History Film / SkyCaptainAndTheWorldOfTomorrow

* DeliberatelyMonochrome: Filmed in colour and desaturated, then resaturated again to make it more like a painting than a photorealistic movie.

** In the scene where Sky Captain is flying back and forth down the street attacking the giant robots, in one shot the Empire State Building is framed in the background ... with King Kong hanging from the top.
*** It goes further with the wreck of SS ''Venture'' being found on the seabed just off Totenkopf's island, which is also implied to be Skull Island.

* DeadAllAlong: [[spoiler: Dr. Totenkopf is dead long before the movie starts.]]

* VisionaryVillain: Dr. Totenkopf [[spoiler:plans to restart the wold with an Ark of his own design.]]

* NoOSHACompliance: The walkways inside the rocket ship. They're barely wide enough to walk on, and have no railings. {{Justified}} in that [[spoiler: the "actual" Dr. Totenkopf is long dead, and his operation is being carried out automatically via robots, drones, and mechs]]. Obviously they would not bother with human safety hazards.

* NeverTrustATrailer: Angelina Jolie is in the movie for all of 15 minutes, but you'd think she was a main character.

* CuttingTheGordianKnot: Polly and the door to Dr. Jenning's lab.

* RedAlert: When Commander Francesca Cook gives the order to alert the amphibious squadron, red lights start flashing and a warning klaxon starts sounding as the crews run to their ships.

* LongTitle: Due to the CharacterNameAndTheNounPhrase format.

* StylisticSuck: A couple of effects were CGI'ed to resemble early stop-motion effects from serials. Note: This does not apply to the film's overall [[{{Zeerust}} sepia-tone]] look, which is [[DoingItForTheArt quite elaborate]].

* {{Zeerust}}: Basically the [[DoingItForTheArt whole point of the film]]. Influences include the futuristic designs of Norman Bel Geddes, Raymond Lloyd and Hugh Ferriss.

** There's also the MysteriousWoman, a [[HeWhoMustNotBeHeard silent]] but deadly woman who controls Totenkopf's machines and turns out to be a [[spoiler:RobotGirl]].

* ComicBook/LoisLane: While Polly doesn't have the myopic identity problems Lois had, she's definitely filling this role in the film as the no-nonsense female reporter determined to follow the hero to the end and get the story.

* AluminumChristmasTrees: The concept of a ''heroic'' "[[PrivateMilitaryContractors army for hire]]" is puzzling to modern viewers, but is actually where Joe's backstory crosses into RealLife; before building the Flying Legion, he flew for the First American Volunteer Group of the Chinese Air Force; a mercenary organization nicknamed the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Tigers Flying Tigers.]]

** Big slow-moving robots that are ImmuneToBullets and fly around casting ominous shadows and stealing things from baffled citizens? Seems to pay homage to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LEfzup0aNs The Mechanical Monsters]], an early [=40s=] {{Superman}} cartoon.

The movie was originally planned to be the start of a franchise, but due to poor box office, a sequel never happened. An anime was also planned, but that was also cancelled. While the film was ultimately unsuccessful at the box office, ''Sky Captain'' has garnered a cult following in the years since its release.