Sky Captain And The World Of Tomorrow HD DVD Review

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Title: Sky Captain And The World Of Tomorrow

Region: One

Genre: Sci-Fi Action

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

Writer: Kerry Conran

Director: Kerry Conran

Feature length: 106 minutes

Extras: Feature Length Audio Commentary With Producer Jon Avnet, Feature Length Audio Commentary With Writer and Director Kerry Conran, Production Designer Kevin Conran, Animation Director/Digital Effects Supervisor Steve Yamamoto, and Visual Effects Supervisor Darin Hellings, Brave New World – Chapter 1 and Chapter Documentaries, The Art Of World Of Tomorrow, The Original Six Minute Short, Deleted Scenes, Gag Reel, Trailers, and Preview

Languages: English DTS Digital 5.1 HD Theatrical Surround Sound and English, French, and Spanish Language Dolby Digital 5.1 Plus Surround Sound

Subtitles: English Subtitles For The Deaf And Hard And Of Hearing and English, French, Spanish Language Subtitles

Packaging: Elite Red HD Case

Chapter Stops: 17

Sound: English DTS Digital 5.1 HD Theatrical Surround and Dolby Digital 5.1 Plus Surround Sound

Year of Theatrical Release: 2004/HD DVD Release: 2006

Theatrical Distributor: Paramount Pictures

Home Video Distributor: Paramount Home Entertainment

MPAA Rating: PG

Reviewer: Mark A. Rivera

Writer and Director Kerry Conran developed the six-minute short “Sky Captain And The Flying Legion And The World Of Tomorrow” by literally shooting video in a makeshift studio and then spending four long years creating the short on his Apple Macintosh computer. His imagination and commitment were so strong that after only completing the first part of what was to be a feature length serial, he figured that he would just continue investing years on this project independently in order to preserve his vision. Fortunately for Mr. Conran, Producer Jon Avnet saw the short and after discussing it with Conran for a few days, commissioned Conran to write a feature length screenplay that Conran would direct and Avnet would finance independently. Once the screenplay was developed and ready to shop around, Avnet got Jude Law to commit to playing the title role in the film and Law’s involvement not only helped to gain the interest of other talent like Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie, but Law stepped onboard as a Producer too. With the film packaged and financed with the assistance of Aurelio De Laurentis, Conran lived his dream of directing this ambitious homage to the 1930s serials without compromising his vision while Avnet ensured that not only would Conran ultimately get his final cut, but upon arranging for a special preview screening of completed segments from the film, Paramount Pictures outbid other interested studios and within four years to the date when Avnet first became involved with the project “Sky Captain And The World Of Tomorrow” came to fruition as a completed feature film.

While the film is obviously inspired by the same source materials that helped George Lucas realize his “Star Wars Saga” and with Steven Spielberg create the “Adventures Of Indiana Jones,” “Sky Captain And The World Of Tomorrow” really is on it’s own merits one of the most pivotal chapters in the history of digital feature film productions. For special effects alone as well as dedication, I think everyone involved in this film should receive some kind of award because this is clearly a labor of love from all involved. The film features excellent visual effects, lots of sci-fi action, and a nice sense of humor without ever becoming too campy. I still wish I saw it on the big screen because in my opinion “Sky Captain And The World Of Tomorrow” is one of the best genre feature films from 2004. The original DVD release was a direct digital transfer from the HD source materials and I thought that DVD looked pretty damn good, but what a difference HD DVD makes because now I could appreciate more of the little details that seemed to stand out more than before like the rust on the marching robots in the first action sequence or the more stylized look of the film that through the clarity of high definition now looks ironically at times exactly like the old films it emulates. Of course some of the CGI looks a bit too CGI now as a result of the added clarity as well as the natural progression of computer technology utilized in film and television today. The flying robot planes with the flapping wings stick out in particular as looking almost incomplete at times when compared to the detail of Sky Captain’s plane. A strange flying beast they encounter on the island while they cross the tree trunk bridge in a visual nod to “King Kong” also doesn’t quite match up with the live action actors and parts of the virtual set.

The film’s screenplay could have been fleshed out a bit more, but all things considered, this movie delivers on the promise that the trailers made more than a year before the film opened and lets face it, how many pictures actually live up to the trailers made to promote them, let alone surpass them? As important as “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” and “Jurassic Park” were in pioneering the use of photo realistic computer generated effects in the 1990s, “Sky Captain And The World Of Tomorrow” is at least as important as “Star Wars: Episode II: Attack Of The Clones” was in demonstrating what can be created and seamlessly fit together in the virtual studio to create a digital presentation more compelling than film and practical effects alone could ever hope to achieve. The English Dolby Digital 5.1 Plus Surround Soundtrack is quite aggressive with lots of bass for the subwoofer to create an exciting home theater experience. My receiver reads Dolby Digital 5.1 Plus as DTS Neo 6 and unfortunately when I switched to the English DTS HD Soundtrack, my receiver did not interpret any change whatsoever so I cannot delineate how the DTS track on this HD DVD differs from the Dolby Digital Plus as a result. Switching to analogue PCM connections, my receiver interpreted the sound on both tracks as Dolby ProLogic IIX. Comparing the two options, I found the digital bit stream to serve the film better than the analogue connection so I’m sticking with the digital fiber optic output and recommend it over the PCM option when viewing this disc. French and Spanish Language Dubbed Dolby Digital 5.1 Plus Surround Soundtracks as well as English Subtitles for the Deaf and Hearing Impaired and English, French and Spanish Language Subtitles are encoded onto the HD DVD as options too.

Much of what I detailed in the opening paragraph I learned from listening to Producer Jon Avnet’s excellent feature length audio commentary track where he goes into great detail about how the film was made without ever getting dull. Comparatively I found the second feature length audio commentary with Writer and Director Kerry Conran, Production Designer Kevin Conran, Animation Director/Digital Effects Supervisor Steve Yamamoto, and Visual Effects Supervisor Darin Hellings to be less compelling. Perhaps it is just a matter of personal taste or a reason why Avnet is a successful Producer, but I just think in general, Avnet is able to give a detailed account about the making of “Sky Captain And The World Of Tomorrow” in a more direct or conversational way so it feels like one is listening to a story more than a dissertation.

The commentary tracks are supported by the two-part documentary “Brave New World,” which has respective running times of (28:11) and (23:24) with four chapters each. The combined documentary segments take the viewer through the behind-the-scenes production process. A featurette focusing on the production and costume design of the film entitled “The Art Of World Of Tomorrow” (8:20) as well as the original short (6:04), two deleted scenes (5:09), and a gag reel (2:32). Newly added and appreciated are the three trailers in at least 1080i given that the first generation Toshiba HD DVD players do not output to 1080p anyway. The trailers feature English Dolby Digital 5.1 Plus Surround Sound and have respective running lengths of (1:57), (1:38), and (1:12). There’s also a promo with clips from various films, including “Mission Impossible III,” for Paramount HD DVD (1:20). Besides an opening menu, the “as you watch the movie” interactive menus options worked flawlessly and are not unlike the menu style found on Warner Home Video’s HD DVD titles. If you are a genre film fan you will likely be able to spot at least a few nods to all sorts of sci-fi films and whatnot that neither Avnet or the others involved will directly reveal where they are all located, but I can tell you that I spotted a few the first time I watched the film so here is a listing of some of the Easter eggs hidden within the film itself.

1) When the montage of various newspaper printings from around the world appears, look at the Japanese newspaper and notice a shape in the picture that looks curiously like “Godzilla.”

2) The sounds of the laser blasts that the giant walking robots emit is the same sound effect used for the Martian deathray in the George Pal’s feature film production of “H.G. Wells’ War Of The Worlds.” (Distributed on DVD through Paramount.)

3) The exterior of the rocket ship ark seen in the film’s climactic sequences looks like the space ark used to save humanity in George Pal’s “When Worlds Collide.” (Also distributed on DVD from Paramount.)

4) The familiar “1138” inside joke to pay homage to George Lucas’ feature film debut is seen on one of the doors the characters open as they investigate the mystery behind the robot attacks.

5) The creatures found on the island that were created by Stan Winston seem to resemble the kind of stop motion beasts that Ray Harryhausen and his mentor Willis O’Brien created for their early films when paleontologists theories of dinosaurs and their appearances were less sophisticated than the ones posed today.

6) The wreckage of the Titanic is among the obstacles our protagonists must get around in order to reach the secret island in the film’s final act.

7) The dialogue “Is it safe?” is a nod to the classic 1970s thriller “Marathon Man,” which starred Lawrence Olivier in a villainous performance with a scene that will make anyone who sees it cringe involving dentistry and no Novocain. Olivier has an important villainous role in this film brought to life through technology since it has been well over a decade since he passed away. A similar technique was used to bring back Marlon Brando as Jor-El in the recent theatrical release of “Superman Returns.”

8) Genre Online reader Jordan Lund contributed five Easter eggs he discovered while watching the film in the theater. In addition to the Titanic, he says the boat Venture from “King Kong” can be seen among the objects the heroes pass in the film.

9) Jordan also mentioned that the fight with the robots is from the 1940s Superman cartoon "The Mechanical Monsters."

10) The intercom used in the newspaper building is the same intercom from the Fleischer Superman cartoons of the 40s. They actually duplicated quite a few shots from these cartoons.

11) The editor of the paper is "Mr. Paley", probably a reference to Perry White, editor of the Daily Planet.

12) The "Calling Sky Captain... come in Sky Captain" radio tower is an homage to the old RKO pictures logo - http://www.rko.com.

13) Frankie Cook and her flying aircraft carrier is a lot like Nick Fury and the SHIELD Helicarrier from the Marvel comics. Or is it just coincidence that they both have an eye patch and fly around on giant propeller bladed aircraft carriers?

“Sky Captain And The World Of Tomorrow” is still a lot of fun and an excellent HD DVD to check out now that it is available at retailers on and offline courtesy of Paramount Home Entertainment.

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