I am one of those eagerly awaiting this movie! I do hope they manage to do this right and that it doesn’t suck. The robots look like the tentacled main characters of the old *Prof Jameson * science fiction series of books I read as a kid, and the film seems to be reaching for a *Doc Savage * atmosphere. I remember feeling this sort of anticipation before the original *Star Wars * movie came out, and that worked very well. Cross your fingers!!!
Can you or N9IWP explain what this means? Like, people are going to think it’s bad because they can’t suspend disbelief? Or, won’t “get it” in some other way?
I’ve been jonesing to see this one since… Hrm… .Last year? When it was still going to be a summer movie…? Anyway, I think -most- of my friends are going to get it, except for one; “He’s got a plane? That makes him a hero?” :rolleyes:
Zebra, I’ve heard an interresting rumor about the identity of the villain, actor-wise. Any chance you could confirm or deny it without spoilering?
I’m not Zebra, but I’m pretty sure about what you’re referring to, and the answer is yes. 
Well, I think the fact that it harkens back to an archaic genre (the unironic period serial action movie) means that those not familiar with that genre are likely to miss many of the references and allusions that (I suspect) play a big part in one’s enjoyment of the film. This isn’t to argue that you can only enjoy it on that level, but the tone, style of dialogue, and narrative conventions are going to be particular enough that people might quickly dismiss it as “weird” or “lame” simply because it’s different than what they’re used to.
To be perfectly honest, the movie-going public typically isn’t receptive to movies that challenge their expectations too greatly, and I think Sky Captain runs the risk of being obscure enough in its origins and sensibilities that, even if it is brilliant in its own unique way (and I’m hoping it is but not claiming so), it still may not connect with a public who’s more used to Will Smith wise-cracks and new-fangled technology with easy-to-follow plots. This would be a shame, but there are plenty of other terrific movies with big-name stars (Eternal Sunshine being the most recent example) that fail to find a larger audience, and I don’t think there’s any question that SC&tWoT was going to be a very risky enterprise.
I can see it being a bomb but hope it’s accessible enough to become a hit (even a modest one).
Not really.
You’ll see what I mean.
It’s total fantasy, meant to be fun. A lot of people are incable of dealing with that. This is a movie set in an “alternate” version of 1939 - it apparently opens with the Zeppelin Hindenburg III docking on the airship mast at the top of the Empire State Building - and the viewer will have to be willing to leave cynicism at the door to get into it from what I’ve seen. Audiences don’t seem willing to let themselves be imaginitive anymore, and anyone looking for a realistic story about how a Curtiss P-40 Warhawk would really have fared against 60-foot-tall tentacle-armed robots in New York City is going to be disappointed in this movie.
So, yeah, I think a lot of people simply won’t “get it” and will leave the theater confused about what the movie is “supposed to be about”.
I happen to know who the plays the villian of the piece, and apparently it’s his best performance in years. 
I’m glad they dug him up for this.
At Best Buy you can get a free DVD with the trailers a behind-the-scenes documentary (it is about 20 minutes I think), some PC game, and something else I cannot remember.
Spoiler box, please? You have me intrigued.
They haven’t been hiding it. The id of the actor playing the villain gets brought up in every interview I’ve seen for the movie.
Laurence Olivier appears in a computer manipulated performance.
I like the idea of this movie, but I’m deeply worried about the visuals - I just watched the trailer and there’s a scene where the camera is following a bunch of alien robot bird-type things through an air-raid on what looks like a group of parked fighter planes or similar. Trouble is that it looks too much like a video game. I’m really hoping this is just because of the small window in which I viewed the trailer.
I’ve not read anything about the movie and had no idea there was anything special about the villain until this thread.
Thanks.
I take back what I said above; I just watched the high-bandwidth trailer at http://www.virtuetv.com and it looks far more satisfyingly realistic.
So it will include 1920s-Style death Rays? If so, I am so there.
LOTS o 1920 Style Death Rays.
Damn…I was hoping for 1939-Style Death Rays.
Preferrably autogyro mounted.
I have a friend who went to see an early screening of it this week – she said it ROCKS and is everything she hoped it would be!
Man, I am so up for this one …
I had forgotten about that.
If I am elected President in 1940, I promise an Autogryo in every Garage and that our Great Zepplin Airforce will keep our enemies in check!