Mission Impossible : Ghost Protocol

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011)

Genre:

Action | Adventure

Action | Spy

Action Movie Series

Cast:

Tom Cruise

Jeremy Renner

Simon Pegg

Paula Patton

Michael Nyqvist

Director:

Brad Bird

Mission Impossible : Ghost Protocol is the latest (and 4th) offering of the popular action movie series Mission: Impossible. Starring Tom Cruise, who reprises his role as the main protagonist - Agent Ethan Hunt.

Summary:

 

In this 4th installment of the popular Mission: Impossible franchise, Ethan Hunt and his team is assigned to discover the secret Moscow Kremlin archives to gather vital information about a person code-named "Cobalt". Half-way thru their mission, the team is unprepared for the counter attack of a dangerous terrorist named Hendricks, who has an access to Russian nuclear codes and is planning to strike United States.

When things turned horribly wrong and without any back-up, Ethan and his team are forced to continue the mission to find Hendricks and to stop him from starting a nuclear war.

With great movie reviews (93% Tomatometer on Rotten Tomatoes, and 7.9/10 on IMDB), it's a sign that this is a must see action movie of the year.

Movie Trivia:

• Tom Cruise himself performed the sequence outside of the Burj Khalifa tower - without the use of a stunt double. The Burj Khalifa tower in Dubai is currenlty the tallest building in the world
• Kristin Kreuk was considered for the role of Jane Carter
• While Chris Pine and Tom Hardy were considered for the role of Brandt
• Tom Cruise and Ving Rhames are the only actors to be part in all Mission: Impossible movies

Source:IMDB

Real Steel (2011) - Action Adventure Movie

Real Steel (2011)

"Courage is stronger than steel"

Genre:
Action | Sci-fi / Action | Adventure

Cast:
Hugh Jackman
Dakota Goyo
Evangeline Lilly
Anthony Mackie
Kevin Durand

Director:
Shawn Levy



Real Steel is an action - adventure / sci-fi movie based on a 1956 short story "Steel" by Richard Matheson. The film stars Hugh Jackman (Wolverine , X-Men movie series), Dakota Goyo, Evangeline Lilly (The Hurt Locker), Anthony Mackie (The Hurt Locker), and Kevin Durand (Dark Angel).

Summary:
Set in the near-future, in time where humans have been replaced by robots in the sport of boxing, Charlie Kenton (played by Hugh Jackman), a former boxer and a struggling promoter believes that he and his estranged son Max (Dakota Goyo) had built a "champion" robot out of scrap metals. Now that the stakes are raised, Charlie and Max, equipped with courage and determination, is about to face the no-holds-barred arena of underground robot boxing  to get the second chance of his life on a sport that he once loved.


Movie Trivia:

• Real Steel movie is based on a short story by Richard Matheson named "Steel". It was also made into an episode of The Twilight Zone called Steel
• Sugar Ray Leonard, a retired professional boxer, supervised the robot boxing fight scenes, using motion-capture technology

Source: IMDB

Inception (2010)

Inception (2010)  



"Your mind is the scene of the crime"

Genre:
Action | Sci-fi

Cast:
Leonardo DiCaprio
Ken Watanabe

Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Marion Cotillard
Ellen Page
Cillian Murphy

Tom Hardy
Tom Berenger
Michael Caine

Director:
Christopher Nolan

Inception is one of best mind-bending action movie from the best cinematic mind-bender in the industry, Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight).

The film features an all-star cast starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Ken Watanabe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, Dileep Rao, Tom Berenger, and Michael Caine.

Summary:

The film is set in future, in a time when technology and substance experts are able to create levels of deep sleep and invade the dreams of others.

Leonardo DiCaprio plays as Dom Cobb, a dream thief and a specialized corporate spy who goes into people's dreams and steals their secrets. However, stealing secrets isn't enough for Mr. Saito (Ken Watanabe) - a business magnate that wants to go one step further into this high-level espionage. This time, he wants a new process of planting a false memory into his competitions heads; which is called Inception. Everyone says that this "inception" can't be done and that it's impossible, however Cobb’s character knows that it can possibly be done – but no certainty that it will be successful.

*Watching this action movie requires the ability to concentrate and focus in order to follow the plot. :)

Movie Trivia:

• James Franco was a choice by Christopher Nolan to play Arthur, but was unavailable due to scheduling conflicts.


• "Yusuf" is the Arabic form of "Joseph", the Biblical figure from Genesis 37-50, who had the gift of interpreting dreams.


• The first letter of each of the main character's first names - Dom, Robert, Eames, Arthur/Ariadne, Mal, and Sato - spell the word DREAMS.


• The "Penrose stairs" that Arthur shows to Ariadne is a reference to a lithograph print by the Dutch graphic artist M.C. Escher. The print is usually called "Ascending and Descending" or "The Infinite Staircase", and was first printed in March 1960; Escher is well-known for his drawings exploring optical illusions and real architectural, mathematical, and philosophical principles rendered in fantastical ways


• Mal's totem, a spinning top, is (probably) a reference to the Clifford D. Simak's story 'Ring Around the Sun' where the spinning top is used as a way to skip from one parallel Earth to another (by way of helping characters to concentrate).

Source: Internet Movie DataBase

Avatar (2009) action sci-fi movie

Avatar (2009)

Genre:
Action | Sci-fi


Cast:
Sam Worthington
Zoe Saldana
Sigourney Weaver
Stephen Lang
Joel David Moore
Michelle Rodriguez


Director:
James Cameron


Avatar is a science fiction film written and directed by the top-caliber director, James Cameron (Aliens and Terminator). Avatar is a live action film with a new generation of special effects and revolutionary technology that made the film a cinematic masterpiece.


Summary:
Avatar is an epic adventure movie that will take us into a spectacular alien world beyond our imagination – that will surely take our breath away. “On the distant moon Pandora, a reluctant hero embarks on a journey of redemption, discovery and unexpected love -- as he leads a heroic battle to save a civilization.” -CinemaBlend


Set in the year 2154, a group of scientists and selected military personnel is on a mission to Pandora to find rare minerals, that is the key to solving Earth’s energy crisis.


To learn about Pandora’s biosphere and its inhabitants called Na’vi, scientists developed an Avatar Program. Avatars are genetically engineered hybrids of human DNA mixed with DNA of Na’vi that are operated via mental link of its avatar operator. Jake Sully, a paraplegic ex-Marine is recruited to be part of the mission and replaces his twin brother who was part of the program.


As Jake begins to appreciate the beauty and secrets of Pandora, he finds himself torn between the ruthless military-industrial forces of Earth, and the Na’vi - forcing him to choose sides and fight back in an epic battle for the fate of Pandora.



"It might be more impressive on a technical level than as a piece of storytelling, but Avatar reaffirms James Cameron's singular gift for imaginative, absorbing filmmaking." -Rottentomatoes



Movie Trivia:

• Avatar is one of the most expensive movies ever made (as of December 2009), with an estimated budget of US $280,000,000.
• It is also the first movie to reach more than US$ 2.5 billion mark worldwide, making it the highest grossing film in history.
• James Cameron was convinced that CGI effects had improved to make this film as what he had imagined when he saw Gollum in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002).

Source: Internet Movie DataBase

Wanted

Wanted (2008)

Genre:
Action | Adventure


Cast:
James McAvoy
Morgan Freeman
Angelina Jolie
Terence Stamp


Director:
Timur Bekmambetov

Wanted is based on a comic book miniseries created by Mark Millar. This action movie is directed by a Russian director, Timur Bekmambetov. Starring Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman, James McAvoy, and Terence Stamp.


Summary:
The storyline follows Wesley Gibson (James McAvoy), a cube-dwelling, frustrated office worker with a dull and depressing life. Until he crossed path with a hot female assassin named Fox (Angelina Jolie) and introduces him to The Fraternity, a secret guild of the best assassins being led by the enigmatic Sloan (Morgan Freeman).

As a new member of The Fraternity, he must undergo a series of physical tests and discover his special skills - which is similar to his father. Thru this, he could take revenge on his father's death who's once a member of the secret guild. It's his destiny to be part of The Fraternity but there some secrets that he must uncover about the guild in order to find out his own destiny.


"Working a niche somewhere between the black comedy of Fight Club and the ultrafashionable mayhem of The Matrix, Wanted is an experience that's hard to defend as a whole but mesmerizing in a highway-accident rubbernecking kind of way."
-from RottenTomatoes


Movie Trivia:

• James McAvoy undergo trainings to improve his physique for preparation for his role as Wes.
• James McAvoy suffered an injured knee and a twisted ankle during shooting.
• According to Angelina Jolie, she based her role in Wanted on Clint Eastwood.

Source: Internet Movie Database

The Dark Knight

The Dark Knight (2008)
Movie Information

Genre:
Action | Adventure

Main Cast:
Christian Bale
Michael Caine
Heath Ledger
Aaron Eckhart
Gary Oldman
Maggie Gyllenhaal
Morgan Freeman

Director:
Christopher Nolan


About the movie:
The Dark Knight, which is part of Christopher Nolan's Batman film series is follow-up to the action-hit Batman Begins (2005). Christian Bale reprises the role of the caped crusader - Batman.

The film focuses on Batman's fight against a new villain, a psychopathic criminal named Joker (Heath Ledger), who is the mastermind of numerous organized crimes in Gotham City.

With the help of Lt. Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman) and District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), Batman sets out to eliminate and dismantle the remaining criminal organizations that plague the city streets. Their partnership proves to be effective, but they soon find themselves prey to a reign of chaos unleashed by a rising criminal mastermind known to the terrified citizens of Gotham as the Joker.


Movie Trivia:

• The Dark Knight is the first Batman movie without "Batman" in the title.

• Matt Damon was the first choice of Christopher Nolan to play the role of Harvey Dent but he turned it down.

• Other actors that were considered to have a part in the film are Jake Gyllenhaal, Hugh Jackman, John Lucas and Ryan Phillippe.

Iron Man

Iron Man (2008)
Movie Information

Genre:
Action | Adventure

Main Cast:
Robert Downey Jr.
Gwyneth Paltrow
Jeff Bridges
Terrence Howard

Director:
Jon Favreau

About the movie:
Iron Man is an action-adventure movie based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. Robert Downey Jr. played the lead role as Tony Stark - a billionaire industrialist who designs and manufactures weapons and becomes the technologically advanced superhero, Iron Man.

Tony Stark lived a good life having the everything man has dreamt of - money, fortune and gorgeous women. But during a business trip to Afganistan to demonstrate Stark Industries' new weapon, his convoy was attacked and captured by a terrorist group. As he awakened, Stark discovers an electromagnet attached to his chest, powered by a car battery and designed to keep the shrapnel from piercing his heart and killing him. He was tortured by the group and forced to build a Jericho missile for them - which is his most powerful weapon. With the help of a captor named Yinsen (Shaun Toub), they created a special iron suit instead that can withstand almost anything shot at it and it is loaded with an arsenal of weapons to destroy the terrorist camp and its inhabitants. With this amazing weapon he had built, suddenly his destiny shifts into something he didn't expected it to be.

Movie Trivia:

• Nicolas Cage and Tom Cruise were interested in playing Iron Man.


• Quentin Tarantino, Joss Whedon, and Nick Cassavetes were approached to direct the film.


• Robert Downey Jr. spent five days a week in weight and martial arts training to get into shape as a preparation for his role as Iron Man.


• It's the first film released in 2008 to pass the $300 million mark at the domestic box office.