Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow - 4K Ultra HD 4K UHD

BOTTOM LINE: Basically the equivalent of some guy's homemade movie getting a Hollywood polish and nationwide theatrical release. A passion project whose creator deserved an Oscar just for sheer determination & perseverance. LOL. The story may not be wholly original, as it owes TONS to those old school serial films of the 40's & '50's and the pulp fiction mags of the same time period, but SKY CAPTAIN sure has tons of honest-to-goodness heart. The wild visuals and unique feel make this one a keeper. The film looks even better on this hi-def Blu-ray release. Plenty of bonus content for fans and movie-philes just cinches the deal. 5 STARSTHOUGHTS: A massive love letter to those action-packed 12 & 15 chapter movie serials from the Golden Age of Hollywood, SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW is like every 10 year old boy's innermost daydreams come to eye-popping life. It has rockets, rayguns, submarines, airplanes, giant robots, dinosaurs, lost worlds, crazed scientists, androids, macho leading guys & gorgeous gals, and plenty of two-fisted globe-trotting action to keep things from ever getting too boring. Sure this film isn't perfect, but it isn't trying to be. Too many naysayers here are just nitpicking and wrongly judging it against zillion-dollar by-the-numbers Hollywood product, and that honestly isn't fair. This film is basically what amounts to one guy's 6 minute homemade movie turned into a legitimate Hollywood blockbuster. Critiques need to be quantified with that narrow set of parameters firmly in mind.Director/writer/effects overseer, et.,al Kerry Cochran may never make another movie, but the one he did give us is so much fun, with more than enough heart and an endless sense of wild-eyed adventure, that I will just be forever glad that he was able to get SKY CAPTAIN ever made at all. Frankly, it's nothing short of amazing that this motion picture even exists. When you consider that this movie was also so ground-breakingly experiential in its use of green screen and entire worlds created wholecloth using a computer, its doubly, triply impressive. I get that it could be better, but taking it for exactly what it is, coupled with the amazing story of its unlikely genesis, I am, frankly, in awe every single time I watch it. This is CAPTAIN CELLULOID AND THE FILM PIRATES (look it up) gone one step further, to being embraced by Hollywood and given a real budget, legit actors & top notch F/X techs and a nationwide release. Watch it with the right frame of mind and you'll enjoy the heck out of it. Snarky self-important elitists need not bother.THE BLU-RAY: The hi-def release of SKY CAPTAIN gives the film its best possible presentation. It simply looks wonderful. There are no video nasties (edge enhancement, artifacting, pixelation, crush, DNR, etc.) to spoil the viewing experience. The picture & sound are clean and crystal clear. There are several in-depth supplements that add to the fun. When you watch the making of segments you can truly begin to appreciate just what an amazing journey Kerry Cochran went on just to see his vision through to the end. Like a kid given access to the world's biggest toybox, he embraced the challenges, many of which he couldn't have ever possibly anticipated, battling a lot of demons to finally complete the film. The story of its creation is pretty amazing. As a life-long film fan, low budget aficionado and all-around champion of the underdog, I might be giving Kerry Cochran too much of a free ride, but it’s just so cool what he achieved. I whole-heartedly recommend SKY CAPTAIN. If you have young kids, be sure to share it with them. Seeing through their eyes, you can begin to truly appreciate the fantastical wide-eyed wonders of Cochran's incredible WORLD OF TOMORROW.

Someone does something INNOVATIVE in movies! Just imagine...those great Alex Raymond-drawn Flash Gordon strips of the forties and thirties come to life in full art deco regalia, aesthetics absolutely perfectly replicated in 3 dimensions, with the perfect casting of Gwyneth Paltrow as a Lois Lane-type reporter, Giovannia Ribisi as Mr. Gadgets and Mr. Matinee Idol himself, Jude Law, as the hero, and you have "Sky Captain & The World of Tomorrow"...a film I KNEW was going to be groundbreaking when it was in the promo stage.This is the kind of movie that is a perfect marriage of major league visuals and suitable acting, and, "Gladiator" aside, is the one film that makes PERFECT use of CGI technology! The entire film was done against a bluescreen, with very few real-world props! There have been other reviews of this film decrying the wooden acting of those involved, but you have to remember that 1) Acting WITH real-world references isn't easy, and 2) These actors were doing their thing WITHOUT real-world references, something I've always appreciated about a good sci-fi or fantasy movie...The story concerns the classic megalomaniacal villain scenario of a mad, but brilliant scientist who has misused his gift to satisfy his own outsized paranoia. Laurence Olivier is digitally resurrected to play the computer generated persona of this man, a Dr. "Totenkopf", (done VERY "Wizard of Oz",) who has gone about sending his mechanical minions to sap energy from large cities whilst destroying same to build an ark that will preserve life and humanity offworld as the Earth descends into mayhem that he is at least partially responsible for.To say that the visuals are mind-boggling would be an understatement....the visuals are easily the equal of any of the earlier "Star Wars" films and the last fifteen minutes of the film are worth the price of admission. Jude Law is a capable hero as Sky Captain Joe Sullivan, but it's Gwyneth Paltrow as Polly Perkins, a blonde xeroxing of good old Lois Lane, that steals the movie from him! She makes all the mistakes a normal person would make in the movie...inadvertently giving away their presence when they try to stealthily sabotage Totenkopf's lair; not having enough film to capture some of the most incredible, newsworthy tableau a journalist has ever laid eyes on, and doing some of the worst backseat driving since Lucille Ball! The banter between her and Sullivan is straight out of a Bogart and Bacall movie.Some of the actors in the film that portray the scientists that Totenkopf is either killing off or forcing to work for him from the grave, (he managed to infuse his persona in his vast array of computer and broadcasting circuits at his lair,) are truly convincing as meek, put-upon scientists running for their lives from a supposedly dead madman. However, they seem to be very self-involved about it, not really caring that the world at large is in danger as well.Complex and entertaining, "Sky Captain" was perhaps the most underrated film of 2004, and the only one I saw fit to see in the theater. You better believe I had to have it on DVD....!The ending is very cute, btw.By all means, GET IT!