Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow is a 2004 dieselpunk film taking place in an alternate-history World War II. The movie was heavily inspired by German Expressionism.
Plot[]
In 1939, an intrepid reporter in New York City makes a connection between the story she's covering of famous scientists suddenly disappearing around the world, and a recent attack on the city by giant robots. Determined to find the solution to these happenings, she seeks the help of her ex-boyfriend, the captain of a mercenary legion of pilots. The two are investigating the case when the robots attack the city again, though in a stroke of luck, Sky Captain's right hand man is able to locate their source. They then set off on an adventure in search of the evil mastermind behind these schemes, who is bent on creating a utopia and destroying the current world.
Steampunk elements[]
Sky Captain takes place on the brink of a dieselpunk version of the 1940s and adopts a soft-filtered, noir-like tone. The skies are filled with airships of all kinds including zeppelins, propeller planes, and advanced sci-fi automatons that fly like birds. The world is filled with anachronisms including flying robots, lasers, rockets, and hovercraft. The retro aesthetic comes from envisioning the future as seen from the 1920s and '30s. The presence of sky pirates, primitive mechanics, airships, and military cultures are similar to many Hayao Miyazaki films, particularly Laputa: Castle in the Sky, although overarching themes differ.