source: Vintage Tomorrows

This is one of the worst portrayals of Steampunk I've seen. It leeches all the fun and creativity from what is basically an enjoyable hobby, and tries to turn it into a future-tech political statement. Such is the stuff of nonsense. There are considerably better documentaries out there. There is far more accurate and relevant information available on the Net. This "documentary" seems a collection of opinionated statements and somewhat absurd claims collected into the director's view of Steampunk-- a view that (in my opinion) most true fans of Steampunk would reject as nonsense. A poor example of documenting a genre that is full of creativity, imagination and fun.

I caught this on Netflix. Was very excited to see something steampunk on there. This is what happens when a bunch of PC brats get ahold of something. I only got threw half of it, turned it off when the girl said she doesn't wear her pith helmet anymore cause she doesn't want to hurt someones feelings. That is insane, it's fantasy. Didn't mention nothing about one of the biggest things in steampunk, weaponry, probably as not to offend. It's not the steampunk I knew, loved and grew up with. Leave your political nonsense at home, go be whatever you want to be. Even if it's a colonial manly man. Going mainstream means let's figure out how to make more money. Sell outs everyone of them.

Interesting documentary about the origin, outlook, and future of the Steampunk movement. On the bad side, the film makers bombard the viewer with flash interviews over a constant soundtrack with little explanation as to who these people are. Also, tying the history of the movement to recognizable films, books, etc. over the past thirty years would have helped to understand how the movement grew. On the good side, the message of why Steampunk is still here is the most interesting of the entire doc -- it is an antidote to contemporary technology - it humanizes the world we live in without voiding the warranty because you opened it up to see how it works. Well worth 70 minutes to watch.

It seems mostly filmed in Seattle, where people make highly inflated salaries working in Big Tech. Listening to most of the interviewees trying to defend a very anachronistic, backward looking movement as somehow being "pro-tech" was just a hoot. It's amazing the twisted logic some used to explain or justify Steampunk. I guess they wanted to keep those high-paying tech jobs so they were being very careful to not offend the hands that feed them so well. Steampunk looks really, really cool (the art, the artifacts, the costumes). Steampunk fiction is, well, just science fiction set in the past rather than the present or the future. It doesn't break any new ground; there's nothing revolutionary about it. Judging by this, Steampunk's primary appeal is limited to over- educated, upper middle class tech nerds. I wish I could say the film is a look at an interesting subculture and it's values. But really after watching it the only thing I see as interesting about the Steampunk movement are the handicrafts and costumes. Not a very well done documentary. If there's something compelling about the movement or the people in it, you'd never know it from watching this film.

Trailer—Vintage Tomorrows

Vintage Tomorrows