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Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow: Difference between revisions

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Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (view source)

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* [[The Swarm]]: The [[Cyber Cyclops|one-eyed]] Squid Robots that search the Flying Legion airbase, the radio-controlled UCAVs that engage Sky Captain shortly thereafter, and the horde of flying [[Killer Robot|Killer Robots]] in the [[Elaborate Underground Base]].
* [[Transforming Mecha]]: Franky's Manta Squadron, [[Cool Plane|Cool Planes]] that can transform in mid-dive into submersibles armed with [[Macross Missile Massacre|cluster-torpedoes]]. They also have an [[Ejection Seat]] with built-in [[Jet Pack]], leading to a [[Film/Awesome|Crowning Moment Of Awesome]] for Angelina Jolie.
* [[Zeppelins Fromfrom Another World]]: The Hindenburg III docks at the Empire State Building in the opening scene, though in reality the docking spire was inoperable from the beginning due to strong updrafts and the lack of a mooring point for the other end of an airship.
 
=== Other tropes include: ===
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* [[Action Girl]]: Commander Francesca "Franky" Cook of the Royal Navy, who sports an [[Eyepatch of Power]]. There's also [[The Nameless|The Mysterious Woman]], a [[He Who Must Not Be Heard|silent]] but deadly woman who controls Totenkopf's machines {{spoiler|and turns out to be a [[Robot Girl]].}}
* [[Aerial Canyon Chase]]: The title character flies his fighter plane along the streets of New York just above ground level while trying to escape Dr. Totenkopf's robot ornithopters.
* [[Alternate History]]: Set in a 1939 (with ''[[The Wizard of Oz (Filmfilm)|The Wizard of Oz]]'' showing in theaters) where [[World War Two]] either happened earlier than our world's, is still brewing, or not at all, though apparently the Japanese invasion of Manchuria still happened.
** There is also a ''Hindenburg III'' in the opening scene (which implies either that the first ''Hindenburg'' did not explode, or else its explosion was not an impediment to further airship construction).
** A First World War is mentioned, so WWII definitely has happened. Or they figured [[Viewers are Morons|audiences wouldn't understand]] a reference to "The World War" or "The Great War", which was how [[WW 1]] was referred to in those days.
* [[Anachronism Stew]]
* [[Anguished Declaration of Love]]: Spoofed. Joe Sullivan believes Polly Perkins deliberately sabotaged his plane in China while [[Going for Thethe Big Scoop]]. When they're trapped in a cave packed with dynamite that's about to explode, Joe looks her in the eyes and asks...if she really did cut his fuel line. Polly is understandably annoyed that they're going to spend their last moments on Earth discussing this point. And on Totenkopf's island, she admits she did. A pissed off Joe then admits that he did sleep with Franky.
* [[Apologetic Attacker]] - [[Played With]]: {{spoiler|Totenkopf's note at his deathchair reads "Forgive me", and there's indications he tried to shut down his robot servant that was hunting scientists.}}
* [[Belligerent Sexual Tension]]: Polly and Joe bicker throughout the movie.
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* [[Disintegrator Ray]]: [[Gadgeteer Genius]] Dex is shown testing a [[Buck Rogers]] raygun that can burn a hole through solid metal with luminous <s>Lifesavers</s> rings of energy.
* [[Dogfighting Furballs]]: Multiple furballs, including air ''and'' submarine battles.
* [[Doing It for Thethe Art]]: The film's creator spent years developing software to achieve a film with ''this specific look,'' and then pitched a film around it.
* [[The Dragon]]: Dr. Totenkopf's [[Action Girl]] agent. {{spoiler|A rather extreme case of [[Dragon Their Feet]].}}
* [[The End of the World Asas We Know It]] / [[Utopia Justifies the Means]]: {{spoiler|The planet-colonizing rocketship seems benign, until it's revealed that its afterburners will ignite the Earth's atmosphere.}}
* [[Eureka Moment]]: "Rana is a star!"
* [[Fake Brit]]/[[Fake American]]: Englishman Jude Law plays the American hero, while American [[Angelina Jolie]] plays "Franky". Jolie's accent was mocked by some critics, though she's merely riffing on the <s>luscious lower lip</s> stiff-upper-lip jargon of British war propaganda.
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* [[Info Dump]]: Dex and the [[Reluctant Mad Scientist|scientists]] explain Totenkopf's entire plan (as well as mentioning an [[Offscreen Moment of Awesome|offscreen escape where several of them got killed]]) in a single moment of exposition. Although not unusual in the [[Comic Books]] on which the movie is based, the scene appears clumsy on screen.
* [[It Is Beyond Saving]]: Totenkopf's [[Well-Intentioned Extremist|motive]] in creating his World of Tomorrow (and destroying the old one in the process).
* [[ItsIt's the Only Way]]: Spoofed.
{{quote| '''Sky Captain:''' "Is it safe?"<br />
'''Dex:''' "Well, there's only one way to find out."<br />
''(Sky Captain and Polly step across the [[Door of Doom|booby-trapped threshold]], holding hands, in lock-step and are relieved to be unharmed)''<br />
'''Dex:''' "...I meant throw something." }}
* [[Justified Title]]: The [[Character Name and Thethe Noun Phrase]] title is obviously a reference to the retro-futuristic nature of the movie, but "Sky Captain" is the nickname of the main character, and the villain calls his scheme {{spoiler|to seed life on another planet}} the "World of Tomorrow".
* [[Let's Split Up, Gang!]]: Sky Captain, while in Dr. Totenkopf's abandoned uranium mine.
* [[Mad Scientist Laboratory]]: The laboratory of Dr. Walter Jennings (with mutated fetus and tiny elephant), and the room in [[Shamgri La|Shangri-La]] (shown in a deleted scene) where Totenkopf conducted experiments on radiation victims from his uranium mine.
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* [[Shoot Out the Lock]]: The title character throws an object and hits the control box for a door, causing the door to close.
* [[Shoulder Cannon]]: The missile launcher of the [[Giant Robot]] guarding the underwater entrance to Dr. Totenkopf's island.
* [[Shout-Out]]: '''By the dozen'''. Everything from ''The Land That Time Forgot'', ''[[The Neverending Story (Filmfilm)|The Neverending Story]]'', Apple's ''1984'' commercial, ''[[Star Wars]] Episode I'' and the anime film ''[[Castle in The Sky]]''.
** Some people view the movie as a [[Spiritual Licensee]] of ''[[Crimson Skies]].''
** Godzilla appears on one of the newspaper headlines in a "blink and you'll miss it" cameo
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* [[Sidekick]]: Dex, to Joe (Sky Captain). But there's a lot more to Dex then this, he may ''look'' like a skinny little nerd but he's [[Took a Level In Badass|taken a level in badass]] and has matters well in hand when Joe finally arrives to 'rescue' him. To his credit Joe doesn't seem very surprised and just asks for a heads up on the plan.
* [[Sitting Duck]]: The Flying Legion is caught on the ground by an air raid launched by what can only be described as pulp sci-fi [[UCA Vs]].
* [[Stripped to Thethe Bone]]: One of the escaping {{spoiler|scientists}} on Totenkopf's island gets skeletonised by a bolt of electricity from a [[Nikola Tesla|Tesla coil]].
* [[Stylistic Suck]]: a couple of effects were CGI'ed to resemble early stop-motion effects from serials. Note: This does not apply to the film's overall [[Zeerust|sepia-tone]] look, which is [[Doing It for Thethe Art|quite elaborate]].
* [[Surprise Vehicle]] - Dex, in one of Totenkopf's hoversleds.
* [[That Was the Last Entry]]: When the group finally gets to Totenkopf's office, they find his papers and discover that "the last entry in his journal was made on October 11, 1918", 20 years before the setting of the film. Shortly thereafter, they find his mummified body.
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* [[Traitor Shot]]: Two of the guides look at each other while standing under Joe's plane as sinister music plays.
<!-- %% ValuesDissonance: Already on YMMV -->
* [[What Happened to Thethe Mouse?]]: A [[Mutants|survivor of Totenkopf's experiments]] asks for one last favor. {{spoiler|To be killed. We never find out if Joe obliges, although his rather sad look after they've left Shangri-La implies that he did it.}}
* [[Why Won't You Die?]]: Invoked word-for-word {{spoiler|when [[The Dragon]], beaten, revealed as a [[Robot Girl]], and left for dead at the villain's island, sneaks into the rocketship to attack Joe one last time.}}
* [[Zeerust]]: Basically the [[Doing It for Thethe Art|whole point of the film]]. Influences include the futuristic designs of Norman Bel Geddes, Raymond Lloyd and Hugh Ferriss.
 
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