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Movies / On DVD / Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow

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Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004)

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Reviews Counted:197

Fresh:142

Rotten:55

Average Rating:6.9/10

Consensus: Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow is slim on plot and characterization, but the visuals more than make up for it.

Runtime: 1 hr 47 mins

Genre: Action/Adventure

Synopsis: In writer-director Kerry Conran's debut film, ace pilot Joe "Sky Captain" Sullivan (Jude Law) reluctantly teams up with his former flame, journalist Polly Perkins (Gwyneth Paltrow), to uncover the... In writer-director Kerry Conran's debut film, ace pilot Joe "Sky Captain" Sullivan (Jude Law) reluctantly teams up with his former flame, journalist Polly Perkins (Gwyneth Paltrow), to uncover the mystery behind a group of missing scientists and a series of shocking robot attacks. Aided by gadgetry whiz Dex Dearborn (Giovanni Ribisi) and enigmatic military commander Franky Cook (Angelina Jolie), Joe and Polly must find out who is responsible for an increasingly elaborate scheme that may trigger the end of the world. A highly stylized, mostly computer-generated spectacle, SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW is a striking cinematic achievement. Steeped in the marvelous visuals of 1930s pop culture, Conran's movie is a loving tribute to that era, featuring clever nods to FLASH GORDON, BUCK ROGERS, and other adventure serials of the time. Beginning in a gloriously slate-gray, towering New York City, this movie follows its heroes from one intriguing locale to the next. Although the remarkable images of the film threaten to eclipse the characters at times, SKY CAPTAIN is very well cast, with the actors pitch-perfect for their respective roles, particularly the luminous Paltrow and the brainy Ribisi. And yet the stunning retro-futuristic design is always at the fore, making for a wonderfully unique movie. [More]

Starring: Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie, Giovanni Ribisi

Starring: Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie, Giovanni Ribisi, Bai Ling, Michael Gambon

Director: Kerry Conran

Director: Kerry Conran
Screenwriter: Kerry Conran
Producer: Sadie Frost, Jon Avnet
Composer: Edward Shearmur
Studio: Paramount Pictures

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Reviews for Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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For its writer-director, Sky Captain was a labour of love. For almost everyone else -- including the wooden cast -- it’s just a labour.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
04/01/06
William Thomas
William Thomas
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The clincher is how the actors are reduced to puppets and ciphers; Paltrow straight-jacketed in her Hildy Johnson-style two-piece and the evidently bored Law reduced throughout half the movie to giving the gimlet eye through flying goggles.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
02/09/06
Wally Hammond
Wally Hammond
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The picture seems reverse-engineered, as if, having conceived his spectacular milieu, Conran created monsters to populate it, then heroes for them to fight, then reasons for the heroes to be there, with emotional plausibility some way behind that.

Full Review Source: Sight and Sound | comment Comment
11/02/04
Ben Walters
Ben Walters
Sight and Sound

Exciting, beautifully designed, retro adventure flick that’s a treat for fans of old movies and pulpy sci-fi serials.

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
10/06/04
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

Alas, the finest technology money can buy can't disguise basic flaws in plotting and structure, and flatly written, blandly heroic protagonists.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
10/06/04
Neil Smith
Neil Smith
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A wonderful blend of sharp characters with running gags galore, outrageously inspired visual imagery and a plotline that feels both familiar and otherworldly.

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
09/19/04
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

Fabulous stuff. Technologically fascinating, earnestly enjoyable and rewarding in its sincere sense of homage to earlier fiction and design.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
01/20/04
Daniel Etherington
Daniel Etherington
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Cinema Crazed | comment Comment
04/29/09
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Cinema Crazed

"Sky Captain And The World Of Tomorrow" is a war movie without subtext. Its deliberate lack of moral coding and pandering effort to please audiences with a vintage cotton candy pulp that never was is more than a little insulting. At least it has Angelina

Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com | comment Comment
04/18/09
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

What made anyone believe this was a movie worth making or that there would be an audience for it?

Full Review Source: Cinefantastique | comment Comment
04/17/09
Steve Biodrowski
Steve Biodrowski
Cinefantastique
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
10/18/08
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Sacramento News & Review | comment Comment
08/07/08
Mark Halverson
Mark Halverson
Sacramento News & Review

If there's any sensibility within the film other than a voracious geeky adoration of cliffhangers, I wasn't able to locate it.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
10/31/07
Rob Gonsalves
Rob Gonsalves
eFilmCritic.com

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Big Picture Big Sound | comment Comment
07/14/07
Joe Lozito
Joe Lozito
Big Picture Big Sound

This debut feature by Kerry Conran is a triumph not only for its technical mastery but for its good taste.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
06/08/07
J. R. Jones
J. R. Jones
Chicago Reader

It's the story that gets in the wayof this magic show, coasting along a much more awkward path that finally hardly seems to matter.

Full Review Source: Long Island Press | comment Comment
03/31/07
Prairie Miller
Prairie Miller
Long Island Press

Director Kerry Conran hasn't just mimicked his favorite serials and comic books. He's written a love letter to the full scope of 1930s and '40s films by basically making one.

Full Review Source: Christianity Today | comment Comment
10/11/06
Todd Hertz
Todd Hertz
Christianity Today

the visuals are phenomenal, rendered with so much love and passion that each frame is a marvel just to behold.

Full Review Source: Perihelion Journal | comment Comment
09/20/06
Jay Antani
Jay Antani
Perihelion Journal
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Sydney Morning Herald | comment Comment
01/17/06
Sydney Morning Herald

Occasionally threatens to collapse under the weight of its own production, but all in all it's an exhilarating experience, and raises the bar for the use of digital technology in film.

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
12/06/05
Pete Vonder Haar
Pete Vonder Haar
Film Threat
 
 
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