Open Writing

Sky Captain is a marvellous tribute to the Flash Gordon serials of the 1930s which captivated cinema audiences.

Intrepid reporter Polly Perkins (played by Gwyneth Paltrow) teams up with heroic pilot (and love interest) Joe Sullivan (played by Jude Law) after giant robots attack New York City.

They are helped along the way by technical genius Dex (played by Giovanni Ribisi) as they uncover a plot to destroy the world.

Notable cameos by Angelina Jolie and Laurence Olivier (in a brief but amazing role generated from archive footage) complete a rollicking adventure story which should appeal to everyone - especially fans of the fantastic serial genre.

The film has a more interesting origin than most, starting as a short film on director Kerry Conran's Apple Mac, he developed it over the years and got the green light to turn his idea into Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow.

Sky Captain was made possible on a relatively low budget through the use of computer technology to create the soft focus washed out colours you would expect from a 30s style adventure.

Every single location in the film is computer generated and the actors were shot separately against green screens and inserted later into the action sequences which were completed in post production.

Not since Indiana Jones raided the Lost Ark have we seen a film that harked back to the RKO Pictures days. There are even some scenes in Sky Captain that references the famous moving red line that signified our heroes moving to another location in Raiders.

And there are also cliffhanger moments that you don't have to wait a week to see resolved and any accusations of a hokey plot can be easily put aside.

If you liked this film you could expect to see a new live action Flash Gordon movie in a couple of years - the rights have been purchased by Stephen Sommers who directed The Mummy which also bears a historical relationship with pulp adventures of the past.

Watch this film and you could find yourself reverting to your childhood very quickly!