Independence Day
What's it about?
Overtly aggressive aliens arrive to blow up Earth, humans aren't into it
The scene:
The bit where the Whitehouse gets obliterated.
Explosive Facts:
• The White House, which exploded, was built at 1/12 scale just to be blown up. Nine cameras filmed the explosion at various speeds, one of which was 12 times faster than normal, then played back at normal speed to make the explosion seem larger on film.
• Independence Day holds the record for the most miniature model work to appear in one film. It is said more miniatures were used for this film than in any other two films combined. Due to the advances in digital technology since this film's release, most experts believe this record may stand forever.
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
What's it about?
Optimus Prime and Co. are called upon to once again save our fleshy behinds from global destruction
The scene:
The final showdown between Autobots, Decepticons and the Fallen
Explosive Facts:
• The massive air strike in the Giza Guerilla was caused by a 1000-gallon gasoline bomb. Special effects supervisor John Frazier spent seven months setting it up (longer than it took to shoot the whole film). This bomb has recently entered the Guinness Book of World Records as the biggest bomb ever filmed with actors close by
• Three of the film's action sequences were shot with IMAX cameras. However, because of the increased resolution created from using IMAX it took the ILM animators 72 hours to render one frame of those scenes with the Transformers. A single IMAX shot in the movie (df250) would have taken almost 3 years to render on a top of the line home PC running nonstop.
Armageddon
What's it about?
An asteroid the size of Texas is headed for Earth. The world's best deep core drilling team is sent to nuke the rock from the inside.
The scene:
The detonation of the nuke. A tearful goodbye to our saviour Mr Bruce Willis.
Explosive Facts:
• The producers persuaded NASA to allow director Michael Bay and company to shoot in the normally restricted space agency. This included the neutral buoyancy lab, a 65-million-gallon, 40-foot-deep pool used to train astronauts for weightlessness and the use of two -million space suits.
• This was the first movie that the cast was allowed to use genuine NASA spacesuits. The cast are the only civilians to ever wear NASA spacesuits, which cost over million each.
• During the filming of this movie, the cast and crew worked around billion worth of equipment, including a real oil rig and real space shuttle.
Terminator 2
What's it about?
Arnold Schwarzenegger returns as a cyborg with little in the way of tact or mercy
The scene:
The destruction of Cyberdyne headquarters. The swines!
Explosive Facts:
• One of the most famous scenes - the detonation of Cyberdyne headquarters, Cameron employed 11 cameras to capture the demolition of a real building in Fremont, CA (the building was actually rebuilt after the filming, and still stands there today).
• The film has over 300 effects shots which total almost 16 minutes of running time.
• The T-1000 morphing effects cost .5 million and took 8 months to produce for a mere total 3.5 minute’s appearance on the screen
Die Hard 4.0
What's it about?
A criminal plot is in place to take down the entire computer and technological structure that supports the economy of the United States (and the world) and it's up to a decidedly "old school" hero to prevent it.
The scene:
John McClane, with a complete disregard for the traffic laws, delicately parks his car on top of a hovering helicopter.
Explosive Facts:
• The shot was accomplished by suspending the helicopter in the air with cables and combining two separate shots; one of the stuntman leaping from the helicopter and one of the cars colliding with it. Computer animation was then used to delete the support cables and add rotor blades.
• Bruce Willis' stunt double, Larry Rippenkroeger, was knocked unconscious when he fell twenty-five feet from a fire escape to the pavement. Rippenkroeger suffered broken bones in his face, several broken ribs, a punctured lung, and fractures in both wrists.
Batman Dark Knight
What's it about? The caped crusader played flies about a bit, talks funny and KICKS ASS!
The scene:
That naughty Joker blows up the Gotham General hospital.
Explosive Facts:
• Director Christopher Nolan is quoted as saying: “I wanted to blow up more things than anyone had ever blown up before.”
• The film's most explosive moment is the destruction of Gotham General Hospital and for this actual demolition shot, the crew destroyed the old Brachs Candy corporate headquarters in Chicago, creating an explosion that could be seen citywide. Because the crew only had one take, it required an immense amount of preparation and choreography.
• An explosion was filmed at the Battersea Power Station in London. The fireball created calls from panic-stricken local residents, who assumed a terrorist attack had occurred at the out-of-use station.
De Ja Vu
What's it about?
Denzel doing what Denzel does best. Taking down the bad guys before the bomb goes off.
The scene:
The Ferry.
Explosive Facts:
• The explosion of the Stumpf was filmed using an actual New Orleans ferry in a portion of the Mississippi River sectioned off especially for the event; the occurrence took over four hours to prepare.
• Under the supervision of pyrotechnics expert John Frazier, the ferry was coated entirely with fire retardant and rigged with fifty gasoline bombs including black dirt and diesel, each one set to detonate within a five-second range. People and cars were added in later as elements of computer-generated graphics.
Die Another Day
What's it about?
The Bond film with Hail-the-Berry and Pierce Brosnan.
The scene:
The enormous firebombing scene.
Explosive Facts:
• SFX Supervisor Chris Corbould ensured that no part of the real forest in Iceland was destroyed by explosions - the trees his team used were unsold Christmas trees.
• A huge 20,000-watt light array which took a week to construct was used for the Icarus demonstration scene.
Star Wars
What's it about?
Mythological interplanetary gobbledigook of the good triumphing over evil kind
The scene:
The nail biting chase scene which results in the end of the Death Star.
Explosive Facts:
• Stunt doubles were not used for the scene in which Luke and Leia swing to safety. Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill performed that stunt themselves, shooting it in just one take.
• Industrial Light and Magic (ILM) spent most of the production period in chaos, attempting to create special effects that had never been created before.
• They blew half their budget on four shots, which George Lucas rejected.
Bourne Supremacy
What’s it about? Shadowy government assassin assasinating stuff
The scene:
The famous death-defying car chase
Explosive Facts:
• At the 2005 Taurus World Stunt Awards, veteran Russian stunt coordinator Viktor Ivanov won the "Best Vehicle" award for his driving in the Moscow car chase scene.
• Stunt Co-ordinator Dan Bradley avoided the use of CGI effects for this film, instead opting for more traditional visual effects. The gas explosion scene in Munich actually resulted In a number of the stunt team being blown a fair distance by the blast (although no-one was seriously injured).
Green Zone is released in cinemas 10 March.
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