Iron Sky comes from the creators of Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning and was produced by Tero Kaukomaa of Blind Spot Pictures and Energia Productions, co-produced by New Holland Pictures and 27 Films, and co-financed by numerous individual supporters; Samuli Torssonen was responsible for the computer-generated imagery. It was theatrically released throughout Europe in April 2012.[5] A director's cut of the film with 20 additional minutes was released on DVD and Blu-ray on 11 March 2014.[7] The film received negative reviews, focusing on the film's execution and dated humor.
A video-game adaptation titled Iron Sky: Invasion was released in October 2012. A sequel, titled Iron Sky: The Coming Race, was crowdfunded through Indiegogo and released in January 2019,[8] to a more hostile critical reception and a box office bomb, leading to the bankruptcy of two production companies involved in the sequel's production: Blind Spot Pictures, and Iron Sky Universe.
Plot
In 2018, an American crewed mission lands on the Moon. The lander carries two astronauts, one of them an African-American male model, James Washington, specifically chosen to aid the U.S. President in her re-election (various "Black to the Moon" word-play posters are seen in the film, extolling the new Moon landing).
Upon landing on the far side of the Moon, they encounter the descendants of Nazis who escaped to the Moon in 1945 (self-styled the "Fourth Reich" in dialogue). Washington is taken captive after the other astronaut is killed. Nazi scientist Doktor Richter examines Washington and obtains his smartphone, which he later recognizes as having more computing power than the 1940s-style computers of the Fourth Reich, enabling its use as a control unit to complete their giant space battleship Götterdämmerung.
When Richter strives to demonstrate his Wunderwaffe to the current Führer, Wolfgang Kortzfleisch, the phone's battery is quickly exhausted. Nazi commander Klaus Adler, chosen for genetic reasons to mate with Earth specialist Renate Richter (Doktor Richter's daughter), embarks in a flying saucer to collect more such computers on Earth. He takes with him Washington, who has been "Aryanized" by Doktor Richter using an "albinizing" drug.
Upon landing in New York City, they discover that Renate has stowed away with them. They abandon Washington after he connects them with the President's campaign adviser, Vivian Wagner. Adler and Renate energize the President's re-election campaign using Nazi-style rhetoric. Renate is unaware of Adler's ambition to replace Kortzfleisch and rule the world. After three months, Kortzfleisch lands on Earth and confronts Adler, but is killed by Adler and Vivian. Adler declares himself the new Führer before returning to orbit in Kortzfleisch's flying saucer, deserting Vivian but taking her tablet computer.
Concurrently, Renate is persuaded by the homeless Washington that Adler intends global genocide. Shortly afterwards, the Moon Nazis launch a mass attack on the Earth with a fleet of giant Zeppelin-like spacecraft called Siegfrieds which tow asteroids as missiles and launch countless flying saucers at New York City, where they destroy the Statue of Liberty and blitz the city. The U.S. Air Force engage the flying saucers with some success.
The United Nations assembles to discuss the Moon Nazi threat. The President appoints Vivian as commander of the secretly militarised spacecraft USS George W. Bush, which carries nuclear and directed-energy weapons, only to discover that most of the other nations (except Finland) have also secretly armed their spacecraft. They dispatch them against the Nazi fleet and wipe out the Siegfrieds.
Adler arrives in Kortzfleisch's flying saucer with the tablet computer to activate the Götterdämmerung. Renate and Washington travel in Adler's flying saucer to the Götterdämmerung, where Washington goes to disable the engines while Renate seeks out Adler. Meanwhile, the international space fleet damage the Nazis' Moon base and approach the Götterdämmerung which dwarfs them all. Commanding the Götterdämmerung, Adler destroys parts of the Moon to expose Earth to his line-of-fire. During the battle, Washington disconnects Vivian's tablet from the control panel of the Götterdämmerung, while Renate kills Adler before he can fire at Earth. Renate and Washington separately escape as the Götterdämmerung crashes into the Moon.
The U.S. president congratulates Vivian from the UN session; whereupon Vivian discloses the presence of large tanks of helium-3 on the Moon, of which the President immediately assumes sole claim on grounds that its possession ensures a millennium-long supply of energy. This enrages the other UN members, one of whom throws his shoes at her, inciting a large brawl. Meanwhile the international space fleet turns on each other.
At the damaged Moon base, Renate reunites with Washington, who has reverted his pigmentation back to normal. They kiss before a confused group of Nazi survivors, whom Renate assures, "have a lotta work cut out for [them]". The final moments of the film show the Earth apparently during an international nuclear war. At the very end of the credits, the planet Mars is revealed with an artificial satellite in orbit.
Production began in early 2006, and the production team took their teaser trailer of the film to the 2008 Cannes Film Festival, seeking co-financiers.[10] The team signed a co-production agreement with Oliver Damian's 27 Films Productions.[11][12]Iron Sky is one of a new wave of productions, including Artemis Eternal, The Cosmonaut, A Swarm of Angels, and RiP!: A Remix Manifesto, produced in collaboration with an on-line community of film enthusiasts, creating participatory cinema. At Wreck-a-Movie, a collaborative film-making web site, the producers invited everyone interested to contribute ideas and resources to the project.[13][14][15]
On 11 February 2009, it was announced that the film would star German actress Julia Dietze,[16] while the Slovenian industrial music group Laibach would be recording the soundtrack.[17] Appropriately enough for a film about Nazism, the orchestral soundtrack incorporates leitmotifs from the operatic cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen and other operas by Richard Wagner, a composer whose music was favoured by the Nazi leaders. The national anthem of the Nazis from the Moon ("Kameraden, wir kehren Heim!") has the tune of "Die Wacht am Rhein". During the 2010 Cannes Film Festival, Iron Sky signed a co-production agreement with the Australian production company New Holland Pictures, which brought Cathy Overett and Mark Overett as co-producers of the film.[18]
Iron Sky was video-recorded in Red camera format.[19] Cinematography began in November 2010 in Frankfurt for location shooting, and after that in January 2011 in Australia for studio shooting.[2] Settings in Frankfurt were Weseler Werft (Weseler Shipyard) and Taunusstrasse[de] (English: Taunus Street).[20] On 6 February 2011, the cinematography of Iron Sky concluded; it then entered a ten-week post-production process.[21]
Release
Iron Sky premiered on 11 February 2012 at the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival, in the Panorama Special section.[22] It was released in Finland on 4 April and in Germany on 5 April, running in major cinemas.[23]
In the UK, there was some controversy regarding the decision of the distributor, Revolver Entertainment, to release the film for only one day, causing the film makers to issue a public condemnation of their UK distributor, and accusing Revolver of misleading them.[24] Following high demand from the film's online fanbase, Revolver revised its decision and Iron Sky's UK cinema release was extended.[25]
Reception
Critical reception of Iron Sky in the United States was negative. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 41% approval rating, based on 44 reviews, with an average rating of 4.5/10.[26]
William Goss of Film.com gave the film a D+, saying that it "feels more and more like a lost Austin Powers sequel that already feels exceedingly dated in its humor."[27] Jeff Shannon of The Seattle Times gave the film two out of four stars, describing it as "great idea, lousy execution".[28] Leslie Felperin of Variety described Iron Sky as being "...neither good enough to rep a proper breakout hit nor bad enough that it might attain cult status; it’s just kind of lame".[29]
On 5 October 2011, Blind Spot released a digital comic prequel to the film, titled Iron Sky: Bad Moon Rising, written by the writer of Alan Wake, Mikko Rautalahti, and fully illustrated by comic artist Gerry Kissell, creator of IDW Publishing's Code Word: Geronimo.[31] IDW Publishing printed these comics in a softcover graphic novel collection in March 2013.[32]
In 2012, Revision Games published Iron Sky: The Board Game, a board game based on the film designed by Juha Salmijärvi. It is a strategy board game, where two opposing teams The Reich and The UWC struggle for domination over three continents of Earth. Each player is in charge of one continent and cooperation within each team is mandatory for success.[34]
On 20 May 2012, Kaukomaa announced that there are plans for a prequel and a sequel but refused to disclose details.[35] In May 2013, Vuorensola announced that Iron Sky will have a sequel titled Iron Sky: The Coming Race. He also mentioned that unlike the first film, this installment will be completely funded by fans via Indiegogo, with an estimated budget of US$15 million. A promo video was to be shot for the 2014 Cannes Film Festival and the final draft of the script was scheduled to be published by the end of 2014. Filming was expected to begin in 2015.[36] In July 2013, Vuorensola revealed Croatia as one of the proposed shooting locations.[37] In February 2014, Dalan Musson signed in to write the screenplay. The Finnish Film Foundation and Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg have come on board to finance the US$13 million project.[38] Ultimately, this schedule was not maintained. In 2017, a January 2018 release date was announced. That date was missed, as was an August 2018 release. The movie was ultimately released in March 2019.
Bankruptcy
In the wake of the sequel's release and it's copyright dispute, Blind Spot Pictures, the main production company for Iron Sky, declared bankruptcy on 17 September 2019.[39][40] Iron Sky Universe, another production company involved in creating the franchise for a would-be third film of The Coming Race's sequel, also filed for bankruptcy on 12 October 2020 by Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Company.[41] Timo Vuorensola himself confirmed the Iron Sky Universe's bankruptcy, saying "The production company of Iron Sky, called Iron Sky Universe, one which I jointly set up with Tero, is going under."[42]
Star Wreck is a series of Finnish Star Trek parody movies started by Samuli Torssonen in 1992. The first movie, simply named Star Wreck, was a simple Star Control-like animation with three ships shooting at each other, but later movies featured CGI-animated characters and, in the latest films, live actors. Often Star Wreck is used to refer to the latest and most popular film Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning.
Renny Harlin is a Finnish film director, producer, and screenwriter who has worked in Hollywood, Europe, and China. His best-known films include A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master, The Adventures of Ford Fairlane, Die Hard 2, Cliffhanger, The Long Kiss Goodnight, and Deep Blue Sea.
Richter may refer to:
Earth vs. the Flying Saucers is a 1956 American science fiction film from Columbia Pictures. It was produced by Charles H. Schneer, directed by Fred F. Sears, and stars Hugh Marlowe and Joan Taylor. The stop-motion animation special effects were created by Ray Harryhausen. The storyline was suggested by the bestselling 1953 non-fiction book Flying Saucers from Outer Space by Maj. Donald Keyhoe. The film was released as a double feature with The Werewolf.
Vivian Wu is a Chinese-American actress. Starring in a variety of North American and Chinese productions, her big break came in 1987, when she appeared in the biographical film The Last Emperor. She later went to starring in films Iron & Silk (1990), The Guyver (1991), Heaven & Earth (1993), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (1993), The Joy Luck Club (1993), and most notably playing the leading roles in The Pillow Book (1996) and The Soong Sisters (1997). In 2020, she starred as Dr. Lu Wang in the Netflix science fiction drama series Away, while in 2023, she portrayed Vivian Zhu in the Apple TV+ murder mystery comedy series The Afterparty.
Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning is a 2005 parody fan film produced by five friends in a two-room flat in Finland with a small budget and the support of a few hundred fans and several dozen acquaintances. It is the seventh production in the Star Wreck movie series, and the first of professional quality and feature length. It is a dark science fiction comedy about domination of the world and the universe, and a parody of the Star Trek and Babylon 5 franchises.
Samuli Torssonen is a Finnish film writer, director, actor and producer, best known as the creator of the viral Star Wreck sci-fi series.
Many works of fiction have featured UFOs. In most cases, as the fictional story progresses, the Earth is being invaded by hostile alien forces from outer space, usually from Mars, as depicted in early science fiction, or the people are being destroyed by alien forces, as depicted in the film Independence Day. Some fictional UFO encounters may be based on real UFO reports, such as Night Skies. Night Skies is based on the 1997 Phoenix UFO Incident.
In ufology, conspiracy theory, science fiction, and comic book stories, claims or stories have circulated linking UFOs to Nazi Germany. The German UFO theories describe supposedly successful attempts to develop advanced aircraft or spacecraft before and during World War II, further asserting the post-war survival of these craft in secret underground bases in Antarctica, South America, or the United States, along with their creators.
Götz Otto is a German film and television actor who is known internationally for his roles as henchman Richard Stamper in the 1997 James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies, as Adolf Hitler's adjutant Otto Günsche in the 2004 World War II film Downfall, and as Nazi commander Klaus Adler in the 2012 comic science fiction film Iron Sky.
The Finnish cinema has a long history, with the first public screenings starting almost as early as modern motion picture technology was invented. It took over a decade before the first Finnish film was produced and screened in 1907. After these first steps of Finnish cinema, the progress was very slow. After 1907 there were two periods when no Finnish films were produced. This was partly caused by the political situation, as Finland held a status as an autonomous part of the Russian Empire and was thus influenced by the worldwide political situation.
Timo Vuorensola is a Finnish film director, singer and actor. He has directed Star Wreck movies Star Wreck V: Lost Contact, and Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning, created by Samuli Torssonen. Vuorensola plays Lieutenant Dwarf in the films. He also directed the film Iron Sky and its sequel, The Coming Race. He is also the lead vocalist and co-founder of dark industrial band Älymystö. Timo is prepping darkly comic action thriller "Killtown" which is being introduced to the market by Brilliant Pictures.
Julia Dietze is a French-born German actress.
Stephanie Paul is a New Zealand actress and comedian. She starred as a Sarah Palin-esque United States president in the 2012 film Iron Sky.
Iron Sky: Invasion is an official video game based on the 2012 Finnish science fiction comedy Iron Sky. The game is developed by Reality Pump Studios, and is published by TopWare Interactive.
Iron Sky: The Coming Race is a 2019 Finnish-German comic science fiction action film directed by Timo Vuorensola. The sequel to Vuorensola's 2012 film Iron Sky, its production was crowdfunded through Indiegogo. Like its predecessor, the film mixes political themes with repeated allusions to the popular culture and various conspiracy theories, but is generally more action-adventure oriented. A major inspiration of the content is the Vril conspiracy theory.
Tero Kaukomaa is a Finnish film producer and the winner of the 'Producer of the Year Award' in 2012 from Suomen Elokuvatuottajien Keskusliitto for Iron Sky.
Timo is a masculine given name. It is primarily used in Finnish, Estonian, Dutch and German societies. It may be used as an abbreviation of Timothy.
Jeepers Creepers: Reborn is a 2022 horror film directed by Timo Vuorensola and written by Jake Seal and Sean-Michael Argo. The film is a reboot of Victor Salva's Jeepers Creepers film series and its fourth and final installment. Starring Sydney Craven, and Imran Adams, with "special appearances" from Dee Wallace and Gary Graham, it follows a young man and woman who travel to a horror festival, with the latter becoming a target for a dark purpose by a reawakened creature called "the Creeper".
Altered is a 2024 American science fiction action film written and directed by Timo Vuorensola. It stars Tom Felton, Liza Bugulova, Richard Brake, Igor Jijikine and Aggy Adams.
↑ io9.comArchived 8 August 2015 at the Wayback Machine , by Charlie Jane Anders (7 May 2008), "Nazi Moonbase Launches Stealth Attack". Retrieved 1 May 2009.
↑ newteevee.comArchived 12 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine , by Chris Albrecht (12 May 2008), "Iron Sky Opens Up the Filmmaking Process". Retrieved 1 May 2009.
↑ slashdot.org, "News for Nerds: Iron Sky Trailer". Retrieved 1 July 2009.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
