The second installment of the Iron Sky movie franchise, Iron Sky: The Coming Race, showcases some of the most fantastically humorous ideas to hit the big screen. Produced by Finland’s Iron Sky Universe and originally released in January of 2019, The Coming Race failed to hit its mark at the box office, only making $400,000 back from its estimated $20 million (USD) production cost. But I still recommend sparing 92 minutes of your time for this fun movie.
Timo Vuorensola directed the Finnish-German comic sci fi action film follow-up to 2012’s Iron Sky (also directed by Vuorensola). Like its predecessor, this sequel blends lighthearted humor with varied political themes and adds a splash of conspiracy theories (see Nazi Vrils for example).
Check Out the Iron Sky: The Coming Race Trailer
Plot Summary (Minimal Spoilers!)
In 2047, the remaining nuclear holocaust survivors of Earth live in an abandoned Nazi base called “Neomenia” on the dark side of the Moon. The survivors struggle with common dystopian themes like overpopulation and a deteriorating base.
There’s a cult called “Jobism”, formed around the teachings of Apple founder Steve Jobs. The cult leader, Donald (played by Tom Green), preaches from a pulpit using iPad and iPhones. Jobist followers dress in all white. Donald excommunicates (aka, blown up) any follower that jailbreaks their iPhone.
The primary protagonist, Obi Washington (portrayed by Lara Rossi), daughter of James Washington and Renate Richter (portrayed by Julia Dietze) from the prequel, spends all her time keeping the base’s life support system functioning.
(Stop here to avoid spoilers)
An unexpected space ship arrives at Neomenia with presumably the last refugees of Russia. Later on, Obi investigates the ship, built and piloted by Sasha (portrayed by Vladimir Burlakov). She encounters the former Moonführer Wolfgang Kortzfleish (portrayed by Udo Kier).
Kortzfleish strikes a deal with Obi. He gives Obi the cure to her mother’s terminal illness (which looks exactly like a Hershey Kiss) and in return, Obi must travel to Earth to retrieve the Holy Grail from the Vril city “Vrillia” in the center of the Earth. Kortzfleish assures Obi the Holy Grail can save her species.
Obi, Sasha, Malcolm the security officer (portrayed by Kit Dale), and the Jobists board the barely-functioning Russian spacecraft. They travel from the moon base to Vrillia on Earth in an attempt to recover the Holy Grail. In Vrillia, they encounter dinosaurs and the reptilian shape-shifter Vrils. In Vrillia, we see Vrillian versions of Adolf Hitler, Sarah Palin, Idi Amin, Mark Zuckerberg, Margaret Thatcher, Caligula, Joseph Stalin, Pope Urban II, Osama bin Laden, Vladimir Putin, Genghis Khan, Kim Jong-Un, Urho Kekkonen, and Steve Jobs.
Here’s where I’m ending the plot because I don’t believe in revealing all of the spoilers. You’ll have to watch the movie to find out how our protagonists’ mission turns out.
Why It’s Worth Watching
I tend to ignore most film critics. Most are miserable perfectionists that always find something to dislike and don’t even like science fiction.
Here’s my take on Iron Sky: The Coming Race. Don’t expect a profound ground-breaking movie because it’s not. If you want to watch a ground-breaking movie, check out my article on Logan’s Run.
The Coming Race makes you laugh through a lighthearted, well-acted, exciting movie. Don’t you think we need more of that in 2020? Some critics complained about low-quality CGI. I ask them: compared to what? A Disney Marvel movie? As Joe Biden says, “come on, man.”
Lara Rossi and Vladimir Burlakov steal the show. They breathe life and depth into their characters, surprising for a movie like The Coming Race. Especially considering they filmed most of their scenes in front of the green screen. Udo Kier played both Wolfgang Kortzfleisch and Adolf Hitler in two roles that are so similar yet have enough differences that I didn’t even recognize him as Hitler until the end credits.
Random Interesting Facts
- The Coming Race is the most expensive Finnish live-action picture ever made.
- The movie’s title is most likely a reference to Edward Bulwer-Lytton’s novel The Coming Race (1871), commonly regarded as the origin of the so-called Vril myth.
- Critics generally consider the film one of the worst ever. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports an approval rating of 29%, based on 7 reviews.
- The movie refers to several motifs of post-war esoteric nazism, such as the Hollow Earth theory.
- The film teaser features the Vril symbol designed by the Tempelhofgesellschaft in the 1990s.
- The Laibach song that plays under the opening credits to “Iron Sky: The Coming Race” ends with a heavily accented voice growling, “Let’s make Earth great again,” a play on US President Donald Trump’s 2016 slogan of “Let’s make America great again”.
- The studio planned a third Iron Sky movie, Iron Sky: The End Game.
- Iron Sky Universe, the movie’s production company, filed for bankruptcy in October 2020. Hence why I typed “planned” instead of “planning” in the previous fact.
Conclusion
In the famous words of Dr. Ian Malcolm, there it is. My recommendation to you: watch the movie. Where the hell else can you see a lizard-human Adolf Hitler riding a t-rex on the moon get drop kicked by a woman who just received a super-human power-up by drinking the holy grail? Google it. I promise you won’t find it anywhere but in Iron Sky: The Coming Race. You can buy it on Amazon or stream it on Netflix.
