Back To The Future: The Art of the Poster

Back To The Future: The Art of the Poster

There's probably only a handful of movies I can say that have a really close personal connection to me, these are the ones that reside in that warm fuzzy, cosy place in the depths of your heart, and generally ones you revisit from time to time for that dopamine feel good fix. For me, one of those films is Back to Future, the story, the humor, the sci-fi escapism,  not to mention the brilliant onscreen chemistry between Marty and the Doc played so well by Michael J Fox and Christopher Lloyd.

Back to the Future is a movie that enjoys what I call a 'protected status', its universally loved by everyone, I don't think I've ever met anyone in my life you doesn't love the movie, which is a rare thing, especially these days. People, including myself love this wholesome movie so much they will protect it, not just as a great movie but for how it makes them feel and the sentiment they feel from watching it. These are the people that won't have a bad word said against it, it shall remain untarnished forever and it will keep people smiling and laughing long after I'm dead. I might be sounding a tad deep and reflective here, but Back to the Future is as pure as anything I could describe or compare it against.

With all that being said below are some great examples of the love people have for this movie with Art of the Poster. 

The original poster illustrated by Drew Struzan shows Marty stepping out of the DeLorean stunned by the date and time as his looks at his watch, its an iconic design and even without the movies title on it I think you'd be hard pressed to find someone who couldn't recognize both the character and the movie.

A great version here by Amanda Jordan,Marty pretends to be a Space Alien "Darth Vader" using the anti radiation suit and music through his walkman to convince George about the upcoming dance, having previously scared the Peabody family when he crashed into  their barn, emerging from the Delorean in the same suit. The costumes of the film were designed by Deborah Lynn Scott who also worked on Transformers and Avatar.

A subtle approach to this design, kind of understated with some nice emphasis on the DeLorean, Marty touching the hood of the car connects him to the journey its taken him on. Designed by James Flames.

There's a great sense of heroic realism with this poster by John Cordero, it conveys the main characters in key moments of the film and has a gritty rawness to the way its produced, it has a Drew Struzan feel in some way but all the elements work beautifully to tell a story.

One of the best moments in the film is when Marty plays Chuck Berry's Johnny B Goode on the electric guitar. Michael was taught how to play the actual song by Paul Hanson, the famed Hollywood music coach but didn't actually play the song in the movie, Marty's singing voice was that of Mark Campbell band member of Jack Mack and the Heart Attack. Design by Luke Martin.

This design by Mainger Germain has a very cool 80's vibe to it blended with a 50's rock and roll font, I guess to emphasize this is one of the 80's best movies but to hint at the back in time element of the music and era too. This concept adds some great mystery on the time machine itself, the DeLorean.

When the DeLorean was first introduced it really did have the wow factor in the movie, its reveal was superbly done to create some great impact, not to mention that line from Marty "You built a time machine out of a DeLorean?" which has an air of disbelief tinged with some disappointment too, all to hilarious effect. Love the choice of font for this by Nicolas Alejandro Barbera.

An action packed design by Oliver Rankin as the DeLorean is chased by the Libyan's across the shopping mall parking lot in their VW camper van trying to fire an RPG at it. I love the number plate in the foreground and the light coming from the wheels as the car is on the verge of going back in time.

Profanity in the movie is extremely light, I guess its also one of the qualities that make this such a universally accepted and loved film, which makes Docs comment that "some serious shit" will occur once the DeLorean hits that magic 88 miles per hour. A great design to focus on one of the funnier lines from the film that hints at the time travel aspect. Bold font with a neon glow really punches the eyes. Design by Tom Ryan.

Death on the Film Set - When Moviemaking Goes Wrong

The recent tragic death of Halyna Hutchins,42 year old Director of Photography on the New Mexico set of the Western 'RUST' was a horrific accident when a prop gun handled by Alec Baldwin was fired during the rehearsal and shot set up for a scene inside a church where Baldwin draws the pistol across his body and points it. The gun prop mortally injured Hutchins and injured writer and director Joel Souza who was also in close proximity behind Hutchins at the time. 

Details from the investigation allege that Baldwin had been handed the prop gun which appears to have had a live round in the cylinder despite the fact the words "Cold Gun" had been called out as the AD,  Dave Halls handed him the gun, indicating that the gun was safe to handle. The death of Bruce Lee's son Brandon Lee on the set of the Crow in March1993 was the last previous major incident involving a film star killed with a prop hand held weapon.

Halyna Hutchins on the set of RUST.

A thorough investigation is likely to reveal if the prop gun on the set of RUST was being handled incorrectly or that any gross negligence is at fault by any of the crew. The fact that some union crew had walked off the RUST set citing poor working conditions prior to the incident, as well as incidents also involving the use of prop weapons may also raise more questions on what procedures were being followed with the films props, since Baldwin is also the exec Producer, at least part of that responsibility falls to him.

While movie sets can be dangerous places to work, studios place a huge amount of importance on health and safety for the entire crew during the production of TV and film shows. There have of course been high profile incidents of actors being injured on set, Harrison Ford was injured by a falling door on the set of Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Tom Cruise broke his ankle doing his own stunt when he jumped between buildings filming a Mission Impossible movie in London. Both incidents were freak occurrences and its extremely rare for negligence, lack of safety enforcement or oversight to result in an actor or crew member being injured or even killed on modern films but accidents do and can happen. 

in 1982, Actor Vic Morrow and a child actor were decapitated by rotating helicopter blades on the set of the Twighlight Zone when a pyrotechnic exploded near the rear rotor of the hovering helicopter in a scene being filmed, causing the helicopter to spin out of control and crash onto the actors killing them. Stuntmen have also been killed on the sets of Rambo First Blood: Part II and on the Expendables 2, both due to pyrotechnic incidents.

The Twilight Zone, Actor Vic Morrow and two children were killed on set.

In light of the Balwdin incident, the US cop show, The Rookie, starring Nathan Fillion was one of the first TV productions to announce it will no longer use real life prop weapons or blank firing weapons on its set. Instead, the production will move to using gas blowback airsoft replicas and adding VFX for sound and muzzle flash. Live blank firing props had previously been used on large outdoor sets of the TV show.

Cop Show The Rookie will now use Airsoft guns from now on, adding VFX in post.

Weapons on set are always a risk, its primarily why only highly trained armourers, stunt professionals and stunt co-ordinators under strictly controlled conditions are the ones who handle and organise their use on set. Actors are usually given full safety briefings prior to shooting any scene using a blank firing weapon and the scene is discussed at length.

Brandon Lee was killed by the improper handling and procedure of dummy rounds and blank rounds, dummy rounds, particularly for revolvers provide a realistic look for close up shots, With Lee however, real 44 bullets were pulled from live rounds in an effort to save time and money since proper dummy rounds were not on set at the time and these were made on set and were not proper dummy rounds, the powder in the dummy cartridges was dumped out and the bullets were then inserted into the dummy cartridges to make them look like real bullets, this was done by an inexperienced prop assistant since the firearms specialist was sent home early by the film production. Unbeknown to the assistant one of these bullets had lodged inside the barrel when the gun was fired in another scene weeks earlier which was caused by the live primer at the rear of the cartridge which had given the bullet in the dummy cartridge just enough force to lodge itself inside the barrel of the gun.

When the dummy rounds were swapped for blanks which contain a charge, the 44 calibre bullet remained in the barrel and the procedure to check the gun was not followed, the fact that nobody had checked the barrel for a blockage before the weapon was used again is baffling. In the Crow incident, actor Michael Massee shot Lee's character, Eric from about 15 feet, the scene called for Massee to fire the gun and Lee would activate a squib to shred through the grocery bag he was holding in front of him to simulate the bullet strike. The squib in the grocery bag detonated on cue, and Lee fell to the ground as scripted, except that Lee didn't get back up. The bullet that was lodged in the barrel was forced out from the blank discharge with practically the same force as a real bullet and Lee was mortally wounded in the abdomen. Despite surgeons best efforts to save his life for 6 hours, Lee died. In their bid to save his life they used a transfusion of 60 pints of blood doing what they could to repair the damage. The bullet had entered Lee's body just above his navel and had lodged against his spine, but not before it had practically severed his abdominal aorta causing massive vascular and intestinal trauma to his body. His cause of death was unstoppable internal hemorrhaging due to the fact his blood would not clot.

Brandon Lee, The Crow 1993. Lee had shed 20lbs for the role as Eric Draven in the Crow.

Two months following Lee’s death, the films producer, Edward Pressman managed to secure a further $8 million to re-write the script and finish the production of The Crow, using stunt men Chad Stahelski and Jeff Cadiente to fill in for Lee's character Eric Draven, with Lee’s face digitally super imposed in post production. Michael Massee, the actor who shot Lee was deeply affected by the incident and never saw the finished film, he died of  stomach Cancer in 2016 aged 64.

Crow Actor Michael Massee 

How do prop guns work?

Depending on the film in question a production crew can utilise different prop guns depending on their required use in a scene. For example, shots of discarded guns on a beach for a war movie might use solid composite, resin or hard rubber props painted to look real so that the production doesn't have to risk damaging real vintage or expensive historical weapons. These are typically made of resin or hard rubber in pouring moulds and then painted and aged to look like their real life counterpart.

In scenes where guns need to be carried  but not fired or simulated fired by extras, these are also typically solid resin or rubber with no working parts if no closeup is required.

In some cases stunt guns, inert guns with no firing pin or working parts might be used for scenes where a working version of the same gun could potentially be damaged. For example, this could be a seen where the gun is thrown across a room or dropped to the ground from height.

M1 Garand Resin props used on  the Tom Hanks WW2 D-Day movie Saving Private Ryan

Silicon moulds are often used by armourers to create replica guns which are then painted and finished to look like the real item for scenes where a real gun is not necessary or may be damaged in a complex stunt scene.

For scenes that require closeups but no firing of the weapon, highly detailed replicas, typically ones which are prevented from firing or discharging any kind of ammunition are sometimes used. In most cases for scenes where the firing of the gun is a requirement real guns are also used with the primary difference being that blanks are used rather than real bullets, blanks typically have a crimped end to the cartridge when used in filming. 

On the Keanu Reeves John Wick series of films, Airsoft gas blowback pistols are the favoured props of choice with sound and VFX doing the rest of the work in post production, given the close proximity to the stunts involved, even blanks would pose a danger at these distances, the guns are realistic looking Airsoft guns that functional like a real gun with the hammer, trigger and slide all operated by a gas bottle stored in the guns grip inside a mock magazine.

John Wick Chapter 2 screen used blowback prop 1911 pistol. The hammer, trigger and slide all work like a real gun.

Automatic prop guns  / real guns firing blanks will still eject a cartridge, it works exactly the same way as its live ammo counterpart. Two types of blank rounds are available, loud and fire+loud. One creates noise and little to no muzzle flare, the other gives a big bang and lots of muzzle flare giving directors a choice of variables on set. When I shot mo-cap scenes for Wheelman, the Midway Games video game, I handled an M4 assault rifle with a 30 round blank firing magazine, the armourer brought both types of these blank rounds to simulate weapon firing for the intro sequence.

Blank rounds are distinctive with their 'crimped' end, they contain primarily a powder charge to make noise and in some cases still discharge flame.

All guns are managed by an 'Armourer' a specialist firearms expert, film production companies also employ a safety officer and stunt co-ordinator for scenes involving firearms. Scenes where the camera is in front of  a blank firing weapon sometimes shoot the sequence with a perspex, ballistic proof shield to protect crew. Additionally actors will aim at what is called a 'dummy point', a safe area that is not directly in the firing line of the person behind the camera, even though the audience sees the weapon appearing to be aimed directly at the camera.

Some actors are more familiar and aware of weapon safety based on their movie roles, typically actors who make regular TV shows or films featuring props or weapons are used to their presence on set and familiar with the rules of gun safety. Highly trained weapon specialists with years of experience in safe weapon handling would be training and supervising actors on any set using firearms or firing props. Any actor coming in direct contact with a prop gun is always supervised and trained on the proper use and how to handle the prop safely before a scene is shot. 

In a 2020  famous Instagram clip on actor Will Smiths feed,  the actor disarmed and weapon checked  a prop gun being mishandled close to the actor with the barrel pointed at Smiths face, Smith was visibly agitated by the individuals lack of weapon safety, the actor slapped the muzzle downward, grabbed the weapon, ejected and checked the mag for rounds and cleared the weapon by racking back the slide several times to ensure the chamber was clear before sliding the empty mag back in and handing it back to the individual. If anything, it shows how well weapon safety has been drummed into Will Smith on the set of his films.

Will Smith is visibly agitated at the lack of gun safety being shown by the man handling the gun pointing it in Smiths direction.

Will Smith slaps the gun away before disarming the man and checking the gun for live rounds.

The Alec Baldwin, Rust tragedy has brought fresh focus to the on set deaths by prop weapons of Brandon Lee and Jon-Erik Hexum, a young actor who was playing with a  44 Magnum loaded with a blank round between scenes when he placed the barrel of the gun to his head and pulled the trigger in a game of mock Russian Roulette. The wadding from the blank cartridge drove a bone fragment the size of a quarter into his brain, he died 6 days later after being pronounced brain dead. The age old rule of handling any kind of gun is never pull the trigger unless you intend to destroy what you're aiming at.

John-Erik Hexum was a young actor killed by a blank firing prop weapon

There are still so many questions that need to be answered with the Alec Baldwin, RUST incident but three of the most pressing I can think of would be...

1. Were proper training and safety procedures provided to crew handling set props, specifically in the loading, unloading and safe operation of blank firing weapons and props?

2.Why did the production of RUST allegedly have live ammunition on a film set?

3. Why didn't Baldwin check the weapon personally and why was the prop aimed directly at another person in close proximity?

The likely outcome of this incident will perhaps encourage more stricter use for weapons and blank firing weapons on film sets, more films and TV shows may even resort to VFX to avoid the risk of injury and to enforce more training for actors before handling weapons, even replicas.

For now though, the film industry has lost a promising talent and a family is left to mourn a terrible loss, and questions need answers, starting with -  How did this go so wrong and how could it happen?

Drive: The Art of the Poster

The action Crime Drama, Drive, Starring Ryan Gosling, directed by Nicholas Winding Refn turned 10 years old this year. A stunning movie that pretty much simmers with an electrifying anticipation and foreboding all the way to the films dramatic climax.

Drive tells the story of a an L.A Mechanic and part time Hollywood Stunt Driver that also moonlights as a getaway driver for hire.

I thought it would be good to see how designers and artists have approached the movie through the art of the poster, here's a selection of 10 of the best.

Got a favourite?, leave a comment below...

The Original movie poster, little known fact -  this was a photoshopped variant of the final poster for the film by Empire Design with Ryan Gosling without sunglasses and a more upward face position, additionally the bag and the gloved hand were added in photoshop as in the original pose he was holding a hammer which was taken from a scene in the strip club (see next poster for context).

Great design by Dave Stafford that has a unique cell shaded and punchy graphical style to it, as with many of the posters this one focuses on the scene with the hammer in the strip club.

One of the best ideas I've seen with the use of the hammer replacing the sunglasses, a beautifully executed design by Ian Wilding that brings a real simple yet effective design.

The gloves, the watch and blood spatter give us a sense that this is the business end, where you're either on time or out of luck, great detail and design by Matthew Wood

I love the way the blood and background color are the same in this one, the font is an urbanised untidy scrawl that delivers a big punch to the viewer and the blood spattered Gosling hints that this isn't just about cars. Poster by Michael Gambriel

The Hammer seems to be a popular theme with many of the designers with one particular scene where Goslings character threatens a henchman by threatening to smack a bullet with a hammer into his forehead at a strip club. This design however combines the elements of driving and the hammer to create a totally unique design element, great work by Mike Horowitz.

This design by Rory Kurtz gives us a pretty broody tone to the film, that understated quiet with a hint of menace that the movie uses so well before that flash of extreme violence comes crashing through.

Great 80's vibe with this design, big bold and direct but beautifully colorised to add impact. A great design by Signalnoise 

There's some epic attention to detail to this design by Tyler Stout, the poster combines many of the key players and the bloody, injured Driver hints at a much darker story.

Love this high impact design by Fer Ojea, the use of pink in many of the designs is amplified to super effect here with the dark and brooding silhouetted shape of the Driver complete with claw hammer and highlighted scorpion jacket motif.

Escape From New York: Art of the Poster

 John Carpenters futuristic nightmare Sci-Fi thriller, Escape From New York turned 40 years old this year, released in the summer of 1981 and made for a mere $6 Million it went on to quadruple its production budget in box office profits that year.

Snake Plissken, played by Kurt Russell became the perfect anti-hero for the early 80's with his imposing eye patch, shiny back vest top, shoot first ask questions later manner and raspy voice.

Celebrating 40 years of one of the best sci-fi movies ever made I picked out a few of the best posters and art honouring the film.

What's really interesting in some of the posters is the interpretation of Plissken's weapons which vary, I guess as a form of artistic license and whatever makes him look cooler from a marketing perspective, (the Italian one sheet by Renato Casaro is a prime example). In the film Kurt Russell was armed with an Ingram MAC 10 fitted with a rifle scope, his sidearm was a Smith & Wesson Model 67.

Main art and promotional image for the DVD re-release version

Variant poster by Alex Murray

Original promotional poster for the film

Variant poster by Gabz

Variant by Potteringabout (Deviantart)

Variant by Nick Prinzing

Italian One sheet by Renato Casaro

Variant by Jon Sanchez

Variant by James Rheem Davis

Variant by Vance Kelly

Art by Christopher Shy

By Brian Taylor

Got a favourite of the posters above?, feel free to leave a comment below and let me know.

 

3 Sci-Fi Movies Worth a Look

3 Sci-Fi Movies Worth a Look

With the continued popularity of streaming services and the content they provide on tap, it can be challenging to dedicate your free time to shows and movies actually worth watching, because, let's face it, there's a ton of low budget trash in the mix when it comes to endlessly searching the catalogue. The pandemic saw many of us turn to the likes of Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime to watch shows we probably would otherwise never had considered watching.

The sci-fi genre tends to come as a very mixed bag at the best of times, filled with either really low budget dross, big studio hits or intelligent time travel gems that give you something to ponder long after the film has finished. With the rising capability of technology and lower costs for Special FX tech, we're seeing even YouTubers creating movie shorts on par with the best a Hollywood super budget movie could create, Fix it in Post's ANH  Vader Vs Kenobi fight is a prime example.

Some low budget sci-fi is utterly horrendous where even the thumbnail or poster looks utterly crap, but there's also the stuff you probably skip past on Prime or Netflix because none of the actors seem familiar or its probably a film you've never heard of. Last year I'd skipped past REBOOT for the best part of 6 months before deciding to take a chance and I'm so glad I did, it was one of the best Sci-fi movies I'd seen for a long, long while, and while its left Netflix for a while if you get the chance to catch it anywhere else  you'll be in for a treat.

Here are 3 ci-fi movies worth a look that you might have skipped or avoided.

Monsters of Man

Budget $2 Million

Streaming on: Amazon Prime

Low budget in the sense this was made for $2 Million  but before that turns you off completely hear me out, I'm a huge fan of Sci-f, love Blade Runner, love Star Wars, a dash of Start Trek a sprinkle of Battlestar Galactica and Termnator and Aliens, Predator etc, all of which have at least one pillar movies that defines them all. These all set the standard and that benchmark is pretty high. This took me completely by surprise, I had the TV to myself, saw the trailer and thought why not. Turns out it was a great decision because the FX work in this is on par with anything Hollywood has going and the film features over 2000 VFX shots, 600 of which feature the intricate robots. That's a bold statement for a $2 Million budget but check out the trailer at least before you walk away from it.  Another reason to give this is a chance is the fact the director shot the movie on high-quality cameras, shooting on four REDs at both 6K and 8K. You only go to that effort if you believe what you're shooting is going to make an impact.

The film was shot in Cambodia with an entirely Cambodian crew, the film was self funded and distributed by the films director Mark Toia who gained enough directing experience from shooting ads for Apple, Coca-Cola, Toshiba, Yamaha. Mark actually states in interviews that choosing to shoot in Australia saved $2-3 Million on the films budget alone. The biggest star in the film is actually Neal McDonagh, The guy from Band of Brothers who played Buck, you'll probably know him as Damian Darhk from Arrow or DC's Legends of Tomorrow as well as regular appearances in Suits and Yellowstone.

The premise of the movie

A robotics company teams up with a corrupt CIA agent trying to win a lucrative military contract. They illegally airdrop 4 prototype killer robots into the middle of the infamous Golden triangle to perform a live field test on unsuspecting drug lords that they figure the world will never miss. Volunteer doctors witness the slaughter of an entire  village and become the prime targets as the CIA look to cover up the mission.

What works: The VFX really shines in this movie, its extremely believable to the extent that the robots really do look like physical effects, especially since the lighting effects on the VFX models is superb, this gives you sense that they are physically there, not CGI. The film has a very dark sci-fi theme of self aware A.I as a sub plot which adds to the drama and overall tone.

What doesn't work: There are some pretty daft plot holes in the film and moments where you'll shout at the TV like "pick up the bloody weapon!" but nothing that's going to wreck what is essentially a well put together movie considering its budget.

Summary

Mark Taoi is likely to move in similar circles to South African film maker Neil Blomkemp, the films VFX are just as good as District 9 without a doubt and what this movie achieves on such a small budget is incredible. Actor Neal McDonagh gives a solid performance as an angry CIA baddie and the non named cast actually deliver  decent and invested performances. If you go into this one with zero expectations you'll come out the other side suitably impressed I guarantee it. This one gets a form 9/10 from me, loved the concept, the FX work is absolutely astonishing and the sinister tone of the movie is great.

Spectral

Budget $70 million

Streaming on: NETFLIX

Max martini, you know the one, the moody, no shit guy from The Unit (Mack Gerhardt) who also starred in The Purge TV series as Ryan Grant. Then there's the other guy you can never remember the name of but has been in a decent amount of TV and movies including the fiery superheated baddie from Iron Man 3, no not Guy Pearce, the other one - the guy who gets it in the elevator in The Departed after headshotting Leo and as a spec ops guy in 13 Hours -  I am of course talking about James Badge Dale.

As sci-fi movies go this got shelved in the 'we don't know if we want a cinema release' pile, it was due to be director Nic Mathieu's feature debut with Legendary Pictures and Universal. Mathieu also cut his teeth doing commercials and Spectral was co written by him and Ian Fried and John Nolfi (Oceans 12 and The Bourne Ultimatum).Netflix stepped in and secured distribution saving it from gathering any more dust and as movies go, I found this to be a good sci-fi romp with a great mix of action, tension and some great VFX work.

Spectral is positioned as a supernatural Black Hawk Down, which is pretty well sums it up perfectly, but if you want the general Wikipedia overview "soldiers on mission come face to face with a force they cannot see or combat against -  footage captured by the troops' goggles show a mysterious, translucent, humanoid apparition that kills almost instantaneously." Its got a sprinkling of Predators 'adaptive camo' type thing going for it but budget and action wise it holds up pretty good. VFX is pretty impressive, as you'd expect from a $70M movie, not to mention the fact Peter Jackson's WETA Workshop is responsible for it.

Production wise the film was shot in Budapest and shot over the course of a year, the film holds a 78% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

What Works :Action and VFX are extremely well done, the stunt work and Special Forces aspect of this movie creates a great atmosphere coupled with a premise of unseen enemy it really pitches a great sci-fi action flick. Put it this way - If you gave me the choice to watch the Shane Black Predator movie and this as a my Death Row movie, I'd choose this, put it that way, it delivers more reward for the time you spend watching it.

What Doesn't work: Pace in the movie gets a little bit slow towards the third act and while the film pays off with a big finale piece the film doesn't quite leave you wanting more, as opposed to the feeling that it wasn't an entirely horrible way to burn 107 minutes of your life. That might sound harsh, sci-fi fans will probably go in for a second or even third time though.

Summary

Spectral is a decent effort, its certainly one of the better sci-fi movies you've never heard on Netflix and well worth a look, while it doesn't leave you wanted more it brings a very cool supernatural sci-fi story with a Black Hawk Down vibe to it that will keep action fans happy too. Performances by Mack Gerhardt and James Badge Dale are also great. Loved the concept of this one, a firm 8/10 from me.

Kill Command

The story focuses on a group of US Marines attempting to survive after a training mission against warfare A.I. goes wrong. 

In a technologically advanced near future, Katherine Mills, a cyborg working for Harbinger Corporation, discovers a reprogramming anomaly regarding a warfare A.I system located at Harbinger I Training Facility, an undisclosed military training island. Suited and booted she takes along a small infiltration team to find out what's going on and rectify the anomaly.

Budget: £1Million

Streaming on: Amazon Prime

Rotten Tomatoes 75%, again this is similar review territory to Spectral but even the Guardian Newspaper praised it as a "superior sci fi action thriller", so there you have it. This is another movie where I took a chance on the film having watched the trailer, I'd say that' always  risky move but backed up by a half decent Guardian review I figured I'd take a chance. Video FX work in the film is pretty good, they didn't scrimp on the pyro either since there's a decent amount of firefights as the Marines go head to head with automated mechs that look like walking sentry guns with 4 legs. Flying drones, complex mechs and some really impressive work on the bigger S.A.R mech are beautifully realised and really work well in the scenes giving you a sense they are almost practical effects.

The only thing that really bothered me about the film was the complete lack of tactics employed by the Marines, woefully equipped and caught in the low ground on more than one occasion, all hell lets loose and with very little cover other than the trees the Marines get a pounding and for something so lethal as a cyborg entity that might be emerging a self aware, you'd probably want to drop in more than a small team to sort this stuff out. It smacks of Aliens in that sense, a small team investigating a problem with an outpost only to end up fighting for their lives when the shit hits the fan - no points for originality but I will doff my cap to some very cool looking Marine hardware in the form of the futuristic Osprey aircraft.

Vanessa Kirby, she of Mission Impossible Fallout fame, is the female cyborg assigned to fix the anomaly with a small bunch of rag tag and entirely forgettable Marines in tow. The Marines search for the mission object and they discover autonomously operating surveillance drones monitoring them. A Larger more formidable S.A.R. unit, (Study Analyze Reprogram) which looks like a cross between a jet engine and and a cool looking Decepticon.

The movie was shot in the Surrey Hills with some great external woodland as the backdrop, and the finale was filmed at the EMI Old Vinyl Factory in Hayes, Middlesex.

Budget wise the film was made for £1Million with 1000 VFX shots, all of which were  built by a core team of seven artists with no more than 20 artists during crunch periods. BanditoVFX who did the work managed to negotiate an extended post production period to get the better quality out of the VFX, something pretty unheard of in today's production practices. The film required a lot of camera tracking and drones were textured and rendered out in Lightwave.

What works: VFX and action are pretty good in the movie and overall the film does a decent job of creating that futuristic atmosphere to set the tone of the movie.

What doesn't work: The script and story are the weakest aspect of the whole movie, while the action keeps things interesting, the film has some frustrating moments where logic and tactics go completely out the window and where the viewer will inevitably question the choices made by the characters within.

Summary

A sci-fi movie that looks like a multi-million budget affair, it blends a healthy dose of heavy action in the third act with some stellar VFX work that delivers a decent looking movie badly let down by a poor script and forgettable characters. Not outright terrible, but not great either, just good enough to be worth a go if you've no other sci-fi lined up.

I will go as far to say that while the FX work is pretty stellar in this movie, it's the weaker one of the three where story and script are concerned so I'd give this a 6/10.