A few words about... Sky Captain...

I'm not sure what this means? Can you clarify on this? I know this process was used for The Polar Express as far as motion capture (I believe)...

Yes, the film looks great. However, I can't help but to say once the novelty of the look of the film wears off, it's nothing more than a badly written, badly acted B-movie without any of the fun. I was on the edge of my seat with excitement for the first 15 minutes or so and then I found myself becomming more and more bored as the movie went on. And I would have to say it has the absolute worst ending in film history.

I did have extremely high expectations for the film though.

I think Robert is confusing Sky Captain with Polar Express in regards to the extent of Tom Hanks' involvement.

Robert, please clarify. It's tough to interpret your posts when your tongue is so firmly kept in your cheek.

So Mr. Harris likes the DVD. Excellent.

Personally, I can't wait to get this in my hands next week, as I was one of the few people who enjoyed the film a great deal (saw it three times in theaters). I hope Paramount's provided a fair amount of extras, even though the box office take was less than stellar.

I've gotta say, I've never been a big fan of "pretend to be stupid" humour.

It tends to confuse more folks than it entertains.

But y'know, diff'rent strokes and all.

Perhaps I'm not familiar with Robert Harris' brand of sardonic humor. I used to work for the UCLA Film & TV Archive so I guess I should have identified that form of dry wit like the foul smell of vinegar that permeates in old film reel canisters.

Anyway, I'm sure the Sky Captain DVD will be good. It strikes me as probably being a better DVD experience than a theatrical one. Then again most movies these days fall under that category.

I'm getting this on street date. It was my favorite movie of 2004. Oddly enough, the 35mm print I saw looked beautiful. It looked a lot better than Attack of the Clones or Stuart Little 2, in terms of image quality. I hope I can get more people to watch it with me, though. When I saw it in the theater, two other people occupied the auditorium. The Grudge was playing next-door.

RAHster:

ROTFLMFAO!

Umm...what??

I had really high expectations for this before it was theatrically released. I'll tell you that Elektra was easier to sit through and let me tell you that I hated Elektra big time. Sky Captain was do dry and boring and the sound at the theater was so low that my friends and I were straining to hear every line of dialogue, it was a terrible movie going experience. I can see some people liking it, but it's definitely not for me.

I have been watching the extras on the Sky Captain DVD. I like RAH's wit. Made me laugh.

Mr Harris, I'd like to replicate this experience at home. The cylinders were easy enough to find, but I am not sure where to get bicycle chains. Can you help?

I live in the UK - if I lengthen the chains (thanks for the link, BTW) by 3 per cent will this control for PAL speedup?

I cannot wait for this disk. It was one of my favorite films of '04. A mixture of nostalgia, high technology, and a fun time. I went in expecting not much and came out smiling. A must have for my collection. Thanks for the review Robert!
Warren

I too loved SCATWOT and I'm really looking forward to the 2-disc Collector's Edition of Sky Captain, out next month on Region 2.

This is a side of RAH I've never seen before. It's really throwing my whole day off

I did not see this in the theatre, but I'll be renting it as soon as it comes out. From what I've read about the movie online, it sounds as if Angelina Jolie's character needs to be given her own film. I would certainly approve of that.

You mean her lips right?

The theater I saw it in Boston did have audio problems. At first I thought that center volume was way too low. But now after reading the above posts, I understand now what the cause was. I just hope the DVD edition will be properly mastered for home theaters.
Thanks Mr Harris. This is a recommendation that will be easy to accept. I enjoyed this film very much aside from the fact that I'm opposed to having deceased actors digitally inserted in films for a scene. But that is a debate covered elsewhere. As you stated this is the second installment of the digital age.

It's gotta be due to his prolonged exposure to vinegar syndrome and nitrate film stock.

I'm aware of that, Robert. I had the pleasure(?) of working in the decrepit facilities and film vaults of the UCLA Film & TV Archive for one year(I couldn't take more than that). I would wear the requisite doctor's mask, gloves and white coat while working in the film vaults but they didn't provide any form of eye protection. Besides the fact that the films were rotting, the various vaults and buildings themselves are rotting as well due to the fact that they're the original Technicolor facilities constructed during the early 20th century. So yes I'm very familiar with the dangers of working with vinegar syndrome and disintegrating nitrate films. You've gotta be passionate about film preservation to endure some of those conditions. As for me, coming from a background of working in clean and air conditioned offices, the UCLA experience proved to be intolerable. When my one year contract was up I made it clear I had no desire for it to be extended. I think I would have been better suited working for the Academy, but I didn't pursue it.

There was a bright light at the end of the tunnel. When I was still working there(around 1998-99), there was talk and lofty plans of the Academy(that has much better facilities and funds at their disposal to preserve films) merging with UCLA's film archive to essentially create an archivists shangri-la; a mega facility that would house the entire collections of both the Academy Archives along with UCLA's/Hearst collection. I think they were considering locating it in Culver City at the time. David Packard of Hewlett/Packard was also in talks to help fund such an ambitious venture because he has an interest in film preservation.

I'm not sure what ever became of those plans. If I recall correctly they were eyeing an opening date of 2005 or 2006.

Oh and Hugh Hefner's favorite film is High Noon. I would occasionally have the fun job of delivering the film reels to his mansion.

Edit: One last thing before I forget! You know that flavor of potato chips - 'Vinegar and Salt' or something like that. Anyway when I was working at the UCLA archive those things were possibly the most offensive tasting thing I could ever eat because of my constant exposure to vinegar syndrome. I mean if you know someone that works at a film archive and you want to get them perhaps the most sadistic gift in the world, you could do no better than getting them a bag of vinegar and salt potato chips. I bet if I had some now it would take me right back to my days working for UCLA.

Ack! I had to leave a screening of Monty Python and the Holy Grail because of the smell of Salt 'n Vinegar crisps wafting across the aisle from a fellow patron with a jumbo bag of Chipsticks (a particularly stinky variety of British snack). The stuff smelled like photographic stop bath.

Loved the review, BTW. Any truth in the rumour the final rendering software's called Vaseline?

"and I'm really looking forward to the 2-disc Collector's Edition of Sky Captain, out next month on Region 2."


a slight word of caution- the region 2 may be a bit of a marketting scam - according to BBFC the extras are actually the same as the region 1 - but maybe some bright spark at the region2 studio thought they would split it into to 2 disks to be able to charge more money

http://www.bbfc.co.uk/website/Classi...5?OpenDocument

http://www.bbfc.co.uk/website/Classi...2?OpenDocument

I'm getting the region 1 release as usual

RAH-

Did you see the IMAX version or the 35mm print? I found them to be very different experiences.

Did you get the Region 1 Battle of Britain, as usual? And Day After Tomorrow, I,Robot, Troy, Van Helsing R1 as usual? I'll wait till next month see what the region 2 Sky Captain has to offer than decide which one to go for, no rush.