Iron Sky title

Tag line : In 1945 the Nazis went to the moon. Now they're back.

Iron Sky A couple of astronauts get a shock during a manned expedition to the dark side of the moon, when they discover a secret Nazi base located there. Yes it seems that sometime during WW2, a group of technologically superior German scientists managed to build a base up there, where most of their forces retreated to at the end of the war (might explain all those stories during the 80s about Hitler's bomber being found on the moon).

However, the space Nazis are equally shocked to find that one of the astronauts, a chap named Washington (Christopher Kirby) is black. Not wanting to let the "inferior races" to get the upper hand, they decide the time is right to begin their re-invasion of Earth and establish the Fourth Reich.

An advance scouting party is sent, comprising of  an officer named Klaus, a female doctor named Richter and the now "Aryanised" Washington (who hasn't yet realised he's been turned white), to check things out, only to end up forging an alliance with the President of the United States (who looks eerily like Sarah Palin), saying that he can win her the next election if she helps him overthrow his superiors and seize power of the Nazi base.

But, when the new Space Fuhrer, Wolfgang Kortzfleisch (played by horror B-movie legend Udo Kier) finds out what he's up to, he sends his invasion fleet and touches off a battle of intergalactic proportions, as earth reveals they are not so defenceless as the Nazis originally thought.

Daft, silly and extremely corny, the film is more "Mars Attacks" than "Star Wars" and is primarily a comedy. I personally had a blast with this one. The effects are pretty good, and I loved the retro-techology/steam punk feel of the Nazi base. Christopher Kirby's character "Washington" arguably steals the film, as he starts off as a comic stooge, but ends up as one of the films main heroes and there was an interesting use of the of the Charlie Chaplain film "The Dictator".

To sum up, I really enjoyed this. My only disappointment was that it didn't get a decent theatrical release in the UK, so had to view it on DVD, as this would have been a laugh riot to see in the cinema with an audience. But anyway, the film is now freely available on disc so, if you liked "Mars Attacks" or your a fan of dark comedies like "Dark Star", then I would strongly advise seeing this. At the end of the day, its a film about Nazis from the moon invading Earth, it's exactly what it sounds like.

Overall Marks : 7/10.

Terrifying Trivia.

  • Alternate tag lines "We Come in Peace", "Get Ready, the Fourth Reich is Here".

  • The film's budget was €7,500,000. The financing was secured courtesy of studios in Australia, Germany and Finland who split the main bulk of costs between them, with a further 10% of funding coming from online donations from an internet ad campaign.

  • The female US President was based on former Alaskan Governer Sarah Palin, who ran for Vice President during the 2008 US elections.

  • The film makers encountered several problems trying to film in Germany, as customs wouldn't allow them to bring in Nazi uniforms owing to the laws banning displays of Nazi symbols. Fortunately, the makers of "Inglorious Basterds" got in contact to tell them how they managed to get around this same problem.

  • The film started life as a CGI trailer on You Tube, which subsequently went viral.

  • Several of the scenes set in New York were actually filmed in Frankfurt, Germany. Most notably, the scene on the roof between Kortzenfleisch and Klaus and the scene where Washington is stood on the street corner trying to warn people about the moon nazis.

  • The Nazi spaceships were named after operas from Wagner's "Der Ring des Nibelungen" cycle. Namely, "Rheingold", "Walkure", "Siegfried" and "Götterdämmerung".

Extra Info.

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