As a project which has been in the pipeline for several years now, there has been an increasing buzz around Iron Sky. In 2008 a teaser-trailer for their odd-but-intriguing concept of ‘Nazis living on the moon’ was taken to the Cannes film festival in order to help pull in investments for the film and they succeeded, eventually amassing 7.5 million euros from various benefactors. An internet campaign to raise awareness of the project added to the hype surrounding the film which has grown in the last few years as the project neared completion.
The team behind Iron Sky were previously recognized for their series of Star Trek spoofs, entitled ‘Star Wreck’. The last episode was movie-length at 1 hour and 45 minutes but produced in the friends’ homes with very little financial backing. With Iron Sky the team faced a whole different ball-game, which included securing the funds, cast and crew to produce a feature-length film that toes the line between funny and controversial, ridiculous and entertaining.
The film’s crazy plot bases itself on the idea that, after World War II, Nazis escaped capture by the allies and retreated to the moon where they re-colonised and planned their revenge on planet Earth. However, in 2018 a US moon landing orchestrated by the current American president (obviously intended to be Sarah Palin and played by Stephanie Paul) to help her re-election disturbs the group of Nazis, led by Wolfgang Kortzfleisch (Udo Kier), and as a result astronaut James Washington (Christopher Kirby) is taken captive and forced to return to earth to help the Nazis execute their planned invasion of earth. Luckily, naive school teacher and ‘Earth culture expert’ Renate Richter (Julia Dietze) is on hand to help. What follows is a bizarre but entertaining journey as earth and the space Nazis go head to head, culminating in a fast-paced battle that rounds off the film.
The idea of the movie sounds promising; indeed it does provide some truly comical moments. Washington’s transformation from confident black model to confused bleached misfit at the hands of the Nazis, who are shocked by his black skin, is actually quite entertaining, especially as one watches his stumbling attempts as “the moon spook… turned into a snowflake” tries to re-immerse himself amongst his ‘brothers’ on earth.
The running theme of the Nazi’s outdated technology compared with the new technological advancements on planet earth also provides numerous laughs; in fact it can be argued that this is the strongest point of humour in the film. The Nazi’s amazement at the power of Washington’s smart phone, and Doktor Richter’s invention of the ‘universal systematic binding’ (or ‘USB’ for short) touches upon the computer/pop culture of today, as does James, Renate and Klaus’ interaction with the modernity of America.
Despite humorous action and quips, the comedy is very uneven throughout. The last 20 minutes or so of the film seems to lose its way; it appears to be trying too hard to convey a moral message which seems out of place amongst the camp, light-hearted humour of the storyline. In a satirical film such as this it would be a valid assumption that the audience is not expecting to be taught an ethical lesson about civilization and the human race.
A few aspects of the production do really stand out, including the special effects which are on the whole very impressive. The first 4 minutes of the film, featuring the US astronauts discovering the Nazi’s moon base, are spectacular whilst the rest of the moon’s Third Reich is also very impressive. In addition to this the movie’s musical score, composed by Laibach, is brilliant and fits the tone of the movie really well.
Iron Sky does indeed provide a very entertaining 90 minutes but it doesn’t quite live up to the premise which was promoted in the internet campaign and various trailers. It is, however, well worth a watch, even if just out of curiosity at the film’s intriguing concept.
Iron Sky is out on DVD now.