Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow

[Matt Deckard]

Saw the trailer for this last Saturday. Thirties look but a very retro/futuristic movie. I don't know if it will be a disaster or a masterpiece.

http://www.skycaptain.com/home.html

 

[Renderking Fisk]

Regardless... it looks like it's going to be fun to watch. It could be campy... might not. But isnt' this exactly the kind of flick we've been waiting for?

 

[mmarosy]

It has the look of the old Max Fleischer Superman cartoons. It could be really cool if done right. I hope they're not relying too heavily on CGI.

Definitely looks different than most of today's fare. Which is a good thing. But may mean box office poison if not marketed right because of that.

Mike

 

[MisterCairo]

I have yet to see this film. I should give it a try.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Honestly, it comes off a lot worse now than it did in 2003. It's a visual treat, but the story and characters are an unholy mess.

As I believe I said even back then on the other long review thread for it... It essentially proved that a computer geek who made a cool ten-minute retro-futuristic short on his Apple system should NOT be given a big budget to expand it into a theatrical feature, especially if he's got no ability to craft a coherent story or direct actors.

 

[Edward]

Honestly, it comes off a lot worse now than it did in 2003. It's a visual treat, but the story and characters are an unholy mess.

As I believe I said even back then on the other long review thread for it... It essentially proved that a computer geek who made a cool ten-minute retro-futuristic short on his Apple system should NOT be given a big budget to expand it into a theatrical feature, especially if he's got no ability to craft a coherent story or direct actors.

I'm.... less harsh on it, though I read much of its shortcomings on character development as a pastiche / homage to the pulp adventure serials and B movies to which it nods. I would, however, like to see it revived as a property. IT may have been far from perfect, but there was the potential for so much more there. *If* Indy V is well received, I wonder if we'll see some of this sort of thing come round again.

 

[Doctor Strange]

It was a cute experiment that was laser-guided to our interests, but it's no basis for a series in today's world. Retro just isn't mainstream enough. The 1930s is WAY too far back for today's audience, the vast majority of whom are MUCH younger than we are. To them, the 70s and 80s are the olden days.

And don't blame all its weakness on the tropes and characters they were aping, it was made by somebody who simply had no writing/directing ability. Kerry Conran has never directed another film, nuff said.

And I've given up any expectations of Indy being handled well minus Lucas and Spielberg. Disney's Star Wars films haven't been great, to put it mildly. Oh, the new Indy film will surely make money and just maybe jump-start a worthy new iteration of the series... but in order to succeed with today's audience, that almost certainly means that WE won't like it.

 

[Edward]

It was a cute experiment that was laser-guided to our interests, but it's no basis for a series in today's world. Retro just isn't mainstream enough. The 1930s is WAY too far back for today's audience, the vast majority of whom are MUCH younger than we are. To them, the 70s and 80s are the olden days.

And don't blame all its weakness on the tropes and characters they were aping, it was made by somebody who simply had no writing/directing ability. Kerry Conran has never directed another film, nuff said.

And I've given up any expectations of Indy being handled well minus Lucas and Spielberg. Disney's Star Wars films haven't been great, to put it mildly. Oh, the new Indy film will surely make money and just maybe jump-start a worthy new iteration of the series... but in order to succeed with today's audience, that almost certainly means that WE won't like it.

It'll be interesting to see where they go with it. I liked a lot about the Disney version of Star Wars, and I have considered myself an 'ex-Star Wars fan' since 1999 - and a highly critical one since 1997. TBH, I'm more hopeful they might do something good shorn of that pair, especially Lucas, than if they were on board....

I wouldn't rule out a comeback for pulp, though... pirates were dead until Pirate of the Caribbean, Dances with Wolves revived a dead Western genre.... they won't get by on playing to those who appreciate the cleverness or accuracy of a pulp pastiche, but I don't think that fully disqualifies something good from being successful. Cry Baby did very well for John Waters in 1990, and remains a cult even among much of the audience who had never seen an Elvis picture. Hard to know what'll be the next biggy - I certainly wouldn't have predicted the Fast and Furious franchise.

 

[Worf]

Hmmm... I wasn't on this forum when the film came out... I was mostly flying online in the game "IL2 Sturmovik". A Russian game that allowed people from all over the world to fly and fight together in a game set during WWII. I was in a Squadron, 99th Pursuit Squadron, "Red Tails" and while you might have thought this film was laser directed to folks here it was a direct block buster bomb to me in that community. I was so hyped for that film. True there was some pushbacks from the "rivetheads" to whom a submersible P40 Warhawk was blasphemy, but most of us in the flight sim community loved it. I watch it once a year like clockwork, if nothing else but to see the "What If" world they created. Not great cinema by any means but it was fun....

Worf