CREDIT: IRON SKY
Julia Dietze stars in Iron Sky as the beautiful Nazi with a heart.

Iron Sky (2012)

There are some films that are easy pitches. Like The Avengers, for example. "We'll put a bunch of superheroes together, and blow lots of stuff up!" That idea must have been greenlit within seconds. But then there are other films — ones that are built on a premise so far out there, they require a real visionary to take an interest in the project. Such is the case with the film I will be examining this week, Iron Sky.

Iron Sky is a science fiction comedy that takes on a difficult subject: Nazis. Sure, Mel Brooks has produced some very funny material with Nazis as central characters, but as a general rule, the Third Reich is not considered prime comedic material.

Luckily, the creative forces behind Iron Sky came up with a wonderfully absurd story. After their defeat in World War II, the Nazis retreated to the dark side of the moon. There they bided their time for 70-plus years until a U.S. astronaut crosses their path. The astronaut is actually an African- American model sent to the moon in order to garner goodwill for the current U.S. president (who bears a striking resemblance to Sarah Palin).

He is kidnapped by the Nazis, who take a great interest in the technological capacity of his smartphone — so much so that the Third Reich head back to the third rock from the sun in order to acquire more of these devices. Just to kill two birds with one stone, they also plan to annihilate the United States while they are there. This leads to a huge intergalactic brouhaha between the Nazis and the United Nations.

I cannot praise this film enough. It succeeds as a science fiction film, and also as a political satire. Kudos to the writers, and to a terrific cast. In particular, Julia Dietze (who you may remember from such films as Fickende Fische and Erkan & Stefan in Der Tod kommt krass) was a standout as Renate Richter, the beautiful Nazi with a shred of decency.

Iron Sky is a truly original film. I have never once heard someone say, "Oh no, not another Nazis on the moon film." And I don't think I ever will. Because even if 10 Iron Sky sequels were produced, cinema lovers would adore them as long as they came close to the quality of the original. Iron Sky is one Heil of a good film!

Iron Sky was released on DVD and Blu-ray on October 2.