Iron Sky

Iron Sky is a 2012 science fiction comedy action film directed by Timo Vuorensola. The movie tells an unusual story about a group of German Nazis who, after losing World War II in 1945, fled to the Moon. There, they built a large space fleet and planned to return to Earth in 2018 to take over the world. The film also includes funny comments about real-world politics.

The movie was made by the same team behind Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning. It was produced by Tero Kaukomaa at Blind Spot Pictures and had help from many individual supporters. Amazing computer effects were created by Samuli Torssonen. The film was shown in theaters across Europe in April 2012. Later, a longer version called the director's cut was released on DVD and Blu-ray in March 2014.

Although the movie got poor reviews for its storytelling and jokes, it became one of the most expensive Finnish films. A video game called Iron Sky: Invasion came out in October 2012. A sequel named Iron Sky: The Coming Race was made in 2019 after asking fans for money through Indiegogo. Sadly, this sequel did very badly in theaters and caused two companies to close down.

Plot

In 2018, two astronauts land on the Moon as part of an American mission. One of them is James Washington, an African-American model. When they land on the far side of the Moon, they find a group of Nazis who escaped there after World War II. Washington is captured, and the Nazis take his smartphone, which they use to control a huge space battleship called the Götterdämmerung.

A Nazi commander named Klaus Adler travels to Earth in a flying saucer to get more advanced technology. He takes Washington with him and lands in New York City. There, they meet Vivian Wagner, who helps them use old Nazi-style speeches to support the U.S. President’s re-election campaign. Later, Adler plans to rule the world, and Washington and a woman named Renate work together to stop him. They fight a big battle with spaceships against the Nazis’ Moon base. In the end, they stop Adler, but the story ends with a hint that a bigger conflict might be starting on Earth.

Cast

The film features several actors in key roles. Julia Dietze plays Renate Richter, while Götz Otto acts as Klaus Adler. Christopher Kirby takes on the role of James Washington, and Tilo Prückner portrays Doktor Richter, a funny copy of Albert Einstein. Udo Kier appears as Wolfgang Kortzfleisch, and Peta Sergeant plays Vivian Wagner. Stephanie Paul acts as the President of the United States, a parody of Sarah Palin. Michael Cullen plays the Secretary of Defense.

Production

Production for Iron Sky started in early 2006. The team showed a preview at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival to find more money and partners. They worked with many film fans online, letting people share ideas and help make the movie.

In 2009, German actress Julia Dietze joined the film, and a Slovenian music group called Laibach made the soundtrack. Filming began in Frankfurt in late 2010 and continued in Australia in early 2011. After filming ended, the movie went through ten weeks of editing.

Release

Iron Sky first showed on February 11, 2012, at the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival. It later came out in Finland on April 4 and in Germany on April 5, playing in big movie theaters.

In the UK, there was some fuss when the company planning to show the movie decided to only release it for one day. This made the filmmakers very unhappy, and they spoke out about it. But because so many people wanted to see the film, the company changed its mind and showed the movie for longer in UK cinemas.

Awards

In 2013, the movie Iron Sky received a Finnish award called the Hulda award. This award is given by an organization that helps share Finnish films and videos with people all over the world.

Reception

The movie Iron Sky did not receive good reviews in the United States. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has a 41% approval rating from 44 reviews, with an average score of 4.5 out of 10.

Some reviewers were not happy with the movie. William Goss of Film.com gave it a D+, saying it felt like an old, outdated sequel to Austin Powers. Jeff Shannon of The Seattle Times gave it two out of four stars, calling it a "great idea, lousy execution". Leslie Felperin of Variety said the film was neither good enough to become very popular nor bad enough to become a favorite of fans—it was just "kind of lame".

Accolades

The film won Best Visual Effects at the 2nd AACTA Awards.

Spin-offs

The film Iron Sky inspired several other fun projects. First, there was a digital comic called Iron Sky: Bad Moon Rising. It was written by Mikko Rautalahti, who also worked on Alan Wake, and drawn by Gerry Kissell, known for IDW Publishing’s Code Word: Geronimo. This comic tells the story before the movie.

There was also a video game named Iron Sky: Invasion. It was made by Reality Pump Studios and lets players enjoy space flight adventures. The game mixes in strategy and role-playing elements, letting players explore new places and make important choices. Additionally, a board game called Iron Sky: The Board Game was created. In this game, players work together in teams to control different parts of Earth.

Sequel

After the first Iron Sky film, the team announced plans for a sequel called Iron Sky: The Coming Race. This new movie would be funded by fans through a special website. They planned to start filming in 2015, but many things changed over the years. The movie was finally released in March 2019, though it faced many delays and challenges during its production.

Bankruptcy

Because of the long delays and other problems, the main company behind the Iron Sky movies faced serious financial issues. In September 2019, Blind Spot Pictures declared bankruptcy. Later, in October 2020, another company involved with the films also faced similar difficulties. The director of the films confirmed these events.