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The year is 2142. Mankind has exploited the Earth's resources
to the limits, leaving it damaged and barren. The sun never
manages to penetrate the ominous black clouds that perpetually
drift across the sky. Survivors now live in an organic city
called Ecoban, controlled by a dictatorial elite who turn
away all outsiders seeking refuge. But when Jay, one of the
patrol officers, witnesses an accident orchestrated by her
superiors to kill the refugees, her loyalties are divided.
Such corrupt abuse of power has given rise to a group of resistance
fighters, led by Shuda, Jay's former sweetheart. By joining
together they hope to restore justice and equality, and find
the promised mystical land known as Gibraltar. Here, it is
claimed, the sun shines brightly every day showing blue skies
again...
Sky
Blue (also known as Wonderful Days) is a movie
that uses a technique that the creators have dubbed "multi-mation".
This involves the use of real 3D model sets combined with
CGI and traditional cell animation, to produce a movie with
a unique feel.
This
process is partly why this movie stands out as a spectacular
production. To be honest, the story is not exactly original,
and there's not much to it. But, the visual elements make
for some of the animation genre's most visually impressive
eye-candy. That's
not to say that the plot isn't enjoyable - it is. It's just
that the visual feel of the film is what really grabs the
viewers attention.
For
eagle-eyed viewers there's a homage to the early Star Wars
movies. Look closely at the costumes in the bicentennial celebrations
and you'll spot an AT-AT pilot-like helmet in the crowd.
The
soundtrack options include DTS (which is used very impressively),
5.1 and stereo. Sadly the original Korean soundtrack is not
an option (with subtitles), but the English dub is pretty
impressive.
Extras
include seven Production Features (varying from 2 -
48 mins in length); three The Sounds of Sky Blue featurettes
(between 1 - 10.5 minutes long) and a 5.5 minute featurette
entitled Crew Anecdotes. The production featurettes
look at everything from storyboarding, to the complex issues
involved when working with three types of visuals (models,
CGI and cells). The best extra, for me, in The Sounds
of Sky Blue section was Creating the Ecobanian Motorcycle
(5 mins). This examined how the producers recorded the sounds
of numerous bikes to mix together a sound that was right for
the film. There's also an amusing story involving the bike
rider.
At
the end of the day, this is one hell of an impressive film.
If you have a DTS decoder then this is certainly worth cranking
up the volume for.
 
Nick
Smithson
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