Iron Sky
DVD Releases: December 2012
Rating: M – Contains Violence, sexual references & offensive language
Duration: 92 minutes
Genre: Sci FI
Starring: Julia Dietze, Peta Sergeant, Stephanie Paul and Udo Kier
Director: Timo Vuorensola (Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning)
The Premise>> In the last moments of World War II, a secret Nazi space program evaded destruction by fleeing to the Dark Side of the Moon. During 70 years of utter secrecy, the Nazis construct a gigantic space fortress with a massive armada of flying saucers.
The Review>> This is one of those films where the concept is simple but crazy. Like films that have gone before like Snakes on a Plane, the overall plot is nothing to taxing, however the simple nature of the idea actually brings a whole lot of fun and interest. NAZIS ON THE MOON… seriously that kind of sums it up. Apparently the original idea was conceived by Jarmo Puskala in a dream. He told the director Timo Vuorensola about his dream in a sauna, and Vuorensola replied he would make it into a film only if they got Udo Kier to act in it and Laibach to make the soundtrack.
It is by no means a film to take seriously in any form, it is a film that was probably never meant to have worldwide cinematic release and to some extent may have been expected to go straight to DVD. Of course even before it was completed, an international fan base had other plans. This ground swell took over all over the world with cult like status. In fact fans of Iron Sky ended up ponying up over ten percent of the production budget. Now that’s a committed fan base of which I am sure most film producers and directors would love to draw in. This has led to the film being released in heaps of countries around the world, which actually works out well, when you consider that that this film is a joint venture between Finnish, German and Australian film makers. The cast comes from all over the world including kiwi actress Stephanie Paul (You can read our interview with her here), Australian Actor Peta Sergeant and Australian/American actor ChristopherKirby.
The film is full of satirical war and political humour and most of it is pretty clever and funny. For a b-grade film it is generally pretty good. Sure at times the acting is a little Hammy and dialogue a bit corny, however the cool nature of the film comes through in abundance. Even the moments of extreme predictability can still make you laugh, like the moment when a couple of the characters nearly get blown out of an air lock and you straight away know that her clothes are about to be mostly blown off. You still find yourself laughing when the inevitability hits the Screen.
Visually it is dark and gritty and although the budget was not huge, it still stacks up okay as an exploration into scifi.
The Verdict>> A good old crazy B-grade film that is destined for cult status and worth a couple of laughs!
Some extra bits to know about the film and to look out for>> Nazi spaceships are named after operas in Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen cycle. “Rheingold”, “Walkure”, “Siegfried” and “Götterdämmerung”.
More than 10 percent of funding for this film came from fans. The donors are listed in the credits.
The German customs office would not allow the film-makers to bring any Nazi costumes and regalia into Germany, but fortunately the makers of Inglourious Basterds helped director Vuorensola by revealing how they had circumvented the same problem.
One of the nazi zeppelins has registration code Q-N4751, which is kuunatsi (moon nazi in Finnish).
The symbol which the President and Adler adopt for their campaign is taken from the Laibach-album “Volk”. Laibach created the soundtrack for “Iron Sky”.
The original idea was conceived by Jarmo Puskala in a dream. He told the director Timo Vuorensola about his dream in a sauna, and Vuorensola replied he would make it into a film only if they got Udo Kier to act in it and Laibach to make the soundtrack.
When Renate Richter takes off the helmet after leaving the escape pod, it can be seen to bear the number “SS-1138”, a nod to George Lucas.
Big Screen NZ 