Homages in Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow is a film that was written and directed by Kerry Conran. The film stars Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law, Michael Gambon, Giovanni Ribisi, and Angelina Jolie. It is set in New York City in an alternative 1939 and is a steampunk style science fiction adventure film.

Cinematic References

• Metropolis (1927) — Many skyline shots of New York City invokes similiar scenes from Metropolis.

• King Kong (1933) — The feighter Venture that transported King Kong from Skull Island can be seen at the bottom of the sea in amphibious squadron sequence, with a giant cage on top. Also, during the DVD commentary, it is stated that King Kong can be seen climbling the Empire State Building in the background.

• Lost Horizon (1937) - The Sky Captain and Polly visit Shangri-la.

• The War of the Worlds (1938) — Polly Perkins' description of the approach of the giant robots over the telephone to Editor Paley is word-for-word the same as the dialog used to describe the approach of the Martian war machines in this infamous 1938 radio play performed by Orson Wells and the Mercury Theater.

• The Wizard of Oz (1939) — Part of this movie is playing during the Radio City Music Hall neeting between reporter Polly Perkins and Dr. Jennings.

• Q Planes (1939) - Jude Law's character 'Sky Captain' resembles Laurence Olivier's character, pilot Tony McVane, from this 1939 film.

• Superman (1941) — The metal monsters' design comes from one of the 1940s Superman cartoons (The Mechanical Monsters) and actually, many shots in the movie are exact copies of shots from the 1940 Max Fleischer serials.

• Godzilla (1954) — During the newspaper montage following the giant robot attack, Godzilla is seen in the background of a photo showing Tokyo under attack.

• The War of the Worlds (1953) — The sound effects of the beam weapon used by the giant robots is the same used for the heat ray used by the Martian war machines in this 1953 science fiction film produced by George Pal.

• Dr. Strangelove (1964) — Polly's description of Dr. Totenkopf's background is word-for-word the same as the the opening narration to this film.

• Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back (1980) - Landing Pad 327 where Sky Captain and Polly land on the flying aircraft carrier is the same numbers as the landing area where the Millennium Falcon sets down at the Cloud City on the planet Bespin in this Star Wars film.

• THX 1138 (1971) - The number 1138 seen on the door to a scientist's laboratory refers to THX 1138 directed by George Lucas.

• Forbidden Planet (1956) — Some of the interiors of Dr. Totenkopf's island resemble those of the underground Krell ruins on Altair IV.

• Titanic (1997) — A sunken Olympic/Titanic class passenger liner is visible during the underwater dogfight sequence.

Literary References

The name of the lead heroine is Conran's reference to the famous British song Pretty Polly Perkins of Paddington Green.

The line of poetry "... all I ask is a tall ship, and a star to steer her by ...", quoted by the hero, is from the famous poem "Sea-Fever" by John Masefield.

Wold Newton Universe

A recent article suggests a connection with the Wold Newton Universe, with H. Joseph Sullivan a.k.a Sky Captain being the younger brother of Dr. Cameron Sullivan a.k.a. Hermes Frankenstein, and reporter Polly Perkins being the daughter of Neptune Perkins, the son of Arthur Gordon Pym.

External Links

• Trivia for Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow - Internet Movie Database
• Note 12, Part One: The Hydden Lineage in "Hyde and Hair" by Dennise E. Power @ The Wold Newton Universe: A Secret History website
• Frankenstein Family Tree @ The Wold Newton Universe: A Secret History website
• Unofficial Profile of Sky Captain