11 exciting steampunk movies and cartoons

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Works by Hayao Miyazaki and Guy Ritchie, as well as an unexpected take on classic stories.

The best steampunk movies

1. Van Helsing

• USA, Czech Republic, Romania, 2004.
• Fantasy, action, adventure.
• Duration: 131 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 1.

The famous evil hunter Van Helsing travels to Transylvania. He plans to save the locals from the vampire Dracula and his brides. But it turns out that the count has a whole army of his stillborn children.

Adventure wizard Stephen Sommers is based on characters from classic horror novels such as Dracula, Frankenstein and The Strange Story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. But the plot of the picture has little to do with books. In addition, many stylish elements were added to the film, such as leather coats and corsets and a rapid-fire crossbow.

2. City of Amber: Escape

• USA, 2008.
• Science fiction, adventure.
• Duration: 95 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 5.

After an environmental disaster, humanity had to hide in an underground city. People planned to live there for 200 years and then return to the surface. But with the change of generations, plans were simply forgotten. Two teenagers discover instructions that can change an entire society. But the officials are not too eager to make the information public.

A vigorous youth action is inscribed in the entourage of a post-apocalyptic steampunk: retro-futurism here perfectly reflects the gradual degradation of society, destroyed by corruption.

3. Lemony Snicket: 33 misfortunes

• USA, 2004.
• Adventure, comedy, family, fantasy, neo-noir.
• Duration: 108 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 8.

After a terrible fire, the three Baudelaire children were left without parents and a home. Count Olaf is appointed their guardian, but he only dreams of the inheritance of the children and plans to kill them. The Baudelaire defenders die one after another.

Initially, Barry Sonnenfeld planned to direct the adaptation of the famous books by Daniel Handler, known under the pseudonym Lemony Snicket. The first three volumes were taken as a basis, and the most popular Jim Carrey was invited to play the role of Count Olaf. But then the post of director was taken by Brad Silberling, who released a bright and stylish film, but too hasty in terms of the plot.

And years later, the same Barry Sonnenfeld created the series of the same name for Netflix, in which the story was told in full and in more detail.

4. City of Lost Children

• France, Germany, Spain, 1995.
• Adventure, drama, fantasy.
• Duration: 112 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 5.

The evil Professor Crank kidnaps children, trying to turn their dreams into his own, but sees only nightmares. Meanwhile, a kind strong man arrives in the city. It is he, together with the precocious girl, who must cope with the villain.

Many people know Jean-Pierre Jeunet only for the kind and positive "Amelie". But the director also made a cult dark film filled with surrealism. The unusual visuals are also emphasized by the costumes created by Jean-Paul Gaultier.

5. Keeper of time

• USA, 2011.
• Adventures.
• Duration: 126 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 5.

Hugo Cabré, a young orphan, lives in secret at a Paris train station. All that remained of his father was a broken clockwork doll. But a talented child, together with a new girlfriend, not only reveals the secret of the mechanism, but also helps a lonely old man to get the well-deserved fame.

Martin Scorsese's fabulous film is based on Brian Selznick's book The Invention of Hugo Cabre. But it is much more important that in this picture he remembered Georges Méliès - the great director, thanks to whom the ideas of editing and special effects in cinema were born. Alas, the fate of a real genius was also sad.

6. Stardust

• UK, USA, 2007.
• Fantasy, adventure.
• Duration: 127 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 6.

A resident of a small village, Tristan Thorn, promised his bride a star that fell from the sky. To fulfill his promise, he has to be transported over the wall to a magical land. But then Tristan discovers that the star is actually the beautiful girl Ivaine. To return a new acquaintance to heaven, the hero has to go through many obstacles.

In this film, everything fits well: the master of dynamic stories Matthew Vaughn as director, the novel by Neil Gaiman at the base and many charismatic actors in the lead roles. That there is only Robert De Niro in the image of the captain of the air pirates.

7. Sherlock Holmes

• USA, UK, Germany, 2009.
• Detective, adventure, action, comedy.
• Duration: 128 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 6.

Detective Sherlock Holmes and his partner Dr. Watson catch the evil Lord Blackwood, who traded in human sacrifice. The offender is executed, but soon his body disappears. Holmes will have to prove that there is no mysticism in this case, only the intention of the villain.

Guy Ritchie's work has nothing to do with the books of Arthur Conan Doyle - even the great detective himself here often relies not only on his mind, but also on his hand-to-hand combat skills. Plus the history of secret societies and stylized rather than believable costumes and entourage. This approach allows the film to be associated with the steampunk ideology.

The best steampunk cartoons

1. Planet of treasures

• USA, 2002.
• Science fiction, adventure.
• Duration: 95 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 2.

Young smart Jim helps his mother maintain the "Admiral Benbow" inn. After the attack of space pirates, the institution burns down, but the hero gets a map leading to the planet of Captain Flint's treasures.

The director of "The Little Mermaid" and "Aladdin" Ron Clements took the novel "Treasure Island" by Robert Louis Stevenson as a basis, but moved the action into space and other planets. At the same time, the cartoon visually combines classic animation with a modern 3D picture.

2. Nine

• USA, Germany, 2009.
• Science fiction, thriller.
• Duration: 80 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 1.

Rag man number nine wakes up in the laboratory. The hero does not remember who he is and what happened. But it is he, together with his friends, who must fulfill the most important mission. But for starters, the Ninth needs to remember the most important thing.

Shane Ecker's cartoon, based on his short film of the same name. A very unusual and even frightening project gave birth to a new direction - steppunk. And the producers of "Nine" were such legends as Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov.

3. Heavenly castle Laputa

• Japan, 1986.
• Fantasy, adventure.
• Duration: 125 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 0.

Little Sita is hunted by government agents and pirates, since it is she who has the Flying Stone. With this artifact, you can find the legendary island of Laputa. Hiding from his pursuers, Sita meets the miner Padzu. And the boy decides to help the fugitive.

The great animator Hayao Miyazaki took as a basis one of the parts of Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift and turned it into a steampunk tale dedicated to the author's favorite theme - flying.

4. Howl's Moving Castle

• Japan, 2004.
• Fantasy, melodrama, adventure.
• Duration: 119 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 2.

Hatter Sophie falls in love with the handsome wizard Howl and ends up in his castle. But the evil Witch of the Wasteland turned the girl into an old woman. Sophie has to work for her lover as a cleaner. Meanwhile, Howl is trying to stop the war with a neighboring state.

And one more fairy tale from Miyazaki, in which magic is combined with unusual technologies in the spirit of steampunk. At the same time, the author manages to tell about the horrors of war - another theme that comes through in many of his works.