Search - Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow [Widescreen] on DVD

MPAA Rating: PG Content Advisory: Mild Violence, Questionable for Children, Adult Language, Sci-Fi Violence, Suitable for Teens Movie Release: 2004 DVD Release: 01/25/2005 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV - Closed Captioned Edition: Special Collection Audio Tracks: English, French Subtitles: English, Spanish SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 46 mins Studio: Paramount Total Copies: 108 Genres: Adventure, Science Fiction, Period Film, Sci-Fi Action, Master Criminal Films, Tech Noir See Also: Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow [Fullscreen], Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow [HD DVD], Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow [Blu-ray], Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow [Blu-ray]

Directed by Kerry Conran, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow revolves around the mysterious disappearance of some of the world's most revered scientists. When an investigation is launched, Polly Perkins (Gwyneth Paltrow), reporter for the prestigious Chronicle, and Sky Captain (Jude Law), resident flying ace, are at the forefront of the case. Though the mission's perks include traveling around the world, the stout-hearted duo are nonetheless risking their lives with each passing moment, as the culprit is none other than the nefarious Dr. Totenkopf, and his goal, from what they can gather, is to destroying the earth in its entirety. Luckily, Sky Captain and Polly are not alone -- Franky Cook (Angelina Jolie), the commander of an all-female amphibious squadron, and Dex (Giovanni Ribisi), an unparalleled technical genius, have joined them in hopes of saving the planet before it's too late. Laurence Olivier appears posthumously as Dr. Totenkopf, via old film-clips "recycled" (or CG-altered) to fit the dialogue and scenes at hand. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide

Gwyneth Paltrow - Polly Perkins
Jude Law - Joe "Sky Captain" Sullivan
Angelina Jolie - Franky Cook
Giovanni Ribisi - Dex Dearborn
Michael Gambon - Morris Paley
Bai Ling - Mysterious Woman
Omid Djalili - Kaji

The tremendously stylized serial ode Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow flies to DVD in this Special Collector's Edition from Paramount Home Entertainment. Presented with a stunning anamorphic 1.85:1 widescreen image and Dolby Digital 5.1 sound, the movie has been given a stellar treatment with an enriching picture and engrossing sound that will make you and your home-theater system sweat with joy when you put it in. Those that followed the story of the film will be happy to know that they've included director Kerry Conran's original six-minute short that won him the gig after four years of work putting it together on his home computer. And how is it? Quite incredible, actually. It's basically a shot-for-shot skeleton of the first few minutes of the movie minus dialogue and character interaction. You can see why producer Jon Avnet had such faith in this first-time director, which you can hear the full story behind in Avnet's fantastic audio commentary. While there's a separate commentary from the writer/director Conran and his production designer/brother Kevin (among others in the VFX crew), it's the producer's track that really is the home run here. The filmmaker's commentary is pretty good, though the microphone-shy director is a bit on the dry side and seems more involved with telling the viewer what's real in the shot and what's not.

Commentaries aside, there's still plenty more good stuff to be found on this disc, including an incredible two-part documentary on the film that just runs under an hour long. Focusing on the production and the artists who brought this vision to the screen, the behind-the-scenes look is actually quite an inspiring story of underdog success. Also included is "The Art of the World of Tomorrow" featurette, a nine-minute short that chronicles Kevin Conran's involvement in the film and showcases some of his brilliant preproduction art that unfortunately didn't get a gallery of its own for this release. Two deleted scenes await the viewer as well, one of which seems finished while the other gives the viewer an inside look at what the shots in the movie looked like before the graphics and polish were added in. A "gag reel" has also been supplied, as well as a handful of trailers (though none for the actual movie were included). While there will most likely be a more deluxe DVD version coming down the way, this one-disc is a solid release with solid features that really are worth checking out for any fan or casual viewer out there. Also available in the lesser recommended =Fullscreen edition. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide