Iron Sky
2012 · Directed by Timo Vuorensola
- action
- comedy
- science fiction
The story
In the last moments of World War II, a secret Nazi space program evaded destruction by fleeing to the Dark Side of the Moon. During 70 years of utter secrecy, the Nazis construct a gigantic space fortress with a massive armada of flying saucers.
What it’s like
Glossy, over-lit CGI with a deliberately pulpy sheen: the lunar far side glows in chalky grey dust under hard sunlight, then gives way to cold blue-black space and the humming green-lit corridors of a hidden base where chrome, dark wood and stark Art Deco lines look like a retro-futurist fever dream. The camera swoops and tilts through saucer dogfights and bursts of fire, scored with bombastic orchestral swells that tip into rock guitar and synth stings. The tone is a loud, irreverent satire, winking and often crude, closer to a late-night comic-book spectacle than a grounded thriller. Violence is frequent and cartoonish: gunfights, explosions and a steady run of splattery but brief gore, alongside bawdy sexual jokes and raw language. Set decades after the war, the story moves its uneasy strangers from suspicion toward wary alliance, carried by slapstick energy and deadpan one-liners. Best for a rowdy night or a group watch, and for anyone who enjoys absurd genre mash-ups. It is not gentle, so viewers wanting calm or restraint should look elsewhere.