The Steel Box Iron Sky: Director's Cut version of this film not only contains a longer version of the movie than what you might have seen in various film festivals, but it also contains a couple of special features for those wondering how such a movie was made.
The premise of Iron Sky is fairly simple (and apparently something that some people actually believe). At the end of World War II, the NAZI party sent a colonization mission to the dark side of the moon. There, the colony grew and trained the next reich so that someday, the Moon NAZIs could return and conquer the Earth.
This movie takes place in 2018 where the President of the United States has launched a new moon mission, primarily as a political stunt in order to promote her re-election campaign. While there, Astronaut/Model James Washington (Christopher Kirby) stumbles upon the NAZI base and is brought in. It seems the Fourth Reich is in the final stages of their war preparations and they want to use him to get the last bit of intel they need (plus a bit of advanced technology to power their colossal war machine).
Washington soon meets Renate Richter (Julia Dietze), the Earthologist who teaches the children about the planet and where they came from. It's soon obvious that Renate not only helps to promote the propaganda that drives this space colony, but is also fully indoctrinated into it and completely believes the stories she tells. An early example of this is her interpretation of a highly edited version of the classic Charlie Chaplin spoof The Great Dictator.
Renate is brought in to try and talk to and reason with Washington since her superiors, Klaus Adler (Cotz Otto) and the Moon Fuhrer, Wolfgang Kortzfleisch (Udo Kier), aren't sure if Washington is a scout for an impending invasion, or is actually as much of a buffoon as he seems.
Eventually, Klaus (the supposed future Moon Fuhrer), decides to take Washington back to Earth and use the Model/Astronaut's connections with the President (Stephanie Paul) to pave the way for the impending invasion. In an attempt to brainwash Washington, Renate's father, the crazed NAZI scientist (Tilo Pruckner), "Albinoises" Washington to make him look closer to the Aryan race. What Klaus doesn't realize until both he and Washington are on Earth is that Renate has stowed away and plans to help in the effort.
In the trio's attempt to get to the President, they run into her campaign manager, Vivian Wagner (Peta Sergeant), who sees the two moon NAZI agents as a political boon, at least as far as generating good propaganda. Besides, these people aren't really NAZI agents right?
Needless to say, Iron Sky doesn't take itself all that seriously, and with its low budget, much of the movie is filmed in front of a green screen with most sets only existing virtually. The result is a movie that feels a lot like Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, both in visual effect and, quite frankly, style as both have a semi-steampunk direction to them.
Iron Sky: Director's Cut comes with a concept art booklet in the box as well as a photo gallery on the disc. The special features also includes the teasers and trailers, as well as a 90 minute long featurette on the making of the film. This documentary hits all facets of the movie, from its original conception after the filmmakers finished their previous spoof flick, Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning, to casting, costuming, special effects, and probably the most interesting aspect - the crowdfunding and community support. While we here in the United States might not have been all that aware of this film's production, apparently it had a fairly sizable underground following for several years in Europe, a detail that went a long way into making the film possible.
Iron Sky is most definitely not for everyone. It has an odd, but amusing pretense and there are times when I wasn't sure how much of the comedy was simply making fun of "stupid Americans" and how much was a legitimate view of the U.S.A. from an outsider's perspective. In the end, if you like to laugh at the absurd and you don't mind laughing at yourself a bit - then you should check out Iron Sky. I can't say it's worth buying though. I personally don't see myself watching this film over and over again.
