The People’s Choice Award

As I mentioned in an earlier post, VaRaces.com annually holds competitions for achievements in movie car chases. One of these awards is the people’s choice award. This award is solely based on which car chase people enjoyed the most. Votes were based on the visitors of the website, who participated through the net.

For 2006, these were the nominees:

“Cars
This animated blockbuster was long awaited by just about everyone with even a passing interest in automobiles. The crew at Pixar did a great job in bringing to life some classic models and archetypes. And they didn't stop there, Cars featured some flatout thrilling race scenes that rival anything 'real life' movies could muster.

Crank
When the main character of the film has to keep his heart rate elevated just too stay alive, you can be sure that a chase scene isn't going to be long in coming.

Dejavu
When is a chase not a chase, but still a chase? The mind bending chase sequence where the hero attempts to follow a car in the past while dealing with traffic in the present was a favorite of many chase fans.

Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
The 3rd entry into the Fast and the Furious series was named Tokyo drift for a reason. Some of the best drifters in the world were on set to put the cars to the test.

Final Contract: Death on Delivery
The Mercedes A-Class isn’t the type of car you think of when you picture a great chase Scene. Final Contract changed all that with a sequence that encompassed the street, rooftops and everything in between.

Waist Deep
It was a surprise when a car chase turned up at the end of this urban thriller. It was an even bigger surprise when the chase turned out to be one of the best of the year.” (From VaRaces.com)

The winner is… DeJavu. I agree. Its rare to see a car chase that is really… Impossible to explain for people who haven’t seen the movie. The film evaded conventional theatrics and delivered a knock-out car chase. Me and my buddies are still talking about it. It’s been two years already!

Sources: VaRaces.com

Knight Replicas

If you’re an enthusiast of the 80’s then you’re probably familiar with the famous TV show Knight Rider. It aired on television from 1982 to 1986. It was even converted to a feature length film by Universal Studios in 1991. As the plot goes,

“Michael Long, a police officer, was shot in the face by the criminals he was investigating. Rescued from death by a terminally ill industrialist Wilton Knight, Michael was convinced to continue his fight against crime and injustice with a new face and a new identity. Michael Long was pronounced dead, and Michael Knight was born. As part of his new life, Michael agreed to become the primary operative for FLAG (Foundation for Law And Government) and was given a new car. A car unlike any other, the Knight Industries Two Thousand (KITT); the fastest, safest, strongest, and smartest car in the world” (Knight Replicas.com)

Well, rumors are spreading that the TV series is going to make another debut. I’m not sure if it’s going to be on TV or at the movie house. Anyways, do you happen to know what Knight Replicas are?

I was browsing through car movie websites and I stumbled upon Knight Replicas.com. It features replicas of vehicles used in the Knight Rider series. Most of the replicated vehicles are KITTs. It is amazing how crazed fans will travel long lengths to imitate KITT.

As to the extent and accuracy of these replicas, they can be classified into four types: (1) Façade replica – which means only the exterior look is reproduced (2) Accurate replica – includes reproduction of exterior and interior, however some parts are strictly for display only (3) Authentic replica – means the parts used were the exact parts of an original KITT and finally (4) a functional replica – this version does not only look like a clone of KITT, it also talks like KITT. It has functional controls and features that make you feel like David Hasselhoff!

Go KITT crazy!

Sources: Knight Replicas.com

Car Scenes with Fake backgrounds

Yes.

We have all seen lame car scenes at the theater, at least once. You know those car scenes that have a moving picture as a background. It seems logical – it just uses a computer to plant one picture behind another. However, it always ends up looking fake and lame. Most especially in older movies. For some people it actually gives the film a more vintage feel.

But nevertheless, there is apparently some method in this madness.

During the old days, film equipment weighed a lot heavier. Cameras housing 35mm or 70mm roles were very heavy. Whenever movies were filmed in this type of camera, the rolls cause shakes inside. It made the film itself, blurry and unstable. So directors opted to shoot car scenes inside a studio. In a studio, cameras could be planted in a tripod to assure film quality.

The website Ask the Van expresses,

“In the old days, with the big, heavy cameras, the easiest kind of shooting that could be done was inside in a big soundstage. That way you can control the lighting, noise, and all the other variables.

People put cars in the soundstages, took the windshields out, and filmed actors sitting in the cars. To make it look a bit as if the car was moving, some scenery was projected on a screen in back of the car. This gives a really really hokey effect as you well notice. The main problems are that the actors are a little too stationary as the scenery bounces up and down. Or worse yet, the actors are told to bounce up and down, and their bouncing has nothing to do with how the scenery moves. If the scenery indicates a turn is happening, and the actors don’t seem to show the effects in how their hair blows or moves, or their bodies move, you notice the problem right away. I don’t think using computer image compositing would help, if it were done with the same kind of thing in mind.

Even worse tricks were used in some of the lower-budget movies of yesteryear. Sometimes if you look at the background scenery, you can see it repeat and repeat and repeat. Yick. Or the magnification wouldn’t be right -- say the background was shot with a lens with a different zoom setting than the people in the car.”

Nowadays, car scenes are less cumbersome. Since the inception of digital cameras, on-location car scene shooting has been easier.

Next time you see a fake car scene and somebody quips about it, tell him why it’s like that. Be a servant of the car movie world.

Sources: Ask the Van

Remember Christine?

The movie Christine was released in 1983. The plot revolves around Arnie Cunningham, a nerd who is restless about who he is. To top things off, his best friend (Dennis Guilder) is the high school foot ball jock. Talk about things that contribute to insecurity? Anyways, the duo stumbles upon an old car in a local junk shop.

Arnie instantly falls in love with “Christine”, a red 1958 Plymouth Fury. He decides to dedicate his efforts in restoring the vehicle. IMDB narrates the rest of the story,

Arnie Cunningham is a typical high school nerd who is picked on, overruled by his parents, and has very few friends. Until he meets Christine, a run-down 1958 Plymouth Fury and buys her. Arnie learns that Christine has a thing for him and devotes his time to restoring her to Mint Condition. But overtime, Arnie begins to change and becomes disconnected with reality and his friends. Arnie's girlfriend Leigh and best friend Dennis find out that Christine's previous owner cared about nothing else when he bought her and find out that Arnie is becoming just like him. The only way they can bring Arnie back to reality is to destroy Christine, But Arnie and Christine are ready to destroy them first and any one else who gets in their way.

The movie is a certified classic for car movie aficionados. Everybody remembers the scene when Arnie talked to Christine, saying “show me”. After which, the car began repairing itself!

That’s just classic.

Sources: IMDB

Reliving a Classic: The Cannon Ball Run

The long distance race has been around the car movie genre since time immemorial. The formula is simple: there are diverse groups of people and each group drives different automobiles. They race across a long patch of land, usually cross-country. In addition to that, there is an over zealous traffic law enforcer who pursues the racers at all costs.

Some good long distance racing movies are: Speed Zone, Gum Ball, Rally and Death race 2000. However, the ultimate long distance race movie is The Cannon Ball Run.

The movie is based on an actual illegal cross country race that took place a couple of times during the late 70’s. A bunch of people competed against each other to see who can cross the United States under the shortest time. It was said that the race featured all sorts of vehicles, ranging from Hot Rods, Ferraris and Muscle Cars.

The Characters

The film The Cannonball Run featured an assortment of characters:

• There is a bored millionaire who just wants to win the race
• A retired racer/ stunt driver who wants to prove he still has the skills
• A host of comic relief characters
• The gambler who needs the money to pay a debt
• And of course, two sexy vixens cruising in a sports car, using their charisma to evade parking tickets.

The Cars

Let us now get into more important matters. The movie displays a variety of cars:

• A European exotic – Ferrari or Lamborghini
• An American Muscle Car
• A truck
• A gimmick car filled with all sorts of contraptions
• A police car

These cars have become standards for any long distance race car movie.

The movie is so cliché that it turns itself into a great film! It stars Burt Reynolds, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Terry Bradshaw, among other notables. To top it off the cars were fantastic.

Definitely a must have for people who like car movies.

Sources: Varaces.com

COMING SOON: CLUTCH

For those all those who admire car chases, car stunts and what not, the movie clutch is getting set for release next year (2009).

Clutch is an indie film that follows the story of a young small-town race driver. He risks everything (his friends, family and loved ones) when he decides to leave it all on the line for racing. Through out the plot, the audience is treated to a wide array of muscle cars. The movie has promised to bring lots of eye candy for the bona fide car enthusiasts. The movie was shot in Seattle.

Because it is an independent film, the movie features some lesser known actors. It stars: Jay Rowlands, Alan Luxmore and Amy Colton. It was produced by Renegade productions.

In a recent interview, lead actor Jay Rowlands commented, “I wanted a car chase that the viewer can believe. The driving is real. The stunts are real. There won't be any cars flying over open draw bridges or 200 yard ravines, no police cars barrel rolling through the air because they hit a pipe ramp hidden in front of a parked car- non of that stuff. The car chase in clutch lends itself to the story well and has it's own unique ending. I believe my audience will dig it”.

We’ll get back to you on that Jay. For now, all we can do is wait until the film is available for our viewing pleasure.

Sources: Varaces.com

Go Speed Racer!

Yes.

The classic cartoon television series is making its much anticipated appearance in the silver screen.

The Speed Racer cartoon series was aired in the 1960s. It was based on a Japanese anime series titled “Mach GoGoGo”. Speed Racer is a great example of a Japanese cartoon that became successful in America. This success inspired Warner Brothers (WB) to invest on the film adaptation of the popular TV series.

WB spared no expense in finding the right people to make this movie work. It is written and directed by the Wachowski brothers (The creators of the Matrix Trilogy) and produced by Joel Silver. The cast includes: Emil Hirsch (From ‘Girl Next Door’ and ‘Into the Wild’) as Speed, Matthew Fox (From TV series ‘Lost’) as Racer X, John Goodman as Pops and Christina Ricci as Trixie.

As the story goes, Speed Racer is a natural behind the wheel. He races to live up to his brother’s legacy – Rex Racer. Rex Racer died in a race car accident. Speed took it upon himself to fulfill Rex’s unfinished legacy. Their father Pops Racer is the engineer of the race team.

When Speed turns down a contract to drive for Royalton Industries, he enrages the company owner Roger Allam. In addition, Speed manages to uncover a terrible secret of the company – some of their races are fixed. Allam does everything he can to ensure that Speed does not cross the finish line.

With threats to himself, his family and their business Speed decides to take matters in to his own hands. He teams up with rival Racer X to try to pull off a win in the most death defying cross-country race of the rally known as “The Crucible”. This is the same race that took his brother’s life.

Enough of the story and its characters. We all know that the real star of the movie is the car – The Mach 5.

The movie is scheduled for release on May 9, 2008. Trailers have already produced buzz that this film will showcase exhilarating car scenes.

Sources: Warner Brothers