Tag: Tony Scott

Tony Scott’s TOP GUN Returns To The Big Screen In IMAX 3D For Very First Time

TOP GUN, Paramount Pictures’ 1986 classic from director Tony Scott, producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer, and starring Tom Cruise, takes off on a new adventure with an exclusive six-day 3D engagement in select IMAX® theatres beginning February 8, 2013. The film has been re-mastered for the IMAX® 3D release and subsequent debut on Blu-ray.

TOP GUN was re-mastered for the big screen from high-resolution original negative scans and painstakingly converted to 3D by Legend3D under the supervision of the film’s director, Tony Scott. Rendered in 3D, the film’s complex, long shots reveal extraordinary depth and clarity, allowing viewers to explore every detail of the action. From the spectacular aerial dogfights to the intense close-ups in the cockpits, each frame enables the audience to feel a part of the story.

The story of an elite group of pilots competing to be the best in their class and earn the title of “TOP GUN” captured the imagination of a generation and earned a worldwide box office of over $350 million upon its release. The film stars Tom Cruise as Maverick and Kelly McGillis as his civilian instructor. The film also stars Val Kilmer, Anthony Edwards and Meg Ryan.

The “TOP GUN” Blu-ray 3D disc presents the film with pristine high definition picture and sparkling sound in spectacular 3D for the ultimate home viewing experience. The Blu-ray 2D includes the re-mastered film in high definition, along with a six-part documentary on the making of the movie, a behind-the-scenes featurette, interviews with Tom Cruise, commentary by producer Jerry Bruckheimer, director Tony Scott, co-screenwriter Jack Epps, Jr. and more. The two-disc set available for purchase also includes a digital copy of the film and will be enabled with UltraViolet technology.

Director Tony Scott – RIP

From the AP – LOS ANGELES –

Tony Scott, director of such Hollywood blockbusters as “Top Gun,” “Days of Thunder” and “Beverly Hills Cop II,” died Sunday after jumping from a Los Angeles County Bridge, authorities said.

The 68-year-old Scott’s death was being investigated as a suicide, Los Angeles County Coroner’s Lt. Joe Bale said.

Several people called 911 around 12:35 p.m. to report that someone had jumped from the Vincent Thomas Bridge spanning San Pedro and Terminal Island in Los Angeles, according to Los Angeles police Lt. Tim Nordquist.

A dive team with Los Angeles Port Police pulled the body from the murky water several hours later, Nordquist said. Scott’s body was taken to a dock in Wilmington and turned over to the county coroner’s office.

One lane of the eastbound side of the bridge was closed to traffic during the investigation.

U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Jennifer Osburn told the Daily Breeze that a suicide note was found inside Scott’s black Toyota Prius, which was parked on one of the eastbound lanes of the bridge.

The British-born Scott was producer and director Ridley Scott’s brother.

The two brothers ran Scott Free Productions and were working jointly on a film called “Killing Lincoln,” based on the best seller by Bill O’Reilly. Ridley Scott’s “Prometheus” was a summer blockbuster.

“Top Gun,” starring Tom Cruise, was one of the highest-grossing films of 1986. The pair worked together again four years later on the hit “Days of Thunder.”

Scott frequently worked with Denzel Washington, most recently on the runaway train drama “Unstoppable.” Scott and Washington collaborated on four other films: “Man on Fire,” Deja Vu,” and “The Taking of Pelham 123.”

In a tweet Sunday, Director Ron Howard said, “No more Tony Scott movies. Tragic day.”

Other Scott films include “True Romance,” “Crimson Tide” and “Man on Fire.

Scott was married to actress Donna Scott. They have twin sons.

Eva Green Stars In Jordan Scott’s CRACKS Trailer

Watch this trailer for CRACKS, the debut film from Jordan Scott – Ridley Scott’s daughter. An official selection of the Toronto and London BFI Film Festivals, CRACKS is an elaborate drama teeming with psycho-sexual intrigue, featuring a terrific young cast and a blistering performance from Eva Green. Read The Playlist’s favorable review HERE.

Synopsis:

CRACKS, the dazzling debut film from Jordan Scott (daughter of legendary director Ridley Scott), stars Eva Green as Miss G, a glamorous force in an idyllic British boarding school. The school’s most elite clique, led by Di (Juno Temple), rule the school and compete for the attention of Miss G, who thrives on the girls’ fascination and eggs them on with lessons in a scandalously liberated world view. But, when a beautiful Spanish girl, Fiamma (Maria Valverde), appears at the school, the girls are immediately threatened by the outsider’s perfect allure. Even Miss G, who loved being the most glamorous presence in her girls’ lives, becomes obsessed with, threatened and tantalized by Fiamma…

From IFC Films, CRACKS will be in theaters on Friday, March 18 and On Demand March 23rd.

Review: LIFE IN A DAY

LIFE IN A DAY reminded me of the unique docu-art films of Godfrey Reggio. I have no problem calling this the KOYAANISQATSI for the twitter and YouTube generation. Produced by the brothers Scott, Ridley and Tony, Kevin McDonald orchestrated the final film from 5000 hours of user-submitted videos via YouTube, all of which were shot on the day of July 24, 2010.

The film ends with credits fitting of the film’s theme, giving directorial credit not only to Kevin McDonald, but also to each of the many contributors that made this LIFE IN A DAY possible. The film is a journey through a single day; a mosaic of many lives, each in a single isolated moment brought together for a unified purpose. LIFE IN A DAY highlights our differences, regardless of how foreign and unfamiliar, can bring us closer together.

One of the underlying themes on LIFE IN A DAY touches on something I’ve found fascinating for a long time, that being how even what outwardly may seem mundane, daily monotony can have hidden beauty just under the surface. Get close enough to truly see and appreciate what something is and you’ll see the inherently simple and magical essence of everything.

While there are countless shots and segments of great beauty, scenes of wonder and curiosity, there are also a number of thought-provoking, even emotional scenes that force us to consider the world around us in all it’s three-dimensional reality. Adults, young and old, as well as children and teenagers from across the globe, wealthy and poor, make up the fabric of this cinematic experiment.

A few of my favorite moments in the film in clued the little girl in her helmet, an eager and talented climber, represents the uninhibited imagination and drive to explore that we all possess prior to adulthood. A teenage boy shaves for the first time with his father’s guidance, an interesting metaphor for the transition from childhood to adulthood. Uncertainty that inevitably leads to pain is ultimately survived and followed by a sense of satisfaction. Growing up may not always be easy, but it’s never as bad as it seems.

Finally, a moment touched upon twice in the film, introduces us to a Korean man bicycling around the world. Over nine years traveled to date and having touched more countries than most can name, this man continues his quest with a personal dream of seeing a united Korea once again. His journey is one of hope and persistence, adding to the scope of LIFE IN A DAY, which unveils some of it’s darker content in the latter third of the film.

LIFE IN A DAY combines a variety of video styles, stringing together a multitude of relatively random moments with a mesmerizing score from Harry Gregson-Williams and Matthew Herbert. The music adds greatly to the emotional impact of the film. This project, meant to be an audio-visual time capsule for future generations, does a tremendous job of capturing not just the positive aspects of life as it was on July 24, 2010, but also the humility and uncertainty, even the uncomfortably unsavory undercurrents of life, allowing those who follow us to realize that life is never perfect, but it’s always ours to live.

Review: UNSTOPPABLE

The Fall and Winter movie season is generally the time for the very serious Oscar contender dramas, but every so often an escapist thrill ride will sneak in after Summer’s a distant memory. Such is the case with Denzel Washington’s fifth collaboration with director Tony Scott, UNSTOPPABLE. Although the film claims to be inspired by true events, much of it’s inspiration is the classic disaster films of the 70’s. Instead of having to deal with nature(the shark in JAWS) they’re contending with a man made terror with the potential of widespread calamity.

The films starts on a typical early morning at a train yard in New England. There, a new engineer Will (Chris Pine) meets some of the railroad vets sitting around a table discussing the recent cut backs over their coffee. Will has been assigned to learn from Frank (Denzel Washington), who is riding out his final sixty days there. Meanwhile Dewey (Ethan Suplee) jumps out of the front car of a train he is pulling out in order to manually push the rail switch. Unfortunately the controls shift and the train picks up so much speed that Dewey cannot jump back into it. The train is charging ahead without connected brake hoses and no one in control. As Frank and Will are taking their train out, Connie (Rosario Dawson)  at the control center learns of the runaway and tries to find a way to stop it. A visiting safety inspector, Werner (Kevin Corrigan), tells her the nature of the deadly chemicals that the runaway is transporting. Connie must also deal with the company boss, Galvin (Kevin Dunn)who seems more concerned with the bottom line than saving lives. After learning that the runaway is headed for them, Frank and Will must work together on avoiding a collision and stopping the deadly train before it crashes into a populated area.

It’s a fairly simple plot told with great style by action film veteran, Scott.TV news choppers constantly surround the train to give lots of exiting shots of what could be dull locomotive footage. Chris Pine builds on the movie star charisma established as the new Captain Kirk in last year’s STAR TREK reboot. His character is dealing with a crumbling marriage in addition to averting disaster. Dawson’s very believable as she becomes the men’s lifeline and co-planner. Dunn is hiss-ably slimy as he encompasses the  standard movie businessman baddie. The cold, down-sizing, corporate creep may be replacing the foreign terrorist as the movie’s go to villain in the future. And of course there’s the movie’s anchor, Washington. The weary railroad dog is tough with Will at first, but as the tension builds he warms up to the young man. Not only will Frank soon be unemployed, but he’s a recent widower who’s a bit estranged from his two twenty-something daughters. Frank may be up in years, but he’s got enough spunk to tell the company boss that his plan to derail the runaway will not work. And are you really going to doubt him? The movie’s got a great score and expert stunt work (shades of SILVER STREAK). Sure it’s not a big serious Fall movie, but it goes down great with a nice, warm tub of popcorn.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

Watch Denzel Washington & Chris Pine In This UNSTOPPABLE Behind-The-Scenes Featurette

From Yahoo! Movies comes this behind-the-scenes look of 20th Century Fox’s UNSTOPPABLE. Denzel Washington and Chris Pine talk about their characters in the movie.

Here’s another look at the film’s trailer:

Synopsis:

Oscar-winner Denzel Washington and STAR TREK’S Chris Pine team with action maestro Tony Scott (CRIMSON TIDE, DEJA VU, THE TAKING OF THE PELHAM 1 2 3) in this non-stop thriller. A massive unmanned locomotive, nicknamed “The Beast” and loaded with toxic cargo, roars through the countryside, vaporizing anything put in front of it. A veteran engineer (Washington) and a young conductor (Pine), aboard another train in the runaway’s path, devise an incredible plan to try and stop it – and prevent certain disaster in a heavily populated area.

From director Tony Scott, UNSTOPPABLE opens in theaters on Friday, November 12, 2010. Visit the film’s official site here, on Facebook here and on Twitter here.

The movie is rated ‘PG-13’ for sequences of action and peril and some language.

UNSTOPPABLE Trailer Stars Denzel Washington & Chris Pine

Chris Pine and Denzel Washington star in this trailer for the upcoming film, UNSTOPPABLE.

The Tony Scott-directed film tells the story of two courageous men – a conductor (Pine) and an engineer (Washington) who work together to stop an unmanned train carrying eight freight cars filled with enough hazardous chemicals to wipe out an entire city.

This will be the 5th movie that Washington and Scott have worked on together, with the other four being CRIMSON TIDE, DEJA VU, MAN ON FIRE, &  THE TAKING OF PELHAM 1 2 3. From 20th Century Fox, UNSTOPPABLE will be in theaters November 12, 2010!

Tony Scott Loves Chippendales

tony scott

For a second there, I had a vision of Tony Scott directing a rebooted version of CHIP ‘N DALE’S RESCUE RANGERS that played like an animated DOMINO with an alcoholic Monterey Jack and a pervy Zipper.  But, alas, that is not to be.  As I looked closer (and actually read) the article over at Variety, I saw that Scott will, instead, be directing a film about the rise and eventual fall of Steve Banerjee, the man who created the Chippendales nightclub during the ’80s.

From a script written by Lisa Schrager (PAY THE GIRL and GANGSTA BITCHES), the film, as yet untitled, is an adaptation of a manuscript from Rodney Shelton and is said to have a tone “similar” to Scott’s 1993 films TRUE ROMANCE.  The film would follow Banerjee from the time he pumped gas to him creating the nightclub to his eventual swirl into drugs and competition before going to jail in the early ’90s.  No doubt the scene involving Banerjee hiring a hitman to take out his own dance choreographer will feature ample amounts of quick flashes and grainy film stock.

Scott is currently in production on UNSTOPPABLE.  There is no word on whether the Chippendales film is next on his plate.  If you wanna fund that RESCUE RANGERS movie idea I had, you know where to contact me.

Denzel Out of ‘Unstoppable’

denzel washington

In a bit of news that surprises no one, Denzel Washington has stepped away from ‘Unstoppable,’ deciding not to wait around for 20th Century Fox to decide on a new start date on production.   It was announced a few weeks ago that Fox was reconsidering the film due to budget concerns and the poor performance of ‘The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3.’   ‘Unstoppable’ would have been the fifth collaboration between Washington and director Tony Scott. Continue reading Denzel Out of ‘Unstoppable’

‘Unstoppable’ Stopped

denzel washington

The Denzel Washington/Tony Scott train might be slowing down in more ways than one.   What would have been the fifth collaboration between the actor and the director, ‘Unstoppable,’ is looking like its production might be halted.   Budget issues and diminishing returns from the Washington/Scott alliance has caused 20th Century Fox to reconsider the project, and it could be put on hold altogether before too long.

Washington and Scott’s first film together, ‘Crimson Tide,’ released in Summer of 1995, made $91.3 million domestic.   Each film they have done together since has made less and less.   2004’s ‘Man on Fire’ topped out at $77.9 million domestic.   2006’s ‘Deja Vu’ made just over $64 million.   Their latest film, ‘The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3,’ which also boasts a $100 million pricetag, is looking like it will hold up at just under $60 million.

‘Unstoppable’ is another train-based project for the duo.   It centers on a runaway train carrying a cargo of toxic chemicals.   Washington would play a veteran engineer who, along with a young conductor, attempts to stop the train.  Chris Pine is on board to play the conductor.

The current climate of studios wanting to keep tight reigns on their budgets is becoming an ever-concerning issue for filmmakers.  This is particularly the case when your lead actor is Washington, someone who generally banks $20 million per picture, and your director is Tony Scott, someone not exactly known for his small films.

And, while Fox slowing production up on ‘Unstoppable’ isn’t as last minute as what was seen last week with Sony and Steven Soderbergh’s ‘Moneyball,’ it still puts Washington and Scott in a precarious position.  The two were planning on production to begin sometime this coming Fall, and, now, that start date looks to be completely up in the air.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter