Iron Sky

When I decided to watch 'Iron Sky' I expected to be entertained by a tasteless and offensive piece of trash. Instead I was entertained by a reasonably intelligent and well made sci-fi comedy that also works as political satire. Of course the idea of nazis on the moon is bizarre, but all in all I did not feel offended by the film (I will explain in a minute why not).

In 2018, the US return to the moon. There, astronaut James Washington (Christopher Kirby) loses contact with mission control because he is attacked and captured. His attackers are the guards of a moon fortress where the nazis are hiding who escaped the 'downfall' of the Reich in 1945. The nazis discover Washington's mobile and decide they need more of these devices to finally make their ultimate weapon operational - the weapon that will allow them to conquer earth. Accordingly they send an expedition (headed by their presumptive next Führer Klaus Adler, played by Götz Otto) that lands in New York... There are a couple of really good ideas in the film. For example, Adler has no trouble at all taking over the re-election campaign of the president (Stephanie Paul), who is clearly modelled on Sarah Palin. In this respect reality has of course trumped satire. There are also a few nice quotes of earlier films. When Paul as president sees her campaign faltering, she throws a tantrum that reminds you of Hitler's in 'Der Untergang' (Hirschbiegel 2004). Another film quoted is Kubrick's 'Dr Strangelove' (1964). The anti-racist message of the film is nicely packaged and not too obtrusive; it is one of the things that prevents 'Iron Sky' from being offensive. The other is that the film mocks and ridicules the nazis quite effectively. On the downside, most of the acting (except Kirby's and Julia Dietze's, who plays Adler's fiancee) is no more than alright, and the storyline does get pretty convoluted. Still, all in all I was pleasantly surprised.

Excellent parody! If you would wanted to watch a Star Wars type of movie you would be disappointed for sure, but if you appreciate the subtle irony then this your flick. I am sure that not much US Americans would enjoy it, because America is the greatest and you know, they have no mistakes! :) They only have jokes like: Hiroshima joke, Nagasaki joke, Vietnam joke and so on. And these were not acts of extreme fascism, but just peaceful and liberating intervention. ;) I liked this movie be not only for the good sarcasm, but also for the truths that have been said. This is a good German response to the Tarantino's Indigenous Bastards.

US astronauts disturb a Nazi moonbase, and the Nazis launch an expedition to earth to pick up a computer tablet to power their final invasion using a super-fuel mined from the moon.

Hectic spoof sci-fi that's totally illogical, full of plot holes, and yet turns into a good satire. Effects are done really well, plenty of other movies referred to (including the music), and closest in spirit probably to Flash Gordon from 1980.

It does hurry itself along, so the pace is good but at the expense I think of decent character based gags. The acting was good, particularly the females - the lead was very charming, and the president and her sidekick were mean and brisk.

A final plus is that some US reviewers don't like fun being poked at their awful political system.

Overall not great, but it was refreshing.

I loved all the cgi in this movie. See it on a big screen, it will be worth it. I guess you could compare it to movies such as Starship Troupers (1997) or Mars Attacks (1996). Iron Sky is a great example of what can be achieved with cgi. You may even laugh out loud. You will certainly smile for an hour and a half.

I saw the film yesterday in Oslo and I must say I thought it was exhilarating, fresh and different. It's also one of those films that you either love or hate, I do not think it is one that you can be indifferent to.

The German language adds a nice touch, and the way it is used helps a lot with creating a believable atmosphere to some scenes. The actors are doing a good job of portraying the stereotypes that they need in order for the humor to work. The humor is pleasantly free from political correctness. And there are many nice references throughout the film, so if you have been living in a cave (or on the moon) for the last seventy years, I doubt you will find it as funny as I personally did.

The CGI is stunning when at it's best. It is not perfect everywhere, but all in all it is quite convincing. The style can best be described as toned down and with natural colors that work very well for this film.

The story is funny if you let it stand on it's own and accept it for what it is. Let yourself be entertained. I am sure that if you have a very critical mindset when going to see this film you will probably find something to pick on. Things could probably be a bit better and more consistent in a + $100M film, but I do not think we would see this expressive freedom in a + $100M film...

The soundtrack was also well thought of and added the needed atmosphere trough the whole film. Not one tune seemed misplaced and I thought it was very impressive.

I liked Iron Sky a lot, and I would recommend it in a heartbeat. I believe this film has the potential to be the cult film of the year. And I think it will do well for itself on cinemas around the world.