#Action Movie FX

[ramavoite]

I just keep thinking how glad I am the season is over because now Brennan can finally take a shower

[savage-kult-of-gorthaur]

KNIGHT FROM DARKEST HELL – A BIOENGINEERED, HULKING, MARTIAN MONSTROSITY.

PIC(S) INFO: Mega spotlight on concept art for the Hell Knight, a.k.a., "The Baron," artwork by Aaron Sims (supervised by John Rosengrant), from the “DOOM” 2005 movie trading card series by Artbox.

Source: www.ebay.com/itm/153909442003.

[eaktionsshaytan]

[music-movies-mayhem]

I didn't want to get any hopes up about the comic con panel announcement...but now that they literally advertised it on tv I'm calling it right here and now, we're gonna get a movie.

[starsstillshine]

convinced the roomies to watch tokyo drift and all of them gave up before the ending and questioned how different our childhoods were for me to be watching movies like this all the time when i was like 9 lmfao

[da-ill-spot]

Movie Trailer: Shōgun

[devongeorgeart]

Everything Everywhere All at Once - ANIMATED!?

Earlier this year Jermaine Jose and I started a collaborative vis dev project with the goal to do a 2D animated spin on three frames from a live action movie. I think they turned out better than I could ever imagine :D

I tackled the backgrounds, tumbleweed and bagel FX animations, as well as the VHS/CRTV compositing effect. Here's some of the bg work I did!

Jermz created some absolutely awesome character designs and his guidance through the whole thing was invaluable, such a fun project 💪

[gt-gem]

i haven't seen any other blogs mentioning anything about it, so sorry if I missed something, but i just got done watching the Netflix movie Ultraman Rising and. hoo boi.

first off, just to get it out of the way: it's weird. the story is more than a bit weird, and the characters are far from written perfectly, but damn if it doesn't sort of work for what it's going for, and if it isn't actually kinda cute and fun. at a lot of times it actually looks pretty rad, i mean just look at this shot

i just randomly played this one out of pure curiosity and oh MAN am i glad i did, this one's got so much going for it: g/t (anyone that knows anything about ultraman will know that but come on), neat stylized animation, good music, surprisingly well-done action sequences and visual/sound fx, etc.

apparently this movie dropped over 6 months ago and i am SHOCKED that i never even heard of it before now, but if you get the chance, give it a watch; it's far from perfect, but i had way more fun than i anticipated going into it, and i think it could use some more love

[wanderersrest]

An Abbreviated History of Mecha Part 1: The Mighty Atomic Prelude (The 50's and 60's)

Welcome to An Abbreviated History of Mecha anime. Today, we're starting at, as Fraulein Maria would say, at the very beginning. We're taking a quick peak at the beginning of the canon, which means that we're starting back in 1950 (specifically 1952). I should also confess right now: there are two series on here that are demonstrably NOT mecha shows. However, due to their sheer influence on Japanese media as a whole, I feel it is important to bring them up as being honorary mecha shows due to their sheer influence pop culture.

Tetsuwan Atom/Mighty Atom/Astro Boy (1952)

Starting us off is Osamu Tezuka's seminal manga series, Mighty Atom. Known over here in the west as Astro Boy, this series would be what kickstarts a lot of the modern anime and manga industry due to its sheer popularity. Astro Boy would also be one of two series that would be emblematic of how Japanese pop culture would portray the recent use of atomic energy. It should also be worth noting that realizing that Astro technically is a mecha is what got me to start using a broader definition of mecha instead of the classic giant robot definition.

Due to its fame, Mighty Atom has receive multiple adaptations throughout the years. Of note are:

The original 1963 anime.

New Mighty Atom (1980) which updates the series to 1980's animation standards.

The 2003 anime, which does the same, but to the standards of early 2000's anime.

The 2009 CGI movie.

Gojira/Godzilla (1954, honorary mecha series 1)

1954 would also give us Ishiro Honda's Godzilla, the movie that would make tokusatsu-styled live action stories in Japan. Godzilla, alongside RKO's King Kong, would play a large part in popularizing the concept of kaiju. And boy will kaiju play a big part in the history of the mecha canon. As we'll see soon enough, the history of tokusatsu heroes, kaiju, and robots are all intertwined with one another.

Godzilla has starred in numerous movies since the original, but for stories based off of the original there are:

Godzilla Raids Again (1955), a direct sequel.

Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah: All Out Monsters Attack (2001), a Heisei-era production that uses the original '54 Godzilla as a manifestation of the horrors of World War II.

Shin Godzilla (2016), a re-imagining of the original movie set in contemporary times directed by Hideakki Anno.

Godzilla Minus One (2023), the most recent outing inspired in part by GMK.

Tetsujin 28-go/Gigantor (1956)

(Oh hey, this gif again!)

Tetsujin 28-go is the creation of one Mitsuteru Yokoyama and is generally regarded as the grandfather of the giant robot style of mecha. Tetsujin is unique amongst mecha in that it is controlled not by a pilot riding inside of it, but by a little kid with a controller. Tetsujin 28, alongside Mazinger Z, would help to codify a lot of the tropes common to the classic superhero mecha anime that would be prevalent in the 70's. Like Mighty Atom, Tetsujin would receive multiple adaptations throughout the decades.

Shin Tetsujin 28-Go/The New Adventures of Gigantor (1980), which updates Tetsujin's design to look more in line with something like Mazniger Z.

Tetsujin 28-go FX (1992), sporting a radically different look that's more akin to something out of the Brave Franchise.

Tetsujin 28 (2004), a faithful adaptation of the original manga (at least I think it is) directed by Yasuhiro Imagawa.

Cyborg 009 (1964)

Created by Shotaro Ishinomori in 1964, Cyborg 009 is another classic human-sized mecha series. Cyborg 009 would be the first of many hits for Ishinomori, and he will be mentioned again later in this series.

Oh boy... I am not a Cyborg 009 nut, but in terms of adaptations, Cyborg 009 has:

The 1966 Film

The 1980 Film

009 Re:Cyborg (2012)

The Call For Justice Trilogy (2016)

The 1968 Anime

The 1979-1980 Anime

The 2001-2002 Anime (I actually remember when Toonami aired this series!)

Cyborg 009 vs Devilman (2015 OVA)

If you want to follow someone who follows a lot of Shotaro Ishinomori's works, I'd recommend checking out YouTuber Mercury Falcon for more info about Ishinomori.

Ultra Q and Ultraman (1966, honorary mecha series 2)

(The urge to use a gif of Ingraman is strong)

Ultra Q and Ultraman are the first two entries of Tsuburaya's legendary Ultra franchise, with the latter in particular being one of the most famous pop culture icons of all time. Ultraman's influence on Japanese media is so large, that I'll be mentioning it at least once in relation to other series later on.

Ultraman, like Godzilla before him, would get the Hideaki Anno treatment with Shin Ultraman in 2022.

Giant Robo/Johnny Sokko and His Flying Robot (1967)

Another one of Mitsuteru Yokoyama's classic manga series, Giant Robo deserves a mention due to its influence on tokusatsu. Giant Robo would usher in an era of tokusatsu that would rely on using giant robots as the main protagonist.

In terms of adaptations, there are two animated adaptations, but only one will be listed here:

GR: Giant Robo (2007)

If you want to learn a little bit more about the history behind Giant Robo, I'd recommend checking out blunova's video on Giant Robo for more info on this important series.

Conclusion

As the 60's would lead way into the 70's, we would see a lot more live action tokusatsu series involving giant robots. Of course, this would be untenable due to how expensive it was to do tokusatsu effects for television. However, one robot would appear in animation that would change everything.

(Read in the voice of Tessho Genda) AND ITS NAME IS...!!!!

[crazysodomite]

remakes as a concept arent bad but there's a reason animated movies are in the animated movies medium. its not correct to think that every animated movie could be translated into live action. there's a reason they are animated. becauser they specifically utilize the medium for their own goals. and sure, in theory a live action 'remake' doesnt Immediately mean it's gonna be bad but it usually is because they are remaking something just for the sake of it. not changing the story and setting and scenes to specifically fit the medium of live action but literally just making an animated movie a live action movie with cgi for no reason. the reason being that you can exploit cgi/fx artists more and you get to exploit the fame of great animated movies to get more cash.

[savage-kult-of-gorthaur]

"LET'S START FROM SCRATCH AGAIN AND DO IT RIGHT THIS TIME" -- A 2008 MARVEL STUDIOS STORY.

FILM: "The Incredible Hulk" (2008)

DIRECTOR: Louis Leterrier

SCREENWRITER: Zack Penn

CINEMATOGRAPHY: Peter Menzies Jr.

PRODUCTION COMPANIES: Marvel Studios & Valhalla Motion Pictures

DISTRIBUTION: Universal Pictures

OVERVIEW: "In 2003, Universal released Ang Lee's adaptation of "The Incredible Hulk," one of the most popular and enduring Marvel superheroes (titled "Hulk"). Five years later, Universal has released yet another version of "The Incredible Hulk" (which opened June 13th). This new Hulk movie is actually a "let's start from scratch again and do it right this time" concept. That's because Lee's cerebral approach did not wow the fan base.

PART II: Five years later, Marvel Studios is trying to re-launch the franchise on its own -- Universal is only distributing the movie. French action specialist Louis Leterrier ("The Transporter") directed a brand new cast, featuring Edward Norton as Bruce Banner/The Hulk, and opted for a completely different approach to visual effects.

In 2003, Industrial Light & Magic created some 600 effects shots. In 2008, VFX Supervisor Kurt Williams and VFX Producer Paul Molles oversaw about 800 shots produced by seven different facilities. Rhythm & Hues (including R&H India) produced 224 character animation shots, plus 10 composites, while Hydraulx realized 248 shots featuring complex composites, CG environments, CG helicopter and a full CG Abomination transformation.

Other key vendors included Soho VFX (114 shots -- composites and CG environments) and Image Engine (75 shots -- blood drop shot, plus a CG environment for Rhythm & Hues). Lola VFX, G Creative and X1 also worked on the project."

-- ANIMATION WORLD NETWORK (AWN), ""The Incredible Hulk": Back to Basics," Alain Bielik gets the jump on "The Incredible Hulk" by speaking with Rhythm & Hues, by Alain Bielik, c. June 2008

Sources: Pinterest, Twitter, www.awn.com/vfxworld/incredible-hulk-back-basics, various, etc...

[kustas]

Do you have any thoughts on DC & Marvel comics?

I've not properly read any, I shan't lie. I find the art styles commonly found in them repulsive (*) and most of them being superhero based is a no from me. I don't get the appeal of superheroes as a concept like, at all, and never have, and likely never will.

Getting into these comics is also...pretty hard? Each character has a bunch of different issues with different lore and story and whatnot. If you wanna pick up a manga, you go to the store/library and pick up volume 1. If you wanna pick up most BD, and random volume is likely standalone and will do the trick. DC and Marvel have dug themselves into a miles deep dollar sign shaped hole based on milking the same concepts over and over which by itself is of no interest to someone who doesn't care about the characters such as I. I've been told of issues I might like, but they tend to always fall in that "alternative take on XYZ" hole I don't care about.

This might sound deeply pretentious but I've had a sort of awareness for the commercial since I was a child that made me cringe at the Mickey segments of Fantasia and whatnot. And to my eyes DC&Marvel are the peak of this. Everything they make is a product filtered through endless exec meeting rooms to make as much dosh as possible and I can feel it in the end results. While I love derivative art (I spend an embarrassing amount of my free time looking at fanart online...) the way these companies derive the same things over and over lowkey disgusts me in a way I've not been able to overcome yet. It might be why I struggle to get into fandom proper too - AUs and crossovers and ships and that sort of stuff based on making "content" repeating the same characters and ideas with slight declinations is something of no interest to me and who's inescapability can even piss me off.

The only one of these sort of hero comics I've been tempted to try reading is Hellboy because I adore Mignola's art and...it's not DC or Marvel that I know of. I've also seen some live action adaptations of stuff like Xmen and the Avengers and hated all of them, and found them bland and juvenile, even as a kid. The best I get from them are elements that make me think of better executed media that share them. Admittedly this birthed an incredible moment last year of remarking "this is like metal gear if it sucked ass" to the friend making me watch an Xmen movie only to be hit by the "directed by: David Hayter" end screen. Oops...

(*) there's hundreds of artists working on these so there's no given "art style" proper, but what I'm referring to as those cleanly lined styles with realistic proportions and characters stylized to be handsome. On top of just not liking that style at all, I find that what could otherwise have been nice lines are constantly demolished by layers upon layers of fuckass digital coloring and FX that not only obscure the linework but look extremely cheap and ugly to my eyes. I grew up on 70s comics who were only made of flat colors if any and struggle to like anything else in terms of colored comics.

TLDR: no & im a hater

[ryukang1995]

Mortal Kombat (2021).

While there are indeed massive problems with the movie, I don't really hate it.

Yes, it could have been so much better, hence why I wrote posts about how I would have done the movie and its subsequent universe. But overall, I can still watch this movie, and there are even days where I like it.

The biggest problem with the movie is the story. While it was a bold choice to make the movie a mere setup for the actual Mortal Kombat tournament, it did come at a cost since the pacing is very uneven and choppy.

It starts off very well with the first 10 minutes revolving around Scorpion and Sub-Zero's rivalry, but the movie drags during the second act, and it whooshes by near the end.

I like the cast, but a lot of them aren't given much to work with. Kano is easily the standout because you get to see his personality and charm in buckets. Sub-Zero/Bi Han was an effective villain, and Scorpion was awesome with his limited screen time. I even liked Sonya and Liu Kang, but whether or not they were better than their 1995 counterparts is debatable (I personally prefer Sonya in this movie, but Robin Shou is THEE best Liu Kang for me).

However, there were also characters I didn't like or care for. Cole Young was bland as hell, and I would have preferred it if Lewis Tan played Kuai Liang. Raiden and Shang Tsung were also very weak, especially when you compare them to their 1995 counterparts.

I also thought the idea of Arcana and Dragon birthmarks was ridiculous, even by the franchise's standards, and ultimately, you did not need such an idea for this movie.

The fight scenes were honestly pretty enjoyable. Sure, they're not the best fight scenes you will ever see on film (especially when you compare it to The Raid or John Wick), and the editing is pretty choppy at times, but when the action is comprehensible, it mostly delivers. Plus, the fatalities and gore add to the enjoyment factor, especially since it was outright missing from the 90s films. Both the Scorpion vs. Sub-Zero battles are easily the standout fights.

Visually, the movie is okay. The CGI is much better than what was in the 90s films. Sure, there are moments where you can tell the FX are obvious, but it's not off-putting either. The costumes are spot-on, for the most part, but I do wish the locations were better and more imaginative.

Is it the best Mortal Kombat movie? Well, that's debatable. Yes, it captures the brutality of the games better than the 90s movies, but at the same time, the 1995 original has so much charm to it, and it's actually better in certain areas like the story and especially the music.

I would definitely put both movies over Annihilation, even though there are some who would favor that flick over how unintentionally hilarious it is (to each is their own). I'm also not really too excited for the upcoming sequel for reasons I won't go into, but if you are, then that's kool.

If you liked or disliked this movie? Then it's all good. Let's keep the discussion civil.

[aangarchy]

I know its hard to replicate in live action. But it just seems so weird that in both the movie and live action remake that zuko has TWO eyebrows

It's not that hard to replicate. You can literally glue down a brow and paint over it, which drag queens have been doing for decades. Dallas also shaved his head to commit to Zuko's hairstyle, he could have shaved an eyebrow. I've seen plenty of Zuko cosplays that either hide the eyebrow, paint over it or make it lighter to make it part of the scar. Cosplayers with amateur fx makeup make it look more believable than netflix did. They have a huge budget and yet they still just decided to apply some red paint with a sponge and call it a day.

At least it's visible this time, unlike Dev Patel's was. But Dev Patel's texture looked better.

[reflections-in-a-critical-eye]

Hi M, how are you? Coming after the high of Shogun's yesterday's win at the Emmy's made me wonder if you have a favourite historical movie or tv show that is underrated or in the category more-people-should-watch-this? Hopefully you indulge in this type of movie. 😊

For example, for me, one such movie is "Master and Commander: The Far side of the World" :brilliant ensemble cast all across the board, good chemistry between the main leads, engaging story, very good soundtrack, fx that still hold, 99% hystorically accurate 😂 but despite this not many have heard or watched this movie.

Have a nice day!

P.S. can't believe that tomorrow the last episode of AYS will air 😭.

Hi @shimako! Sorry for answering your question late, but I postponed it because I kept trying to think of a list. And honestly, I saw the words historical drama and forgot the underrated part so this is a bit of a disaster, but I'll make it work. Let's just say this is an incomplete list of tv shows that had an impact on me at the time and ages that I had when I watched them. And you'll see that I barely remember the plot, but I sort of know how I felt.

1. Rome

Is this underrated? Hell no! But perhaps in today's age of tv, a lot of people have forgotten about that show. Only two seasons, but it was among the first batch of prestige tv in the middle of the 2000s. I liked it so much that it made go to the bookstore and buy a book about Caesar. If I went through my Egypt phase in middle school, then my Ancient Rome period came in high school.

2. The Borgias

At the time of its runtime, I think it was pretty big. Although I don't think it won many awards. I also remember it being used as an example on scholarly papers about Hollywood using Eastern and Central European studios because of cheap labor and good locations. Budapest and Prague can replace Florence, lol.

The Borgias was naughty. And it had Jeremy Irons who is a fantastic actor in my opinion. Eventually they actually leaned heavily into the siblings relationship which I thought was daring. They went there 👀. And the costumes were so beautiful!.

3. The Tudors

I remember this show through the eyes of a 13-14 year old that developed a massive crush on the actor portraying Henry the VIII. This was like the rock'n'roll version of the story. And it was sexy. A bit over the top. A stepping stone for some actors that would become a lot more famous in the years to come. I think it was on HBO so probably not underrated at the time, but mostly forgotten nowadays.

4. Versailles

I can't remember if it's French or they talk in English. But it was lots of fun. And really gay. They didn't stay away from that. That's all I remember, but give it a try.

5. Taboo

This is that show with a really brooding Tom Hardy who remains like that throughout the story. But if you're interested in 1800s London and England's imperialist plan and its effects on colonized territories, this might be it.

6. Babylon Berlin

I don't know if this fits into the list, but it is a great portrayal of 1920s Berlin. A period in which artistic freedom and experimentation was at its height, but also juxtaposed with political unrest, creating this environment that would lay the ground for the rise of the fascist party. It's a german show, an HBO production and I like that it's not glamourized. You can see it in their clothes, their hygiene habits, their visible sweat and run down outfits they wear in clubs. It feels real.

7. Black Sails

I first heard of this when I wanted to watch more Toby Stephens movies/series but I almost stayed away because it was a Michael Bay production. Black Sails is so smart. At first, it might lure in the wrong audience, even based on the first trailer. It looks like a pirate show full of action sequences and machismo. And then you actually watch it and it flips that exact narrative. It is a direct critique of imperialism. It is also such a good case for any film and gender & queer studies analysis. But more than that, what really sealed the deal for me in what is considered a grade B series with grade B actors, is the meta-textual discourse on storytelling. It's about creating those pirate legends, of creating narratives to protect themselves against the empire. And all that is unfolded through brilliant lines of dialogue. It still remains a 10/10 tv show for me and the actual underrated one.