Is there a better way to celebrate the biggest full moon of the year than by talking about the "Iron Sky" movie?
The moon will become full Saturday, May 5, at 11:35 p.m.
EDT. This month the full moon coincides with the moon's
perigee or its closest distance from Earth. The moon will swing in 221,802 miles (356,955 kilometers) from the Earth, offering sky gazers a spectacular view. It will be the biggest and the brightest moon of the year.
And while you are gazing at this mesmerizing heavenly body, consider
that there might be something going on up there. Something only the
science fiction lovers or conspiracy theory aficionados could imagine.
"Iron Sky" is a dark science fiction comedy directed by the Finnish director Timo Vuorensola. This low budget movie had its world premiere at the 62nd International Film Festival in Berlin, Germany. It was met with mixed feelings. While some viewers and very few critics found it hilarious, most decided that the movie was flat and stupid.
I love science fiction and I find the story line quite interesting. In the year 2018 NASA resumes its lunar program and sends two astronauts to the moon. Upon a successful landing, the astronauts stumble upon the darkest secret imaginable. They discover a swastika-shaped mining colony and realize that the Führer lives on! On the moon!
Who would have thought of it? Most conspiracy theory proponents believe that the Nazis actually went to Antarctica. The "Iron Sky" explores a quite different possibility. This in itself is hilarious.
We learn that the Nazis were able to salvage their secret space and weapons program and made it safely to the Dark Side of the moon sometime at the end of the World War II. During more than seventy
years of utter secrecy, the Nazis managed to construct a gigantic space fortress
with an impressive armada of flying saucers. They are led by a new Führer who plans another blitzkrieg. Their Wagnerian battleship "Götterdämmerung" is almost ready to embark on its mission to take over the Earth and re-establish The Thousand Year Reich.
But before the mission can even begin, two Nazi officers - the ruthless hard-core Nazi Klaus Adler (Götz Otto) and the idealistic Nazi visionary Renate Richter (Julia Dietze) - travel to Earth to prepare the invasion.
Meanwhile on Earth, the President of the United States (who looks very much like Sara Palin) is facing some problems with her presidential campaign. She desperately needs a miracle to ensure her
re-election. The Nazis come as a gift from heaven.
The two Nazi officers work together to help her transform the re-election campaign using Goebbels-style propaganda. The success is apparent. But the Nazis have their own agenda and everyone on earth is kept in the dark. The penny drops when the Nazi
UFO armada darkens the skies, ready to strike at the unprepared Earth. One should actually be able to hear the apocalyptic "Ride of the Valkyries" here...
The US President is thrilled to
finally have a war which, without a doubt, will secure her re-election. She appoints her aid, Ms. Wagner, a commander of the space battleship "George W. Bush." The craft orbits the Earth and is equipped with nuclear weapons.
Meanwhile, the UN Security Council
meets to discuss the imminent Nazi threat. It becomes apparent that most nations have secretly developed nuclear armed spacecraft - breaking the
international agreements - but at this point there is no time to quarrel about this. They have to unite if they want to defeat the invading Nazi
armada.
The story line should make for a good science fiction comedy, but some critics suggested that the good idea has been wasted here by Timo Vuorensola. The critics who laughed watching Charlie Chaplin's "The Great Dictator" or Mel Brooks' "The Producers" were rather disappointed with this cheap production. The Finnish director has a rather boring "hand writing" and probably should have left the directing job to Woody Allen.
The "Iron Sky" has yet to open in the United States.
By Dominique Allmon ©2012
By Dominique Allmon ©2012