Friday, July 19, 2013

Iron Sky: an SF film?

The question in the title of this post really means that I wondered whether to call it a film or farce.  It's brought to you by the same folks who produced Star Wreck, another SF satiric film that conflates Star Wars and Star Trek. I haven't watched it yet, but it's in my queue now.  Iron Sky also targets two victims:  various alien invasion films and films about hidden nests of Nazis plotting to resurface and take over the world.  In other words, Moon Nazis.

There was some discussion many years ago as to who got the best German rocket scientists--the USA or the USSR.  Now, the truth can be told.  Neither!  The best German rocket scientists fled to dark side of the moon along with many other high ranking Nazi officials in 1945.  Since then, they have been working on a super weapon that will destroy the world.

The time is 2018 and the last problem with the doomsday weapon has been solved, mostly by accident.  Two American astronauts have landed on the moon near the Nazi base (built in the shape of a swastika, of course).  One of the astronauts had a mobile phone with him.  When asked what it was, he told them it was a phone and a computer.  The German Mad Scientist (who had a hairdo reminiscent of Einstein) laughed and said this was obviously a lie because it was so small.  Real computers were room-sized.  Curious anyway, the Mad Scientist inserts the phone to discover it can control the doomsday weapon, but the battery drained too quickly.  The solution to the problem was obviously to go to Earth and get bigger and stronger batteries.

The Nazis go to Earth occasionally, but not too often because the crews and ships frequently don't return for some inexplicable reason.  The Nazi ships look just like the flying saucers so prevalent in 1950s alien invasion movies.  So, the UFO sightings were real: they weren't aliens--they were Nazis.  Meanwhile, the Mad Scientist's young, beautiful, blonde daughter begins to fall in love with the American astronaut and helps him to escape.  And so on and so forth.

The American President who plays a significant role is obviously Sarah Palin, even though she is not named: the long black hair, the glasses with the half-lens, and various verbal expressions.  Her Oval Office is equipped with a cycle exercise machine and various stuffed trophy animals, including a polar bear.  (The director in an interview says the bear was not planned, but his staff found it somewhere.)

Eventually the Nazis launch an attack on New York and the scenes are classic from 1950 films:  crowds running and screaming, saucers destroying buildings, dogfights between fighter jets and saucers.  The Nazi mother ships resemble dirigibles.  However, various nations on Earth including the US possess armed space ships (all illegal of course, banned by the UN, and agreed to by all nations).  When the US President scolds them for possessing these illegal ships, some point out that the US has one also.  Her response is the that the US always lies--it is expected.

Keep an eye peeled for at least two little bits "borrowed" from Dr Strangelove--Peter Sellers' problem with his arm and the ending.

Lots of fun.  It is best viewed by shutting down your brain, in the presence of like-minded friends, and  with your favorite attitude adjustment substance at hand. 



4 comments:

  1. This sounds great! Sometimes I just want to watch something funny and mindless like this. Thanks for telling us about it.

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  2. Cheryl,

    "(M)indless" is very apt.

    I have their earlier film, "Star Wreck," in my queue at Netflix and plan on watching it soon.

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  3. Sounds hilarious. I think Sarah Palin would agree with the Nazis on a lot of things

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  4. mel u,

    I think she would be very upset if she ever read your comment. She has a completely different picture of herself.

    But, what's that old saying: something about any press is good press as long as they spell one's name correctly.

    Thanks for stopping by.

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