Review #404: 'Iron Sky' (2012)

Every once in a while a film is released with such a ludicrous premise that I simply have to watch it, and Iron Sky is very much one of these films. In basic terms, the film's main idea revolves around the discovery that the Nazi's had settled on the dark side of the moon after their defeat in 1945, and are preparing to invade the earth to once again rule the planet, and bring the superior Aryan race back into total dominance. It is one of those premises that intrigued me, but I had no pretensions that the film would be very good. This became apparent when the reviews began emerging, and they were not completely favourable. I would like to redress the balance of this with my review.

The film is a co-production with Finland, Germany and Australia, and therefore has no American influence (well, in terms of it thankfully lacking that obvious gung-ho attitude you might find in similar special effects films such as Independence Day (1996)), which gives the films comedic elements a directness which is openly mocking of American foreign policy. The president of the United States (an obvious Sarah Palin  avatar) has sent a black man into space in a bid to get re-elected (her campaign poster reads: "Black to Space: Yes She Can"), but he is caught by the moon Nazi's, "albinised" (i.e. turned white), and sent back to earth with an officer to see the president. I'm not going to lay out the entire narrative here, as it is not necessary. I will simply state that the Nazi's eventually invade - much to the delight of the President, as a war president is surely to be re-elected.

This focus on the ridiculous nature of American politics and their views of, well, everything but themselves, brings the film it's often very funny comedy. For example, towards the end, the earth's nations gather in a Dr Strangelove-style war room, and release their space probes (America's is named the USS George W. Bush) and reveal the hidden weapons. This causes problems as each nation (except for Finland) stated that they were not armed stations, but "Sarah Palin" states that the world simply expects this from America, but she sees it as shameful that any other nation should have such capabilities.

The production design at times (particularly in the moon's settlement) look similar to Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004), but considering the relatively low budget, the effects are pretty good. Some of the acting is atrocious, but forgivable. But overall the satire most certainly make this a unique entry into the invasion film, and it is wonderful to see a film tackle America's war mongering attitudes in something other than a Michael Moore documentary. And no European genre film would be complete without a role for the ubiquitous Udo Kier as the moons own Fuhrer. I was completely surprised at how much I enjoyed this pseudo-throw-away film. Recommended for anyone who finds American politics as ludicrous as this films premise.


Directed by: Timo Vuorensola
Starring: Julia Dietze, Christopher Kirby, Götz Otto, Peta Sergeant, Udo Kier
Country: Finland/Germany/Australia

Rating: ***

Marc Ivamy