The Flop That Changed Modern Blockbusters

It’s safe to say that modern moviegoing audiences are spoiled. The technical theatrics that once dazzled us are now so commonplace that we barely bat an eyelid at their spectacle. We are so used to wall-to-wall scenes of hyper-realistic CGI that it’s not special. Every blockbuster is now shot almost exclusively on green-screen sets, to the point where it’s become something of a joke that many actors in the MCU don’t even know where a scene is taking place when they shoot it.

In the grand scheme of cinematic history, this is a relatively new development, having only unfolded over the past two decades or so. The beginning of the 21st century brought with it new advancements in VFX and a grander scale to the franchise films that dominated theaters. But it’s not Harry Potter or The Lord of the Rings that the current era owes a major debt to for its current state. It’s an oft-forgotten commercial flop by a director with only one feature credit to his name.

How Was Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow Initially Received?

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow was the dreamchild of Kerry Conran, a filmmaker from Ireland. While studying at a feeder program for Disney animators at CalArts, he developed an interest in 2-D computer animation and wondered if its tools could be applied to live-action. He made his own teaser trailer via a blue screen in his living room over the course of four years to test his vision. It made its way to producer Jon Avnet, and the process of making a feature in this style began. The script took two years to complete, while shooting took a mere 26 days to save on costs. This was a scrappy indie production, albeit one with Jude Law and Angelina Jolie as its stars and a reported budget of $70 million. A group of almost 100 digital artists worked to create the 2D and 3D backgrounds that the actors could not see during production. They even added a cameo from Sir Laurence Olivier, despite him having been dead for about 15 years.

The movie is a riff on the pulp serials of the ‘30s and ‘40s with a retrofuturistic twist. It’s part film noir, part Fleischer-era Superman cartoon, part steampunk, and just a little bit of Laputa: Castle in the Sky. Everyone talks like they’re in a classic Bogart and Bacall film. The eponymous Sky Captain, as played by Law, is a dashing Errol Flynn type with a private air force tasked with taking on a dastardly mad scientist. It’s a classic tale of adventure derring-do.

But audience stayed away from the theaters, even as reviews were encouraging. It felt like a gimmick. The Washington Post's review called the film "a $70 million novelty item." Really, it was the first stepping stone towards a new future in cinema, for better or worse. Sky Captain is often baggy in its plotting and works better if you’re familiar with all of the things its paying homage to, but it’s also a dedicated reimagining of classic Hollywood that has much to offer even casual viewers. Even now, there’s not much out there in multiplexes that looks like this, so committed to recreating a world and version of classic cinema that has long gone extinct. Even its wobbly details feel charming because it evokes the handmade quality of days gone by.

It's not simply that every blockbuster is made via green-screen now. It’s that they’re using it to create a kind of realist aesthetic all while avoiding real sets, props, and so on. Looking at behind-the-scenes images of Marvel movies reveals nothing but a one-color warehouse that’s designed to stand in for the most basic elements of a location. Even the costumes are CGI-d on later. This is not to knock the incredible developments of such tech, now so advanced that it can render entire universes out of nothing, but it does feel like a wasted opportunity to embrace the unreal.

Why is Sky Captain Important to See Now?

Sky Captain doesn’t always work but its use of a heavily stylized visual palette and sci-fi references that are utterly unconcerned with looking grounded or gritty does make it feel unique, even today. It reminds us that our immense technological capabilities could and should be used for more than recreating our existing world. Why not aim for the unreal over another sea of concrete buildings being blown up by the same old faces?

After Sky Captain, more films embraced using green-screen to create vast spectacle from nothing. Sin City utilized the tech to achingly recreate the hyper-grim and razor-sharp black-and-white contrasts of Frank Miller’s comics (something that would be done again with 300.) The Wachowski sisters’ Speed Racer used digital backlots to make a retina-burning live-action manga that rejected all notions of realism and subtlety. But since then, green-screen technology has become a common tool to make every genre movie. We’re seldom impressed by it now.

Humans are hard-wired to view the uncanny with suspicion, which is partly why cinema has leaned so heavily on making everything, even the utterly fantastical, seem believably of our realm. Few filmmakers reject this mold. It’s more commonly found in other media like video games or literature, but there is certainly room for exploration on the big screen. We could and should be using these incredible tools to build things well beyond even our own imaginations.

What New Features and Upgrades Does the Sky Captain Blu-Ray Have?

The new two-disc 4K Blu-ray of Sky Captain, released by Shout Factory, comes with an array of features.

DISC ONE - 4K BLU-RAY

• NEW 4K TRANSFER FROM THE 35MM DIGITAL NEGATIVE
• DOLBY VISION/HDR PRESENTATION OF THE FILM
• Audio Commentary with Director Kerry Conran, Production Designer Kevin Conran, Animation Director Steve Yamamoto, and Visual Effects Supervisor Darin Hollings
• Audio Commentary with Producer Jon Avnet
• Optional English subtitles for the main feature

DISC TWO - BLU-RAY

• NEW 4K TRANSFER FROM THE 35MM DIGITAL NEGATIVE
• Audio Commentary with Director Kerry Conran, Production Designer Kevin Conran, Animation Director Steve Yamamoto, and Visual Effects Supervisor Darin Hollings
• Audio Commentary with Producer Jon Avnet
• "Brave New World" – A Two-Part Look at the making of Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow
• "The Art of World of Tomorrow" Featurette
• "Anatomy of A Virtual Scene"
• The Original Six-Minute Short
• Deleted Scenes
• Gag Reel
• Theatrical Trailers
• Optional English subtitles for the main feature

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow is available to purchase on 4K Blu-ray now.