Remarkable action movies : Matrix Reloaded (2003)

Why : Too much philosophy didn’t mar Wachowski brothers’ second movie in the Matrix trilogy of its additional selling point – breath-taking action. The Matrix introduced us to revolving cameras, strobe effects, bullet times, detailed slow motion, cutting edge special effects and a fine display of Wire-fu.

Reloaded took all these to the next level. This was the perfect action movie as it had the best of every genre of action. Martial arts, shootouts, car chases, explosions, guns, knives, swords, cars, characters with real purposes for their acts, visual effects and all packaged into a coherent unit with a strong plot.

The most memorable moments include Neo’s one-man battle with hundreds of copies of Agent Smith and the $50 million dollar car chase which was shot on a specially constructed freeway. Trinity racing against the traffic on the Ducati superbike was an armrest grabber in all rights. Neo took to the skies and beat Superman in the frequent fliers race.

The movie had a huge impact on popular culture and film making. The cinematography style is still a favourite among directors. Same goes for the all-black costumes. Black became the most desirable colour for dress code. Black shades, black tux, black shoes and special edition Neo goggles sold like pizzas. We haven’t seen a movie creating a fashion statement like this in recent times and it still goes on.

The Matrix was a better movie, but Reloaded was a better action movie.

Remarkable action movies : Backdraft (1991)

Why : The best monster movie of the early nineties was Backdraft. Don’t be surprised and don’t be confused. Fire was put across as a character, almost equivalent to a creature in the movie. The way it crawled across the floors, sprang up from nowhere on Kurt Russell and William Baldwin, consumed everything in its path, all these elements would feel at home in a creature feature. The writers could have done away with the dialogue on it being a living thing though.

Ron Howard’s action drama on Chicago’s firefighters did attract criticism from both sides. But it still is a classic inferno movie with the most spectacular explosions and fire sequences. Pyromaniacs swear by it and they can’t be blamed. Backdraft was probably the last of the movies in which special effects were not used to replicate fire. So all that destruction that you see in it was shot in the middle of controlled incineration in sets. Controlled is not the right word, if you ask the crew.

Warner Brothers Studios has a popular theme park ride inspired by a major blaze in the movie and the ride is still on top of the crowd-pullers list.

Backdraft raised the status of a fire fighter to that of a knight who fought a dragon which didn’t just breathe fire. It was fire itself.

Oh, and it starred Robert De Niro in an extended cameo.

Speed breaker : Radiator Springs...a surprise

A blown radiator, an over-heating engine, wayward wipers, unprecedented rains, all these pretty much summed up this year’s trip to Vagammon on Good Friday. Life has never been so much cruel to us. It was midnight; barely half way into the journey, the radiator gave up. The war veteran Amby, all of 40 years of age had given us all signs of retirement way back in the past. This was the final nail on that well deserved coffin.

We have climbed the Kurishumala peak before with the same car dropping us off at the foot of the hill. Not so trust worthy even then. Some how the clockwork functioned in miraculous ways to allow us to visit this famous pilgrim centre.

Situated on the foothills of the Western Ghats, the place is an anthill during the holy week. Thousands flock in for the Way of the Cross climb. The 2 hour ascend is an experience in itself. Add a bit of rains and mist; you have the semi-tough guy trek at hand.

They say that when everything else on the car makes more noise than the horn, then it’s time to ditch the car in the dumpster. Words of wisdom. But sometimes they fall on deaf ears. Moving on, there were times in this trip when the engine bay emitted more smoke than the tailpipes of an entire fleet of State maintained buses. Frequent stops to cool the engine kicked the timeframe of the journey from 2 hours to 5 hours. Serious thoughts of retrofitting a water tank in addition to the diesel tank crossed our minds. Rain Gods blessings came in the form of strong showers. With wipers which had the obedience of a kindergarten kid, night-driving turned into Marco Polo mode. In simple words, no idea of what lay ahead of us.

But for a visual feast like the ones in the images, was it worth it? Totally!!! If the images don’t impress you, then that’s probably because my expertise in photography isn’t exceptional. Sometimes, images just don’t do justice to the beauty of the subject. J

Photography Tips : The Twist of the Wrist

Ohoi! SLR rookies...got a new tip for you all. I call it "the twist of the wrist". Check out the three images and the specs.

Image 1 was shot in automatic mode
Shutterspeed : 1/80 second
F-number : F/9
ISO : 100

Image 2 and 3 were shot with the following adjustments.
Shutterspeed : 1/4 second
F-number : F/22
ISO : 100

It doesn't require a second glance to note that pic 3 stands out among the lot. Fact admitted that it's not clear. However, it's catchy. I have tried a bit of a controlled blur in this image. The result was acheived without using any image editing softwares.

So here is how it's done. Switch to manual mode. Choose a slower shutterspeed. Zoom out as much as you can and focus on the subject. In this case, it's the top of the tower. Once the subject is locked on, press the button down. Along with that, give the lens ring a gentle twist. In short, zoom in as the shot is being made.

I won't specify any particular speed as you'll have to figure that out based on the availabilty of light. The speed and intensity of the twist may have to be judged as per this factor. Try it out by yourself and you'll get a hang of it in a while. All that is required is the twist. :)

Best movie cars : 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T (Vanishing Point)

The epitome of a cult classic, Vanishing Point is worshipped by road movie fanatics even decades after its release in 1971. Many may have forgotten the name of the lead actor, Barry Newman. But the car is unforgettable - 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T. The visual impact of the movie was as impressive as its interpretations. A catastrophical transformation of a routine car delivery to a high octane inter-state car chase.

The Challenger raced past police cruisers for a reason which many movie critics found too lame to believe. Without any modifications in the looks, the car was still eye-catching in the frames. The makers picked the Challenger for two marked reasons. One, as a token of gratitude to Chrysler for providing 20th Century Fox with cars for their transportation needs. Two, as the car was sturdy and powerful. The muscle car didn't take a breather while filming and except for the modded suspension, the rest of the car was pure stock. In what can only be defined as a rare instance in movie circles, all the five cars which Chrysler had loaned for the production of the movie were returned to the company after the completion of shooting.

Fox TV aired a remake starring Viggo Mortensen with a 1970 Dodge Challenger in 1997. Surprisingly the remake was a fine movie. Relief.

TF2 : latest info on the robot cast

Transformers fans…lend me your ears. Here is one more list of the robots who have made the cut for Transformers : Revenge of the Fallen. The credibility of this list is one aspect which remains in the shadows. But here it goes anyway.

The heroic Autobots will be led by Optimus Prime with the Peterbilt truck alternate mode. Bumblebee continues to be the 2010 Chevrolet Camaro with a little bit of face lifting. New age cowboy, Ironhide will reprise his role as the weapons specialist of the team. The vehicular mode of the all-brawn tough guy is that of a GMC Topkick. Medical officer Ratchet, roams around in the Emergency vehicle look of the Hummer H2. Arcee and her two sisters form the flower power as the first feminine robots and they are the first two wheelers in the film. Not much of a scoop is at hand regarding the alternate modes. Expect heavily modified superbikes on duty for the roles.

Sideswipe is another new entrant to watch out for as his role is played by a special concept car from Chevrolet called the Corvette Centennial concept. Jetfire, who is in fact one of the characters to watch out for, is an SR-71 Blackbird aircraft. The Decepticon who shifts allegiance to the good guys will be an attention grabber in the movie.

A similar development can be seen in the character of Wheelie, a radio controlled monster truck as he leaves the Decepticons in order to join the Autobots. Chevrolet Volt gives life to the character Jolt. Skids and Mudflap a.k.a The Twins, will roam through crowded streets as Chevrolet Beat and Trax respectively. Expecting a bit of laughs from those guys.

As for the Decepticons, most of them will be making a return after their defeat at the hands of Autobots. We saw some of them fleeing from the climatic battle, some of them being completely destroyed and dumped in the ocean. Decepticon leader, Megatron is back in the form of Cybertronian battle tank. Not sure what exactly that looks like. Starscream, the treacherous air commander of the Decepticons comes back in full force after his retreat in the first movie. No new looks for the ruthless bad guy as he looks kickass in the F-22 Raptor guise. Soundwave finally made his way into the casting list after his rejection from the first film. Guess what, he can fly. A spider-like robot called The Doctor takes care of the medical duties of the Decepticon team.

After his unexplained exit before the final battle in transformers, Barricade will be reclaiming his position as the group’s hunter. An Audi R8 is in the role of Sideways, who is basically a non-warrior member. Ravage, as the name suggest is about wrecking havoc. But the mechanical Jaguar is an aggressive fighter who would have felt a lot better if the name was Savage. The mechanical scorpion, Scorpnock is back in action too. But the Decepticon juggernaut to watch out for will be the Devastator. The combined form of seven robots, this behemoth will give the Autobots some real workout. There’s also a rather surprise package in the form of Alice, played by Isabel Lucas. Alice is a pretender or in simpler terms a robot which is in a human form.

The biggest baddie is The Fallen, one of the first thirteen Transformers. The Fallen shape shifts into a Cybertronian jet.

So, there you go. Give or take a few from here and that’ll be the best calculated guess in terms of the virtual cast of the most anticipated movie of the year.

Best movie cars : 1964 Aston Martin DB5 (Goldfinger and Thunderball)

"The name is Martin…Aston Martin..."

Had the car been given a voice instead of the growl, Aston Martins would have delivered as charismatic a line as the super spy.

If there is one movie car which has the panache to take movie buff by the heart, then this is it - the Aston Martin DB5. The most recognized Bond car ever and a beauty from headlight to taillight, the car is a favourite with Bond movie directors. It has made appearances in Goldfinger, Thunderball, GoldenEye Tomorrow Never Dies and Casino Royale. While it was the Bond’s ride in the first two movies, the roles in the other three were guest appearances.

In Goldfinger and Thunderball, the audience was treated to a wide array of gadgetry which this car was home to. Revolving number plates, smoke screen, oil slick, armour plate to block bullets, ejector seat and the Benhur-inspired blades in the wheels which tore apart the tyres of the not-so-friendly road users were the jaw dropping then. The arrival of more advanced Bond cars haven’t stolen the DB5 of its position as the car which is as identifiable as Bond himself even decades after the first time it came on screen.