Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow 4K review
The brainchild of writer/director Kerry Conran, 2004's Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow was an ambitious and stylish production featuring a small cast against digital background in much the way Sin City would do one year later. Capturing the feel of 40s futurism (such as that found in the 1939 World's Fair) and the look and tone of classic serials and cartoons such as Fleischer Studios' Superman - "The Mechanical Monsters," it's an amazing piece of filmmaking that despite its box office disappointment has earned a following over the past two decades.
The film stars Gwyneth Paltrow as Lois Lane-ish investigative reporter Polly Perkins and Jude Law as the film's titular character who saves the day in his Curtiss P-40 pursuit fighter. Polly's investigation into a series of dead scientists ties into the odd assortment of robots seen ransacking locales all over the world. Despite a tumultuous, and still unresolved, romantic history, the pair are thrown into working together to solve the mystery. We also get Giovanni Ribisi as our hero's tech support, Michael Gambon as The Chronicle's Editor-in-Chief, Bai Ling as a woman seen with the robots, and an eye-patched Angelina Jolie as an old friend of our hero (much to Polly's dismay).
Along with the artistic flourishes found throughout, highlights of the film include the giant robots, the use of old newspaper headlines, Polly's discovery of her link to our hero's plane, Jolie's fighting fortress and aquatic air force, and the running gag of the second-half of the movie where Polly only has enough film for two shots on her camera while stumbling on the biggest story, and most amazing sites, of her entire career.
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow is a near-perfect movie serial of wild adventure (even ending on a secret jungle island filled with a mad scientist and a rocket which could destroy the world) enhanced by GCI of the time that holds up pretty well given the muted color and classic stylings of the film. Despite its box office underperformance, the film did receive critical success and has been able to build up a fanbase on home video and streaming over the years. The new 4K includes the film on both Blu-ray and 4K along with previously released special features.
Watch the trailer- Title: Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
- IMDb: link
