The World of Tomorrow, Yesterday
My son and I went to see Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow last weekend. I'll leave the reviewing of the film's weaker elements to others, but as a longtime fan of old movie serials, the stilted acting and threadbare plot made me feel right at home. Plus, I find it impossible to dislike a film that has giant retro robots and a villain named Totenkopf.
Unfortunately, if you start talking about serials to people below a certain age, you're likely to get blank stares or derisive comments, but without them, films like Star Wars and Indiana Jones would've turned out very differently (if they would've even been made at all). For an excellent history of the genre, check out this article in Images Journal, and tell me if Sky Captain didn't cop a whole lot of inspiration from Spy Smasher and The Phantom Empire.
So, how long d'ya think it'll be until some studio decides to remake Commando Cody: Sky Marshall of the Universe?
Oh yeah, they sorta already did.
Comments
Why hasn't Hollywood turned any of Asimov's Lucky Starr books into a movie? It's a freakin' gold mine just waiting to be struck!
Posted by: rone | October 12, 2004 2:27 AM
After what Hollywood did to "I, Robot", the thought of them tackling any more Asimov books has me shuddering with terror, but yeah, Lucky Starr seems like a natural...along with E.E. (Doc) Smith's Lensman series.
teedotbee book mashup challenge: the sci-fi poetry of ee (Doc) cummings
Posted by: MrBaliHai | October 12, 2004 8:09 AM
Ah, Zombies of the Stratosphere. It was shown in the early '70s on KTVU Channel 2 (now a Fox affiliate) on Creature Features. Leonard Nimoy had a tiny part as an alien somewhere towards the end. Back in the '60s, on Sunday afternoons, another channel (KPIX 5, I think) used to show Flash Gordon serials. I recently rented one on DVD and it was a hoot 'n' a half.
Posted by: jim | October 12, 2004 10:27 AM
Yes, I fondly recall watching Zombies on television back in the early Seventies, trying to spot Nimoy, and wondering how Commando Cody managed not to burn his ass to a cinder with that rocket pack...I suspect that he was wearing asbestos underwear.
Posted by: MrBaliHai | October 12, 2004 10:51 AM
After the box office flop of 'The Iron Giant,' which was an incredible film, one didn't expect to see any more robot movies from Hollywood. Fortunately, the powers-that-be have short attention spans. Bring on the robots!
Posted by: Dominic | October 13, 2004 1:50 PM
Did The Iron Giant really do that badly? Everyone I know seems to have a copy on video or DVD.
Posted by: MrBaliHai | October 13, 2004 3:07 PM
Title: THE IRON GIANT
Released in US: August 4, 1999
Total US Gross: $23,159,305
Production Budget: $50,000,000
Worldwide Gross: $23,159,305
Distributed by: Warner Bros.
Source: http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/1999/IRONG.html
Less than a 50% return (despite my seeing it three times).
What a great movie - the DVD does it justice, too.
Posted by: d_orlando | October 15, 2004 2:49 PM
Weird. According to the figures, it wasn't released overseas. That doesn't seem right. Still, a disappointment. It was an excellent movie and deserved better.
Looks like Sky Captain isn't doing very good business either.
Posted by: MrBaliHai | October 15, 2004 3:04 PM