appears flawless and would seem
to have been taken from a digital source. Digital compression artifacts
rarely make their presence known.
SKY
CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW comes with a terrific Dolby Digital
5.1 channel soundtrack. The sound mix is highly aggressive, and like the
movie’s imagery, it is not bound by reality, thus allowing the sound
designers free reign to create a big expansive sonic world that is
perfectly married to the visuals. All of the outlying channels are fully
implemented, for both the big effects scenes and the smaller, more
intimate moments. Fidelity is excellent, with the music always maintaining
a full-bodied quality and the sound effects coming across in a completely
believable fashion. Voices have a warm, natural quality, plus the film’s
dialogue is always completely understandable. A French Surround track has
also been encoded onto the DVD, as have English, French and Spanish
subtitles.
Animation
and sound serve to enhance the DVD's interactive menus. Through the menus,
one has access to standard scene selection and set up features, as well as
a great complement of supplemental materials. Two separate audio
commentaries are featured on the DVD, the first is with producer John
Avnet, while the second includes writer/director Kerry Conran, production
designer Kevin Conran, animation supervisor Steve Yamamoto and visual
effects supervisor Darin Hollings.
Brave
New World is a two-part program that looks at the making of this
unusual and complex film. Chapter 1 runs twenty-eight
minutes and follows the production’s evolution from simple idea, to home
computer generated short film, to an actual production featuring big name
movie stars. Chapter 1 also offers interviews with cast
members and a look behind-the-scenes, as the actors perform in front of
blue screens. Chapter 2 of the program clocks in at
twenty-three minutes and spends its time focusing on the lengthy
postproduction process. The Art Of World Of Tomorrow is an
eight-minute program that looks at the film’s stylistic influences and
how the drawings are ultimately brought to life on the screen. The
Original Six Minute Short that writer/director Kerry Conran
created on a personal computer, which he used to sell the idea for the
film is also included, as is a gag reel and two deleted sequences.
As
I stated above, SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW is a visual
masterpiece that serves as a wondrous homage to the old style movie
serials of yesteryear. As for the DVD, Paramount has done a marvelous job
with the presentation; the movie looks spectacular and sounds incredible.
Of course, the extras are also terrific, as they cover the film’s unique
production in extensive detail. If you love old style movie serials, or
want to see something truly unique in the realm of synthetic filmmaking,
you must pick up a copy of SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW.
Highly recommended.
SKY
CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW ($30) is a visual masterpiece. This
motion picture is a genuinely spectacular homage to the movie serials of
yesteryear, brought to life with all the tender loving care that the
digital technology of the 21st can offer. SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF
TOMORROW is truly a triumph of art deco science fiction production
design that brings to life an amazing re-imagining of a 1939, that that
filmmakers of the last century could only dream about. Of course, SKY
CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW is also a brilliant exercise in
synthetic filmmaking, one in which, the actors were photographed in front
of blue screens; interacting with simple props and one another, while the
film’s extraordinary backgrounds were completely realized in the digital
domain.
What
I really like about the plot of SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW
is the fact that maintains that "aw shucks" innocence of
a vintage 1930s serial in its telling of its fantastical tale, instead of
trying to play things in the smarter and slyer fashion of modern movie. In
fact, the storyline perfectly captures the essence of this lost form of
movie entertainment, moving from one exciting moment to the next, as
though it were building cliffhanger after cliffhanger, in a multi
chaptered tale that would keep its audience coming back to the theater
week after week.
SKY
CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW stars Jude Law as Joe Sullivan, the
heroic 'Sky Captain' of the film’s title, who finds his services in
great demand when the world comes under attack by an army of gigantic
robots. Also entrenched in this epic mystery is Joe’s former flame, a
tenacious lady reporter named Polly Perkins (Gwyneth Paltrow), who has
connected the giant robot attacks to the disappearances of a number of
prominent international scientists that once worked together on a project
headed up by a reclusive, seemingly mad genius named Totenkopf (Sir
Laurence Olivier). However, finding Totenkopf and unraveling his ultimate
objective leads our heroes on a round the world adventure that requires
just a little help from Captain Franky Cook (Angelina Jolie), and her
amphibious assault squadron, which she commands from on board a sky borne
British aircraft carrier. The cast of SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF
TOMORROW also features Giovanni Ribisi, Michael Gambon, Ling Bai, Omid
Djalili, Trevor Baxter, Julian Curry and Peter Law.
Paramount
Home Entertainment has made SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW
available on DVD in a 1.78:1 wide screen presentation that has been
enhanced for playback on 16:9 displays. Having seen SKY CAPTAIN AND THE
WORLD OF TOMORROW in the theater, I can say that this is an utterly
superb looking presentation of this synthetic world and the motion picture’s
intended look. SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW features a
slightly soft focus look that allows the live action and the digital world
to blend seamlessly. Much of the time, the colors try to emulate the black
and white look of an old movie serial by utilizing a sepia toned palette;
however there are splashes of stronger hues throughout. Blacks appear
velvety, whites are clean and the contrast has purposely blown out
highlights on occasion. The image itself appears flawless and would seem
to have been taken from a digital source. Digital compression artifacts
rarely make their presence known.
SKY
CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW comes with a terrific Dolby Digital
5.1 channel soundtrack. The sound mix is highly aggressive, and like the
movie’s imagery, it is not bound by reality, thus allowing the sound
designers free reign to create a big expansive sonic world that is
perfectly married to the visuals. All of the outlying channels are fully
implemented, for both the big effects scenes and the smaller, more
intimate moments. Fidelity is excellent, with the music always maintaining
a full-bodied quality and the sound effects coming across in a completely
believable fashion. Voices have a warm, natural quality, plus the film’s
dialogue is always completely understandable. A French Surround track has
also been encoded onto the DVD, as have English, French and Spanish
subtitles.
Animation
and sound serve to enhance the DVD's interactive menus. Through the menus,
one has access to standard scene selection and set up features, as well as
a great complement of supplemental materials. Two separate audio
commentaries are featured on the DVD, the first is with producer John
Avnet, while the second includes writer/director Kerry Conran, production
designer Kevin Conran, animation supervisor Steve Yamamoto and visual
effects supervisor Darin Hollings.
Brave
New World is a two-part program that looks at the making of this
unusual and complex film. Chapter 1 runs twenty-eight
minutes and follows the production’s evolution from simple idea, to home
computer generated short film, to an actual production featuring big name
movie stars. Chapter 1 also offers interviews with cast
members and a look behind-the-scenes, as the actors perform in front of
blue screens. Chapter 2 of the program clocks in at
twenty-three minutes and spends its time focusing on the lengthy
postproduction process. The Art Of World Of Tomorrow is an
eight-minute program that looks at the film’s stylistic influences and
how the drawings are ultimately brought to life on the screen. The
Original Six Minute Short that writer/director Kerry Conran
created on a personal computer, which he used to sell the idea for the
film is also included, as is a gag reel and two deleted sequences.
As
I stated above, SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW is a visual
masterpiece that serves as a wondrous homage to the old style movie
serials of yesteryear. As for the DVD, Paramount has done a marvelous job
with the presentation; the movie looks spectacular and sounds incredible.
Of course, the extras are also terrific, as they cover the film’s unique
production in extensive detail. If you love old style movie serials, or
want to see something truly unique in the realm of synthetic filmmaking,
you must pick up a copy of SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW.
Highly recommended.
