STEAMPUNK FILMS

[Lia Keyes]

Steampunk is such a visual feast - which movies do you think provide the richest meal?

Here's the list so far:

• City of Lost Children
• Brazil
• Metropolis
• City of Ember
• Steamboy
• Castle in the Sky
• Howl's Moving Castle
• The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
• The Time Machine 
• Full Metal Alchemist: Conqueror of Shamballa
• Hellboy II: The Golden Army
• Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events
• The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello
• Mysterious Island (1961/2005)
• The Prestige
• Wild Wild West
• The Golden Compass
• Frankenstein (1994)
• Brisco County Jr

 

TV Shows:

• Dr Who Christmas Special (2008)
• Firefly
• Tin Man
• The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne
• The Infinite Worlds of HG Wells
• Biggles: Adventures in Time
• Wild Wild West 

 

[C Scott Morris]

I quite enjoyed the SyFy channel's TinMan.
As far as movies, one of my absolute favorites was City of Lost Children by Jean-Pierre Juenet, who also made Alien: Resurection. Ron Perlmen and and Daniel Emilfork were in both movies. Emilfork is a nobody French Actor, who at first appears hideously ugly, but has one of the most expressive faces I have ever seen in film. Watching him act is positively hypnotic. The imagery in City of Lost Children is awesome, and while the movie is rather 'french' in aesthetic, the movie as a whole is so visually incredible you are left with a haunting catharsis.
It's got orphans who are led by evil conjoined twins, a retired circus ringmaster who kills with trained fleas, a cult of blind-men, a strong-man played by Perlmen, a family of narcoleptic clones(played by the plastic-faced Emilfork), a scientist who cannot dream and steals children, and the most convoluted series of calamitous events that begins with a single tear falling upon a spider web and snow-balls up to a steam-ship crashing into the docks and thereby saving an orphan girl and Ron Perlman.
Seriously, if you like the Steampunk aesthetic, if you like odd and twisted movies the move you, you should watch this movie.

[Helen Ryan]

Steampunk movies? SkyCaptain, perhaps. I'm waiting for a 'Larklight' movie, but no such luck as of yet.

[Lia Keyes]

I thought the Larklight movie had been green-lit?

Nell Ryan said:

Steampunk movies? SkyCaptain, perhaps. I'm waiting for a 'Larklight' movie, but no such luck as of yet.

[Warren C. Bennett]

Wild Wild West could be considered steampunk, but man it was not very good.

 

However I remember quite enjoying Brisco County Jr. with Bruce Campbell. It only lasted one season, but I always liked the Wild West version of 'steampunk' the series had to offer.

[Davide Mana]

Another good steampunk western that got cancelled too soon was "Legend", starring Richard Dean Anderson.
Good production values, fun stories, great acting.

[Gerard Quinn]

"20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" (Disney) makes a lasting impression of what steampunk looks like.  "First Men in the Moon, " "From the Earth to The Moon" and "The Great Race" are also inspirational visual feasts.

I really love "Sky Captain," but I think of it as post steam.

[Warren C. Bennett]

Man I remember Legend. I only watched an episode or two though....

 

Bet I could find it on the net :)

 

I also liked Van Helsing with Hugh Jackman. That had a lot of steampunkish elements.  I don't think it was the greatest "Movie" to grace this earth, but it was fun to watch in a Saturday afternoon while eating popcorn kind of way.

 

Sherlock Holmes, the recent remake with Robert Downey Jr, had many types of Victorian style steampunk in it.  That was a good movie - I enjoyed it tremendously. (More then I thought I would, to be honest.) I am not a Sherlock Holmes purist, so I guess that helps.

 

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[Donaidh Allyn]

Would you all consider Hellboy one and two having SP elements?  clockwork type function of golden army?  time traveling sand guy from the first one?   Abe Sapian's goggles?  HB's big ass red hand.   IMO it is subtle but in your face as well.

[Michal Wojcik]

I've found it strange the "Franklyn" never gets classified as at least containing steampunk elements. The "Meanwhile City" segments are absolutely gorgeous and sport a clear Victorian aesthetic. Shame about the rest of the movie, though. The cinematography degrades considerably once we're yanked into London proper. I can see the movie the director wanted to make in the brief fantasy segments, while the rest just seems a half-hearted attempt to keep within the limited budget and tell a "relevant" story.

[Warren C. Bennett]

I always kind of considered Hellboy a bit steampunkish. At least the movies... LIke "What if steampunk continued to develop into the modern times?"  I haven't read the comics so I have no idea if that is an intended design element or not.

Donaidh Allyn said:

Would you all consider Hellboy one and two having SP elements?  clockwork type function of golden army?  time traveling sand guy from the first one?   Abe Sapian's goggles?  HB's big ass red hand.   IMO it is subtle but in your face as well.

[Warren C. Bennett]

I have never actually heard of Franklyn. I'll have to check it out.  
Michal Wojcik said:

I've found it strange the "Franklyn" never gets classified as at least containing steampunk elements. The "Meanwhile City" segments are absolutely gorgeous and sport a clear Victorian aesthetic. Shame about the rest of the movie, though. The cinematography degrades considerably once we're yanked into London proper. I can see the movie the director wanted to make in the brief fantasy segments, while the rest just seems a half-hearted attempt to keep within the limited budget and tell a "relevant" story.

[Sarah L]

This might seem a bit obvious, but what about Terry Gilliam's Brazil?  I love the world that film creates.  Come to think of it, Doctor Parnassus had a lot of steampunk elements, as have other Gilliam films.

 

I'm looking forward to Sucker Punch, coming out this spring.  Based on the trailer it looks like it might be borrowing a bit from the steampunk esthetic, but going to have to wait and see.

 

How about Christopher Nolan's The Prestige?