Copyright © 2015 Bert N. Langford (Images may be subject to copyright. Please send feedback)
Welcome to Our Generation USA!
Most Popular Movie Franchises
Most Popular Movie Franchises
Within the Following, we will cover Movie Franchises (i.e. two or more related movies including prequels/sequels) that have attained the highest box office receipts in the United States since 1950!
For any movie not a part of a Franchise, click on "Popular Movies" to be taken to that web page.
Back to the Future Movie Franchise
YouTube Video Back To The Future [1985] - The DeLorean
Pictured: Back to the Future Movie Franchise Logo
The Back to the Future franchise is an American science fiction–comedy film series written and directed by Robert Zemeckis, produced by Bob Gale and Neil Canton for Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment, and distributed by Universal Pictures.
The franchise follows the adventures of a high school student, Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox), and an eccentric scientist, Dr. Emmett L. Brown (Christopher Lloyd), as they use a DeLorean time machine to time travel to different periods in the history of Hill Valley, California.
The first film was the highest-grossing film of 1985 and became an international phenomenon, leading to the second and third films, which were back-to-back film productions, released in 1989 and 1990, respectively.
Though the sequels did not perform quite as well at the box office as the first film, the trilogy remains immensely popular after 30 years and has yielded such spin-offs as an animated television series and a motion-simulation ride at the Universal Studios Theme Parks in Universal City, California and Osaka, Japan, as well as a Microsoft Windows, Macintosh, iPad, PS3, and Wii video game.
The film's visual effects were done by Industrial Light and Magic. The trilogy was nominated for five Academy Awards all together, winning one (Best Sound Editing).
The Franchise grossed $ 957.6 Million in Box Office Receipts.
Below is a synopsis of each movie: you can also click on any blue hyperlinked title for more about each movie:
Back to the Future (1985)
Seventeen-year-old Marty McFly is accidentally sent back in time from 1985 to 1955 in a time machine built from a DeLorean by eccentric scientist Emmett "Doc" Brown, when Marty is attacked by Libyans from whom Doc stole the plutonium that gives the flux capacitor the 1.21 gigawatts it needs to time-travel.
Soon after his arrival in 1955, Marty's mother Lorraine falls in love with him, rather than with his father George McFly, threatening to cause a paradox that would result in Marty's nonexistence. Without plutonium to power the time machine, Marty must find the 1955 Doc Brown to help him reunite his parents and return to 1985.
The efforts of Biff Tannen, George's bully and supervisor, further complicate Marty's situation until Marty successfully causes his parents to fall in love and simultaneously convinces George to finally stand up to Biff.
Returning to the future via a lightning strike that powers the machine, Marty discovers a vastly improved situation for the McFly family, as a much more confident George has become an accomplished science-fiction novelist, and an apparently-softened Biff is now an auto detailer, rather than George's supervisor.
Despite 1955 Doc's insistence on not knowing details of the future, a note Marty leaves in his pocket saves him from being killed by the terrorists. But in the film's final moments, Doc Brown appears in a modified version of the DeLorean and tells Marty and his girlfriend Jennifer Parker that they must travel to the future to fix a problem caused by Marty and Jennifer's kids.
Box Office Receipts: $381.1 million
___________________________________________________________________________
Back to the Future Part II (1989)
The series continues as Doc Brown travels with Marty and Jennifer to the year 2015 where he has discovered Marty's family is in ruins.
Shortly after correcting the situation, Marty buys a sports almanac containing the outcomes of 50 years (1950–2000) worth of sporting events to make easy money. However, Doc talks him out of it and throws the almanac in the trash, where the 2015 Biff Tannen finds it.
A sleeping Jennifer has been taken by police to her future home, needing Marty and Doc to retrieve her before returning to 1985. While Marty and Doc are at the 2015 McFly home, 2015 Biff steals the DeLorean time machine and gives the book to his 1955 self just before he goes to the dance at the end of the first movie.
When Doc and Marty return to 1985, they find that Biff has used the sports almanac's knowledge for financial gain, which allows him to turn Courthouse Square into a 27-story casino, take over Hill Valley, get away with the murder of Marty's father, and later marry Marty's mother.
Marty learns that Biff was given the book by 2015 Biff on November 12, 1955, so he and Doc go back to that date in order to steal the almanac from Biff before he can use it to destroy their lives. They accomplish this in a complex fashion, often crossing their own past-selves' paths.
When the duo are about to travel back to 1985, a lightning bolt strikes the DeLorean and activates the time circuits, sending Doc back to 1885 and leaving Marty stranded once again in 1955.
Box Office Receipts: $332 Million
___________________________________________________________________________
Back to the Future Part III (1990)
After finding out that Doc Brown is trapped in 1885, Marty sets out to find the 1955 Doc to help him fix the DeLorean (which has been waiting for him in a mineshaft for 70 years) and restore it to working order.
Learning that Doc gets shot in 1885 by Biff's great-grandfather, Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen, Marty travels back in time to save Doc (who has become a blacksmith) and bring him back to the future.
Arriving in the middle of a melee between the United States Cavalry and American Indians, an Indian arrow pierces a hole in the DeLorean's fuel line, emptying the gas tank and rendering the engine useless.
Doc falls in love with schoolteacher Clara Clayton, and considers staying in the past. Marty must convince Doc to come back with him and find a way to get back to his time before it's too late.
After several dramatic action scenes involving using a speeding locomotive to push the DeLorean to 88 miles per hour (142 km/h), Marty returns to 1985 without Doc Brown, who stayed behind with Clara in 1885. When the DeLorean appears in 1985 on the same train track as planned, a modern train destroys the DeLorean, with Marty jumping out just in time.
Marty reveals to Jennifer the time travel adventure and they visit the scene of the wreckage of the DeLorean. He worries that Doc has been lost in the past forever, when suddenly Doc Brown appears in a new time machine, modeled after a locomotive.
He introduces Jennifer and Marty to Clara (to whom he is now married) and his two sons, Jules and Verne.
When Marty asks if Doc and his family are going to the future, Doc replies that he has "already been there". Doc's last words of wisdom is that nobody knows their future, so they "must make it a good one". The locomotive flies across the sky and disappears, ending the trilogy.
Box Office Receipts: $244.5 Million
The franchise follows the adventures of a high school student, Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox), and an eccentric scientist, Dr. Emmett L. Brown (Christopher Lloyd), as they use a DeLorean time machine to time travel to different periods in the history of Hill Valley, California.
The first film was the highest-grossing film of 1985 and became an international phenomenon, leading to the second and third films, which were back-to-back film productions, released in 1989 and 1990, respectively.
Though the sequels did not perform quite as well at the box office as the first film, the trilogy remains immensely popular after 30 years and has yielded such spin-offs as an animated television series and a motion-simulation ride at the Universal Studios Theme Parks in Universal City, California and Osaka, Japan, as well as a Microsoft Windows, Macintosh, iPad, PS3, and Wii video game.
The film's visual effects were done by Industrial Light and Magic. The trilogy was nominated for five Academy Awards all together, winning one (Best Sound Editing).
The Franchise grossed $ 957.6 Million in Box Office Receipts.
Below is a synopsis of each movie: you can also click on any blue hyperlinked title for more about each movie:
Back to the Future (1985)
Seventeen-year-old Marty McFly is accidentally sent back in time from 1985 to 1955 in a time machine built from a DeLorean by eccentric scientist Emmett "Doc" Brown, when Marty is attacked by Libyans from whom Doc stole the plutonium that gives the flux capacitor the 1.21 gigawatts it needs to time-travel.
Soon after his arrival in 1955, Marty's mother Lorraine falls in love with him, rather than with his father George McFly, threatening to cause a paradox that would result in Marty's nonexistence. Without plutonium to power the time machine, Marty must find the 1955 Doc Brown to help him reunite his parents and return to 1985.
The efforts of Biff Tannen, George's bully and supervisor, further complicate Marty's situation until Marty successfully causes his parents to fall in love and simultaneously convinces George to finally stand up to Biff.
Returning to the future via a lightning strike that powers the machine, Marty discovers a vastly improved situation for the McFly family, as a much more confident George has become an accomplished science-fiction novelist, and an apparently-softened Biff is now an auto detailer, rather than George's supervisor.
Despite 1955 Doc's insistence on not knowing details of the future, a note Marty leaves in his pocket saves him from being killed by the terrorists. But in the film's final moments, Doc Brown appears in a modified version of the DeLorean and tells Marty and his girlfriend Jennifer Parker that they must travel to the future to fix a problem caused by Marty and Jennifer's kids.
Box Office Receipts: $381.1 million
___________________________________________________________________________
Back to the Future Part II (1989)
The series continues as Doc Brown travels with Marty and Jennifer to the year 2015 where he has discovered Marty's family is in ruins.
Shortly after correcting the situation, Marty buys a sports almanac containing the outcomes of 50 years (1950–2000) worth of sporting events to make easy money. However, Doc talks him out of it and throws the almanac in the trash, where the 2015 Biff Tannen finds it.
A sleeping Jennifer has been taken by police to her future home, needing Marty and Doc to retrieve her before returning to 1985. While Marty and Doc are at the 2015 McFly home, 2015 Biff steals the DeLorean time machine and gives the book to his 1955 self just before he goes to the dance at the end of the first movie.
When Doc and Marty return to 1985, they find that Biff has used the sports almanac's knowledge for financial gain, which allows him to turn Courthouse Square into a 27-story casino, take over Hill Valley, get away with the murder of Marty's father, and later marry Marty's mother.
Marty learns that Biff was given the book by 2015 Biff on November 12, 1955, so he and Doc go back to that date in order to steal the almanac from Biff before he can use it to destroy their lives. They accomplish this in a complex fashion, often crossing their own past-selves' paths.
When the duo are about to travel back to 1985, a lightning bolt strikes the DeLorean and activates the time circuits, sending Doc back to 1885 and leaving Marty stranded once again in 1955.
Box Office Receipts: $332 Million
___________________________________________________________________________
Back to the Future Part III (1990)
After finding out that Doc Brown is trapped in 1885, Marty sets out to find the 1955 Doc to help him fix the DeLorean (which has been waiting for him in a mineshaft for 70 years) and restore it to working order.
Learning that Doc gets shot in 1885 by Biff's great-grandfather, Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen, Marty travels back in time to save Doc (who has become a blacksmith) and bring him back to the future.
Arriving in the middle of a melee between the United States Cavalry and American Indians, an Indian arrow pierces a hole in the DeLorean's fuel line, emptying the gas tank and rendering the engine useless.
Doc falls in love with schoolteacher Clara Clayton, and considers staying in the past. Marty must convince Doc to come back with him and find a way to get back to his time before it's too late.
After several dramatic action scenes involving using a speeding locomotive to push the DeLorean to 88 miles per hour (142 km/h), Marty returns to 1985 without Doc Brown, who stayed behind with Clara in 1885. When the DeLorean appears in 1985 on the same train track as planned, a modern train destroys the DeLorean, with Marty jumping out just in time.
Marty reveals to Jennifer the time travel adventure and they visit the scene of the wreckage of the DeLorean. He worries that Doc has been lost in the past forever, when suddenly Doc Brown appears in a new time machine, modeled after a locomotive.
He introduces Jennifer and Marty to Clara (to whom he is now married) and his two sons, Jules and Verne.
When Marty asks if Doc and his family are going to the future, Doc replies that he has "already been there". Doc's last words of wisdom is that nobody knows their future, so they "must make it a good one". The locomotive flies across the sky and disappears, ending the trilogy.
Box Office Receipts: $244.5 Million
Die Hard Movie Franchise
YouTube Video of the Top 10 Die Hard Movie Moments by WatchMojo.com
Pictured: Theatrical Poster from "Die Hard With a Vengeance" (1995)
The Die Hard series is an American action film series that began in 1988 with Die Hard, based on the 1979 novel Nothing Lasts Forever by Roderick Thorp. The series follows the adventures of John McClane (portrayed by Bruce Willis), a New York City and Los Angeles police detective who continually finds himself in the middle of violent crises and intrigues where he is the only hope against disaster.
Total Box Office Receipts for the five movies (below) are $1.435 Billion
Below you will find a synopsis for each of the five movies in this franchise (through 2013). Click on any movie title in underlined blue hyperlink for amplification of that movie.
Die Hard (1988)
The first film begins on Christmas Eve when McClane comes to reunite with separated wife Holly (Bonnie Bedelia) in Los Angeles at her company's Christmas party. Holly left to pursue her career with their two children, and uses her maiden name.
At the fictional Nakatomi Plaza, East German terrorists break in and take the celebrants hostage. McClane escapes detection and hides throughout the building.
He kills off the gang and learns their real aim, to steal $640 million in bearer bonds from the building's vault. In the finale, McClane shoots the terrorist leader, Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman), out the window to fall thirty stories.
It was released on July 15, 1988 to positive reviews and grossed $140.8 million worldwide.
___________________________________________________________________________
Die Hard 2 (1990)
The second film takes place a year after the first, again on Christmas Eve. In Washington, D.C., McClane waits for his wife at Washington Dulles International Airport.
Mercenaries led by former U.S. Army Special Forces Colonel Stuart (William Sadler) take over the airport communication systems, stranding planes in the air, including the one with McClane's wife.
Colonel Stuart wants to free a captured Latin American dictator (Franco Nero) en route to the airport.
McClane discovers the plan, including a conspiracy between Stuart and an Army counter-terrorist unit sent to stop him. He foils their plans and provides a visual landing signal for the circling aircraft by exploding the villains' getaway plane.
It was released on July 4, 1990 to positive reviews and grossed $240 million worldwide.
___________________________________________________________________________
Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995)
In the third film, McClane is back in New York City, separated from his wife, suspended from the police force, and a borderline alcoholic. A terrorist known only as "Simon" (Jeremy Irons) threatens to blow up various locations in the city unless McClane will play his twisted version of Simon Says, riddles and challenges.
Zeus Carver (Samuel L. Jackson), a shopkeeper from Harlem, saves McClane after the first challenge, and reluctantly continues to help. The FBI reveal Simon is the brother of Hans Gruber, killed in the first film. McClane learns revenge is a cover story for robbing the New York Federal Reserve. McClane tracks Simon to the Canada–US border. McClane kills Simon by shooting at a power line above Simon's helicopter.
It was released on May 19, 1995 to mixed reviews and grossed $366.1 million worldwide.
___________________________________________________________________________
Live Free or Die Hard (2007)
The fourth film takes place on Independence Day, over a decade after Die Hard with a Vengeance. McClane is divorced, and estranged from his daughter Lucy (Mary Elizabeth Winstead).
Cyber-terrorists hack into computers at the FBI, who had sent McClane to bring in computer hacker Matthew "Matt" Farrell (Justin Long) for questioning.
Assassins hired by terrorist mastermind Thomas Gabriel (Timothy Olyphant) attempt to kill McClane and Farrell. Farrell tells McClane that the terrorists are actually in the middle of a "fire sale" — a crippling cyber-warfare attack on the national infrastructure: power, public utilities, traffic, and other computer-controlled systems.
Although the terrorists capture Lucy and Farrell, McClane foils the criminals and saves the hostages.
It was released June 27, 2007 to positive reviews and grossed $383.5 million worldwide.
___________________________________________________________________________
A Good Day to Die Hard (2013)
The fifth film is set a few years later, mostly in Moscow, Russia and Chernobyl (Pripyat), Ukraine.
McClane finds out that his estranged son John "Jack" McClane, Junior (Jai Courtney) was arrested in Moscow for murder. When he arrives at the Moscow courthouse for Jack, Russian terrorists bomb the building and Jack escapes with imprisoned ex-billionaire Yuri Komarov (Sebastian Koch).
In an intense car chase, McClane pursues and saves the pair. Jack, unhappy at the unexpected arrival, reluctantly picks up his father.
When they stop at a CIA safe house in Moscow, McClane learns Jack is a deep-cover CIA operative trying to get close to Komarov for his file that incriminates corrupt, high-ranking Russian official Viktor Chagarin (Sergei Kolesnikov).
Chagarin's henchmen, led by his main enforcer Alik (Radivoje Bukvic), attack the safe house. McClane holds them off, and escapes with Jack and Komarov.
They retrieve a key for the file in Chernobyl, and meet Komarov's daughter Irina (Yuliya Snigir). Irina betrays them to Alik. The McClanes escape, without Komarov. Jack explains Komarov and Chagarin were partners in stealing weapons-grade uranium from Chernobyl, but enemies after the Chernobyl incident.
In Chernobyl, the McClanes learn Komarov wanted the weapons-grade uranium for himself, and killed Alik and Chagarin. Irina, always on the side of her father Komarov, tries to save him.
McClane goes after Irina, while Jack chases her father. Jack throws Komarov off of the roof; he falls on the rotors of the helicopter and gets shredded to bits. When Irina tries to kill the McClanes, they jump into a pool of rainwater.
Irina still crashes her helicopter into the building where they were, and dies in the explosion. The father and son walk away, reconciled.
It was released on February 14, 2013 to overwhelmingly negative reviews and grossed $304.7 million worldwide.
Total Box Office Receipts for the five movies (below) are $1.435 Billion
Below you will find a synopsis for each of the five movies in this franchise (through 2013). Click on any movie title in underlined blue hyperlink for amplification of that movie.
Die Hard (1988)
The first film begins on Christmas Eve when McClane comes to reunite with separated wife Holly (Bonnie Bedelia) in Los Angeles at her company's Christmas party. Holly left to pursue her career with their two children, and uses her maiden name.
At the fictional Nakatomi Plaza, East German terrorists break in and take the celebrants hostage. McClane escapes detection and hides throughout the building.
He kills off the gang and learns their real aim, to steal $640 million in bearer bonds from the building's vault. In the finale, McClane shoots the terrorist leader, Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman), out the window to fall thirty stories.
It was released on July 15, 1988 to positive reviews and grossed $140.8 million worldwide.
___________________________________________________________________________
Die Hard 2 (1990)
The second film takes place a year after the first, again on Christmas Eve. In Washington, D.C., McClane waits for his wife at Washington Dulles International Airport.
Mercenaries led by former U.S. Army Special Forces Colonel Stuart (William Sadler) take over the airport communication systems, stranding planes in the air, including the one with McClane's wife.
Colonel Stuart wants to free a captured Latin American dictator (Franco Nero) en route to the airport.
McClane discovers the plan, including a conspiracy between Stuart and an Army counter-terrorist unit sent to stop him. He foils their plans and provides a visual landing signal for the circling aircraft by exploding the villains' getaway plane.
It was released on July 4, 1990 to positive reviews and grossed $240 million worldwide.
___________________________________________________________________________
Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995)
In the third film, McClane is back in New York City, separated from his wife, suspended from the police force, and a borderline alcoholic. A terrorist known only as "Simon" (Jeremy Irons) threatens to blow up various locations in the city unless McClane will play his twisted version of Simon Says, riddles and challenges.
Zeus Carver (Samuel L. Jackson), a shopkeeper from Harlem, saves McClane after the first challenge, and reluctantly continues to help. The FBI reveal Simon is the brother of Hans Gruber, killed in the first film. McClane learns revenge is a cover story for robbing the New York Federal Reserve. McClane tracks Simon to the Canada–US border. McClane kills Simon by shooting at a power line above Simon's helicopter.
It was released on May 19, 1995 to mixed reviews and grossed $366.1 million worldwide.
___________________________________________________________________________
Live Free or Die Hard (2007)
The fourth film takes place on Independence Day, over a decade after Die Hard with a Vengeance. McClane is divorced, and estranged from his daughter Lucy (Mary Elizabeth Winstead).
Cyber-terrorists hack into computers at the FBI, who had sent McClane to bring in computer hacker Matthew "Matt" Farrell (Justin Long) for questioning.
Assassins hired by terrorist mastermind Thomas Gabriel (Timothy Olyphant) attempt to kill McClane and Farrell. Farrell tells McClane that the terrorists are actually in the middle of a "fire sale" — a crippling cyber-warfare attack on the national infrastructure: power, public utilities, traffic, and other computer-controlled systems.
Although the terrorists capture Lucy and Farrell, McClane foils the criminals and saves the hostages.
It was released June 27, 2007 to positive reviews and grossed $383.5 million worldwide.
___________________________________________________________________________
A Good Day to Die Hard (2013)
The fifth film is set a few years later, mostly in Moscow, Russia and Chernobyl (Pripyat), Ukraine.
McClane finds out that his estranged son John "Jack" McClane, Junior (Jai Courtney) was arrested in Moscow for murder. When he arrives at the Moscow courthouse for Jack, Russian terrorists bomb the building and Jack escapes with imprisoned ex-billionaire Yuri Komarov (Sebastian Koch).
In an intense car chase, McClane pursues and saves the pair. Jack, unhappy at the unexpected arrival, reluctantly picks up his father.
When they stop at a CIA safe house in Moscow, McClane learns Jack is a deep-cover CIA operative trying to get close to Komarov for his file that incriminates corrupt, high-ranking Russian official Viktor Chagarin (Sergei Kolesnikov).
Chagarin's henchmen, led by his main enforcer Alik (Radivoje Bukvic), attack the safe house. McClane holds them off, and escapes with Jack and Komarov.
They retrieve a key for the file in Chernobyl, and meet Komarov's daughter Irina (Yuliya Snigir). Irina betrays them to Alik. The McClanes escape, without Komarov. Jack explains Komarov and Chagarin were partners in stealing weapons-grade uranium from Chernobyl, but enemies after the Chernobyl incident.
In Chernobyl, the McClanes learn Komarov wanted the weapons-grade uranium for himself, and killed Alik and Chagarin. Irina, always on the side of her father Komarov, tries to save him.
McClane goes after Irina, while Jack chases her father. Jack throws Komarov off of the roof; he falls on the rotors of the helicopter and gets shredded to bits. When Irina tries to kill the McClanes, they jump into a pool of rainwater.
Irina still crashes her helicopter into the building where they were, and dies in the explosion. The father and son walk away, reconciled.
It was released on February 14, 2013 to overwhelmingly negative reviews and grossed $304.7 million worldwide.
The Godfather Franchise
YouTube Video: The Godfather: Top 10 Movie Lines
Pictured: Theatrical Movie Poster
The Godfather is an American film series that consists of three crime drama films directed by Francis Ford Coppola inspired by the novel of the same name by Italian American author Mario Puzo. The series follows the trials of the Corleone family, Italian Americans whose patriarch, Vito Corleone, rises to be a major figure in American organized crime.
His youngest son, Michael Corleone, becomes his successor. All three films were distributed by Paramount Pictures and released in 1972, 1974 and 1990.
The series achieved success at the box office, with the films earning over $550 million worldwide. The first two films have received wide acclaim since release; the former, The Godfather, is seen by many as one of the greatest films of all time. Its sequel, The Godfather Part II, is viewed by many as the best sequel in cinematic history. The series is heavily awarded, winning 9 out of 29 total Academy Award nominations.
The individual movies that make up the Godfather Franchise follow below:
___________________________________________________________________________
His youngest son, Michael Corleone, becomes his successor. All three films were distributed by Paramount Pictures and released in 1972, 1974 and 1990.
The series achieved success at the box office, with the films earning over $550 million worldwide. The first two films have received wide acclaim since release; the former, The Godfather, is seen by many as one of the greatest films of all time. Its sequel, The Godfather Part II, is viewed by many as the best sequel in cinematic history. The series is heavily awarded, winning 9 out of 29 total Academy Award nominations.
The individual movies that make up the Godfather Franchise follow below:
___________________________________________________________________________
The Godfather (1972)
YouTube Video: Scene from The Godfather with the Horse head
Pictured: Theatrical Movie Poster
The Godfather is a 1972 American crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola and produced by Albert S. Ruddy, based on Mario Puzo's best-selling novel of the same name.
It stars Marlon Brando and Al Pacino as the leaders of a fictional New York crime family. The story, spanning 1945 to 1955, chronicles the family under the patriarch Vito Corleone, focusing on the transformation of Michael Corleone (Pacino) from reluctant family outsider to ruthless Mafia boss.
Paramount Pictures obtained the rights to the novel before it gained popularity for the price of $80,000. Studio executives had trouble finding a director, as their first few candidates turned down the position. They and Coppola disagreed over who would play several characters, in particular Vito and Michael. Filming was done on location and completed earlier than scheduled. The musical score was composed primarily by Nino Rota with additional pieces by Carmine Coppola.
The film was the highest-grossing film of 1972 and was for a time the highest-grossing film ever made. It won the Oscars for Best Picture, Best Actor (Brando) and Best Adapted Screenplay (for Puzo and Coppola). Its seven other Oscar nominations included Pacino, James Caan, and Robert Duvall for Best Supporting Actor and Coppola for Best Director.
It was followed by sequels The Godfather Part II (1974) and Part III (1990).
The Godfather is widely regarded as one of the greatest films in world cinema and one of the most influential, especially in the gangster genre. It was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry in 1990 and is ranked the second-greatest film in American cinema (behind Citizen Kane) by the American Film Institute.
Plot:
In 1945, at his daughter Connie's wedding, Vito Corleone hears requests in his role as the Godfather, the Don of a New York crime family. Vito's youngest son, Michael, who was a Marine during World War II, introduces his girlfriend, Kay Adams, to his family at the reception. Johnny Fontane, a famous singer and godson to Vito, seeks Vito's help in securing a movie role; Vito dispatches his consigliere, Tom Hagen (Robert Duvall), to Los Angeles to talk the obnoxious studio head, Jack Woltz, into giving Johnny the part. Woltz refuses until he wakes up in bed with the severed head of his prized stallion.
Shortly before Christmas, drug baron Virgil "The Turk" Sollozzo, backed by the Tattaglia crime family, asks Vito for investment in his narcotics business and protection through his political connections. Wary of involvement in a dangerous new trade that risks alienating political insiders, Vito declines.
Suspicious, Vito sends his enforcer, Luca Brasi, to spy on them. Sollozzo has Vito gunned down in the street, then kidnaps Hagen. With Corleone first-born Sonny in command, Hagen is pressured to persuade Sonny to accept Sollozzo's deal, then released. The family receives fish wrapped in Brasi's bullet-proof vest, indicating that Luca "sleeps with the fishes".
Vito survives, and at the hospital Michael thwarts another attempt on his father; Michael's jaw is broken by NYPD Captain Marc McCluskey, Sollozzo's bodyguard.
Sonny retaliates with a hit on Tattaglia's son. Michael plots to murder Sollozzo and McCluskey: on the pretext of settling the dispute, Michael agrees to meet them in a Bronx restaurant. There, retrieving a planted handgun, he kills both men.
Despite a clampdown by the authorities, the Five Families erupt in open warfare and Vito's sons fear for their safety. Michael takes refuge in Sicily, and his brother, Fredo, is sheltered by the Corleone's Las Vegas casino partner, Moe Greene. Sonny attacks his brother-in-law Carlo on the street for abusing his sister and threatens to kill him if it happens again.
When it does, Sonny speeds to their home, but is ambushed at a highway toll booth and riddled with submachine gun fire. While in Sicily, Michael meets and marries Apollonia Vitelli, but a car bomb intended for him takes her life.
Devastated by Sonny's death, Vito moves to end the feuds. Realizing that the Tattaglias are controlled by the now-dominant Don Emilio Barzini, Vito assures the Five Families that he will withdraw his opposition to their heroin business and forgo avenging his son's murder. His safety guaranteed, Michael returns home to enter the family business and marry Kay, who gives birth to two children by the early 1950s.
With his father at the end of his career and his brother too weak, Michael takes the family reins, promising his wife the business will be legitimate within five years. To that end, he insists Hagen relocate to Las Vegas and relinquish his role to Vito because Tom is not a "wartime consigliere"; Vito agrees Tom should "have no part in what will happen" in the coming battles with rival families.
When Michael travels to Las Vegas to buy out Greene's stake in the family's casinos, their partner derides the Corleones for being run out of New York; Michael is dismayed to see that Fredo has fallen under Greene's sway.
Vito suffers a fatal heart attack. At the funeral, Tessio, a Corleone capo, asks Michael to meet with Don Barzini, signalling the betrayal that Vito had forewarned. The meeting is set for the same day as the christening of Connie’s baby.
While Michael stands at the altar as the child's godfather, Corleone assassins murder the other New York dons and Moe Greene. Tessio is executed for his treachery; Michael extracts Carlo’s confession to his complicity in setting up Sonny's murder for Barzini.
After Clemenza, a Corleone capo,garrotes Carlo with a wire, Connie accuses Michael of the murder, telling Kay that Michael ordered all the killings. Kay is relieved when Michael finally denies it, but when the capos arrive, they address her husband as Don Corleone. She watches fearfully as they close the door on her.
Cast and Characters:
Box office $245.1 million
___________________________________________________________________________
It stars Marlon Brando and Al Pacino as the leaders of a fictional New York crime family. The story, spanning 1945 to 1955, chronicles the family under the patriarch Vito Corleone, focusing on the transformation of Michael Corleone (Pacino) from reluctant family outsider to ruthless Mafia boss.
Paramount Pictures obtained the rights to the novel before it gained popularity for the price of $80,000. Studio executives had trouble finding a director, as their first few candidates turned down the position. They and Coppola disagreed over who would play several characters, in particular Vito and Michael. Filming was done on location and completed earlier than scheduled. The musical score was composed primarily by Nino Rota with additional pieces by Carmine Coppola.
The film was the highest-grossing film of 1972 and was for a time the highest-grossing film ever made. It won the Oscars for Best Picture, Best Actor (Brando) and Best Adapted Screenplay (for Puzo and Coppola). Its seven other Oscar nominations included Pacino, James Caan, and Robert Duvall for Best Supporting Actor and Coppola for Best Director.
It was followed by sequels The Godfather Part II (1974) and Part III (1990).
The Godfather is widely regarded as one of the greatest films in world cinema and one of the most influential, especially in the gangster genre. It was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry in 1990 and is ranked the second-greatest film in American cinema (behind Citizen Kane) by the American Film Institute.
Plot:
In 1945, at his daughter Connie's wedding, Vito Corleone hears requests in his role as the Godfather, the Don of a New York crime family. Vito's youngest son, Michael, who was a Marine during World War II, introduces his girlfriend, Kay Adams, to his family at the reception. Johnny Fontane, a famous singer and godson to Vito, seeks Vito's help in securing a movie role; Vito dispatches his consigliere, Tom Hagen (Robert Duvall), to Los Angeles to talk the obnoxious studio head, Jack Woltz, into giving Johnny the part. Woltz refuses until he wakes up in bed with the severed head of his prized stallion.
Shortly before Christmas, drug baron Virgil "The Turk" Sollozzo, backed by the Tattaglia crime family, asks Vito for investment in his narcotics business and protection through his political connections. Wary of involvement in a dangerous new trade that risks alienating political insiders, Vito declines.
Suspicious, Vito sends his enforcer, Luca Brasi, to spy on them. Sollozzo has Vito gunned down in the street, then kidnaps Hagen. With Corleone first-born Sonny in command, Hagen is pressured to persuade Sonny to accept Sollozzo's deal, then released. The family receives fish wrapped in Brasi's bullet-proof vest, indicating that Luca "sleeps with the fishes".
Vito survives, and at the hospital Michael thwarts another attempt on his father; Michael's jaw is broken by NYPD Captain Marc McCluskey, Sollozzo's bodyguard.
Sonny retaliates with a hit on Tattaglia's son. Michael plots to murder Sollozzo and McCluskey: on the pretext of settling the dispute, Michael agrees to meet them in a Bronx restaurant. There, retrieving a planted handgun, he kills both men.
Despite a clampdown by the authorities, the Five Families erupt in open warfare and Vito's sons fear for their safety. Michael takes refuge in Sicily, and his brother, Fredo, is sheltered by the Corleone's Las Vegas casino partner, Moe Greene. Sonny attacks his brother-in-law Carlo on the street for abusing his sister and threatens to kill him if it happens again.
When it does, Sonny speeds to their home, but is ambushed at a highway toll booth and riddled with submachine gun fire. While in Sicily, Michael meets and marries Apollonia Vitelli, but a car bomb intended for him takes her life.
Devastated by Sonny's death, Vito moves to end the feuds. Realizing that the Tattaglias are controlled by the now-dominant Don Emilio Barzini, Vito assures the Five Families that he will withdraw his opposition to their heroin business and forgo avenging his son's murder. His safety guaranteed, Michael returns home to enter the family business and marry Kay, who gives birth to two children by the early 1950s.
With his father at the end of his career and his brother too weak, Michael takes the family reins, promising his wife the business will be legitimate within five years. To that end, he insists Hagen relocate to Las Vegas and relinquish his role to Vito because Tom is not a "wartime consigliere"; Vito agrees Tom should "have no part in what will happen" in the coming battles with rival families.
When Michael travels to Las Vegas to buy out Greene's stake in the family's casinos, their partner derides the Corleones for being run out of New York; Michael is dismayed to see that Fredo has fallen under Greene's sway.
Vito suffers a fatal heart attack. At the funeral, Tessio, a Corleone capo, asks Michael to meet with Don Barzini, signalling the betrayal that Vito had forewarned. The meeting is set for the same day as the christening of Connie’s baby.
While Michael stands at the altar as the child's godfather, Corleone assassins murder the other New York dons and Moe Greene. Tessio is executed for his treachery; Michael extracts Carlo’s confession to his complicity in setting up Sonny's murder for Barzini.
After Clemenza, a Corleone capo,garrotes Carlo with a wire, Connie accuses Michael of the murder, telling Kay that Michael ordered all the killings. Kay is relieved when Michael finally denies it, but when the capos arrive, they address her husband as Don Corleone. She watches fearfully as they close the door on her.
Cast and Characters:
- Marlon Brando, in the title role, is Vito Corleone (born Vito Andolini), the Don of the Corleone crime family. A native Sicilian, he is married to Carmela Corleone and the father of Tom (adoptive), Sonny, Fredo, Michael, and Connie.
- Al Pacino as Michael Corleone, the Don's third son, recently returned from World War II. The only college-educated family member, he is initially steered from the family business. His progression from the family's last-born son to its ruthless boss is the main subject matter of the film.
- James Caan as Santino "Sonny" Corleone, Don Corleone's hot-headed eldest son. As underboss, he is the heir apparent to succeed his father as head of the Corleone family.
- Robert Duvall as Tom Hagen, Don Corleone's informally adopted son, he is the family lawyer and consigliere. Unlike the Corleones, he is of German-Irish descent, not Sicilian.
- Diane Keaton as Kay Adams-Corleone, Michael's non-Italian girlfriend and his second wife and mother of his two children.
- John Cazale as Alfredo "Fredo" Corleone, the middle son of the Corleone family. Deeply insecure and not very bright, he is considered the weakest Corleone brother.
- Talia Shire as Constanzia "Connie" Corleone, the youngest child and only daughter of the Corleone family. Her wedding reception begins the film.
- Gianni Russo as Carlo Rizzi, Connie's abusive husband. Introduced to the Corleone family by Sonny, whom he ultimately betrays to the Barzini family.
- Richard S. Castellano as Peter Clemenza, a caporegime for the Corleone family. He is an old friend of Vito Corleone and Salvatore Tessio.
- Abe Vigoda as Salvatore Tessio, a caporegime for the Corleone family. He is an old friend of Vito Corleone and Peter Clemenza.
- Al Lettieri as Virgil "The Turk" Sollozzo, a heroin dealer associated with the Tattaglia family. He seeks both financial investment and the protection of the Tattaglia family's narcotics business through Don Corleone's political connections.
- Sterling Hayden as Captain Mark McCluskey, a corrupt NYPD police captain on Sollozzo's payroll.
- Lenny Montana as Luca Brasi, Vito Corleone's enforcer.
- Richard Conte as Emilio Barzini, Don of the Barzini family.
- Al Martino as Johnny Fontane, a world-famous singer and Vito's godson. The character is loosely based on Frank Sinatra.
- John Marley as Jack Woltz, a powerful Hollywood producer.
- Alex Rocco as Moe Greene, a longtime associate of the Corleone family who owns a Las Vegas hotel. The character is based on Bugsy Siegel.
- Morgana King as Carmela Corleone, Vito's wife and mother of Sonny, Fredo, Michael, and Connie, and adoptive mother to Tom Hagen.
- Salvatore Corsitto as Amerigo Bonasera, a mortician who, in the opening scene, asks Don Corleone for revenge against two boys who severely beat and attempted to rape his daughter.
- Corrado Gaipa as Don Tommasino, an old friend of Vito Corleone, who shelters Michael during his exile in Sicily.
- Franco Citti as Calò, Michael's bodyguard in Sicily.
- Angelo Infanti as Fabrizio, Michael's bodyguard in Sicily. He helped set up the assassination attempt on Michael that kills Apollonia.
- Johnny Martino as Paulie Gatto, a soldier under Peter Clemenza and Vito's driver. He is executed for his part in the assassination attempt on Vito.
- Victor Rendina as Philip Tattaglia, Don of the Tattaglia family.
- Tony Giorgio as Bruno Tattaglia, Philip Tattaglia's son and underboss of the Tattaglia family. Sonny Corleone has him assassinated in retaliation for the shooting of Vito Corleone.
- Simonetta Stefanelli as Apollonia Vitelli-Corleone, a young woman Michael meets and marries while in Sicily. She is killed a few months later in an assassination attempt on Michael.
- Rudy Bond as Don Cuneo, head of the New York-based Cuneo family.
- Louis Guss as Don Zaluchi, Don of the Zaluchi family of Detroit.
- Tom Rosqui as Rocco Lampone, a soldier under Clemenza who eventually becomes a caporegime in the Corleone family.
- Joe Spinell as Willi Cicci, a soldier in the Corleone family.
- Richard Bright as Al Neri, Michael Corleone's personal bodyguard and hitman who eventually becomes a caporegime.
- Julie Gregg as Sandra Corleone, Sonny's wife and later widow, and the mother of their four children.
- Jeannie Linero as Lucy Mancini, Sonny's mistress.
- Sofia Coppola (uncredited) as infant Michael Francis Rizzi, the nephew and godson of Michael Corleone.
Box office $245.1 million
___________________________________________________________________________
The Godfather Part II (1974)
YouTube VideoThe Godfather: Baptism Scene
Pictured: A poster of the film The Godfather Part II. (C) Paramount Pictures
The Godfather Part II is a 1974 American epic crime film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola from a screenplay co-written with Mario Puzo, starring Al Pacino and Robert De Niro.
Partially based on Puzo's 1969 novel The Godfather, the film is both sequel and prequel to The Godfather, presenting parallel dramas: one picks up the 1958 story of Michael Corleone (Pacino), the new Don of the Corleone crime family, protecting the family business in the aftermath of an attempt on his life; the prequel covers the journey of his father, Vito Corleone (De Niro), from his Sicilian childhood to the founding of his family enterprise in New York City.
An Oscar winner for Best Picture, the film received widespread acclaim from critics, with some deeming it superior to the 1972 original. Nominated for eleven Academy Awards and the first sequel to win for Best Picture, its six Oscars win included Best Director for Coppola, Best Supporting Actor for De Niro and Best Adapted Screenplay for Coppola and Puzo. Pacino won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor.
Both this film and its predecessor remain highly influential films in the gangster genre. In 1997, the American Film Institute ranked it as the 32nd-greatest film in American film history and it retained this position 10 years later. It was selected for preservation in the U.S. National Film Registry of the Library of Congress in 1993, being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
The Godfather Part III, a later sequel, was released in 1990.
Plot:
In 1901, the family of nine-year-old Vito Andolini is killed in Corleone, Sicily, after his father insults local Mafia chieftain Don Ciccio. Vito escapes to New York City and is registered as "Vito Corleone" on Ellis Island.
In 1958, during his son's First Communion party at Lake Tahoe, Michael Corleone has a series of meetings in his role as the Don of his crime family. Corleone capo regime Frank Pentangeli is dismayed that Michael will not help him defend his Brooklyn territory against the Rosato brothers, who work for Michael's business partner Hyman Roth. That night, Michael leaves Nevada after surviving an assassination attempt at his home.
In 1917, Vito Corleone lives in New York with his wife Carmela and son Sonny. He loses his job due to the nepotism of local extortionist Don Fanucci; he is subsequently invited to a burglary by his neighbor Peter Clemenza. Michael suspects Roth of planning the assassination, but meets with him in Miami and feigns ignorance. In New York, Pentangeli attempts to maintain Michael's façade by making peace with the Rosatos, but they attempt to kill him.
Roth, Michael, and several of their partners travel to Havana to discuss their future Cuban business prospects under the cooperative government of Fulgencio Batista; Michael becomes reluctant after reconsidering the viability of the ongoing Cuban Revolution. On New Year's Eve, he tries to have Roth and Roth's right-hand man Johnny Ola killed, but Roth survives when Michael's bodyguard is discovered and shot by police.
Michael accuses his brother Fredo of betrayal after Fredo inadvertently reveals that he'd met with Ola previously. Batista abruptly abdicates due to rebel advances; during the ensuing chaos, Michael, Fredo, and Roth separately escape to the United States. Back home, Michael learns that his wife Kay has miscarried.
Three years later, Vito and Carmela have had two more sons, Fredo and Michael. Vito's criminal conduct attracts the attention of Fanucci, who extorts him. His partners, Clemenza and Salvatore Tessio, wish to avoid trouble by paying in full, but Vito insists that he can convince Fanucci to accept a smaller payment by making him "an offer he won't refuse".
During a neighborhood festa, he stalks Fanucci to his apartment and shoots him dead.In Washington, D.C., a Senate committee on organized crime is investigating the Corleone family. Having survived the earlier attempt on his life, Pentangeli agrees to testify against Michael, who he believes had double-crossed him, and is placed under witness protection.
Now a respected figure in his community, Vito is approached for help by a widow who is being evicted. After an unsuccessful negotiation with Vito, the widow's landlord asks around, learns of Vito's reputation, and hastily agrees to let the widow stay on terms very favorable to her. In the meantime, Vito and his partners are becoming more and more successful, with the establishment of their business, "Genco Pura Olive Oil".
Fredo is returned to Nevada, where he privately explains himself to Michael: resentful at being passed over to head the family, he helped Roth in expectation of something in return—unaware, he claims, of the plot on Michael's life. Michael responds by disowning Fredo.
Unable to get to the heavily-guarded Pentangeli, Michael instead brings Pentangeli's Sicilian brother to the hearing. On seeing his brother, Pentangeli denies his previous statements, and the hearing dissolves in an uproar. Afterwards, Kay reveals to Michael that her miscarriage was actually an abortion, and that she intends to take their children away from Michael's criminal life. Outraged, Michael takes custody of the children and banishes Kay from the family.
Vito visits Sicily for the first time since emigrating. He and business partner Tommasino are admitted to Don Ciccio's compound, ostensibly to ask for Ciccio's blessing on their olive oil business. Vito exacts his childhood vengeance by knifing Ciccio after revealing his old identity, but Tommasino is shot in the leg and suffers a permanent disability during their escape.Carmela Corleone dies.
At the funeral, Michael appears to forgive Fredo but later orders caporegime Al Neri to assassinate him out on the lake.
Roth is refused asylum and even entry to Israel and is forced to return to the United States. Over the dissent of consigliere Tom Hagen, Michael sends caporegime Rocco Lampone to intercept and shoot Roth on arrival. Rocco, however, is shot dead by federal agents after completing his mission.
At the witness protection compound, Hagen reminds Pentangeli that failed plotters against the Roman Emperor often committed suicide and assures him that his family will be cared for. Pentangeli later slits his wrists in his bathtub.
On December 7, 1941, the Corleone family gathers in their dining room to surprise Vito for his birthday. Michael announces that, in response to the attack on Pearl Harbor, he has left college and enlisted in the United States Marine Corps, leaving Sonny furious, Hagen incredulous, and Fredo the only brother supportive. When Vito arrives, everyone leaves the room to greet him, leaving Michael alone at the table.Michael sits alone by the lake at the family compound.
Cast and Characters:
Box Office: $57.3 Million (North America)
___________________________________________________________________________
Partially based on Puzo's 1969 novel The Godfather, the film is both sequel and prequel to The Godfather, presenting parallel dramas: one picks up the 1958 story of Michael Corleone (Pacino), the new Don of the Corleone crime family, protecting the family business in the aftermath of an attempt on his life; the prequel covers the journey of his father, Vito Corleone (De Niro), from his Sicilian childhood to the founding of his family enterprise in New York City.
An Oscar winner for Best Picture, the film received widespread acclaim from critics, with some deeming it superior to the 1972 original. Nominated for eleven Academy Awards and the first sequel to win for Best Picture, its six Oscars win included Best Director for Coppola, Best Supporting Actor for De Niro and Best Adapted Screenplay for Coppola and Puzo. Pacino won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor.
Both this film and its predecessor remain highly influential films in the gangster genre. In 1997, the American Film Institute ranked it as the 32nd-greatest film in American film history and it retained this position 10 years later. It was selected for preservation in the U.S. National Film Registry of the Library of Congress in 1993, being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
The Godfather Part III, a later sequel, was released in 1990.
Plot:
In 1901, the family of nine-year-old Vito Andolini is killed in Corleone, Sicily, after his father insults local Mafia chieftain Don Ciccio. Vito escapes to New York City and is registered as "Vito Corleone" on Ellis Island.
In 1958, during his son's First Communion party at Lake Tahoe, Michael Corleone has a series of meetings in his role as the Don of his crime family. Corleone capo regime Frank Pentangeli is dismayed that Michael will not help him defend his Brooklyn territory against the Rosato brothers, who work for Michael's business partner Hyman Roth. That night, Michael leaves Nevada after surviving an assassination attempt at his home.
In 1917, Vito Corleone lives in New York with his wife Carmela and son Sonny. He loses his job due to the nepotism of local extortionist Don Fanucci; he is subsequently invited to a burglary by his neighbor Peter Clemenza. Michael suspects Roth of planning the assassination, but meets with him in Miami and feigns ignorance. In New York, Pentangeli attempts to maintain Michael's façade by making peace with the Rosatos, but they attempt to kill him.
Roth, Michael, and several of their partners travel to Havana to discuss their future Cuban business prospects under the cooperative government of Fulgencio Batista; Michael becomes reluctant after reconsidering the viability of the ongoing Cuban Revolution. On New Year's Eve, he tries to have Roth and Roth's right-hand man Johnny Ola killed, but Roth survives when Michael's bodyguard is discovered and shot by police.
Michael accuses his brother Fredo of betrayal after Fredo inadvertently reveals that he'd met with Ola previously. Batista abruptly abdicates due to rebel advances; during the ensuing chaos, Michael, Fredo, and Roth separately escape to the United States. Back home, Michael learns that his wife Kay has miscarried.
Three years later, Vito and Carmela have had two more sons, Fredo and Michael. Vito's criminal conduct attracts the attention of Fanucci, who extorts him. His partners, Clemenza and Salvatore Tessio, wish to avoid trouble by paying in full, but Vito insists that he can convince Fanucci to accept a smaller payment by making him "an offer he won't refuse".
During a neighborhood festa, he stalks Fanucci to his apartment and shoots him dead.In Washington, D.C., a Senate committee on organized crime is investigating the Corleone family. Having survived the earlier attempt on his life, Pentangeli agrees to testify against Michael, who he believes had double-crossed him, and is placed under witness protection.
Now a respected figure in his community, Vito is approached for help by a widow who is being evicted. After an unsuccessful negotiation with Vito, the widow's landlord asks around, learns of Vito's reputation, and hastily agrees to let the widow stay on terms very favorable to her. In the meantime, Vito and his partners are becoming more and more successful, with the establishment of their business, "Genco Pura Olive Oil".
Fredo is returned to Nevada, where he privately explains himself to Michael: resentful at being passed over to head the family, he helped Roth in expectation of something in return—unaware, he claims, of the plot on Michael's life. Michael responds by disowning Fredo.
Unable to get to the heavily-guarded Pentangeli, Michael instead brings Pentangeli's Sicilian brother to the hearing. On seeing his brother, Pentangeli denies his previous statements, and the hearing dissolves in an uproar. Afterwards, Kay reveals to Michael that her miscarriage was actually an abortion, and that she intends to take their children away from Michael's criminal life. Outraged, Michael takes custody of the children and banishes Kay from the family.
Vito visits Sicily for the first time since emigrating. He and business partner Tommasino are admitted to Don Ciccio's compound, ostensibly to ask for Ciccio's blessing on their olive oil business. Vito exacts his childhood vengeance by knifing Ciccio after revealing his old identity, but Tommasino is shot in the leg and suffers a permanent disability during their escape.Carmela Corleone dies.
At the funeral, Michael appears to forgive Fredo but later orders caporegime Al Neri to assassinate him out on the lake.
Roth is refused asylum and even entry to Israel and is forced to return to the United States. Over the dissent of consigliere Tom Hagen, Michael sends caporegime Rocco Lampone to intercept and shoot Roth on arrival. Rocco, however, is shot dead by federal agents after completing his mission.
At the witness protection compound, Hagen reminds Pentangeli that failed plotters against the Roman Emperor often committed suicide and assures him that his family will be cared for. Pentangeli later slits his wrists in his bathtub.
On December 7, 1941, the Corleone family gathers in their dining room to surprise Vito for his birthday. Michael announces that, in response to the attack on Pearl Harbor, he has left college and enlisted in the United States Marine Corps, leaving Sonny furious, Hagen incredulous, and Fredo the only brother supportive. When Vito arrives, everyone leaves the room to greet him, leaving Michael alone at the table.Michael sits alone by the lake at the family compound.
Cast and Characters:
- Al Pacino as Michael Corleone
- Robert Duvall as Tom Hagen
- Diane Keaton as Kay Adams-Corleone
- Robert De Niro as Vito Corleone
- John Cazale as Fredo Corleone
- Talia Shire as Constanzia "Connie" Corleone
- Lee Strasberg as Hyman Roth
- Michael V. Gazzo as Frank Pentangeli
- Morgana King as Carmela Corleone
- G. D. Spradlin as Senator Pat Geary
- Richard Bright as Al Neri
- Tom Rosqui as Rocco Lampone
- Marianna Hill as Deanna Corleone
- Fay Spain as Mrs. Roth
- Gastone Moschin as Don Fanucci
- Troy Donahue as Merle Johnson
- Dominic Chianese as Johnny Ola
- Amerigo Tot as Michael's bodyguard
- Joe Spinell as Willi Cicci
- Bruno Kirby as young Peter Clemenza
- Frank Sivero as young Genco Abbandando
- Maria Carta as the mother of Vito Corleone
- Francesca De Sapio as young Carmela Corleone
- Giuseppe Sillato as Don Francesco Ciccio
- Roman Coppola as young Santino Corleone
- John Megna as young Hyman Roth
- Julian Voloshin as Sam Roth
- Larry Guardino as Vito's uncle
- Carmine Caridi as Carmine Rosato
- Danny Aiello as Tony Rosato
- John Aprea as young Salvatore Tessio
- Leopoldo Trieste as Signor Roberto
- Salvatore Po as Vincenzo Pentangeli
- Harry Dean Stanton as FBI agent
- James Caan as Sonny Corleone (cameo)
- Abe Vigoda as Salvatore Tessio (cameo)
- Gianni Russo as Carlo Rizzi (cameo)
Box Office: $57.3 Million (North America)
___________________________________________________________________________
The Godfather Part III (1990)
YouTube Video of Godfather Part III Trailer
Pictured: Theatrical Movie Poster
The Godfather Part III is a 1990 American crime film written by Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola, and directed by Coppola.
It completes the story of Michael Corleone, a Mafia kingpin who attempts to legitimize his criminal empire, whilst interweaving a fictionalized account of two real-life events into its plot, namely the 1978 death of Pope John Paul I and the Papal banking scandal of 1981–82. Both are linked to Michael Corleone's business affairs.
The film stars Al Pacino, Diane Keaton, Talia Shire, and Andy García, and features Eli Wallach, Joe Mantegna, George Hamilton, Bridget Fonda, and Sofia Coppola.
Coppola and Puzo originally wanted the title to be The Death of Michael Corleone, but Paramount Pictures found that unacceptable. Coppola subsequently stated that The Godfather series is two films, and Part III is the epilogue.
Part III received mixed reviews compared to the critical acclaim that the first two films received. It grossed $136,766,062 and was nominated for seven Academy Awards including the Academy Award for Best Picture.
Plot:
In 1979, as Michael Corleone is approaching 60, he regrets his ruthless rise to power and is especially guilt-ridden for having his brother, Fredo, murdered. He has semi-retired from the Mafia, leaving management of the Corleone family's New York business to enforcer Joey Zasa.
Michael uses his tremendous wealth and power in an attempt to rehabilitate his reputation via numerous charitable acts. Michael and Kay have been divorced, and Kay was given custody of their children, Anthony and Mary.
At a ceremony in St. Patrick's Old Cathedral, Michael is named a Commander of the Order of St. Sebastian. At the following reception, Anthony tells his father that he is leaving law school to become an opera singer. Kay supports his decision, but Michael asks Anthony to complete his law degree. Anthony refuses to adhere to his father's wishes. Michael and Kay have an uneasy reunion, in which Kay reveals that she and Anthony know the truth about Fredo's death.
Vincent Mancini, Sonny Corleone's illegitimate son with Lucy Mancini, arrives at the reception. He is embroiled in a feud with Zasa, who has involved the Corleone family in major drug trafficking and turned Little Italy into a slum.
Michael's sister, Connie, arranges a meeting between Vincent and Zasa. When Zasa calls Vincent a bastard, Vincent bites Zasa's ear. Vincent overpowers two hitmen sent to kill him and learns that Zasa was responsible. Michael, troubled by Vincent's fiery temper but impressed by his family loyalty, agrees to take him under his wing.
Knowing that Archbishop Gilday, head of the Vatican Bank, has accumulated a massive deficit, Michael offers the Bank $600 million in exchange for shares in International Immobiliare, an international real estate holding company known as "the world's biggest landlord", which would make him its largest single shareholder with six seats on the company's 13-member board of directors.
He makes a tender offer to buy the Vatican's 25% share in the company, which will give him controlling interest. The Immobiliare's board quickly approve the offer, pending ratification in Rome by Pope Paul VI, who is gravely ill.
Don Altobello, an elderly New York Mafia boss and Connie's godfather, visits Michael, telling him that his old partners on the Commission want in on the Immobiliare deal. Michael wants the deal untainted by Mafia involvement and pays off the mob bosses from the sale of his Las Vegas holdings.
Zasa receives nothing and, declaring Michael his enemy, storms out. Altobello follows Zasa, saying he will reason with him. Minutes later, a helicopter hovers outside the conference room and opens fire. Most of the bosses are killed, but Michael, Vincent, and Michael's bodyguard, Al Neri, escape.
Back in New York, Neri tells Michael that the surviving mob bosses made deals with Zasa. Believing Zasa lacks the mindset to mastermind the massacre, Michael is certain someone else was the mastermind. Michael forbids Vincent from killing Zasa, realizes that Altobello is the traitor, suffers a diabetic stroke, and is hospitalized.
As Michael recuperates, Vincent and Mary begin a romantic relationship, while Neri and Connie give Vincent permission to retaliate against Zasa. During a street festival hosted by Zasa's Italian American civil rights group, Vincent kills Zasa. Michael berates Vincent for his actions and insists that Vincent end his relationship with Mary, explaining Vincent's involvement in the family's criminal enterprises endangers her life.
The family travels to Sicily for Anthony's operatic debut in Palermo at the Teatro Massimo. They stay with Don Tommasino, a long-time friend. Michael tells Vincent to convince Altobello of his desires to leave the Corleone family. Altobello introduces Vincent to Don Licio Lucchesi, a powerful Italian political figure and Immobiliare's chairman.
Michael discovers that the Immobiliare deal is an elaborate swindle, conspired by Lucchesi, Archbishop Gilday, and Vatican accountant Frederick Keinszig. Michael visits Cardinal Lamberto, favored to become the next Pope, to discuss the deal.
Lamberto persuades Michael to make his first confession in 30 years. Michael tearfully confesses that he ordered Fredo's murder, and Lamberto says Michael deserves to suffer but can be redeemed.
Altobello hires Mosca, a veteran hitman, to assassinate Michael. Mosca and his son, disguised as priests, kill Don Tommasino as he returns to his villa. While Michael and Kay tour Sicily, Michael asks for Kay's forgiveness, and they admit they still love each other.
Michael receives word of Tommasino's death, and at the funeral vows never to sin again. After Pope Paul VI dies, Cardinal Lamberto is elected as Pope John Paul I, and the Immobiliare deal is to be ratified. The plotters against the ratification attempt to cover up their tracks. Vincent tells Michael that Altobello is plotting to have Mosca assassinate Michael. Michael sees that his nephew is a changed man and names him the new Don of the Corleone family, telling him he to adopt the Corleone name. In exchange, Vincent agrees to end his romance with Mary.
The family travels to Palermo to watch Anthony's performance in Pietro Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana, a tale of murderous revenge in a Sicilian setting.
Meanwhile, Vincent exacts his own revenge:
Just hours after he approves the Immobiliare deal, the Pope is served poisoned tea by Archbishop Gilday and dies soon afterward. Mosca, still disguised as a priest and armed with a sniper rifle, descends upon the opera house during Anthony's performance and eliminates three of Vincent's men, but is unable to shoot Michael.
The assassin retreats and attempts to kill Michael outside the opera house. Mosca fires twice but unintentionally kills Mary. Vincent shoots him dead.
Michael remembers all the women he has lost as a montage of Mary, Kay, and Apollonia is shown. An elderly Michael sits alone in the garden of Don Tommasino's Sicilian villa and suddenly slumps over in his chair, falling to the ground.
Cast and Characters:
Box office: $136.8 million
It completes the story of Michael Corleone, a Mafia kingpin who attempts to legitimize his criminal empire, whilst interweaving a fictionalized account of two real-life events into its plot, namely the 1978 death of Pope John Paul I and the Papal banking scandal of 1981–82. Both are linked to Michael Corleone's business affairs.
The film stars Al Pacino, Diane Keaton, Talia Shire, and Andy García, and features Eli Wallach, Joe Mantegna, George Hamilton, Bridget Fonda, and Sofia Coppola.
Coppola and Puzo originally wanted the title to be The Death of Michael Corleone, but Paramount Pictures found that unacceptable. Coppola subsequently stated that The Godfather series is two films, and Part III is the epilogue.
Part III received mixed reviews compared to the critical acclaim that the first two films received. It grossed $136,766,062 and was nominated for seven Academy Awards including the Academy Award for Best Picture.
Plot:
In 1979, as Michael Corleone is approaching 60, he regrets his ruthless rise to power and is especially guilt-ridden for having his brother, Fredo, murdered. He has semi-retired from the Mafia, leaving management of the Corleone family's New York business to enforcer Joey Zasa.
Michael uses his tremendous wealth and power in an attempt to rehabilitate his reputation via numerous charitable acts. Michael and Kay have been divorced, and Kay was given custody of their children, Anthony and Mary.
At a ceremony in St. Patrick's Old Cathedral, Michael is named a Commander of the Order of St. Sebastian. At the following reception, Anthony tells his father that he is leaving law school to become an opera singer. Kay supports his decision, but Michael asks Anthony to complete his law degree. Anthony refuses to adhere to his father's wishes. Michael and Kay have an uneasy reunion, in which Kay reveals that she and Anthony know the truth about Fredo's death.
Vincent Mancini, Sonny Corleone's illegitimate son with Lucy Mancini, arrives at the reception. He is embroiled in a feud with Zasa, who has involved the Corleone family in major drug trafficking and turned Little Italy into a slum.
Michael's sister, Connie, arranges a meeting between Vincent and Zasa. When Zasa calls Vincent a bastard, Vincent bites Zasa's ear. Vincent overpowers two hitmen sent to kill him and learns that Zasa was responsible. Michael, troubled by Vincent's fiery temper but impressed by his family loyalty, agrees to take him under his wing.
Knowing that Archbishop Gilday, head of the Vatican Bank, has accumulated a massive deficit, Michael offers the Bank $600 million in exchange for shares in International Immobiliare, an international real estate holding company known as "the world's biggest landlord", which would make him its largest single shareholder with six seats on the company's 13-member board of directors.
He makes a tender offer to buy the Vatican's 25% share in the company, which will give him controlling interest. The Immobiliare's board quickly approve the offer, pending ratification in Rome by Pope Paul VI, who is gravely ill.
Don Altobello, an elderly New York Mafia boss and Connie's godfather, visits Michael, telling him that his old partners on the Commission want in on the Immobiliare deal. Michael wants the deal untainted by Mafia involvement and pays off the mob bosses from the sale of his Las Vegas holdings.
Zasa receives nothing and, declaring Michael his enemy, storms out. Altobello follows Zasa, saying he will reason with him. Minutes later, a helicopter hovers outside the conference room and opens fire. Most of the bosses are killed, but Michael, Vincent, and Michael's bodyguard, Al Neri, escape.
Back in New York, Neri tells Michael that the surviving mob bosses made deals with Zasa. Believing Zasa lacks the mindset to mastermind the massacre, Michael is certain someone else was the mastermind. Michael forbids Vincent from killing Zasa, realizes that Altobello is the traitor, suffers a diabetic stroke, and is hospitalized.
As Michael recuperates, Vincent and Mary begin a romantic relationship, while Neri and Connie give Vincent permission to retaliate against Zasa. During a street festival hosted by Zasa's Italian American civil rights group, Vincent kills Zasa. Michael berates Vincent for his actions and insists that Vincent end his relationship with Mary, explaining Vincent's involvement in the family's criminal enterprises endangers her life.
The family travels to Sicily for Anthony's operatic debut in Palermo at the Teatro Massimo. They stay with Don Tommasino, a long-time friend. Michael tells Vincent to convince Altobello of his desires to leave the Corleone family. Altobello introduces Vincent to Don Licio Lucchesi, a powerful Italian political figure and Immobiliare's chairman.
Michael discovers that the Immobiliare deal is an elaborate swindle, conspired by Lucchesi, Archbishop Gilday, and Vatican accountant Frederick Keinszig. Michael visits Cardinal Lamberto, favored to become the next Pope, to discuss the deal.
Lamberto persuades Michael to make his first confession in 30 years. Michael tearfully confesses that he ordered Fredo's murder, and Lamberto says Michael deserves to suffer but can be redeemed.
Altobello hires Mosca, a veteran hitman, to assassinate Michael. Mosca and his son, disguised as priests, kill Don Tommasino as he returns to his villa. While Michael and Kay tour Sicily, Michael asks for Kay's forgiveness, and they admit they still love each other.
Michael receives word of Tommasino's death, and at the funeral vows never to sin again. After Pope Paul VI dies, Cardinal Lamberto is elected as Pope John Paul I, and the Immobiliare deal is to be ratified. The plotters against the ratification attempt to cover up their tracks. Vincent tells Michael that Altobello is plotting to have Mosca assassinate Michael. Michael sees that his nephew is a changed man and names him the new Don of the Corleone family, telling him he to adopt the Corleone name. In exchange, Vincent agrees to end his romance with Mary.
The family travels to Palermo to watch Anthony's performance in Pietro Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana, a tale of murderous revenge in a Sicilian setting.
Meanwhile, Vincent exacts his own revenge:
- Keinszig is abducted by Vincent's men, who smother and then hang him from a bridge, making his death look like a suicide.
- Don Altobello, also attending the opera, eats poisoned cannoli that Connie gives him. He dies as Connie watches from her opera box.
- Al Neri travels to the Vatican, where he shoots Archbishop Gilday.
- Finally, Calò (Tommasino's former bodyguard, assigned to protect Michael while he was in Sicily during the events of the first film) meets with Don Lucchesi at his office, claiming to bear a message from Michael. As he whispers the message, "Power wears out those who don't have it", to Lucchesi, Calò stabs him in the neck with his own spectacles.
Just hours after he approves the Immobiliare deal, the Pope is served poisoned tea by Archbishop Gilday and dies soon afterward. Mosca, still disguised as a priest and armed with a sniper rifle, descends upon the opera house during Anthony's performance and eliminates three of Vincent's men, but is unable to shoot Michael.
The assassin retreats and attempts to kill Michael outside the opera house. Mosca fires twice but unintentionally kills Mary. Vincent shoots him dead.
Michael remembers all the women he has lost as a montage of Mary, Kay, and Apollonia is shown. An elderly Michael sits alone in the garden of Don Tommasino's Sicilian villa and suddenly slumps over in his chair, falling to the ground.
Cast and Characters:
- Al Pacino as Michael Corleone
- Andy García as Vincent Corleone — Sonny Corleone and Lucy Mancini were having an illicit affair at the start of The Godfather and Vincent is the result of that union. Being illegitimate, he was not included as one of the Corleone family at the start of this film.
- Diane Keaton as Kay Adams-Corleone
- Talia Shire as Connie Corleone
- Sofia Coppola as Mary Corleone
- Eli Wallach as Don Altobello
- George Hamilton as B. J. Harrison
- Joe Mantegna as Joey Zasa
- Richard Bright as Al Neri
- Bridget Fonda as Grace Hamilton
- Raf Vallone as Cardinal Lamberto
- Franc D'Ambrosio as Anthony Corleone
- Donal Donnelly as Archbishop Gilday
- Helmut Berger as Frederick Keinszig
- Don Novello as Dominic Abbandando
- John Savage as Father Andrew Hagen
- Mario Donatone as Mosca
- Vittorio Duse as Don Tommasino
- Enzo Robutti as Don Licio Lucchesi
- Al Martino as Johnny Fontane
- Jessica DiCicco as Child
Box office: $136.8 million
Jurassic Park Franchise
YouTube Video: Jurassic World - Official Trailer
Pictured: Original Jurassic Park Logo
Jurassic Park is an American media franchise centering on a disastrous attempt to create a theme park of cloned dinosaurs. It began in 1990 when Universal Studios bought the rights to the novel by Michael Crichton before it was even published.
The book was successful, as was the 1993 film adaptation, which led to three sequels, although the third and fourth films were not based on novels as the first two were.
The software developers Ocean Software, BlueSky Software, Sega of America, and Telltale Games have had the rights to develop video games since the 1993 film, and numerous games have been produced.
The Jurassic Park Ultimate Trilogy was released on DVD and Blu-ray on October 25, 2011 in North America. The first film was re-released in 3D on April 5, 2013. Since 1996, several water rides based on the series have been opened at various Universal theme parks. On June 1, 2016, the first three films in the franchise were added to the Netflix streaming service.
The fourth film, Jurassic World, was initially scheduled to be released in the summer of 2005, but was delayed numerous times and was ultimately released in June 2015. It has grossed more than $1.66 billion, making it the fourth highest-grossing film of all time.
When adjusted for monetary inflation, however, this film is the second highest grossing in the franchise after Jurassic Park. A fifth film is scheduled for a June 22, 2018 release date.
Novels:
Michael Crichton originally conceived a screenplay about a pterosaur being cloned from fossil DNA. After wrestling with this idea for a while, he came up with the idea of Jurassic Park. Crichton worked on the idea for several years; he decided his first draft would have a theme park for the setting and a young boy as the main character. Response was extremely negative, so Crichton rewrote the story to make it from an adult's point of view, this story was better received.
Steven Spielberg learned of the novel in October 1989 while he and Crichton were discussing a screenplay that would become the TV series ER. Before the book was published, Crichton put up a non-negotiable fee for $1.5 million as well as a substantial percentage of the gross. Universal further paid Crichton $500,000 to adapt his own novel.
Warner Bros. and Tim Burton, Columbia Pictures and Richard Donner, and 20th Century Fox and Joe Dante also bid for the rights, but in May 1990, Universal eventually decided on Spielberg making the adaptation. Universal desperately needed money to keep their company alive, and partially succeeded with Jurassic Park, as it became a critical and commercial success.
After Jurassic Park was released to home video, Crichton was pressured from many sources for a sequel novel. Crichton declined all offers until Spielberg himself told him that he would be keen to direct a movie adaptation of the sequel, if one were written.
Crichton began work almost immediately and in 1995 published The Lost World. Crichton confirmed that his novel had elements taken from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's novel of the same name. The book was also an outstanding success, both with professional and amateur critics.
The film adaptation, The Lost World: Jurassic Park began production in September 1996.
"InGen":
In the novels, the fictional company InGen (International Genetic Technologies, Inc.) is based in Palo Alto, California, and has one location in Europe. Nevertheless, most of InGen's research took place on the fictional islands of Isla Sorna and Isla Nublar.
While the first novel indicated InGen was just one of any number of small 1980s genetic engineering start-ups, the events of the novel and film revealed to a select group that InGen had discovered a method of cloning dinosaurs and other animals (including aquagga) using blood extracted from mosquitoes trapped in amber during various periods in time, ranging from the Mesozoic era to the 1800s.
Beacham's Encyclopedia of Popular Fiction describe InGen as comparable to another "sleazy organization". Other sources reference the company's receiving the baby T. rex as an allusion to other exploitative entrepreneurs depicted in King Kong. Ken Gelder describes InGen as "resolutely secretive, just like the firm in Grisham's novel."
Movies:
Jurassic Park (1993):
Before Crichton's book was even published, studios such as Warner Bros., Columbia TriStar, 20th Century Fox, and Universal had already begun bidding to acquire the picture rights.
Spielberg, with the backing of Universal Studios, acquired the rights to the novel before its publication in 1990, and Crichton was hired by Universal Studios for an additional US$500,000 to adapt the novel into a proper screenplay.
Malia Scotch Marmo, who was a writer on Spielberg's Hook, wrote the next draft of Jurassic Park, but is not credited. David Koepp wrote the final draft, which left out much of the novel's exposition and violence, and made numerous changes to the characters.
Plot:
When an incident results in the death of an employee, Jurassic Park owner John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) brings in three specialists to sign off on the park to calm investors.
The specialists, paleontologist Alan Grant (Sam Neill), paleobotanist Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern), and chaos theorist Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), are surprised to see the island park's main attraction are living, breathing dinosaurs, created with a mixture of fossilized DNA and genetic cross-breeding/cloning.
However, when lead programmer Dennis Nedry (Wayne Knight) shuts down the park's power to sneak out with samples of the dinosaur embryos to sell to a corporate rival, the dinosaurs break free, and the survivors are forced to find a way to turn the power back on and make it out alive. The film also stars Bob Peck, Martin Ferrero, Ariana Richards, Joseph Mazzello, and Samuel L. Jackson.
Jurassic Park is regarded as a landmark in the use of computer-generated imagery, and received positive reviews from critics, who praised the effects, though reactions to other elements of the picture, such as character development, were mixed.
During its release, the film grossed more than $914 million worldwide, becoming the most successful film released up to that time (surpassing E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and surpassed 4 years later by Titanic), and it is currently the 17th highest grossing feature film (taking inflation into account, it is the 20th-highest-grossing film in North America). It is the most financially successful film for NBCUniversal and Steven Spielberg.
Jurassic Park had two re-releases: the first on September 23, 2011 in the United Kingdom and the second in which it was converted into 3D on April 5, 2013 for its 20th Anniversary, which resulted in the film passing the $1 billion mark at the worldwide box office.
Jurassic Park Box Office: $1.029 billion
___________________________________________________________________________
The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997):
As soon as the novel was published, a film was in pre-production, with a target release date of mid-1997. The film was a commercial success, breaking many box-office records when released. The film had mixed reviews, similar to its predecessor in terms of characterization.
Much like the first film, The Lost World made a number of changes to the plot and characters from the book, replacing the corporate rivals with an internal power struggle and changing the roles/characterizations of several protagonists.
Plot:
When a vacationing family stumbles upon the dinosaurs of Isla Sorna, a secondary island where the animals were bred en masse and allowed to grow before being transported to the park, Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) is called in by John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) to lead a team to document the island to turn it into a preserve, where the animals can roam free without interference from the outside world.
Malcolm agrees to go when he discovers his girlfriend, paleontologist Sarah Harding (Julianne Moore) is already on the island, while at the same time Hammond's nephew Peter Ludlow (Arliss Howard) has taken over his uncle's company and leads a team of hunters to capture the creatures and bring them back to a theme park in San Diego.
The two groups clash and are ultimately forced to work together to evade the predatory creatures and survive the second island. The film also stars Pete Postlethwaite, Richard Schiff, Vince Vaughn, Vanessa Lee Chester, Peter Stormare, and a young Camilla Belle.
The Lost World: Jurassic Park Box Office: $618.6 million
___________________________________________________________________________
Jurassic Park III (2001):
Joe Johnston had been interested in directing the sequel to Jurassic Park and approached his friend Steven Spielberg about the project. While Spielberg wanted to direct the first sequel, he agreed that if there was ever a third film, Johnston could direct.
Spielberg, nevertheless, stayed involved in this film by becoming its executive producer.
Production began on August 30, 2000, with filming in California, and the Hawaiian islands of Kauai, Oahu, and Molokai. It is the first Jurassic Park film not to be based on a novel.
The film was a financial success, but received mixed to negative reviews from critics. Most were split on whether the third installment was better or worse than its predecessor. The film once again suffered reviews mentioning little to no characterization.
Plot:
When their son goes missing while parasailing at Isla Sorna, the Kirbys (William H. Macy & Téa Leoni) hire Alan Grant (Sam Neill) under false pretenses to help them navigate the island.
Believing it to be nothing more than sight-seeing, and that he will act as a dinosaur guide from the safety of their plane, he's startled to find them landing on the ground, where they are stalked by a super-predator, the Spinosaurus, which destroys their plane. As they search for the Kirbys' son, the situation grows dire as Velociraptors (more intelligent than ever) hunt their group, and they must find a way off the island.
The film also stars Alessandro Nivola, Michael Jeter, Trevor Morgan, Mark Harelik, and Laura Dern.
Jurassic Park III Box office $368.8 million
___________________________________________________________________________
Jurassic World (2015):
Steven Spielberg devised a story idea for a fourth film in 2001, during production of Jurassic Park III. In 2002, William Monahan was hired to write the script, with the film's release scheduled for 2005.
Monahan finished the first draft of the script in 2003, with the film's plot revolving around dinosaurs escaping to the mainland. Sam Neill and Richard Attenborough were set to reprise their characters, while Keira Knightley was in talks for two separate roles.
In 2004, John Sayles wrote two drafts of the script. Sayles' first draft involved a team of Deinonychus being trained for use in rescue missions. His second draft involved genetically modified dinosaur-human mercenaries. Both drafts were scrapped.
In 2006, a new script was being worked on. Laura Dern was contacted to reprise her role, with the film expected for release in 2008. The film was further delayed by the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike. Mark Protosevich wrote two film treatments in 2011, which were rejected.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes screenwriters Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver were hired in 2012 to write an early draft of the script. In 2013, Colin Trevorrow was announced as a director and co-writer, with the film scheduled for release on June 12, 2015. The film was shot in 3D.
Plot and Cast:
The film features a new park, Jurassic World, built on the remains of the original park on Isla Nublar. The film sees the park run by Simon Masrani (Irrfan Khan) and Masrani Corp, and features the return of Dr. Henry Wu (B. D. Wong) from the first film, who harbors a grudge against his former employer.
Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, and Jake Johnson star, while Vincent D'Onofrio portrayed the main antagonist, Vic Hoskins. The cast also includes Lauren Lapkus, Ty Simpkins, Nick Robinson, Omar Sy, and Judy Greer. The primary dinosaur antagonist is Indominus rex, a genetically-modified hybrid of Tyrannosaurus rex and several other species including Velociraptor, cuttlefish, and tree frog.
Jurassic World Box Office: $1.670 billion
___________________________________________________________________________
Total Box Office of the above four Movies of the Jurassic Park Franchise: $3.686 Billion!
The book was successful, as was the 1993 film adaptation, which led to three sequels, although the third and fourth films were not based on novels as the first two were.
The software developers Ocean Software, BlueSky Software, Sega of America, and Telltale Games have had the rights to develop video games since the 1993 film, and numerous games have been produced.
The Jurassic Park Ultimate Trilogy was released on DVD and Blu-ray on October 25, 2011 in North America. The first film was re-released in 3D on April 5, 2013. Since 1996, several water rides based on the series have been opened at various Universal theme parks. On June 1, 2016, the first three films in the franchise were added to the Netflix streaming service.
The fourth film, Jurassic World, was initially scheduled to be released in the summer of 2005, but was delayed numerous times and was ultimately released in June 2015. It has grossed more than $1.66 billion, making it the fourth highest-grossing film of all time.
When adjusted for monetary inflation, however, this film is the second highest grossing in the franchise after Jurassic Park. A fifth film is scheduled for a June 22, 2018 release date.
Novels:
Michael Crichton originally conceived a screenplay about a pterosaur being cloned from fossil DNA. After wrestling with this idea for a while, he came up with the idea of Jurassic Park. Crichton worked on the idea for several years; he decided his first draft would have a theme park for the setting and a young boy as the main character. Response was extremely negative, so Crichton rewrote the story to make it from an adult's point of view, this story was better received.
Steven Spielberg learned of the novel in October 1989 while he and Crichton were discussing a screenplay that would become the TV series ER. Before the book was published, Crichton put up a non-negotiable fee for $1.5 million as well as a substantial percentage of the gross. Universal further paid Crichton $500,000 to adapt his own novel.
Warner Bros. and Tim Burton, Columbia Pictures and Richard Donner, and 20th Century Fox and Joe Dante also bid for the rights, but in May 1990, Universal eventually decided on Spielberg making the adaptation. Universal desperately needed money to keep their company alive, and partially succeeded with Jurassic Park, as it became a critical and commercial success.
After Jurassic Park was released to home video, Crichton was pressured from many sources for a sequel novel. Crichton declined all offers until Spielberg himself told him that he would be keen to direct a movie adaptation of the sequel, if one were written.
Crichton began work almost immediately and in 1995 published The Lost World. Crichton confirmed that his novel had elements taken from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's novel of the same name. The book was also an outstanding success, both with professional and amateur critics.
The film adaptation, The Lost World: Jurassic Park began production in September 1996.
"InGen":
In the novels, the fictional company InGen (International Genetic Technologies, Inc.) is based in Palo Alto, California, and has one location in Europe. Nevertheless, most of InGen's research took place on the fictional islands of Isla Sorna and Isla Nublar.
While the first novel indicated InGen was just one of any number of small 1980s genetic engineering start-ups, the events of the novel and film revealed to a select group that InGen had discovered a method of cloning dinosaurs and other animals (including aquagga) using blood extracted from mosquitoes trapped in amber during various periods in time, ranging from the Mesozoic era to the 1800s.
Beacham's Encyclopedia of Popular Fiction describe InGen as comparable to another "sleazy organization". Other sources reference the company's receiving the baby T. rex as an allusion to other exploitative entrepreneurs depicted in King Kong. Ken Gelder describes InGen as "resolutely secretive, just like the firm in Grisham's novel."
Movies:
Jurassic Park (1993):
Before Crichton's book was even published, studios such as Warner Bros., Columbia TriStar, 20th Century Fox, and Universal had already begun bidding to acquire the picture rights.
Spielberg, with the backing of Universal Studios, acquired the rights to the novel before its publication in 1990, and Crichton was hired by Universal Studios for an additional US$500,000 to adapt the novel into a proper screenplay.
Malia Scotch Marmo, who was a writer on Spielberg's Hook, wrote the next draft of Jurassic Park, but is not credited. David Koepp wrote the final draft, which left out much of the novel's exposition and violence, and made numerous changes to the characters.
Plot:
When an incident results in the death of an employee, Jurassic Park owner John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) brings in three specialists to sign off on the park to calm investors.
The specialists, paleontologist Alan Grant (Sam Neill), paleobotanist Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern), and chaos theorist Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), are surprised to see the island park's main attraction are living, breathing dinosaurs, created with a mixture of fossilized DNA and genetic cross-breeding/cloning.
However, when lead programmer Dennis Nedry (Wayne Knight) shuts down the park's power to sneak out with samples of the dinosaur embryos to sell to a corporate rival, the dinosaurs break free, and the survivors are forced to find a way to turn the power back on and make it out alive. The film also stars Bob Peck, Martin Ferrero, Ariana Richards, Joseph Mazzello, and Samuel L. Jackson.
Jurassic Park is regarded as a landmark in the use of computer-generated imagery, and received positive reviews from critics, who praised the effects, though reactions to other elements of the picture, such as character development, were mixed.
During its release, the film grossed more than $914 million worldwide, becoming the most successful film released up to that time (surpassing E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and surpassed 4 years later by Titanic), and it is currently the 17th highest grossing feature film (taking inflation into account, it is the 20th-highest-grossing film in North America). It is the most financially successful film for NBCUniversal and Steven Spielberg.
Jurassic Park had two re-releases: the first on September 23, 2011 in the United Kingdom and the second in which it was converted into 3D on April 5, 2013 for its 20th Anniversary, which resulted in the film passing the $1 billion mark at the worldwide box office.
Jurassic Park Box Office: $1.029 billion
___________________________________________________________________________
The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997):
As soon as the novel was published, a film was in pre-production, with a target release date of mid-1997. The film was a commercial success, breaking many box-office records when released. The film had mixed reviews, similar to its predecessor in terms of characterization.
Much like the first film, The Lost World made a number of changes to the plot and characters from the book, replacing the corporate rivals with an internal power struggle and changing the roles/characterizations of several protagonists.
Plot:
When a vacationing family stumbles upon the dinosaurs of Isla Sorna, a secondary island where the animals were bred en masse and allowed to grow before being transported to the park, Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) is called in by John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) to lead a team to document the island to turn it into a preserve, where the animals can roam free without interference from the outside world.
Malcolm agrees to go when he discovers his girlfriend, paleontologist Sarah Harding (Julianne Moore) is already on the island, while at the same time Hammond's nephew Peter Ludlow (Arliss Howard) has taken over his uncle's company and leads a team of hunters to capture the creatures and bring them back to a theme park in San Diego.
The two groups clash and are ultimately forced to work together to evade the predatory creatures and survive the second island. The film also stars Pete Postlethwaite, Richard Schiff, Vince Vaughn, Vanessa Lee Chester, Peter Stormare, and a young Camilla Belle.
The Lost World: Jurassic Park Box Office: $618.6 million
___________________________________________________________________________
Jurassic Park III (2001):
Joe Johnston had been interested in directing the sequel to Jurassic Park and approached his friend Steven Spielberg about the project. While Spielberg wanted to direct the first sequel, he agreed that if there was ever a third film, Johnston could direct.
Spielberg, nevertheless, stayed involved in this film by becoming its executive producer.
Production began on August 30, 2000, with filming in California, and the Hawaiian islands of Kauai, Oahu, and Molokai. It is the first Jurassic Park film not to be based on a novel.
The film was a financial success, but received mixed to negative reviews from critics. Most were split on whether the third installment was better or worse than its predecessor. The film once again suffered reviews mentioning little to no characterization.
Plot:
When their son goes missing while parasailing at Isla Sorna, the Kirbys (William H. Macy & Téa Leoni) hire Alan Grant (Sam Neill) under false pretenses to help them navigate the island.
Believing it to be nothing more than sight-seeing, and that he will act as a dinosaur guide from the safety of their plane, he's startled to find them landing on the ground, where they are stalked by a super-predator, the Spinosaurus, which destroys their plane. As they search for the Kirbys' son, the situation grows dire as Velociraptors (more intelligent than ever) hunt their group, and they must find a way off the island.
The film also stars Alessandro Nivola, Michael Jeter, Trevor Morgan, Mark Harelik, and Laura Dern.
Jurassic Park III Box office $368.8 million
___________________________________________________________________________
Jurassic World (2015):
Steven Spielberg devised a story idea for a fourth film in 2001, during production of Jurassic Park III. In 2002, William Monahan was hired to write the script, with the film's release scheduled for 2005.
Monahan finished the first draft of the script in 2003, with the film's plot revolving around dinosaurs escaping to the mainland. Sam Neill and Richard Attenborough were set to reprise their characters, while Keira Knightley was in talks for two separate roles.
In 2004, John Sayles wrote two drafts of the script. Sayles' first draft involved a team of Deinonychus being trained for use in rescue missions. His second draft involved genetically modified dinosaur-human mercenaries. Both drafts were scrapped.
In 2006, a new script was being worked on. Laura Dern was contacted to reprise her role, with the film expected for release in 2008. The film was further delayed by the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike. Mark Protosevich wrote two film treatments in 2011, which were rejected.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes screenwriters Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver were hired in 2012 to write an early draft of the script. In 2013, Colin Trevorrow was announced as a director and co-writer, with the film scheduled for release on June 12, 2015. The film was shot in 3D.
Plot and Cast:
The film features a new park, Jurassic World, built on the remains of the original park on Isla Nublar. The film sees the park run by Simon Masrani (Irrfan Khan) and Masrani Corp, and features the return of Dr. Henry Wu (B. D. Wong) from the first film, who harbors a grudge against his former employer.
Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, and Jake Johnson star, while Vincent D'Onofrio portrayed the main antagonist, Vic Hoskins. The cast also includes Lauren Lapkus, Ty Simpkins, Nick Robinson, Omar Sy, and Judy Greer. The primary dinosaur antagonist is Indominus rex, a genetically-modified hybrid of Tyrannosaurus rex and several other species including Velociraptor, cuttlefish, and tree frog.
Jurassic World Box Office: $1.670 billion
___________________________________________________________________________
Total Box Office of the above four Movies of the Jurassic Park Franchise: $3.686 Billion!
James Bond Movie Franchise
YouTube Video: 1964 - James Bond - Goldfinger: title sequence
Pictured: The following is a slideshow of James Bond movies, displayed in order of the release dates, with a caption identifying each movie's title and release date. There have been 24 James Bond movies created through Eon Production. Click on each slide show number ("1" through "24") to view that theatrical movie poster.
James Bond is a fictional character created by novelist Ian Fleming in 1953. Bond is a British secret agent working for MI6 who also answers by his code name, 007.
He has been portrayed on film by actors Sean Connery, David Niven, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig, in twenty-six productions. Only two films were not made by Eon Productions. Eon now holds the full adaptation rights to all of Fleming's Bond novels.
In 1961 producers Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman joined forces to purchase the filming rights to Fleming's novels. They founded the production company Eon Productions and, with financial backing by United Artists, began working on Dr. No, which was directed by Terence Young and featured Connery as Bond.
Following Dr. No's release in 1962, Broccoli and Saltzman created the holding company Danjaq to ensure future productions in the James Bond film series. The series currently encompasses twenty-four films, with the most recent, Spectre, released in October 2015.
With a combined gross of nearly $7 billion to date, the films produced by Eon constitute the third-highest-grossing film series, behind the Harry Potter and Marvel Cinematic Universe films.
Accounting for the effects of inflation the Bond films have amassed over $14 billion at current prices. The films have won five Academy Awards: for Sound Effects (now Sound Editing) in Goldfinger (at the 37th Awards), to John Stears for Visual Effects in Thunderball (at the 38th Awards), to Per Hallberg and Karen Baker Landers for Sound Editing, and to Adele and Paul Epworth for Original Song in Skyfall (at the 85th Awards), and to Sam Smith and Jimmy Napes for Original Song in Spectre (at the 88th Awards).
Additionally, several of the songs produced for the films have been nominated for Academy Awards for Original Song, including Paul McCartney's "Live and Let Die", Carly Simon's "Nobody Does It Better" and Sheena Easton's "For Your Eyes Only". In 1982, Albert R. Broccoli received the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award.
When Broccoli and Saltzman bought the rights to existing and future Fleming titles, it did not include Casino Royale, which had already been sold to producer Gregory Ratoff, with the story having been adapted for television in 1954. After Ratoff's death, the rights were passed on to Charles K. Feldman, who subsequently produced the satirical Bond spoof Casino Royale in 1967.
A legal case ensured that the film rights to the novel Thunderball were held by Kevin McClory as he, Fleming and scriptwriter Jack Whittingham had written a film script upon which the novel was based.
Although Eon Productions and McClory joined forces to produce Thunderball, McClory still retained the rights to the story and adapted Thunderball into 1983's Never Say Never Again. The current distribution rights to both of those films are held by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the studio which distributes Eon's regular series.
Click on any of the following hyperlinks for amplification of that respective movie:
Dr. No (1962)
From Russia With Love (1963)
Goldfinger (1964)
Thunderball (1965)
You Only Live Twice (1967)
On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)
Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
Live and Let Die (1973)
The Man With the Golden Gun (1974)
The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
Moonraker (1979)
For Your Eyes Only (1981)
Octopussy (1983)
A View to Kill (1985)
The Living Daylights (1987)
Licence to Kill (1989)
GoldenEye (1995)
Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
The World is Not Enough (1999)
Die Another Day (2002)
Casino Royale (2006)
Quantum of Solace (2008)
Skyfall (2012)
Spectre (2015)
He has been portrayed on film by actors Sean Connery, David Niven, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig, in twenty-six productions. Only two films were not made by Eon Productions. Eon now holds the full adaptation rights to all of Fleming's Bond novels.
In 1961 producers Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman joined forces to purchase the filming rights to Fleming's novels. They founded the production company Eon Productions and, with financial backing by United Artists, began working on Dr. No, which was directed by Terence Young and featured Connery as Bond.
Following Dr. No's release in 1962, Broccoli and Saltzman created the holding company Danjaq to ensure future productions in the James Bond film series. The series currently encompasses twenty-four films, with the most recent, Spectre, released in October 2015.
With a combined gross of nearly $7 billion to date, the films produced by Eon constitute the third-highest-grossing film series, behind the Harry Potter and Marvel Cinematic Universe films.
Accounting for the effects of inflation the Bond films have amassed over $14 billion at current prices. The films have won five Academy Awards: for Sound Effects (now Sound Editing) in Goldfinger (at the 37th Awards), to John Stears for Visual Effects in Thunderball (at the 38th Awards), to Per Hallberg and Karen Baker Landers for Sound Editing, and to Adele and Paul Epworth for Original Song in Skyfall (at the 85th Awards), and to Sam Smith and Jimmy Napes for Original Song in Spectre (at the 88th Awards).
Additionally, several of the songs produced for the films have been nominated for Academy Awards for Original Song, including Paul McCartney's "Live and Let Die", Carly Simon's "Nobody Does It Better" and Sheena Easton's "For Your Eyes Only". In 1982, Albert R. Broccoli received the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award.
When Broccoli and Saltzman bought the rights to existing and future Fleming titles, it did not include Casino Royale, which had already been sold to producer Gregory Ratoff, with the story having been adapted for television in 1954. After Ratoff's death, the rights were passed on to Charles K. Feldman, who subsequently produced the satirical Bond spoof Casino Royale in 1967.
A legal case ensured that the film rights to the novel Thunderball were held by Kevin McClory as he, Fleming and scriptwriter Jack Whittingham had written a film script upon which the novel was based.
Although Eon Productions and McClory joined forces to produce Thunderball, McClory still retained the rights to the story and adapted Thunderball into 1983's Never Say Never Again. The current distribution rights to both of those films are held by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the studio which distributes Eon's regular series.
Click on any of the following hyperlinks for amplification of that respective movie:
Dr. No (1962)
From Russia With Love (1963)
Goldfinger (1964)
Thunderball (1965)
You Only Live Twice (1967)
On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)
Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
Live and Let Die (1973)
The Man With the Golden Gun (1974)
The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
Moonraker (1979)
For Your Eyes Only (1981)
Octopussy (1983)
A View to Kill (1985)
The Living Daylights (1987)
Licence to Kill (1989)
GoldenEye (1995)
Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
The World is Not Enough (1999)
Die Another Day (2002)
Casino Royale (2006)
Quantum of Solace (2008)
Skyfall (2012)
Spectre (2015)
Rocky Movie Franchise
YouTube Video of the Best Scenes from the Rocky Movie Franchise
Pictured: Rocky Anthology DVD set containing the first five films
Rocky is a boxing saga of popular films all starring Sylvester Stallone, who plays the eponymous character Rocky Balboa. The film series has grossed more than US$1 billion at the worldwide box office.
All of the films were written by Stallone except for Creed, which was written by Ryan Coogler and Aaron Covington. The original film and the fifth installment were directed by John G. Avildsen, Creed was directed by Coogler, and Stallone directed the others.
The seven films by order of release date follow:
Rocky (1976):
YouTube Video: Rocky Balboa Best Scenes Compilation HD
All of the films were written by Stallone except for Creed, which was written by Ryan Coogler and Aaron Covington. The original film and the fifth installment were directed by John G. Avildsen, Creed was directed by Coogler, and Stallone directed the others.
The seven films by order of release date follow:
Rocky (1976):
YouTube Video: Rocky Balboa Best Scenes Compilation HD
Rocky is a 1976 American sports drama film directed by John G. Avildsen and both written by and starring Sylvester Stallone. It tells the rags to riches American Dream story of Rocky Balboa, an uneducated but kind-hearted working class Italian-American boxer working as a debt collector for a loan shark in the slums of Philadelphia.
Rocky starts out as a small-time club fighter, and later gets a shot at the world heavyweight championship. The film also stars Talia Shire as Adrian, Burt Young as Adrian's brother Paulie, Burgess Meredith as Rocky's trainer Mickey Goldmill, and Carl Weathers as the champion, Apollo Creed.
The film, made on a budget of just over $1 million and shot in 28 days, was a sleeper hit; it earned $225 million in global box office receipts, becoming the highest-grossing film of 1976, and went on to win three Oscars, including Best Picture. The film received many positive reviews and turned Stallone into a major star.
In 2006, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". Rocky is considered to be one of the greatest sports films ever made and was ranked as the second-best in the genre, after Raging Bull, by the American Film Institute in 2008.
Plot:
Set in late 1975, Rocky Balboa is a hard-living but failing prize fighter from an Italian neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Between fights, he works as an enforcer for loan shark Tony Gazzo.
The World Heavyweight Champion, Apollo Creed, announces plans to hold a match in Philadelphia during the upcoming United States Bicentennial. However, he is informed five weeks from the fight date that his scheduled opponent, Mac Lee Greene, is unable to compete due to an injured hand. With all other potential replacements booked up or otherwise unavailable, Creed decides to spice things up by giving a local contender a chance to face him. He finds Balboa in the paper, liking his nickname "The Italian Stallion" and his fighting style, being Southpaw.
Rocky meets with promoter Miles Jergens presuming Creed is seeking local sparring partners. Rocky reluctantly agrees to the match, which will pay him $150,000. After several weeks of training, using whatever he can find, including meat carcasses as punching bags,
Rocky accepts an offer of assistance from former boxer Mickey "Mighty Mick" Goldmill, a respected trainer and former bantamweight fighter from the 1920s who always criticized Rocky for wasting his potential.
At the same time, Rocky begins a relationship with Adrian, a clerk at the local pet store. He gradually gains the shy Adrian's trust, culminating in a kiss. Her alcoholic brother Paulie becomes jealous of Rocky's success, but Rocky calms him by agreeing to advertise his meatpacking business at the fight.
The night before the match, Rocky becomes depressed after touring the arena. He confesses to Adrian that he does not expect to win, but is content to go the distance against Creed and prove himself to everyone.
On New Year's Day, the climactic boxing match begins, with Creed making a dramatic entrance dressed as George Washington and then Uncle Sam. Taking advantage of his overconfidence, Rocky knocks him down in the first round—the first time that Creed has ever been knocked down.
Humiliated, Creed takes Rocky more seriously for the rest of the fight, though his ego never fully fades. The fight goes on for the full 15 rounds, with both fighters sustaining many injuries; Rocky suffers his first broken nose and debilitating trauma around the eye, and Creed sustains brutal blows to his ribs with substantial internal bleeding.
As the match progresses, Creed's superior skill is countered by Rocky's apparently unlimited ability to absorb punches, and his dogged refusal to be knocked out. As the final round bell sounds, with both fighters locked in each other's arms, they promise to each other that there will be no rematch.
After the fight, multiple layers of drama are played out: the sportscasters and the audience go wild, Jergens announces over the loudspeaker that the match was "the greatest exhibition of guts and stamina in the history of the ring", and Rocky calls out repeatedly for Adrian, who runs down and comes into the ring as Paulie distracts arena security.
As Jergens declares Creed the winner by virtue of a split decision (8:7, 7:8, 9:6), Adrian and Rocky embrace and profess their love to each other, not caring about the result of the fight.
Cast:
Box Office: $225 Million
______________________________________________________________________
Rocky starts out as a small-time club fighter, and later gets a shot at the world heavyweight championship. The film also stars Talia Shire as Adrian, Burt Young as Adrian's brother Paulie, Burgess Meredith as Rocky's trainer Mickey Goldmill, and Carl Weathers as the champion, Apollo Creed.
The film, made on a budget of just over $1 million and shot in 28 days, was a sleeper hit; it earned $225 million in global box office receipts, becoming the highest-grossing film of 1976, and went on to win three Oscars, including Best Picture. The film received many positive reviews and turned Stallone into a major star.
In 2006, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". Rocky is considered to be one of the greatest sports films ever made and was ranked as the second-best in the genre, after Raging Bull, by the American Film Institute in 2008.
Plot:
Set in late 1975, Rocky Balboa is a hard-living but failing prize fighter from an Italian neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Between fights, he works as an enforcer for loan shark Tony Gazzo.
The World Heavyweight Champion, Apollo Creed, announces plans to hold a match in Philadelphia during the upcoming United States Bicentennial. However, he is informed five weeks from the fight date that his scheduled opponent, Mac Lee Greene, is unable to compete due to an injured hand. With all other potential replacements booked up or otherwise unavailable, Creed decides to spice things up by giving a local contender a chance to face him. He finds Balboa in the paper, liking his nickname "The Italian Stallion" and his fighting style, being Southpaw.
Rocky meets with promoter Miles Jergens presuming Creed is seeking local sparring partners. Rocky reluctantly agrees to the match, which will pay him $150,000. After several weeks of training, using whatever he can find, including meat carcasses as punching bags,
Rocky accepts an offer of assistance from former boxer Mickey "Mighty Mick" Goldmill, a respected trainer and former bantamweight fighter from the 1920s who always criticized Rocky for wasting his potential.
At the same time, Rocky begins a relationship with Adrian, a clerk at the local pet store. He gradually gains the shy Adrian's trust, culminating in a kiss. Her alcoholic brother Paulie becomes jealous of Rocky's success, but Rocky calms him by agreeing to advertise his meatpacking business at the fight.
The night before the match, Rocky becomes depressed after touring the arena. He confesses to Adrian that he does not expect to win, but is content to go the distance against Creed and prove himself to everyone.
On New Year's Day, the climactic boxing match begins, with Creed making a dramatic entrance dressed as George Washington and then Uncle Sam. Taking advantage of his overconfidence, Rocky knocks him down in the first round—the first time that Creed has ever been knocked down.
Humiliated, Creed takes Rocky more seriously for the rest of the fight, though his ego never fully fades. The fight goes on for the full 15 rounds, with both fighters sustaining many injuries; Rocky suffers his first broken nose and debilitating trauma around the eye, and Creed sustains brutal blows to his ribs with substantial internal bleeding.
As the match progresses, Creed's superior skill is countered by Rocky's apparently unlimited ability to absorb punches, and his dogged refusal to be knocked out. As the final round bell sounds, with both fighters locked in each other's arms, they promise to each other that there will be no rematch.
After the fight, multiple layers of drama are played out: the sportscasters and the audience go wild, Jergens announces over the loudspeaker that the match was "the greatest exhibition of guts and stamina in the history of the ring", and Rocky calls out repeatedly for Adrian, who runs down and comes into the ring as Paulie distracts arena security.
As Jergens declares Creed the winner by virtue of a split decision (8:7, 7:8, 9:6), Adrian and Rocky embrace and profess their love to each other, not caring about the result of the fight.
Cast:
- Sylvester Stallone as Robert "Rocky" Balboa, "The Italian Stallion"
- Talia Shire as Adrianna "Adrian" Pennino, Rocky's love interest
- Burt Young as Paulie Pennino, Rocky's friend, and Adrian's brother
- Carl Weathers as Apollo Creed, Rocky's opponent and the heavyweight champion
- Burgess Meredith as Mickey Goldmill, Rocky's manager and trainer
- Thayer David as Miles Jergens, the fight promoter
- Joe Spinell as Tony Gazzo, loan shark and Rocky's employer
- Tony Burton as Tony "Duke" Evers, Apollo Creed's manager, trainer, and friend
- Pedro Lovell as Spider Rico, a Puerto Rican boxer
Box Office: $225 Million
______________________________________________________________________
Rocky II (1979),
YouTube Video: Rocky II -- Final Round
Rocky II is a 1979 American film written and directed by, and starring Sylvester Stallone. It is the sequel to the 1976 film Rocky, and was the last installment in the film series that was distributed solely by United Artists.
Stallone, Carl Weathers, Tony Burton, Burgess Meredith, Burt Young and Talia Shire reprised their original roles. The Ring Magazine heavyweight championship belt makes its first appearance in the series.
Plot:
On New Year's Day, 1976, Apollo Creed has successfully defended his heavyweight title in a split decision, he and Rocky are taken to the same hospital. Apollo challenges Rocky to a rematch, but Rocky declines and officially retires from boxing.
His girlfriend Adrian supports his choice, and so do his doctors, who reveal he will require surgery for a detached retina, which could lead to permanent blindness. In a private moment, Rocky goes to see a recuperating Apollo, and wants a truthful response if Apollo gave his all in the fight, to which Creed agrees.
After Rocky is released from the hospital, he enjoys the benefits of his life's changes: Rocky's new fame attracts an agent who sees Rocky as a potential endorsement and sponsorship goldmine, and his sudden wealth encourages him to propose to Adrian. She happily accepts, and they marry in a small ceremony. Soon after, Rocky and Adrian happily learn that Adrian is pregnant.
Meanwhile, fueled by hate mail, Apollo becomes obsessed with the idea that a rematch is the only way to prove that Rocky's performance was simply a fluke. Determined to rectify his boxing career's only blemish, Apollo ignores all pleas by his friends and family to forget the fight and move on to other potential opponents, and instead demands his team do whatever necessary to goad Rocky out of his hiatus and have a rematch with him.
Rocky at first seems unaffected by Apollo's smear campaign, but his inexperience with money causes him to run into financial problems. After largely unsuccessful attempts to find employment, Rocky visits Mickey Goldmill, his trainer and manager, at his gym to talk about the possibility of returning to boxing.
At first, Mickey declines, concerned about Rocky's health, but he soon accepts after Apollo publicly insults Rocky. Adrian confronts Rocky about the danger of returning to boxing and reminds him of the risk to his eyesight. Rocky argues he knows nothing else, so this is the only way he can provide. Adrian, furious at Rocky for breaking his promise, refuses to support him.
Rocky and Mickey begin training, but Rocky is not focused on the job at hand due to Adrian's disapproval. Adrian's brother, Paulie, confronts his sister about not supporting her husband, but she faints during the confrontation and is rushed to the hospital, where she goes into labor.
Despite being premature, the baby is healthy, but Adrian falls into a coma. Rocky blames himself for what has happened and refuses to leave Adrian's bedside until she wakes up, and will not go to see his new baby until they can see it together. When Adrian comes out of her coma, she finds Rocky by her bedside, and the couple are shown their new baby, a boy, which they name Rocky Jr. Adrian gives her blessing to the rematch, and Rocky quickly gets into shape for the match.
When he makes the same training run that he did in the first film, ending at the "Rocky Steps" at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, he is now followed by a crowd of children, some of whom followed him with his consent near the start of his run.
The night of the match arrives, and Apollo has made a public goal of beating Rocky in no more than two rounds to prove the first match going the full fifteen rounds was a fluke. Rocky, fighting right-handed to protect his eye instead of his natural southpaw, is not able to mount much of an offensive effort through the first two rounds but manages to survive them, disproving Apollo's theory that the first fight's result was a fluke.
Although the match once again progresses to the full fifteen rounds, the judges have given Creed so many points Rocky would once again lose if the rounds expire. However, Apollo's obsession with knocking Rocky out (against the advice of his corner men) leads him to trade blows with Rocky rather than play it safe and win by decision.
In the final round, Rocky, who switched tactics and is fighting left-handed again, lands a devastating blow on Apollo that knocks him down, but an exhausted Rocky loses his balance and collapses as well.
Just before the match is about to end in a draw (titles cannot change hands in this manner), Rocky manages to get back up by the count of nine. Rocky wins the match by a knockout and becomes the heavyweight champion of the world. In his post-fight announcement, Rocky, who has won back the respect of his fans and Adrian, humbly thanks Apollo for the match and ends by hoisting the world championship belt and screaming, "Yo, Adrian, I did it!"
Supporting Cast:
Box Office: $200 Million
___________________________________________________________________________
Stallone, Carl Weathers, Tony Burton, Burgess Meredith, Burt Young and Talia Shire reprised their original roles. The Ring Magazine heavyweight championship belt makes its first appearance in the series.
Plot:
On New Year's Day, 1976, Apollo Creed has successfully defended his heavyweight title in a split decision, he and Rocky are taken to the same hospital. Apollo challenges Rocky to a rematch, but Rocky declines and officially retires from boxing.
His girlfriend Adrian supports his choice, and so do his doctors, who reveal he will require surgery for a detached retina, which could lead to permanent blindness. In a private moment, Rocky goes to see a recuperating Apollo, and wants a truthful response if Apollo gave his all in the fight, to which Creed agrees.
After Rocky is released from the hospital, he enjoys the benefits of his life's changes: Rocky's new fame attracts an agent who sees Rocky as a potential endorsement and sponsorship goldmine, and his sudden wealth encourages him to propose to Adrian. She happily accepts, and they marry in a small ceremony. Soon after, Rocky and Adrian happily learn that Adrian is pregnant.
Meanwhile, fueled by hate mail, Apollo becomes obsessed with the idea that a rematch is the only way to prove that Rocky's performance was simply a fluke. Determined to rectify his boxing career's only blemish, Apollo ignores all pleas by his friends and family to forget the fight and move on to other potential opponents, and instead demands his team do whatever necessary to goad Rocky out of his hiatus and have a rematch with him.
Rocky at first seems unaffected by Apollo's smear campaign, but his inexperience with money causes him to run into financial problems. After largely unsuccessful attempts to find employment, Rocky visits Mickey Goldmill, his trainer and manager, at his gym to talk about the possibility of returning to boxing.
At first, Mickey declines, concerned about Rocky's health, but he soon accepts after Apollo publicly insults Rocky. Adrian confronts Rocky about the danger of returning to boxing and reminds him of the risk to his eyesight. Rocky argues he knows nothing else, so this is the only way he can provide. Adrian, furious at Rocky for breaking his promise, refuses to support him.
Rocky and Mickey begin training, but Rocky is not focused on the job at hand due to Adrian's disapproval. Adrian's brother, Paulie, confronts his sister about not supporting her husband, but she faints during the confrontation and is rushed to the hospital, where she goes into labor.
Despite being premature, the baby is healthy, but Adrian falls into a coma. Rocky blames himself for what has happened and refuses to leave Adrian's bedside until she wakes up, and will not go to see his new baby until they can see it together. When Adrian comes out of her coma, she finds Rocky by her bedside, and the couple are shown their new baby, a boy, which they name Rocky Jr. Adrian gives her blessing to the rematch, and Rocky quickly gets into shape for the match.
When he makes the same training run that he did in the first film, ending at the "Rocky Steps" at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, he is now followed by a crowd of children, some of whom followed him with his consent near the start of his run.
The night of the match arrives, and Apollo has made a public goal of beating Rocky in no more than two rounds to prove the first match going the full fifteen rounds was a fluke. Rocky, fighting right-handed to protect his eye instead of his natural southpaw, is not able to mount much of an offensive effort through the first two rounds but manages to survive them, disproving Apollo's theory that the first fight's result was a fluke.
Although the match once again progresses to the full fifteen rounds, the judges have given Creed so many points Rocky would once again lose if the rounds expire. However, Apollo's obsession with knocking Rocky out (against the advice of his corner men) leads him to trade blows with Rocky rather than play it safe and win by decision.
In the final round, Rocky, who switched tactics and is fighting left-handed again, lands a devastating blow on Apollo that knocks him down, but an exhausted Rocky loses his balance and collapses as well.
Just before the match is about to end in a draw (titles cannot change hands in this manner), Rocky manages to get back up by the count of nine. Rocky wins the match by a knockout and becomes the heavyweight champion of the world. In his post-fight announcement, Rocky, who has won back the respect of his fans and Adrian, humbly thanks Apollo for the match and ends by hoisting the world championship belt and screaming, "Yo, Adrian, I did it!"
Supporting Cast:
- Sylvia Meals as Mary Anne Creed: Apollo Creed's wife.
- Seargeoh Stallone as Robert "Rocky" Balboa, Jr.: Rocky and Adrian's newborn child. Seargeoh appeared in the film uncredited.
- Joe Spinell as Tony Gazzo: Loan shark and Rocky's former employer.
- Paul J. Micale as Father Carmine: Rocky's ecclesiastical leader.
Box Office: $200 Million
___________________________________________________________________________
Rocky III (1982),
YouTube Video: Rocky 3. Rocky Balboa Vs Clubber Lang....Final Fight Scene from Rocky III
Rocky III is a 1982 American sports-drama film written, directed by, and starring Sylvester Stallone. It is the third installment in the Rocky film series, and the second in the franchise to be directed by Stallone.
The movie features returning co-stars Carl Weathers, Burgess Meredith, Talia Shire and Burt Young. Rocky III also marks the film debuts of Mr. T as James "Clubber" Lang, and of professional wrestler Hulk Hogan as the supporting character "Thunderlips".
Rocky III is the first installment in the series to be distributed by MGM/UA rather than United Artists alone. In 1980, United Artists, who owned the rights to the Rocky films, made Heaven's Gate, a film which cost $44 million and made only $3 million. In response, United Artists' owner, Transamerica, sold United Artists to MGM, forming MGM/UA in 1981.
The film's main theme "Eye of the Tiger", was written by the group Survivor and became a smash hit single, topping the U.S. Billboard charts and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song.
Plot:
In the three years since winning the world heavyweight title, Rocky Balboa has had a string of ten successful title defenses and has seen his fame, wealth, and celebrity increase. He even has time to participate in a friendly boxer vs. wrestler charity event against the world wrestling champion Thunderlips (Hulk Hogan).
Meantime, Rocky's manager Mickey worriedly eyes a young and hungry contender rapidly rising through the ranks named James "Clubber" Lang. While unveiling a statue of himself at the steps by the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Rocky is publicly challenged by Lang, now the number-one contender. Lang accuses Rocky of intentionally accepting challenges from lesser opponents, and after he makes a sexual remark toward Rocky's wife Adrian, his challenge is accepted.
Mickey initially wants no part of it. Pressed by Rocky, Mickey admits he had handpicked Rocky's opponents to protect him from the beating he received in winning the title from Apollo Creed and to ensure Rocky remained successful and healthy. He tells Rocky that by becoming "civilized", he has lost his edge and that the young and hungry Lang would beat him inside of three rounds.
Rocky manages to convince Mickey to train him regardless, but his Las Vegas-style training camp is filled with distractions and Rocky clearly does not take the challenge seriously, whilst Lang trains extremely hard.
Lang and Rocky meet at Philadelphia's Spectrum. A brawl breaks out backstage, and Mickey is violently shoved out of the way by Lang, causing him to suffer a heart attack. A now distraught Rocky wants to call the fight off, but Mickey angrily urges him on while he stays in the dressing room.
By the time of the match, Rocky is both enraged and severely distracted by his mentor's condition. The match begins with Rocky pounding Lang with several huge blows, going for an early knockout, but the stronger and better prepared Lang is unfazed and quickly takes charge, dominating Rocky and knocking him out with a haymaker left hook in the second round, winning the heavyweight championship belt from Rocky.
After the match, Rocky returns to the dressing room and witnesses Mickey dying. Kneeling at his side, Rocky speaks to Mickey, telling him that the match ended in the second round by a knockout, which Mickey misinterprets as a win for Rocky, shortly before succumbing to a heart attack.
Stopping by Mickey's closed gym, Rocky is confronted by his former nemesis, Apollo Creed, who witnessed the match as a guest analyst, and offers to help train him for a rematch with Lang in exchange for "a big favor." At first, Rocky is too demoralized to put forth his best efforts, which frustrates Apollo, but pulls himself together after Adrian helps him come to terms with Mickey's death.
Apollo then trains Rocky at the gym where he once trained - Tough Gym in Los Angeles - and infuses Rocky's brawling style with more of the skill and speed that is Apollo's trademark.
The rematch takes place at Madison Square Garden. Apollo lends Rocky his American flag trunks that he wore during their first match. As the match is under way, Rocky sprints from his corner, fighting with a level of skill and spirit that no one, including Lang, expected. As a result, Rocky completely dominates the first round, demonstrating his new-found speed. After the bell rings, Lang is in a fit of rage over what has just happened and has to be restrained by his trainers.
In the second round, Lang gains the upper hand and Rocky adopts an entirely different strategy that bewilders Apollo by intentionally taking a beating from Lang, even getting knocked down twice but getting up both times before he is counted out while taunting Lang that he cannot knock him out.
By the third round, Lang, who is used to winning matches swiftly with knockouts in the early rounds, becomes increasingly furious over Rocky's taunts and quickly exhausts his energy trying to finish Rocky off with repeated knockout blows, which Rocky quickly begins to block or dodge entirely. With Lang winded and vulnerable, Rocky seizes the opportunity and throws his energy into increasingly damaging combinations on a winded and outboxed Lang, capping off with four huge straight left haymakers and a right hook to the head. As a result,
Lang goes down for the count and Rocky becomes the heavyweight champion for the second time in his career.
Afterwards, Rocky fulfills Apollo's vague "big favor": a private rematch with him at Mickey's gym. However, this time they are fighting in the spirit of friendly competition rather than as fierce rivals. The film concludes with both of the fighters throwing their first punch simultaneously.
Supporting Cast:
Box Office: $270 Million
___________________________________________________________________________
The movie features returning co-stars Carl Weathers, Burgess Meredith, Talia Shire and Burt Young. Rocky III also marks the film debuts of Mr. T as James "Clubber" Lang, and of professional wrestler Hulk Hogan as the supporting character "Thunderlips".
Rocky III is the first installment in the series to be distributed by MGM/UA rather than United Artists alone. In 1980, United Artists, who owned the rights to the Rocky films, made Heaven's Gate, a film which cost $44 million and made only $3 million. In response, United Artists' owner, Transamerica, sold United Artists to MGM, forming MGM/UA in 1981.
The film's main theme "Eye of the Tiger", was written by the group Survivor and became a smash hit single, topping the U.S. Billboard charts and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song.
Plot:
In the three years since winning the world heavyweight title, Rocky Balboa has had a string of ten successful title defenses and has seen his fame, wealth, and celebrity increase. He even has time to participate in a friendly boxer vs. wrestler charity event against the world wrestling champion Thunderlips (Hulk Hogan).
Meantime, Rocky's manager Mickey worriedly eyes a young and hungry contender rapidly rising through the ranks named James "Clubber" Lang. While unveiling a statue of himself at the steps by the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Rocky is publicly challenged by Lang, now the number-one contender. Lang accuses Rocky of intentionally accepting challenges from lesser opponents, and after he makes a sexual remark toward Rocky's wife Adrian, his challenge is accepted.
Mickey initially wants no part of it. Pressed by Rocky, Mickey admits he had handpicked Rocky's opponents to protect him from the beating he received in winning the title from Apollo Creed and to ensure Rocky remained successful and healthy. He tells Rocky that by becoming "civilized", he has lost his edge and that the young and hungry Lang would beat him inside of three rounds.
Rocky manages to convince Mickey to train him regardless, but his Las Vegas-style training camp is filled with distractions and Rocky clearly does not take the challenge seriously, whilst Lang trains extremely hard.
Lang and Rocky meet at Philadelphia's Spectrum. A brawl breaks out backstage, and Mickey is violently shoved out of the way by Lang, causing him to suffer a heart attack. A now distraught Rocky wants to call the fight off, but Mickey angrily urges him on while he stays in the dressing room.
By the time of the match, Rocky is both enraged and severely distracted by his mentor's condition. The match begins with Rocky pounding Lang with several huge blows, going for an early knockout, but the stronger and better prepared Lang is unfazed and quickly takes charge, dominating Rocky and knocking him out with a haymaker left hook in the second round, winning the heavyweight championship belt from Rocky.
After the match, Rocky returns to the dressing room and witnesses Mickey dying. Kneeling at his side, Rocky speaks to Mickey, telling him that the match ended in the second round by a knockout, which Mickey misinterprets as a win for Rocky, shortly before succumbing to a heart attack.
Stopping by Mickey's closed gym, Rocky is confronted by his former nemesis, Apollo Creed, who witnessed the match as a guest analyst, and offers to help train him for a rematch with Lang in exchange for "a big favor." At first, Rocky is too demoralized to put forth his best efforts, which frustrates Apollo, but pulls himself together after Adrian helps him come to terms with Mickey's death.
Apollo then trains Rocky at the gym where he once trained - Tough Gym in Los Angeles - and infuses Rocky's brawling style with more of the skill and speed that is Apollo's trademark.
The rematch takes place at Madison Square Garden. Apollo lends Rocky his American flag trunks that he wore during their first match. As the match is under way, Rocky sprints from his corner, fighting with a level of skill and spirit that no one, including Lang, expected. As a result, Rocky completely dominates the first round, demonstrating his new-found speed. After the bell rings, Lang is in a fit of rage over what has just happened and has to be restrained by his trainers.
In the second round, Lang gains the upper hand and Rocky adopts an entirely different strategy that bewilders Apollo by intentionally taking a beating from Lang, even getting knocked down twice but getting up both times before he is counted out while taunting Lang that he cannot knock him out.
By the third round, Lang, who is used to winning matches swiftly with knockouts in the early rounds, becomes increasingly furious over Rocky's taunts and quickly exhausts his energy trying to finish Rocky off with repeated knockout blows, which Rocky quickly begins to block or dodge entirely. With Lang winded and vulnerable, Rocky seizes the opportunity and throws his energy into increasingly damaging combinations on a winded and outboxed Lang, capping off with four huge straight left haymakers and a right hook to the head. As a result,
Lang goes down for the count and Rocky becomes the heavyweight champion for the second time in his career.
Afterwards, Rocky fulfills Apollo's vague "big favor": a private rematch with him at Mickey's gym. However, this time they are fighting in the spirit of friendly competition rather than as fierce rivals. The film concludes with both of the fighters throwing their first punch simultaneously.
Supporting Cast:
- Tony Burton as Tony "Duke" Evers: Apollo Creed's father-figure, friend, trainer and manager, who helps in training Rocky with Apollo.
- Mr. T as Clubber Lang: The underdog challenger who beats Rocky in a fight, after the unexpected death of Mickey. The public's general dislike for him, and lack of respect for him as Heavyweight Champion of the World, leads to a rematch with Rocky. As an orphan at an early age, he spent most of his childhood on the streets of Chicago's Southside, as well as time in orphanages and juvenile facilities. Later as an adult, Clubber was sent to prison for five years, for one possible count of a felony and/or assault charge. During his time being served he discovered boxing as a way to let out his frustrations and talent, which leads to the events of Rocky III.
- Ian Fried as Robert "Rocky" Balboa, Jr.: Rocky and Adrian's only child.
- Hulk Hogan as "Thunderlips": The current Wrestling Champion, who fights Rocky in a charity fighting event.
Box Office: $270 Million
___________________________________________________________________________
Rocky IV (1985)
YouTube Video: Rocky IV Full Final Fight Rocky Vs Ivan Drago
Rocky IV is a 1985 American sports film written, directed by, and starring Sylvester Stallone. The film co-stars Dolph Lundgren, Burt Young, Talia Shire, Carl Weathers, Tony Burton, Brigitte Nielsen, and Michael Pataki.
Rocky IV remained the highest grossing sports movie for 24 years before it was overtaken by The Blind Side. It is the fourth and most financially successful entry in the Rocky film series.
In the film, the Soviet Union and their top boxer make an entrance into professional boxing with their best athlete Ivan Drago, who initially wants to take on World champion Rocky Balboa. His best friend Apollo Creed decides to fight him instead, but is fatally beaten in the ring. Enraged by this, Rocky decides to fight Drago in the Soviet Union to avenge his friend and defend the honor of his country.
Plot:
Ivan Drago, a Russian Soviet boxer, arrives in the United States with his wife, Ludmilla, and a team of trainers from the USSR and Cuba. His manager, Nicolai Koloff, takes every opportunity to promote Drago's athleticism as a hallmark of Soviet superiority. Motivated by patriotism and an innate desire to prove himself, Apollo Creed challenges Drago to an exhibition bout. Rocky has reservations, but agrees to train Apollo despite his misgivings about the match. He asks Apollo whether the fight is against the Soviet, or "you against you?"
During a press conference regarding the match, hostility sparks between Apollo and Drago's respective camps. The boxing exhibition takes place at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas.
Apollo enters the ring in an over-the-top patriotic entrance with James Brown performing "Living in America" complete with showgirls.
The bout starts tamely with Apollo landing several punches that have no effect on Drago. It soon turns serious though, as Drago starts to retaliate with devastating effect. By the end of the first round, Rocky and Apollo's trainer, Duke, plead with him to give up, but Apollo refuses to do so, and tells Rocky not to stop the match.
Drago continues to pummel him in the second round, and despite Duke begging Rocky to throw in the towel, he reluctantly honors Apollo's wish. Eventually, Drago lands one final punch that knocks Apollo to the ground, killing him.
In the immediate aftermath, Drago displays no sense of remorse commenting to the assembled media: "If he dies, he dies."
Enraged by Drago's cold indifference and feeling a deep sense of guilt, Rocky decides to avenge Apollo's death by agreeing to fight Drago in the Soviet Union on Christmas Day in an unsanctioned 15-round bout.
He travels to the USSR without Adrian, setting up his training base in Krasnogourbinsk with only Duke and brother-in-law Paulie to accompany him. To prepare for the match, Drago uses very high-tech equipment, steroid enhancement, and a team of trainers and doctors monitoring his every movement.
Rocky, on the other hand, throws heavy logs, chops down trees, pulls an overloaded snow sleigh, jogs in heavy snow with treacherous icy conditions, and climbs a mountain. Adrian arrives unexpectedly to give Rocky her support after initially refusing to travel to the Soviet Union because of her doubts on his fighting chances. Her presence increases Rocky's focus and enhances his training.
Drago is introduced with an elaborate, patriotic ceremony that puts the home crowd squarely on Drago's side and against Rocky. In contrast to his match with Apollo, Drago immediately goes on the offensive and Rocky takes a fierce pounding. Drago even throws Rocky around the ring with impunity.
Rocky comes back toward the end of the second round; a right hook inflicts a cut below Drago's left eye that silences the crowd and prompts Rocky to continue punching Drago even after the bell rings. While Duke and Paulie cheer Rocky for his heroism, they remind him that Drago is not actually a machine, but a normal man.
Ironically, Drago comments that Rocky "is not human, he is like a piece of iron" with his own corner reprimanding him for being "weak" in comparison to the "small American."
The two boxers continue their battle over the next dozen rounds, with Rocky holding his ground despite Drago's powerful punches. His resilience rallies the previously hostile Soviet crowd to his side, which unsettles Drago to the point that he shoves Koloff off the ring for berating his performance.
Rocky finally takes down Drago in the last round, winning by knockout to the shock of the Soviet politburo members watching the match. A bloody and battered Rocky gives a victory speech, acknowledging how the local crowd's disdain of him turned to respect.
He compares it to the animosity between Soviets and Americans, and says that seeing him and Drago fight was "better than 20 million," implying war between their two countries. Rocky finally declares, "If I can change, and you can change, then everybody can change!"
The Soviet General Secretary stands and passionately applauds Rocky, and his aides follow suit. Rocky ends his speech by wishing his son a Merry Christmas, and raises his arms into the air in victory as the crowd applauds on Christmas Day.
Supporting Cast:
Box Office: $300 Million
___________________________________________________________________________
Rocky IV remained the highest grossing sports movie for 24 years before it was overtaken by The Blind Side. It is the fourth and most financially successful entry in the Rocky film series.
In the film, the Soviet Union and their top boxer make an entrance into professional boxing with their best athlete Ivan Drago, who initially wants to take on World champion Rocky Balboa. His best friend Apollo Creed decides to fight him instead, but is fatally beaten in the ring. Enraged by this, Rocky decides to fight Drago in the Soviet Union to avenge his friend and defend the honor of his country.
Plot:
Ivan Drago, a Russian Soviet boxer, arrives in the United States with his wife, Ludmilla, and a team of trainers from the USSR and Cuba. His manager, Nicolai Koloff, takes every opportunity to promote Drago's athleticism as a hallmark of Soviet superiority. Motivated by patriotism and an innate desire to prove himself, Apollo Creed challenges Drago to an exhibition bout. Rocky has reservations, but agrees to train Apollo despite his misgivings about the match. He asks Apollo whether the fight is against the Soviet, or "you against you?"
During a press conference regarding the match, hostility sparks between Apollo and Drago's respective camps. The boxing exhibition takes place at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas.
Apollo enters the ring in an over-the-top patriotic entrance with James Brown performing "Living in America" complete with showgirls.
The bout starts tamely with Apollo landing several punches that have no effect on Drago. It soon turns serious though, as Drago starts to retaliate with devastating effect. By the end of the first round, Rocky and Apollo's trainer, Duke, plead with him to give up, but Apollo refuses to do so, and tells Rocky not to stop the match.
Drago continues to pummel him in the second round, and despite Duke begging Rocky to throw in the towel, he reluctantly honors Apollo's wish. Eventually, Drago lands one final punch that knocks Apollo to the ground, killing him.
In the immediate aftermath, Drago displays no sense of remorse commenting to the assembled media: "If he dies, he dies."
Enraged by Drago's cold indifference and feeling a deep sense of guilt, Rocky decides to avenge Apollo's death by agreeing to fight Drago in the Soviet Union on Christmas Day in an unsanctioned 15-round bout.
He travels to the USSR without Adrian, setting up his training base in Krasnogourbinsk with only Duke and brother-in-law Paulie to accompany him. To prepare for the match, Drago uses very high-tech equipment, steroid enhancement, and a team of trainers and doctors monitoring his every movement.
Rocky, on the other hand, throws heavy logs, chops down trees, pulls an overloaded snow sleigh, jogs in heavy snow with treacherous icy conditions, and climbs a mountain. Adrian arrives unexpectedly to give Rocky her support after initially refusing to travel to the Soviet Union because of her doubts on his fighting chances. Her presence increases Rocky's focus and enhances his training.
Drago is introduced with an elaborate, patriotic ceremony that puts the home crowd squarely on Drago's side and against Rocky. In contrast to his match with Apollo, Drago immediately goes on the offensive and Rocky takes a fierce pounding. Drago even throws Rocky around the ring with impunity.
Rocky comes back toward the end of the second round; a right hook inflicts a cut below Drago's left eye that silences the crowd and prompts Rocky to continue punching Drago even after the bell rings. While Duke and Paulie cheer Rocky for his heroism, they remind him that Drago is not actually a machine, but a normal man.
Ironically, Drago comments that Rocky "is not human, he is like a piece of iron" with his own corner reprimanding him for being "weak" in comparison to the "small American."
The two boxers continue their battle over the next dozen rounds, with Rocky holding his ground despite Drago's powerful punches. His resilience rallies the previously hostile Soviet crowd to his side, which unsettles Drago to the point that he shoves Koloff off the ring for berating his performance.
Rocky finally takes down Drago in the last round, winning by knockout to the shock of the Soviet politburo members watching the match. A bloody and battered Rocky gives a victory speech, acknowledging how the local crowd's disdain of him turned to respect.
He compares it to the animosity between Soviets and Americans, and says that seeing him and Drago fight was "better than 20 million," implying war between their two countries. Rocky finally declares, "If I can change, and you can change, then everybody can change!"
The Soviet General Secretary stands and passionately applauds Rocky, and his aides follow suit. Rocky ends his speech by wishing his son a Merry Christmas, and raises his arms into the air in victory as the crowd applauds on Christmas Day.
Supporting Cast:
- Brigitte Nielsen as Ludmilla Vobet Drago: Wife and supporter of Ivan Drago.
- Tony Burton as Tony "Duke" Evers: Apollo's father-figure, friend, trainer and manager, who becomes Rocky's trainer for his match against Drago.
- Michael Pataki as Nicolai Koloff: Trainer, promoter, and manager of Ivan Drago.
Box Office: $300 Million
___________________________________________________________________________
Rocky V (1990)
YouTube Video of Rocky 5 Fight Scene HD Full
Rocky V is a 1990 American sports drama film. It is the fifth film in the Rocky series, written by and starring Sylvester Stallone, and co-starring Talia Shire, Stallone's real life son Sage, and real life boxer Tommy Morrison, with Morrison in the role of Tommy Gunn, a talented yet raw boxer.
Sage played Robert Balboa, whose relationship with his famous father is explored. After Stallone directed the second through fourth films in the series, Rocky V saw the return of John G. Avildsen, whose direction of Rocky won him an Academy Award for Best Directing.
Reception to the film was generally negative and it was (at the time) considered a very disappointing conclusion when this was presumed to be the last movie in the series. Stallone himself has since admitted that he too was disappointed with how the film turned out.
The box office gross was $180 million below that of Rocky IV. Rocky V marked the final appearances of Talia Shire and Burgess Meredith in the Rocky series. Due to the low box office result, Rocky V was the last Rocky film with which United Artists had any involvement.
Though this was presumed to be the ending of the series, a sixth film, Rocky Balboa, was released in 2006 and garnered much more favorable reviews. Stallone starred in both this film and Creed, the seventh entry in the series.
Plot:
Shortly after Rocky Balboa's victory over Ivan Drago in Moscow, he, his wife Adrian, his brother-in-law Paulie, and his trainer Tony "Duke" Evers return to the United States, where they are greeted by Rocky's son, Robert.
At a press conference, boxing promoter George Washington Duke attempts to goad Rocky into fighting his boxer Union Cane for the World Heavyweight Championship in Tokyo, but Rocky declines the offer.
Shortly after returning home, it is discovered that Paulie unknowingly had Rocky sign a "power of attorney" over to Rocky's accountant, who had squandered all of his money on real estate deals gone sour; in addition, the accountant had failed to pay Rocky's taxes over the past six years, and the mansion is discovered to be unpaid by $400,000.
His lawyer confirms this, but he tells Rocky the situation is easily fixable with a few more fights. Rocky contemplates on accepting Cane's challenge, but after discovering he has sustained permanent brain damage from the fight with Drago and at Adrian's insistence, Rocky retires from boxing.
He files for bankruptcy, has his mansion and belongings auctioned off and moves his family back into Paulie's old house in South Philadelphia. Adrian returns to working part-time at the J&M Tropical Fish pet shop while Paulie goes back to the Shamrock Meat Packing plant.
Rocky makes plans to refurbish and reopen Mighty Mick's Boxing Gym, willed to his son Robert by his late trainer Mickey Goldmill (thus safe from the crooked accountant's hands).
He walks through the dark, abandoned gym and reminisces about a training session between the two just before Rocky fought with Apollo Creed years before, where Mickey gave Rocky a cufflink given to him by Rocky Marciano.
One day, Rocky and Paulie meet a hungry young fighter from Oklahoma named Tommy Gunn, and Rocky takes him under his wing. Training the young fighter gives Rocky a sense of purpose, and Gunn fights his way up the ladder to become a top contender.
Rocky eventually becomes so distracted with Gunn's training that he winds up neglecting Robert, who becomes withdrawn and angry. He falls in with the wrong crowd at school and as a result, he begins acting out at home.
Meanwhile, Gunn's impressive rise through the ranks catches the eye of Duke, who uses the promise of a heavyweight title shot against the newly crowned champion Cane to lure him away from Rocky. Duke also exploits the fact that Rocky does not have any contractual obligation to manage Gunn.
On Christmas Eve, Duke visits the Balboa house with Gunn in tow, who has now been deceived into thinking that Rocky does not have his best interests in mind. When Rocky tries to talk him out of siding with Duke, Gunn drives off in a huff, leaving Rocky for good.
Adrian attempts to comfort Rocky, but his frustrations finally boil over. He confesses his life had meaning again when he was able to live vicariously through Gunn's success. She reasons with him, telling him Tommy never had his heart and spirit—something he could never learn.
When this realization hits him, Rocky embraces his wife and they begin to pick up the pieces. After finding Robert hanging out on a street corner, Rocky apologizes to his son and they mend their broken relationship.
Gunn wins the heavyweight title by knocking out Cane in the first round, but is booed by spectators and hounded by reporters after the fight. They insist Cane was nothing but a "paper champion", because Cane did not win the title from Balboa.
Therefore, the public would never consider Gunn the real champion unless he fights a worthy opponent, like Rocky; they drive the point home when one reporter announces, "...he's no Rocky Balboa!"
With Gunn incensed by the press's reaction, Duke convinces him that he needs to fight Rocky man to man. Duke and Gunn show up at the local bar to goad Rocky into accepting a fight.
Rocky declines the challenge and tries to reason with him, but Gunn rebukes it and calls him weak, prompting Paulie to stand up for Rocky. However, Gunn punches Paulie and he falls to the ground. Enraged, Rocky accepts the challenge but tells Gunn "my ring is outside."
Despite Duke's warnings to keep the fight in the ring, Gunn accepts. During the fight, Rocky is eventually beaten down and is seemingly out for the count. He then hears the voice of Mickey urging him to get up and return in the fight, to go just "one more round". Rocky gets up and, utilizing his vast street fighting knowledge as Robert, Paulie and the crowd root for him, is able to knock out his former protégé.
While Gunn is escorted away by the police, Duke threatens to sue Rocky if he touches him, but after a brief hesitation and with nothing else to lose anyway, Rocky knocks him onto the hood of a car and quips, "Sue me for what?"
The next morning, Rocky and Robert take a jog to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and Rocky gives his son Rocky Marciano's cufflink, given to him years ago as a gift from Mickey. The film ends with a shot of Rocky's statue looking out over the Philadelphia skyline.
Box Office: $120 Million
___________________________________________________________________________
Sage played Robert Balboa, whose relationship with his famous father is explored. After Stallone directed the second through fourth films in the series, Rocky V saw the return of John G. Avildsen, whose direction of Rocky won him an Academy Award for Best Directing.
Reception to the film was generally negative and it was (at the time) considered a very disappointing conclusion when this was presumed to be the last movie in the series. Stallone himself has since admitted that he too was disappointed with how the film turned out.
The box office gross was $180 million below that of Rocky IV. Rocky V marked the final appearances of Talia Shire and Burgess Meredith in the Rocky series. Due to the low box office result, Rocky V was the last Rocky film with which United Artists had any involvement.
Though this was presumed to be the ending of the series, a sixth film, Rocky Balboa, was released in 2006 and garnered much more favorable reviews. Stallone starred in both this film and Creed, the seventh entry in the series.
Plot:
Shortly after Rocky Balboa's victory over Ivan Drago in Moscow, he, his wife Adrian, his brother-in-law Paulie, and his trainer Tony "Duke" Evers return to the United States, where they are greeted by Rocky's son, Robert.
At a press conference, boxing promoter George Washington Duke attempts to goad Rocky into fighting his boxer Union Cane for the World Heavyweight Championship in Tokyo, but Rocky declines the offer.
Shortly after returning home, it is discovered that Paulie unknowingly had Rocky sign a "power of attorney" over to Rocky's accountant, who had squandered all of his money on real estate deals gone sour; in addition, the accountant had failed to pay Rocky's taxes over the past six years, and the mansion is discovered to be unpaid by $400,000.
His lawyer confirms this, but he tells Rocky the situation is easily fixable with a few more fights. Rocky contemplates on accepting Cane's challenge, but after discovering he has sustained permanent brain damage from the fight with Drago and at Adrian's insistence, Rocky retires from boxing.
He files for bankruptcy, has his mansion and belongings auctioned off and moves his family back into Paulie's old house in South Philadelphia. Adrian returns to working part-time at the J&M Tropical Fish pet shop while Paulie goes back to the Shamrock Meat Packing plant.
Rocky makes plans to refurbish and reopen Mighty Mick's Boxing Gym, willed to his son Robert by his late trainer Mickey Goldmill (thus safe from the crooked accountant's hands).
He walks through the dark, abandoned gym and reminisces about a training session between the two just before Rocky fought with Apollo Creed years before, where Mickey gave Rocky a cufflink given to him by Rocky Marciano.
One day, Rocky and Paulie meet a hungry young fighter from Oklahoma named Tommy Gunn, and Rocky takes him under his wing. Training the young fighter gives Rocky a sense of purpose, and Gunn fights his way up the ladder to become a top contender.
Rocky eventually becomes so distracted with Gunn's training that he winds up neglecting Robert, who becomes withdrawn and angry. He falls in with the wrong crowd at school and as a result, he begins acting out at home.
Meanwhile, Gunn's impressive rise through the ranks catches the eye of Duke, who uses the promise of a heavyweight title shot against the newly crowned champion Cane to lure him away from Rocky. Duke also exploits the fact that Rocky does not have any contractual obligation to manage Gunn.
On Christmas Eve, Duke visits the Balboa house with Gunn in tow, who has now been deceived into thinking that Rocky does not have his best interests in mind. When Rocky tries to talk him out of siding with Duke, Gunn drives off in a huff, leaving Rocky for good.
Adrian attempts to comfort Rocky, but his frustrations finally boil over. He confesses his life had meaning again when he was able to live vicariously through Gunn's success. She reasons with him, telling him Tommy never had his heart and spirit—something he could never learn.
When this realization hits him, Rocky embraces his wife and they begin to pick up the pieces. After finding Robert hanging out on a street corner, Rocky apologizes to his son and they mend their broken relationship.
Gunn wins the heavyweight title by knocking out Cane in the first round, but is booed by spectators and hounded by reporters after the fight. They insist Cane was nothing but a "paper champion", because Cane did not win the title from Balboa.
Therefore, the public would never consider Gunn the real champion unless he fights a worthy opponent, like Rocky; they drive the point home when one reporter announces, "...he's no Rocky Balboa!"
With Gunn incensed by the press's reaction, Duke convinces him that he needs to fight Rocky man to man. Duke and Gunn show up at the local bar to goad Rocky into accepting a fight.
Rocky declines the challenge and tries to reason with him, but Gunn rebukes it and calls him weak, prompting Paulie to stand up for Rocky. However, Gunn punches Paulie and he falls to the ground. Enraged, Rocky accepts the challenge but tells Gunn "my ring is outside."
Despite Duke's warnings to keep the fight in the ring, Gunn accepts. During the fight, Rocky is eventually beaten down and is seemingly out for the count. He then hears the voice of Mickey urging him to get up and return in the fight, to go just "one more round". Rocky gets up and, utilizing his vast street fighting knowledge as Robert, Paulie and the crowd root for him, is able to knock out his former protégé.
While Gunn is escorted away by the police, Duke threatens to sue Rocky if he touches him, but after a brief hesitation and with nothing else to lose anyway, Rocky knocks him onto the hood of a car and quips, "Sue me for what?"
The next morning, Rocky and Robert take a jog to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and Rocky gives his son Rocky Marciano's cufflink, given to him years ago as a gift from Mickey. The film ends with a shot of Rocky's statue looking out over the Philadelphia skyline.
Box Office: $120 Million
___________________________________________________________________________
Rocky Balboa (2006)
YouTube Video: Inspiring scene from The Movie 'Rocky Balboa'
Rocky Balboa is a 2006 American sports drama film written, directed by, and starring Sylvester Stallone who reprises his role as the title character. It is the sixth installment in the Rocky franchise with Balboa in retirement, a widower living in Philadelphia, and the owner and operator of a local Italian restaurant called "Adrian's", named after his late wife.
According to Stallone, he was "negligent" in the production of Rocky V, leaving him and many of the fans disappointed with the presumed end of the series. Stallone also mentioned that the story line of Rocky Balboa parallels his own struggles and triumphs in recent times.
The film also stars Burt Young as Paulie, Rocky's brother-in-law in his last appearance in the Rocky series and real-life boxer Antonio Tarver as Mason "The Line" Dixon, the current World Heavyweight Champion in the film. Boxing promoter Lou DiBella plays himself and acts as Dixon's promoter in the film. Milo Ventimiglia plays Rocky's son Robert, now an adult.
A pair of minor characters from the original film return in larger roles: Marie, the young woman that Rocky attempts to steer away from trouble, and Spider Rico, the first opponent Rocky is shown fighting in the 1976 film. There are many references to people and events from previous installments in the series, especially the first.
The film was released on December 20, 2006, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Columbia Pictures and Revolution Studios. It exceeded box office expectations and critical reaction was positive. Rocky Balboa was released in several formats for its home media release, and DVD sales have exceeded $34 million. The film was followed by a sequel/spin-off, Creed, released November 25, 2015.
Plot:
Former Philadelphia boxer Rocky Balboa has been retired from boxing for 16 years and lives a quiet life as a widower following the death of his wife, Adrian Pennino Balboa, due to cancer four years earlier.
He runs a small but successful Italian restaurant named after her, where he regales his patrons with stories of his past. He also battles personal demons involving his grief over Adrian's death, the changing times, and his eroding relationship with his son Robert, a struggling corporate employee. Paul "Paulie" Pennino, Rocky's brother-in-law and best friend, continues to keep by his side, but is tired of reliving the past.
Late one night, Rocky reunites with a much-older "Little" Marie, a once mischievous neighborhood girl Rocky met when she was a child, now working as a bartender at Rocky's former neighborhood bar, the Lucky Seven. She is a single parent of a teenaged son born out of wedlock: Stephenson, nicknamed "Steps". Rocky's friendship with the two blossoms over the following weeks. Marie becomes a hostess at his restaurant and Steps takes to him as a father figure.
Meanwhile, on the professional boxing circuit, Mason "The Line" Dixon reigns as the undisputed yet unpopular world heavyweight champion. ESPN broadcasts a computer simulation of a fight between Rocky (in his prime) and Mason — likened to a modern-day version of The Super Fight, a 1970 computer simulation of a 15-round fight between Rocky Marciano and Muhammad Ali in their prime (that Marciano "won" by a KO in the 13th round) — which ends in a controversial KO victory for Balboa, riling the champ.
In contrast, the simulation inspires Rocky to take up boxing again, an intention that goes public when he successfully renews his license. Dixon's promoters pitch the idea of holding a charity exhibition bout at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas to bolster Dixon's falling popularity.
With some hesitation, both men agree to the match, creating a media buzz that stabs at Rocky's has-been status and Dixon's credibility, Dixon having yet to face a challenging opponent. Robert tries to discourage Rocky from fighting, blaming his own personal failings on his father's celebrity shadow, but Rocky rebukes him with some advice: that to succeed in life, "It ain't about how hard you hit; it's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward," and that blaming others won't help him.
The next day, father and son meet at Adrian's grave and reconcile; Robert has quit his job to be at Rocky's side. Rocky sets straight to training with Apollo Creed's old trainer Duke Evers, who quickly surmises that the slow and arthritic Rocky cannot depend on sparring as he did in the past, and can only compete by building his strength and punching power as much as possible, focusing on "blunt force trauma" to pound his opponent.
The fight becomes an HBO Pay-per-View event billed as "Will Vs. Skill." Rocky is given little chance, and a TV commentator jokes that it is being called an "exhibition" because it can't be called an "execution." But Rocky enters the ring to the tune of Frank Sinatra's "High Hopes" and wearing the same gold-trimmed black trunks he wore when he beat Apollo Creed and the large crowd is clearly in his corner.
Dixon easily dominates the first round, only to injure his left hand against Rocky's hip in the second. Rocky makes a dramatic comeback; he manages to knock Dixon down once and then continues to surprise the audience with his prowess and chin against the younger and faster fighter. Dixon, unprepared for Rocky's resilience, sends Rocky to one knee in the final round, but the elder fighter pulls himself to his feet for one last assault.
The two continue to punish each other until the end. Rocky thanks an appreciative Dixon for the fight and leaves the ring to the adulation of the crowd before the result is even announced. It is a win for Mason Dixon by a narrow split decision, but Rocky clearly does not mind.
Back in Philadelphia, Rocky brings roses to Adrian's grave again, thanking her for helping him.
Supporting Cast:
Box Office: $156 Million
___________________________________________________________________________
According to Stallone, he was "negligent" in the production of Rocky V, leaving him and many of the fans disappointed with the presumed end of the series. Stallone also mentioned that the story line of Rocky Balboa parallels his own struggles and triumphs in recent times.
The film also stars Burt Young as Paulie, Rocky's brother-in-law in his last appearance in the Rocky series and real-life boxer Antonio Tarver as Mason "The Line" Dixon, the current World Heavyweight Champion in the film. Boxing promoter Lou DiBella plays himself and acts as Dixon's promoter in the film. Milo Ventimiglia plays Rocky's son Robert, now an adult.
A pair of minor characters from the original film return in larger roles: Marie, the young woman that Rocky attempts to steer away from trouble, and Spider Rico, the first opponent Rocky is shown fighting in the 1976 film. There are many references to people and events from previous installments in the series, especially the first.
The film was released on December 20, 2006, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Columbia Pictures and Revolution Studios. It exceeded box office expectations and critical reaction was positive. Rocky Balboa was released in several formats for its home media release, and DVD sales have exceeded $34 million. The film was followed by a sequel/spin-off, Creed, released November 25, 2015.
Plot:
Former Philadelphia boxer Rocky Balboa has been retired from boxing for 16 years and lives a quiet life as a widower following the death of his wife, Adrian Pennino Balboa, due to cancer four years earlier.
He runs a small but successful Italian restaurant named after her, where he regales his patrons with stories of his past. He also battles personal demons involving his grief over Adrian's death, the changing times, and his eroding relationship with his son Robert, a struggling corporate employee. Paul "Paulie" Pennino, Rocky's brother-in-law and best friend, continues to keep by his side, but is tired of reliving the past.
Late one night, Rocky reunites with a much-older "Little" Marie, a once mischievous neighborhood girl Rocky met when she was a child, now working as a bartender at Rocky's former neighborhood bar, the Lucky Seven. She is a single parent of a teenaged son born out of wedlock: Stephenson, nicknamed "Steps". Rocky's friendship with the two blossoms over the following weeks. Marie becomes a hostess at his restaurant and Steps takes to him as a father figure.
Meanwhile, on the professional boxing circuit, Mason "The Line" Dixon reigns as the undisputed yet unpopular world heavyweight champion. ESPN broadcasts a computer simulation of a fight between Rocky (in his prime) and Mason — likened to a modern-day version of The Super Fight, a 1970 computer simulation of a 15-round fight between Rocky Marciano and Muhammad Ali in their prime (that Marciano "won" by a KO in the 13th round) — which ends in a controversial KO victory for Balboa, riling the champ.
In contrast, the simulation inspires Rocky to take up boxing again, an intention that goes public when he successfully renews his license. Dixon's promoters pitch the idea of holding a charity exhibition bout at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas to bolster Dixon's falling popularity.
With some hesitation, both men agree to the match, creating a media buzz that stabs at Rocky's has-been status and Dixon's credibility, Dixon having yet to face a challenging opponent. Robert tries to discourage Rocky from fighting, blaming his own personal failings on his father's celebrity shadow, but Rocky rebukes him with some advice: that to succeed in life, "It ain't about how hard you hit; it's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward," and that blaming others won't help him.
The next day, father and son meet at Adrian's grave and reconcile; Robert has quit his job to be at Rocky's side. Rocky sets straight to training with Apollo Creed's old trainer Duke Evers, who quickly surmises that the slow and arthritic Rocky cannot depend on sparring as he did in the past, and can only compete by building his strength and punching power as much as possible, focusing on "blunt force trauma" to pound his opponent.
The fight becomes an HBO Pay-per-View event billed as "Will Vs. Skill." Rocky is given little chance, and a TV commentator jokes that it is being called an "exhibition" because it can't be called an "execution." But Rocky enters the ring to the tune of Frank Sinatra's "High Hopes" and wearing the same gold-trimmed black trunks he wore when he beat Apollo Creed and the large crowd is clearly in his corner.
Dixon easily dominates the first round, only to injure his left hand against Rocky's hip in the second. Rocky makes a dramatic comeback; he manages to knock Dixon down once and then continues to surprise the audience with his prowess and chin against the younger and faster fighter. Dixon, unprepared for Rocky's resilience, sends Rocky to one knee in the final round, but the elder fighter pulls himself to his feet for one last assault.
The two continue to punish each other until the end. Rocky thanks an appreciative Dixon for the fight and leaves the ring to the adulation of the crowd before the result is even announced. It is a win for Mason Dixon by a narrow split decision, but Rocky clearly does not mind.
Back in Philadelphia, Rocky brings roses to Adrian's grave again, thanking her for helping him.
Supporting Cast:
- Sylvester Stallone as Rocky Balboa: Retired boxing legend and former two-time Heavyweight Champion of the World. After a virtual-match created by ESPN determines that if Rocky (in his prime) fought the current Heavyweight Champion, Mason Dixon, he would win - publicity and attention from the media, brings Rocky out of retirement to again enter the ring.
- Burt Young as Paulie Pennino: Rocky's moody brother-in-law, best friend and Adrian's brother.
- Milo Ventimiglia as Robert "Rocky" Balboa, Jr.: Rocky and Adrian's only son.
- Geraldine Hughes as Marie: A woman whom Rocky originally met over thirty years ago (as seen in the first installment of the movie series), who becomes a friend, and supporter of Rocky's return to boxing.
- James Francis Kelly III as Stephenson "Steps": Marie's son, whom Rocky befriends.
- Tony Burton as Tony "Duke" Evers: Rocky's trainer who has been his head cornerman since Balboa's second fight with James "Clubber" Lang in Rocky III. Duke previously trained Apollo Creed, who was Rocky's opponent in the first two films and later his friend in the third and fourth films.
- Antonio Tarver as Mason "The Line" Dixon: Reigning Heavyweight Champion of the World, who challenges Rocky to a fight, after the attention of a virtual-match says that Rocky would win. Dixon is shown as the current undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, but a fighter who is not shown the same respect as Rocky was when he was the world champion.
- Henry G. Sanders as Martin, Dixon's trainer.
- Pedro Lovell as Spider Rico: Former local club boxer and opponent of Rocky's early career. With the two now friends, Spider has become a strong Christian, eats for free, and works as dish-washer at Rocky's restaurant.
- Jacob "Stitch" Duran as himself: Dixon's cut-man.
Box Office: $156 Million
___________________________________________________________________________
Creed (2015: Final Rocky Movie)
YouTube Video: Creed - Official Trailer [HD]
Creed is a 2015 American sports drama film, directed by Ryan Coogler and co-written by Coogler and Aaron Covington. A spin-off and sequel to the Rocky film series, the film stars Michael B. Jordan as Adonis Johnson Creed, Apollo's son, with Sylvester Stallone reprising the role of Rocky Balboa.
It also features Tessa Thompson, Phylicia Rashād, Tony Bellew, and Graham McTavish. The film reunites Jordan with Fruitvale Station writer/director Coogler, and Wood Harris, with whom Jordan worked on The Wire.
Filming began on January 19, 2015 in Liverpool, and later also took place in Philadelphia, Rocky's hometown. Creed was released in the United States on November 25, 2015, the fortieth anniversary of the date of the opening scene in 1976's Rocky.
The seventh installment of the series and sequel to 2006's Rocky Balboa, the film received acclaim from critics, who called it the best Rocky film in many years. For his performance, Stallone was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, his first Oscar nomination since the original film. He won the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor, Critics' Choice Award for Best Supporting Actor and Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture, his first Golden Globe.
Plot:
In 1998, Adonis "Donnie" Johnson, the son of an extramarital lover of former heavyweight champion Apollo Creed, is serving time in a Los Angeles youth facility when Creed's widow, Mary Anne, pays him a visit and offers to take him in.
Seventeen years later, Donnie walks away from his job at a securities firm to pursue his dream of becoming a professional boxer. Mary Anne vehemently opposes this, remembering how her husband was killed in the ring 30 years earlier against Ivan Drago. He tries to get a slot at Los Angeles' elite Delphi Boxing Academy, but is turned down. Undaunted, Donnie travels to Philadelphia in hopes of getting in touch with his father's old friend and rival, former heavyweight champion Rocky Balboa.
Donnie tracks down Rocky at Rocky's Italian restaurant, Adrian's, named in honor of his deceased wife, and asks Rocky to become his trainer. Rocky is reluctant to get back into boxing, having already made a one-off comeback at a very advanced age despite having suffered brain trauma during his career as a fighter. However, he eventually agrees.
Donnie asks him about the "secret third fight" between him and Apollo, and Rocky reveals that Apollo beat him. Donnie trains at the Front Street Gym, with several of Rocky's longtime friends as cornermen, and also finds a love interest in Bianca, an up-and-coming singer and songwriter.
Donnie, now known as "Hollywood Donnie," defeats a local fighter, and word gets out that he is Creed's illegitimate son. Rocky gets a call from the handlers of world light heavyweight champion "Pretty" Ricky Conlan, who is due to be forced into retirement by an impending prison term. He offers to make Donnie his final challenger—provided that he change his name to Adonis Creed. Donnie balks at first, wanting to forge his own legacy. However, he eventually agrees.
While helping Donnie train, Rocky learns he has non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. He is unwilling to undergo chemotherapy, remembering that it was not enough to save Adrian when she had ovarian cancer. His diagnosis and the fact that his best friend and brother-in-law Paulie Pennino—Adrian's brother—has now died in addition to Adrian, Apollo and his old trainer Mickey Goldmill further force him to confront his own mortality. Seeing Rocky shaken, Donnie urges him to seek treatment.
Donnie fights Conlan at Goodison Park in Conlan's hometown of Liverpool, and many parallels emerge between the bout that ensues and Apollo and Rocky's first fight 40 years earlier. First, before going into the ring, Donnie receives a present from Mary Anne — new American flag trunks similar to the ones Apollo and later Rocky wore.
Additionally, to the surprise of nearly everyone, Donnie goes the distance after giving Conlan all he can handle and survives being knocked down to knock Conlan down for the first time in his career.
Conlan wins on a split decision (just as Apollo retained his title by split decision against Rocky), but Donnie has won the respect of Conlan and the crowd. As Max Kellerman puts it while calling the fight for HBO, "Conlan won the fight, but Creed won the night." Conlan tells Donnie that he is the future of the light heavyweight division.
The film ends with Donnie and a frail but improving Rocky climbing the "Rocky Steps" at the entrance of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Supporting Cast:
Box Office: $174 Million
It also features Tessa Thompson, Phylicia Rashād, Tony Bellew, and Graham McTavish. The film reunites Jordan with Fruitvale Station writer/director Coogler, and Wood Harris, with whom Jordan worked on The Wire.
Filming began on January 19, 2015 in Liverpool, and later also took place in Philadelphia, Rocky's hometown. Creed was released in the United States on November 25, 2015, the fortieth anniversary of the date of the opening scene in 1976's Rocky.
The seventh installment of the series and sequel to 2006's Rocky Balboa, the film received acclaim from critics, who called it the best Rocky film in many years. For his performance, Stallone was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, his first Oscar nomination since the original film. He won the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor, Critics' Choice Award for Best Supporting Actor and Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture, his first Golden Globe.
Plot:
In 1998, Adonis "Donnie" Johnson, the son of an extramarital lover of former heavyweight champion Apollo Creed, is serving time in a Los Angeles youth facility when Creed's widow, Mary Anne, pays him a visit and offers to take him in.
Seventeen years later, Donnie walks away from his job at a securities firm to pursue his dream of becoming a professional boxer. Mary Anne vehemently opposes this, remembering how her husband was killed in the ring 30 years earlier against Ivan Drago. He tries to get a slot at Los Angeles' elite Delphi Boxing Academy, but is turned down. Undaunted, Donnie travels to Philadelphia in hopes of getting in touch with his father's old friend and rival, former heavyweight champion Rocky Balboa.
Donnie tracks down Rocky at Rocky's Italian restaurant, Adrian's, named in honor of his deceased wife, and asks Rocky to become his trainer. Rocky is reluctant to get back into boxing, having already made a one-off comeback at a very advanced age despite having suffered brain trauma during his career as a fighter. However, he eventually agrees.
Donnie asks him about the "secret third fight" between him and Apollo, and Rocky reveals that Apollo beat him. Donnie trains at the Front Street Gym, with several of Rocky's longtime friends as cornermen, and also finds a love interest in Bianca, an up-and-coming singer and songwriter.
Donnie, now known as "Hollywood Donnie," defeats a local fighter, and word gets out that he is Creed's illegitimate son. Rocky gets a call from the handlers of world light heavyweight champion "Pretty" Ricky Conlan, who is due to be forced into retirement by an impending prison term. He offers to make Donnie his final challenger—provided that he change his name to Adonis Creed. Donnie balks at first, wanting to forge his own legacy. However, he eventually agrees.
While helping Donnie train, Rocky learns he has non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. He is unwilling to undergo chemotherapy, remembering that it was not enough to save Adrian when she had ovarian cancer. His diagnosis and the fact that his best friend and brother-in-law Paulie Pennino—Adrian's brother—has now died in addition to Adrian, Apollo and his old trainer Mickey Goldmill further force him to confront his own mortality. Seeing Rocky shaken, Donnie urges him to seek treatment.
Donnie fights Conlan at Goodison Park in Conlan's hometown of Liverpool, and many parallels emerge between the bout that ensues and Apollo and Rocky's first fight 40 years earlier. First, before going into the ring, Donnie receives a present from Mary Anne — new American flag trunks similar to the ones Apollo and later Rocky wore.
Additionally, to the surprise of nearly everyone, Donnie goes the distance after giving Conlan all he can handle and survives being knocked down to knock Conlan down for the first time in his career.
Conlan wins on a split decision (just as Apollo retained his title by split decision against Rocky), but Donnie has won the respect of Conlan and the crowd. As Max Kellerman puts it while calling the fight for HBO, "Conlan won the fight, but Creed won the night." Conlan tells Donnie that he is the future of the light heavyweight division.
The film ends with Donnie and a frail but improving Rocky climbing the "Rocky Steps" at the entrance of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Supporting Cast:
- Michael B. Jordan as Adonis "Donnie" Johnson Creed, "Hollywood Donnie": An underdog but talented light heavyweight boxer and the son of world heavyweight champion Apollo Creed (played by Carl Weathers in Rocky I-IV and appearing in Creed in archive footage).
- Alex Henderson as young Adonis Johnson
- Sylvester Stallone as Rocky Balboa, "The Italian Stallion": A two-time world heavyweight champion and Apollo's rival-turned-friend who becomes Adonis' trainer and mentor. He owns and operates an Italian restaurant in Philadelphia named after his deceased wife Adrian (Adrianna, née Pennino, played by Talia Shire in Rocky I-V).
- Tessa Thompson as Bianca: A singer-songwriter who becomes Adonis' love interest.
- Phylicia Rashad as Mary Anne Creed: Apollo's widow, who takes in Adonis as a child following the death of Adonis' biological mother.
- Graham McTavish as Tommy Holiday: Conlan's trainer.
- Wood Harris as Tony "Little Duke" Evers: One of Wheeler's assistant trainers. His father, Tony Sr. (played by Tony Burton in each preceding Rocky film), was a father figure for Apollo and was Apollo's trainer/manager when Apollo became world heavyweight champion and then one of Rocky's trainers for his rematch against Clubber Lang (Rocky III) and after Apollo's death.
- Ritchie Coster as Pete Sporino
- Hans Marrero as Flores: A Mexican fighter.
- Mauricio Ovalle as Flores's trainer
- Tone Trump as himself
- Brian Anthony Wilson as James
Box Office: $174 Million
Rambo Movie Franchise
Rambo is a film series based on the David Morrell novel First Blood and starring Sylvester Stallone as John Rambo, a troubled Vietnam War veteran and former U.S. Army Special Forces soldier who is skilled in many aspects of survival, weaponry, hand-to-hand combat and guerrilla warfare. The series consists of four films as covered below:
First Blood (1982)
YouTube Video: First Blood (1982) - Trailer
Pictured: Theatrical release poster by Drew Struzan
First Blood is a 1982 American action adventure film directed by Ted Kotcheff. It is co-written by and starring Sylvester Stallone as John Rambo, a troubled and misunderstood Vietnam veteran who must rely on his combat and survival senses against the abusive law enforcement of a small town.
It is based on David Morrell's 1972 novel of the same name and is the first installment of the Rambo series. Brian Dennehy and Richard Crenna also appear in supporting roles.
The film was released in the United States on October 22, 1982. Despite initial mixed reviews, the film was a box office success. Since its release, First Blood has received reappraisal from critics, with many praising the roles of Stallone, Dennehy, and Crenna, and also praising its action sequences and has been recognized as a cult classic and an influential film in the action genre.
The film's success spawned a franchise, consisting of three sequels (all which were co-written by and starred Stallone), an animated series, comic books, and novels. A fifth film, tentatively titled Rambo: Last Stand, was cancelled in January 2016 when Stallone stated that he was retiring the character.
Plot:
Seven years after his discharge, Vietnam War veteran John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) travels by foot to visit one of his old comrades, only to learn upon his arrival that his friend had died from cancer due to Agent Orange exposure during the war.
Distraught, Rambo continues to travel, wandering into the small town of Hope, Washington. He is intercepted by the town's arrogant and abusive Sheriff Will Teasle (Brian Dennehy), who considers him an unwanted nuisance. When Rambo asks for directions to a diner, Teasle drives him out of town and tells him not to return. Rambo does so anyway, so Teasle arrests him on charges of vagrancy, resisting arrest, and possessing a concealed knife.
Led by sadistic chief deputy Art Galt (Jack Starrett), Teasle's officers bully and abuse Rambo, triggering flashbacks of the torture he endured as a POW in Vietnam. When they try to dry-shave him with a straight razor, Rambo snaps, overwhelms the police force as he fights his way outside, and flees into the woods.
A furious Teasle organizes a search party—complete with automatic weapons, dogs, and a helicopter—to recapture him. During the search, it is learned that Rambo is a former Green Beret who received the Medal of Honor for his service.
Galt spots Rambo and resorts to lethal force in defiance of orders, attempting to murder Rambo from the helicopter. He hangs from the outside of the chopper in an attempt to get a better aim at shooting Rambo. Rambo then throws a rock at the helicopter's windshield, fracturing it; the pilot is surprised and his sudden reaction causes Galt to lose his balance and fall out of the chopper to his death.
Rambo attempts to persuade Teasle and his men it was an accident and that he wants no more trouble, but the police open fire and pursue him into a wooded area. Rambo disables the deputies non-lethally one by one using his combat prowess, until only Teasle is left.
Holding a knife to his throat, Rambo threatens to fight back much harder if he doesn't "let it go".
Teasle chooses to press the issue, and the Washington State Patrol and the Washington Army National Guard are called in to assist in the manhunt. At the same time, Rambo's mentor and former commanding officer, Colonel Sam Trautman (Richard Crenna) arrives in Hope. Warning of his former soldier's abilities, Trautman advises that Rambo be given a gap to slip through so he can be recaptured more safely later. Confident that Rambo is hopelessly outnumbered, Teasle refuses.
A National Guard detachment corners Rambo at the entrance of an abandoned mine; against orders, they use a M72 LAW rocket, collapsing the entrance and apparently killing Rambo. However, he survives, finds an alternate way out of the mine, and hijacks a supply truck, which he uses to return to town.
To distract his pursuers, he starts a fire at a gas station, blowing it up, shoots out most of the town's power, and destroys a gun store near the police station with a stolen M60 machine gun to distract and locate Teasle.
Teasle, meanwhile, has positioned himself on the roof of his station to search for Rambo, and is spotted there by him in the confusion he created. The two engage in a brief gunfight, which ends with Teasle falling through a skylight, badly injured by Rambo shooting him through the ceiling. Rambo prepares to kill him, but Trautman arrives and warns Rambo that he will be shot if he doesn't surrender.
Rambo collapses to the floor in tears where he talks about the things that happened to him in Vietnam and when he returned home. He then suffers a Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder-triggered breakdown before surrendering to Trautman, and he then is put into state custody and driven away as Teasle is sent to the hospital.
Supporting Cast:
Box Office: $125 Million
___________________________________________________________________________
It is based on David Morrell's 1972 novel of the same name and is the first installment of the Rambo series. Brian Dennehy and Richard Crenna also appear in supporting roles.
The film was released in the United States on October 22, 1982. Despite initial mixed reviews, the film was a box office success. Since its release, First Blood has received reappraisal from critics, with many praising the roles of Stallone, Dennehy, and Crenna, and also praising its action sequences and has been recognized as a cult classic and an influential film in the action genre.
The film's success spawned a franchise, consisting of three sequels (all which were co-written by and starred Stallone), an animated series, comic books, and novels. A fifth film, tentatively titled Rambo: Last Stand, was cancelled in January 2016 when Stallone stated that he was retiring the character.
Plot:
Seven years after his discharge, Vietnam War veteran John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) travels by foot to visit one of his old comrades, only to learn upon his arrival that his friend had died from cancer due to Agent Orange exposure during the war.
Distraught, Rambo continues to travel, wandering into the small town of Hope, Washington. He is intercepted by the town's arrogant and abusive Sheriff Will Teasle (Brian Dennehy), who considers him an unwanted nuisance. When Rambo asks for directions to a diner, Teasle drives him out of town and tells him not to return. Rambo does so anyway, so Teasle arrests him on charges of vagrancy, resisting arrest, and possessing a concealed knife.
Led by sadistic chief deputy Art Galt (Jack Starrett), Teasle's officers bully and abuse Rambo, triggering flashbacks of the torture he endured as a POW in Vietnam. When they try to dry-shave him with a straight razor, Rambo snaps, overwhelms the police force as he fights his way outside, and flees into the woods.
A furious Teasle organizes a search party—complete with automatic weapons, dogs, and a helicopter—to recapture him. During the search, it is learned that Rambo is a former Green Beret who received the Medal of Honor for his service.
Galt spots Rambo and resorts to lethal force in defiance of orders, attempting to murder Rambo from the helicopter. He hangs from the outside of the chopper in an attempt to get a better aim at shooting Rambo. Rambo then throws a rock at the helicopter's windshield, fracturing it; the pilot is surprised and his sudden reaction causes Galt to lose his balance and fall out of the chopper to his death.
Rambo attempts to persuade Teasle and his men it was an accident and that he wants no more trouble, but the police open fire and pursue him into a wooded area. Rambo disables the deputies non-lethally one by one using his combat prowess, until only Teasle is left.
Holding a knife to his throat, Rambo threatens to fight back much harder if he doesn't "let it go".
Teasle chooses to press the issue, and the Washington State Patrol and the Washington Army National Guard are called in to assist in the manhunt. At the same time, Rambo's mentor and former commanding officer, Colonel Sam Trautman (Richard Crenna) arrives in Hope. Warning of his former soldier's abilities, Trautman advises that Rambo be given a gap to slip through so he can be recaptured more safely later. Confident that Rambo is hopelessly outnumbered, Teasle refuses.
A National Guard detachment corners Rambo at the entrance of an abandoned mine; against orders, they use a M72 LAW rocket, collapsing the entrance and apparently killing Rambo. However, he survives, finds an alternate way out of the mine, and hijacks a supply truck, which he uses to return to town.
To distract his pursuers, he starts a fire at a gas station, blowing it up, shoots out most of the town's power, and destroys a gun store near the police station with a stolen M60 machine gun to distract and locate Teasle.
Teasle, meanwhile, has positioned himself on the roof of his station to search for Rambo, and is spotted there by him in the confusion he created. The two engage in a brief gunfight, which ends with Teasle falling through a skylight, badly injured by Rambo shooting him through the ceiling. Rambo prepares to kill him, but Trautman arrives and warns Rambo that he will be shot if he doesn't surrender.
Rambo collapses to the floor in tears where he talks about the things that happened to him in Vietnam and when he returned home. He then suffers a Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder-triggered breakdown before surrendering to Trautman, and he then is put into state custody and driven away as Teasle is sent to the hospital.
Supporting Cast:
- Bill McKinney as Dave Kern
- Jack Starrett as Art Galt
- Michael Talbott as Balford
- Chris Mulkey as Ward
- John McLiam as Orval
- Alf Humphreys as Lester
- David Caruso as Mitch
- David L. Crowley as Shingleton
- Don MacKay as Preston
Box Office: $125 Million
___________________________________________________________________________
Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985)
YouTube Video: Rambo: First Blood Part 2 (1985) - Trailer (HD)
Rambo: First Blood Part II (also known as Rambo II or First Blood II) is a 1985 American action film directed by George P. Cosmatos and starring Sylvester Stallone, who reprises his role as Vietnam veteran John Rambo. It is the sequel to the 1982 film First Blood, and the second installment in the Rambo film series.
Picking up where the first film left, the sequel is set in the context of the Vietnam War POW/MIA issue; it sees Rambo released from prison by federal order to document the possible existence of POWs in Vietnam, under the belief that he will find nothing, thus enabling the government to sweep the issue under the rug.
Despite negative reviews, First Blood Part II has become the most recognized and memorable installment in the series, having inspired countless rip-offs, parodies, video games, and imitations.
The film was on the ballot for the American Film Institute's 100 Years... 100 Cheers, a list of America's most inspiring movies. Entertainment Weekly ranked the movie number 23 on its list of The Best Rock-'em, Sock-'em Movies of the Past 25 Years.
Plot:
A year into his sentence, former commando John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) is visited by his old commander, Colonel Sam Trautman (Richard Crenna). With the war in Vietnam over, the public has become increasingly concerned over news that a small group of US POWs have been left in enemy custody.
To placate their demands for action, the US government has authorized a solo infiltration mission to confirm the reports. As one of only three men suited for such work, Rambo agrees to undertake the operation in exchange for a pardon. He is taken to meet Marshall Murdock (Charles Napier), a bureaucratic government official overseeing the operation.
Rambo is temporarily reinstated into the US army and instructed that he is only to photograph a possible camp and not to rescue any prisoners or engage enemy personnel, as they will be retrieved by a better equipped extraction team upon his return.
During his insertion, Rambo's parachute becomes tangled and breaks, causing him to lose most of his equipment, leaving him with only his knife and a bow with specialized arrows.
He meets his assigned contact, a young intelligence agent named Co-Bao (Julia Nickson), who arranges for a local, river pirate band to take them upriver. Reaching the camp, Rambo spots one of the prisoners tied to a cross shaped post, left to suffer from exposure, and rescues him against orders.
During escape, they are discovered by Vietnamese troops and attacked. When a gunboat manages to catch up, the pirates betray them out of fear. Rambo gets the POW and Co-Bao to safety, destroys the boat with an RPG-7, and kills the pirates. When Rambo calls for extraction, the helicopter is ordered to abort by Murdock, who claims Rambo has violated his orders.
Co-Bao escapes, but Rambo and the POW are recaptured and returned to the camp. There, Rambo learns that Soviet troops are arming and training the Vietnamese. He is turned over to the local liaison, Lieutenant Colonel Podovsky (Steven Berkoff) and his right-hand man, Sergeant Yushin, for interrogation.
Upon learning of Rambo's mission from intercepted missives, Podovsky demands that Rambo broadcast a message disavowing the POWs. Meanwhile, Co infiltrates the camp disguised as a prostitute and comes to the hut in which Rambo is held captive.
Rambo at first refuses to cooperate, but relents when the prisoners' lives are threatened. Instead of reading the scripted comments, Rambo directly threatens Murdock. He then subdues the Russians with Co's help and escapes into the jungle. They kiss, and Rambo agrees to take Co back to the United States. However, a small Vietnamese force attacks them, and Co is killed.
An enraged Rambo kills the soldiers and buries Co's body in the mud.
Using his weapons and guerrilla training, Rambo systematically dispatches the numerous Soviet and Vietnamese soldiers sent after him.
After barely surviving a barrel bomb dropped by Yushin's helicopter, Rambo climbs on board, throws Yushin over the side in a brief fight, and takes control. He lays waste to the prison camp and kills all of the remaining enemy forces before extracting the POWs and heading towards friendly territory in Thailand. Podovsky, pursuing in a Mil Mi-24 helicopter gunship, shoots them down and moves in for the kill. Having faked the crash, Rambo kills him with a spare rocket.
Returning to base with the POWs, Rambo, after using the helicopter's machine gun to destroy Murdock's office, confronts the terrified man with his knife demanding that Murdock rescue the remaining POWs. Trautman then confronts Rambo and tries to pacify him. An angry Rambo responds that he only wants his country to love its soldiers as much as its soldiers love it. The film credits roll as Rambo walks off into the distance while his mentor watches him.
Supporting Cast:
Box Office: $300 Million
___________________________________________________________________________
Picking up where the first film left, the sequel is set in the context of the Vietnam War POW/MIA issue; it sees Rambo released from prison by federal order to document the possible existence of POWs in Vietnam, under the belief that he will find nothing, thus enabling the government to sweep the issue under the rug.
Despite negative reviews, First Blood Part II has become the most recognized and memorable installment in the series, having inspired countless rip-offs, parodies, video games, and imitations.
The film was on the ballot for the American Film Institute's 100 Years... 100 Cheers, a list of America's most inspiring movies. Entertainment Weekly ranked the movie number 23 on its list of The Best Rock-'em, Sock-'em Movies of the Past 25 Years.
Plot:
A year into his sentence, former commando John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) is visited by his old commander, Colonel Sam Trautman (Richard Crenna). With the war in Vietnam over, the public has become increasingly concerned over news that a small group of US POWs have been left in enemy custody.
To placate their demands for action, the US government has authorized a solo infiltration mission to confirm the reports. As one of only three men suited for such work, Rambo agrees to undertake the operation in exchange for a pardon. He is taken to meet Marshall Murdock (Charles Napier), a bureaucratic government official overseeing the operation.
Rambo is temporarily reinstated into the US army and instructed that he is only to photograph a possible camp and not to rescue any prisoners or engage enemy personnel, as they will be retrieved by a better equipped extraction team upon his return.
During his insertion, Rambo's parachute becomes tangled and breaks, causing him to lose most of his equipment, leaving him with only his knife and a bow with specialized arrows.
He meets his assigned contact, a young intelligence agent named Co-Bao (Julia Nickson), who arranges for a local, river pirate band to take them upriver. Reaching the camp, Rambo spots one of the prisoners tied to a cross shaped post, left to suffer from exposure, and rescues him against orders.
During escape, they are discovered by Vietnamese troops and attacked. When a gunboat manages to catch up, the pirates betray them out of fear. Rambo gets the POW and Co-Bao to safety, destroys the boat with an RPG-7, and kills the pirates. When Rambo calls for extraction, the helicopter is ordered to abort by Murdock, who claims Rambo has violated his orders.
Co-Bao escapes, but Rambo and the POW are recaptured and returned to the camp. There, Rambo learns that Soviet troops are arming and training the Vietnamese. He is turned over to the local liaison, Lieutenant Colonel Podovsky (Steven Berkoff) and his right-hand man, Sergeant Yushin, for interrogation.
Upon learning of Rambo's mission from intercepted missives, Podovsky demands that Rambo broadcast a message disavowing the POWs. Meanwhile, Co infiltrates the camp disguised as a prostitute and comes to the hut in which Rambo is held captive.
Rambo at first refuses to cooperate, but relents when the prisoners' lives are threatened. Instead of reading the scripted comments, Rambo directly threatens Murdock. He then subdues the Russians with Co's help and escapes into the jungle. They kiss, and Rambo agrees to take Co back to the United States. However, a small Vietnamese force attacks them, and Co is killed.
An enraged Rambo kills the soldiers and buries Co's body in the mud.
Using his weapons and guerrilla training, Rambo systematically dispatches the numerous Soviet and Vietnamese soldiers sent after him.
After barely surviving a barrel bomb dropped by Yushin's helicopter, Rambo climbs on board, throws Yushin over the side in a brief fight, and takes control. He lays waste to the prison camp and kills all of the remaining enemy forces before extracting the POWs and heading towards friendly territory in Thailand. Podovsky, pursuing in a Mil Mi-24 helicopter gunship, shoots them down and moves in for the kill. Having faked the crash, Rambo kills him with a spare rocket.
Returning to base with the POWs, Rambo, after using the helicopter's machine gun to destroy Murdock's office, confronts the terrified man with his knife demanding that Murdock rescue the remaining POWs. Trautman then confronts Rambo and tries to pacify him. An angry Rambo responds that he only wants his country to love its soldiers as much as its soldiers love it. The film credits roll as Rambo walks off into the distance while his mentor watches him.
Supporting Cast:
- Martin Kove as Ericson
- George Cheung as Lt. Tay
- Andy Wood as Banks
- William Ghent as Capt. Vinh (POW camp commander)
- Voyo Goric as Sgt. Yushin
- Dana Lee as Capt. Kinh
- Baoan Coleman as Gunboat captain
Box Office: $300 Million
___________________________________________________________________________
Rambo III (1988)
YouTube Video of Rambo III Movie Trailer
Rambo III is a 1988 American action film directed by Peter MacDonald. The film depicts fictional events during the Soviet war in Afghanistan. It is the third film in the Rambo series following First Blood and Rambo: First Blood Part II. It was in turn followed by Rambo in 2008, making it the last film in the series to feature Richard Crenna as Colonel Sam Trautman before his death in 2003.
Sixty-five seconds of the film were cut in the UK version for theatrical release. Some later video releases almost tripled the cuts.
Plot:
Colonel Sam Trautman visits his old friend and ally John Rambo in Thailand. He explains that he is putting together a mercenary team for a CIA-sponsored mission to supply anti-Soviet fighters in Afghanistan.
Despite being shown photos of civilians suffering at the hands of the Soviet military, Rambo refuses to join, as he is tired of fighting. Trautman proceeds anyway and is ambushed by enemy forces near the border, resulting in all of his men being killed. Trautman is captured and sent to a large mountain base to be interrogated by Soviet Colonel Zaysen and his henchman Sergeant Kourov.
Embassy official Robert Griggs informs Rambo of Trautman's capture but refuses to approve a rescue mission for fear of drawing the United States into the war. Aware that Trautman will die otherwise, Rambo gets permission to undertake a solo rescue on the condition that he will be disavowed in the event of capture or death.
Rambo immediately flies to Peshawar, Pakistan, where he intends to convince arms dealer Mousa Ghani to bring him to Khost, the town closest to the Soviet base where Trautman is held captive. The Mujahideen in the village, led by chieftain Masoud, hesitate to help Rambo free Trautman.
Meanwhile, a Soviet informant in Ghani's employ informs the Russians, who send two attack helicopters to destroy the village. Though Rambo manages to destroy one of them with a turret, the rebels refuse to aid him any further. Aided only by Mousa and a young boy named Hamid, Rambo attacks the base and inflicts significant damage before being forced to retreat. Hamid, as well as Rambo, are wounded during the battle and Rambo sends him and Mousa away before resuming his infiltration.
Skillfully evading base security, Rambo reaches Trautman just as he is about to be tortured with a flamethrower. He and Trautman rescue several other prisoners and hijack a Hind helicopter to escape the base. The helicopter is damaged during takeoff and quickly crashes, forcing the escapees to flee across the sand on foot.
An attack chopper pursues Rambo and Trautman to a nearby cave, where Rambo destroys it with an explosive arrow. A furious Zaysen sends commandos under Kourov to kill them, but they are quickly routed and killed. An injured Kourov attacks Rambo with his bare hands, but is overcome and killed.
As Rambo and Trautman make their way to the Pakistani border, Zaysen and his forces surround them. But before the duo are overwhelmed, Masoud's Mujahideen forces attack the Soviets in a surprise cavalry charge. Despite being wounded, Rambo takes control of a tank and uses it to shoot down Zaysen's chopper. The two collide but only Rambo survives. At the end of the battle, Rambo and Trautman say goodbye to the Mujahideen and leave Afghanistan.
Supporting Cast:
Box Office: $189 Million
___________________________________________________________________________
Sixty-five seconds of the film were cut in the UK version for theatrical release. Some later video releases almost tripled the cuts.
Plot:
Colonel Sam Trautman visits his old friend and ally John Rambo in Thailand. He explains that he is putting together a mercenary team for a CIA-sponsored mission to supply anti-Soviet fighters in Afghanistan.
Despite being shown photos of civilians suffering at the hands of the Soviet military, Rambo refuses to join, as he is tired of fighting. Trautman proceeds anyway and is ambushed by enemy forces near the border, resulting in all of his men being killed. Trautman is captured and sent to a large mountain base to be interrogated by Soviet Colonel Zaysen and his henchman Sergeant Kourov.
Embassy official Robert Griggs informs Rambo of Trautman's capture but refuses to approve a rescue mission for fear of drawing the United States into the war. Aware that Trautman will die otherwise, Rambo gets permission to undertake a solo rescue on the condition that he will be disavowed in the event of capture or death.
Rambo immediately flies to Peshawar, Pakistan, where he intends to convince arms dealer Mousa Ghani to bring him to Khost, the town closest to the Soviet base where Trautman is held captive. The Mujahideen in the village, led by chieftain Masoud, hesitate to help Rambo free Trautman.
Meanwhile, a Soviet informant in Ghani's employ informs the Russians, who send two attack helicopters to destroy the village. Though Rambo manages to destroy one of them with a turret, the rebels refuse to aid him any further. Aided only by Mousa and a young boy named Hamid, Rambo attacks the base and inflicts significant damage before being forced to retreat. Hamid, as well as Rambo, are wounded during the battle and Rambo sends him and Mousa away before resuming his infiltration.
Skillfully evading base security, Rambo reaches Trautman just as he is about to be tortured with a flamethrower. He and Trautman rescue several other prisoners and hijack a Hind helicopter to escape the base. The helicopter is damaged during takeoff and quickly crashes, forcing the escapees to flee across the sand on foot.
An attack chopper pursues Rambo and Trautman to a nearby cave, where Rambo destroys it with an explosive arrow. A furious Zaysen sends commandos under Kourov to kill them, but they are quickly routed and killed. An injured Kourov attacks Rambo with his bare hands, but is overcome and killed.
As Rambo and Trautman make their way to the Pakistani border, Zaysen and his forces surround them. But before the duo are overwhelmed, Masoud's Mujahideen forces attack the Soviets in a surprise cavalry charge. Despite being wounded, Rambo takes control of a tank and uses it to shoot down Zaysen's chopper. The two collide but only Rambo survives. At the end of the battle, Rambo and Trautman say goodbye to the Mujahideen and leave Afghanistan.
Supporting Cast:
- Kurtwood Smith as Robert Griggs
- Marc de Jonge as Colonel Zaysen
- Sasson Gabai as Mousa Ghani
- Doudi Shoua as Hamid
- Spiros Focas as Masoud
- Randy Raney as Sergeant Kourov
- Marcus Gilbert as Tomask
- Alon Abutbul as Nissem
- Mahmoud Assadollahi as Rahim
- Yosef Shiloah as Khalid
Box Office: $189 Million
___________________________________________________________________________
Rambo (2008)
YouTube Video Rambo Trailer (2008)
Rambo is a 2008 independent action film directed, co-written by and starring Sylvester Stallone reprising his iconic role as Vietnam veteran John Rambo. It is the fourth and final installment in the Rambo franchise, set twenty years after the events of the previous film, Rambo III.
This film is dedicated to the memory of Richard Crenna, who played the character Colonel Sam Trautman in the previous three films, and who died of heart failure in 2003.
The film is about John Rambo (Stallone), a hardened former Green Beret, who is hired by a church pastor to help rescue a group of missionaries who were kidnapped by men from a brutal Burmese military regime.
The film grossed $113,244,290 during its run at the international box office. After its home video release, it grossed $41,500,683 in DVD sales. The film had its cable television premiere on Spike TV on July 11, 2010. However, it was the extended cut that was broadcast, not the theatrical version. The extended cut was released on Blu-ray two weeks later.
Plot:
Twenty years after the events in Afghanistan, amid the political protests of the crisis in Burma, ruthless military officer Major Pa Tee Tint leads an army of Burmese Army soldiers to pillage small villages in a campaign of fear. He sadistically slaughters innocent villagers and orders teenage boys to be drafted into his army.
Meanwhile, ex-soldier John Rambo now lives in Thailand, where he makes a living capturing and selling snakes as well as taxiing people along the Salween River on his boat. A missionary named Michael Burnett approaches Rambo and hires him to ferry his group into Burma on a humanitarian mission to provide aid to Karen tribespeople.
Rambo initially refuses, but another missionary named Sarah Miller persuades him to help them. During their trip, the boat is stopped by Burmese pirates who demand Sarah in exchange for passage. After negotiations fail, Rambo shoots the pirates. Michael is greatly disturbed by Rambo's actions.
Upon arriving in Burma, Michael sends him back, claiming they will go on without his help, and that he intends to report Rambo's actions to the authorities. The missionaries are helping a village when the army attack, killing most of the villagers and two missionaries and kidnap the rest, including Michael and Sarah.
When the missionaries fail to return, their pastor asks Rambo to guide a team of five mercenaries to the village where the missionaries were last seen. Rambo agrees and accompanies the mercenaries to the drop-off, where the team's leader Lewis demands he stay at the boat.
As the mercenary team arrives at the village, they find it completely destroyed, filled with mutilated corpses. Shortly after, a squad of soldiers show up with a group of hostages and force them to run through a rice paddy with landmines, and betting on the outcome.
Outnumbered, the mercenaries take cover, reluctantly planning to wait for them to leave. To their shock, Rambo shows up and singlehandedly wipes out the soldiers with his bow and arrow, allowing the hostages to escape unscathed. Rambo convinces the mercenaries to avenge the villagers and save the hostages at the P.O.W. camp.
They infiltrate the camp and rescue the prisoners, including Sarah. They flee, pursued by Tint's soldiers. Rambo manages to get rid of a pursuit team with an unexploded Tallboy bomb from World War II. However, the army manage to capture everyone except for Rambo, Sarah, and the mercenary sniper nicknamed School Boy.
As the army prepares to execute the mercenaries and hostages, Rambo hijacks a jeep-mounted machine gun and begins shooting at the soldiers. A firefight ensues and the army suffer heavy casualties. The Karen rebels show up and join the fight, quickly overwhelming the army. Tint, realizing his defeat, attempts to escape the area, but Rambo intercepts and disembowels him.
In the final scene, Rambo, encouraged by Sarah's words, returns to the United States. He walks along an Arizona highway until he sees a horse farm and a rusted mailbox. Reading the name "R. Rambo," Rambo smiles and walks down the gravel driveway as the credits roll.
Supporting Cast:
This film is dedicated to the memory of Richard Crenna, who played the character Colonel Sam Trautman in the previous three films, and who died of heart failure in 2003.
The film is about John Rambo (Stallone), a hardened former Green Beret, who is hired by a church pastor to help rescue a group of missionaries who were kidnapped by men from a brutal Burmese military regime.
The film grossed $113,244,290 during its run at the international box office. After its home video release, it grossed $41,500,683 in DVD sales. The film had its cable television premiere on Spike TV on July 11, 2010. However, it was the extended cut that was broadcast, not the theatrical version. The extended cut was released on Blu-ray two weeks later.
Plot:
Twenty years after the events in Afghanistan, amid the political protests of the crisis in Burma, ruthless military officer Major Pa Tee Tint leads an army of Burmese Army soldiers to pillage small villages in a campaign of fear. He sadistically slaughters innocent villagers and orders teenage boys to be drafted into his army.
Meanwhile, ex-soldier John Rambo now lives in Thailand, where he makes a living capturing and selling snakes as well as taxiing people along the Salween River on his boat. A missionary named Michael Burnett approaches Rambo and hires him to ferry his group into Burma on a humanitarian mission to provide aid to Karen tribespeople.
Rambo initially refuses, but another missionary named Sarah Miller persuades him to help them. During their trip, the boat is stopped by Burmese pirates who demand Sarah in exchange for passage. After negotiations fail, Rambo shoots the pirates. Michael is greatly disturbed by Rambo's actions.
Upon arriving in Burma, Michael sends him back, claiming they will go on without his help, and that he intends to report Rambo's actions to the authorities. The missionaries are helping a village when the army attack, killing most of the villagers and two missionaries and kidnap the rest, including Michael and Sarah.
When the missionaries fail to return, their pastor asks Rambo to guide a team of five mercenaries to the village where the missionaries were last seen. Rambo agrees and accompanies the mercenaries to the drop-off, where the team's leader Lewis demands he stay at the boat.
As the mercenary team arrives at the village, they find it completely destroyed, filled with mutilated corpses. Shortly after, a squad of soldiers show up with a group of hostages and force them to run through a rice paddy with landmines, and betting on the outcome.
Outnumbered, the mercenaries take cover, reluctantly planning to wait for them to leave. To their shock, Rambo shows up and singlehandedly wipes out the soldiers with his bow and arrow, allowing the hostages to escape unscathed. Rambo convinces the mercenaries to avenge the villagers and save the hostages at the P.O.W. camp.
They infiltrate the camp and rescue the prisoners, including Sarah. They flee, pursued by Tint's soldiers. Rambo manages to get rid of a pursuit team with an unexploded Tallboy bomb from World War II. However, the army manage to capture everyone except for Rambo, Sarah, and the mercenary sniper nicknamed School Boy.
As the army prepares to execute the mercenaries and hostages, Rambo hijacks a jeep-mounted machine gun and begins shooting at the soldiers. A firefight ensues and the army suffer heavy casualties. The Karen rebels show up and join the fight, quickly overwhelming the army. Tint, realizing his defeat, attempts to escape the area, but Rambo intercepts and disembowels him.
In the final scene, Rambo, encouraged by Sarah's words, returns to the United States. He walks along an Arizona highway until he sees a horse farm and a rusted mailbox. Reading the name "R. Rambo," Rambo smiles and walks down the gravel driveway as the credits roll.
Supporting Cast:
- Julie Benz as Sarah Miller
- Paul Schulze as Michael Burnett
- Matthew Marsden as School Boy
- Graham McTavish as Lewis
- Reynaldo Gallegos as Diaz
- Tim Kang as En-Joo
- Jake La Botz as Reese
- Ken Howard as Father Marsh
- Maung Maung Khin as Tint
- Supakorn Kitsuwon as Myint
- Richard Crenna as Colonel Sam Trautman (Flashbacks and stock footage)
The Expendables Movie Franchise
Pictured: Logo from film franchise "THE EXPENDABLES". (Courtesy of Wikipedia)
The Expendables is an American series of action films written by and starring Sylvester Stallone and originally created by David Callaham.
The film series itself was created to pay homage to the blockbuster action films of the 1980s and 90s and also pays gratitude to the action stars of those decades, as well as more recent stars in action.
The series consists of three films: The Expendables (2010), The Expendables 2 (2012) and The Expendables 3 (2014), with a fourth film scheduled to be released in 2017. The series has received mixed critical reception, in regard to its plots and dialogue between the characters; however, many critics praised the use of humor and action scenes. The films have been massive box office successes
Total Box Office for The Expendables Franchise (through 2014): $786.1 Million
The three movies (to-date) are featured below:
The film series itself was created to pay homage to the blockbuster action films of the 1980s and 90s and also pays gratitude to the action stars of those decades, as well as more recent stars in action.
The series consists of three films: The Expendables (2010), The Expendables 2 (2012) and The Expendables 3 (2014), with a fourth film scheduled to be released in 2017. The series has received mixed critical reception, in regard to its plots and dialogue between the characters; however, many critics praised the use of humor and action scenes. The films have been massive box office successes
Total Box Office for The Expendables Franchise (through 2014): $786.1 Million
The three movies (to-date) are featured below:
The Expendables (2010)
YouTube Video of The Expendables Movie Trailer
Pictured: Nine armed men dressed in black standing shoulder to shoulder, Sylvester Stallone front and center (Courtesy of Wikipedia).
The Expendables is a 2010 American ensemble action film written by David Callaham and Sylvester Stallone, and directed by Stallone, who also starred in the lead role.
The film co-stars Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, Terry Crews, Steve Austin and Mickey Rourke.
The film was released in the United States on August 13, 2010. It is the first installment in The Expendables film series. This was Dolph Lundgren's first theatrically released film since 1995's Johnny Mnemonic, and Steve Austin's last theatrical release film until 2013's Grown Ups 2.
The film is about a group of elite mercenaries tasked with a mission to overthrow a Latin American dictator whom they soon discover to be a mere puppet controlled by a ruthless ex-CIA officer James Munroe. It pays tribute to the blockbuster action films of the late 1980s and early 1990s. It was distributed by Lionsgate.
The Expendables received mixed reviews, praising the action scenes, but criticizing the lack of story. However, it was commercially successful, opening at number one at the box office in the United States, the United Kingdom, China and India.
A sequel, The Expendables 2, was released on August 17, 2012, and another sequel, The Expendables 3, was released on August 15, 2014.
Plot:
The Expendables, a group of elite mercenaries based in New Orleans, deploy to the Gulf of Aden to save hostages on a vessel from Somali pirates. The team consists of leader Barney Ross, blades specialist Lee Christmas, martial artist Yin Yang, military veteran Gunner Jensen, weapons specialist Hale Caesar, and demolitions expert Toll Road.
Jensen instigates a firefight, causing casualties for the pirates. He then tries to hang a pirate, but Yang stops him when Ross and the team discourage it. Ross reluctantly discharges him from the team. Later, Christmas is upset to discover his girlfriend, Lacy, has left him for another man.
Ross and rival Trench Mauser visit "Mr. Church" for a mission. Trench passes the contract to Ross, which is to overthrow dictator General Garza in Vilena, an island in the Gulf of Mexico. Ross and Christmas fly to Vilena for undercover reconnaissance and meet their contact, Sandra, but are discovered.
It is revealed that ex-CIA officer James Munroe is keeping Garza in power as a figurehead for his own profiteering operations, while Sandra is revealed to be Garza's daughter. Ross aborts, but Sandra refuses to leave Vilena. Meanwhile, Jensen approaches Munroe to help and Garza is angered further when Sandra is waterboarded for information by Munroe.
Meanwhile, Lacy has been physically abused by her new man, so Christmas beats him and his friends, revealing what he does for a living. Ross and the group discover that Church is a CIA operative and the real target is Munroe, who has gone rogue and joined forces with Garza to keep the drug money that funds the CIA to himself, but the CIA cannot afford a mission to kill one of their own directly because of bad publicity.
Ross meets tattoo expert and friend Tool to express his feelings. Tool makes a confession about letting a woman commit suicide instead of saving her. Ross is then motivated to go back for Sandra alone, but Yang accompanies him. Jensen and hired men pursue them on the road, ending in an abandoned warehouse, where Yang and Jensen fight a second time. Ross shoots Jensen when he attempts to impale Yang on a pipe. Jensen makes amends and gives the layout of Garza's palace. Ross boards the plane with Yang and finds the rest of the team waiting.
They then infiltrate Garza's compound. Thinking Munroe hired the team to kill him, Garza has his soldiers' faces painted, preparing them for a fight. The team plants explosives throughout the site but Ross, while saving Sandra, is captured by Munroe's henchmen. The team saves him and kills the Brit, but is pinned down by Garza's men as Paine wrestles Ross.
Caesar fights back and Paine escapes. Garza finally stands up to Munroe, ordering him out and returning his money. Instead, as Garza rallies his men against the Americans, Munroe kills him and escapes with Paine and Sandra. Garza's men open fire against the team, who fight their way through, detonating the explosives and destroying the compound.
Toll kills Paine by burning him alive while Ross and Caesar manage to destroy the helicopter before Munroe can escape. Ross and Christmas catch up to Munroe, killing him and saving Sandra. Later, Ross gives his mission reward to Sandra to restore Vilena.
In the final scene, the team has returned home and are celebrating at Tool's tattoo parlor with the recovering and now redeemed Jensen. Christmas and Tool play a game of knife throwing, during which Christmas composes a mocking poem about Tool, then throws a bullseye from outside the building.
Cast:
Bruce Willis had an uncredited cameo as Mr. Church. Arnold Schwarzenegger had an uncredited cameo as Trench Mauser.
Box Office: $274.5 Million
___________________________________________________________________________
The film co-stars Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, Terry Crews, Steve Austin and Mickey Rourke.
The film was released in the United States on August 13, 2010. It is the first installment in The Expendables film series. This was Dolph Lundgren's first theatrically released film since 1995's Johnny Mnemonic, and Steve Austin's last theatrical release film until 2013's Grown Ups 2.
The film is about a group of elite mercenaries tasked with a mission to overthrow a Latin American dictator whom they soon discover to be a mere puppet controlled by a ruthless ex-CIA officer James Munroe. It pays tribute to the blockbuster action films of the late 1980s and early 1990s. It was distributed by Lionsgate.
The Expendables received mixed reviews, praising the action scenes, but criticizing the lack of story. However, it was commercially successful, opening at number one at the box office in the United States, the United Kingdom, China and India.
A sequel, The Expendables 2, was released on August 17, 2012, and another sequel, The Expendables 3, was released on August 15, 2014.
Plot:
The Expendables, a group of elite mercenaries based in New Orleans, deploy to the Gulf of Aden to save hostages on a vessel from Somali pirates. The team consists of leader Barney Ross, blades specialist Lee Christmas, martial artist Yin Yang, military veteran Gunner Jensen, weapons specialist Hale Caesar, and demolitions expert Toll Road.
Jensen instigates a firefight, causing casualties for the pirates. He then tries to hang a pirate, but Yang stops him when Ross and the team discourage it. Ross reluctantly discharges him from the team. Later, Christmas is upset to discover his girlfriend, Lacy, has left him for another man.
Ross and rival Trench Mauser visit "Mr. Church" for a mission. Trench passes the contract to Ross, which is to overthrow dictator General Garza in Vilena, an island in the Gulf of Mexico. Ross and Christmas fly to Vilena for undercover reconnaissance and meet their contact, Sandra, but are discovered.
It is revealed that ex-CIA officer James Munroe is keeping Garza in power as a figurehead for his own profiteering operations, while Sandra is revealed to be Garza's daughter. Ross aborts, but Sandra refuses to leave Vilena. Meanwhile, Jensen approaches Munroe to help and Garza is angered further when Sandra is waterboarded for information by Munroe.
Meanwhile, Lacy has been physically abused by her new man, so Christmas beats him and his friends, revealing what he does for a living. Ross and the group discover that Church is a CIA operative and the real target is Munroe, who has gone rogue and joined forces with Garza to keep the drug money that funds the CIA to himself, but the CIA cannot afford a mission to kill one of their own directly because of bad publicity.
Ross meets tattoo expert and friend Tool to express his feelings. Tool makes a confession about letting a woman commit suicide instead of saving her. Ross is then motivated to go back for Sandra alone, but Yang accompanies him. Jensen and hired men pursue them on the road, ending in an abandoned warehouse, where Yang and Jensen fight a second time. Ross shoots Jensen when he attempts to impale Yang on a pipe. Jensen makes amends and gives the layout of Garza's palace. Ross boards the plane with Yang and finds the rest of the team waiting.
They then infiltrate Garza's compound. Thinking Munroe hired the team to kill him, Garza has his soldiers' faces painted, preparing them for a fight. The team plants explosives throughout the site but Ross, while saving Sandra, is captured by Munroe's henchmen. The team saves him and kills the Brit, but is pinned down by Garza's men as Paine wrestles Ross.
Caesar fights back and Paine escapes. Garza finally stands up to Munroe, ordering him out and returning his money. Instead, as Garza rallies his men against the Americans, Munroe kills him and escapes with Paine and Sandra. Garza's men open fire against the team, who fight their way through, detonating the explosives and destroying the compound.
Toll kills Paine by burning him alive while Ross and Caesar manage to destroy the helicopter before Munroe can escape. Ross and Christmas catch up to Munroe, killing him and saving Sandra. Later, Ross gives his mission reward to Sandra to restore Vilena.
In the final scene, the team has returned home and are celebrating at Tool's tattoo parlor with the recovering and now redeemed Jensen. Christmas and Tool play a game of knife throwing, during which Christmas composes a mocking poem about Tool, then throws a bullseye from outside the building.
Cast:
- Sylvester Stallone as Barney Ross
- Jason Statham as Lee Christmas
- Jet Li as Yin Yang
- Dolph Lundgren as Gunner Jensen
- Eric Roberts as James Munroe
- Randy Couture as Toll Road
- Steve Austin as Dan Paine
- David Zayas as General Garza
- Giselle Itié as Sandra
- Charisma Carpenter as Lacy
- Gary Daniels as The Brit
- Terry Crews as Hale Caesar
- Mickey Rourke as Tool
Bruce Willis had an uncredited cameo as Mr. Church. Arnold Schwarzenegger had an uncredited cameo as Trench Mauser.
Box Office: $274.5 Million
___________________________________________________________________________
The Expendables 2 (2012)
YouTube Video: The Expendables 2 Movie Trailer
Pictured: Movie Poster (Courtesy of Wikipedia)
The Expendables 2 is a 2012 American ensemble action film directed by Simon West, written by Richard Wenk and Sylvester Stallone and based on a story by Ken Kaufman, David Agosto and Wenk. Brian Tyler returned to score the film.
It is the sequel to the 2010 action film The Expendables, and stars Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Chuck Norris, Terry Crews, Randy Couture, Liam Hemsworth, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Bruce Willis, and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The story follows the mercenary group known as "the Expendables" as they undertake a seemingly simple mission which evolves into a quest for revenge against rival mercenary Jean Vilain, who murdered one of their own and threatens the world with a deadly weapon. It is the second installment in The Expendables film series.
Principal photography took place over 14 weeks (beginning in September 2011) on an estimated $100 million budget. Film locations included Bulgaria, Hong Kong and New Orleans. Controversy arose over the accidental death of a stuntman and environmental damage caused during filming in Bulgaria.
The film was released in Europe on August 16, 2012 and in North America the following day. The Expendables 2 grossed over $310 million worldwide, with its greatest success outside North America.
Critics generally considered the film an improvement over its predecessor (citing an increased use of humor and action scenes), but its plot and dialogue received negative reviews. A tie-in downloadable video game was released on July 31, 2012 as a prequel to the events of the film. A sequel, The Expendables 3, was released on August 15, 2014.
Plot:
The Expendables—leader Barney Ross, knife specialist Lee Christmas, hand-to-hand combat specialist Yin Yang, heavy-weapons specialist Hale Caesar, demolitions expert Toll Road, the unstable Gunner Jensen, and sniper Billy the Kid, the team's newest recruit and Ross' protégé—are deployed to Nepal to rescue Dr. Zhou, a hostage.
They also rescue the captured mercenary Trench, Ross's rival. Yang leaves the group to escort Zhou back to China.
After returning to New Orleans, Billy tells Ross that he intends to retire at the end of the month and live with his girlfriend Sophia. Later, Ross is forced to accept a mission from CIA operative Mr. Church to retrieve an item from a downed airplane in Albania. Church sends technical expert Maggie Chan with the team.
In Albania the Expendables retrieve the item, but are then ambushed by international criminal and arms dealer Jean Vilain, his right-hand man Hector and his mercenary group (the Sangs), who have captured Billy. Vilain demands the item in exchange for Billy's life.
The team gives up the item, but Vilain roundhouse kicks a knife through Billy's heart and flees with the Sangs by helicopter. Ross recovers a note for Sophia from Billy's body; the team buries their fallen comrade, swearing vengeance on Vilain.
Maggie tells them that the item is a computer, with the location of five tons of refined plutonium abandoned in a mine by the Soviet Union after the Cold War. Vilain intends to retrieve the plutonium and sell it.
The Expendables are able to weakly track the computer's signal and follow Vilain, which leads them to Bulgaria where they stay overnight at an abandoned Russian military base. The next morning, the team is ambushed by the Sangs and a tank.
After the Expendables run out of ammunition, they are saved by Ross's old friend, Booker, who quickly eliminates both the Sangs and the tank. Before he departs, Booker informs the group of a nearby village whose residents oppose Vilain. Meanwhile, Hector and Vilain dig up the plutonium and begin collecting it.
In the village, the Expendables find several armed female villagers guarding their children from Vilain's forces. The local inhabitants are taken and put to work as slaves in the mine, never returning, and the women ask for the Expendables' help. The Sangs arrive for more villagers, but are ambushed by the Expendables and killed.
After locating Vilain and the mine, the team assaults the area with their plane before deliberately crashing into the mine. The team saves the enslaved miners from execution, but Vilain and Hector escape with the plutonium. Vilain remotely detonates explosive charges in the mine; it collapses, trapping the miners and the Expendables.
Church and Trench arrive, freeing the miners and the team, and join the Expendables to pursue Vilain. The group intercepts Vilain and his men at an airport as he prepares to leave by plane. Joined again by Booker, the Expendables, Trench and Church engage the Sangs in battle. Christmas decapitates Hector, while Ross and Vilain fight hand-to-hand. Ross defeats Vilain, stabbing him and avenging Billy.
In the aftermath, Ross is given an old Antonov An-2 biplane by Church; Church, Maggie, Booker and Trench then leave the team. In France, Sophia discovers a box on her doorstep with a large sum of money and Billy's letter. As the Expendables depart in the plane, they propose a final toast to Billy.
Cast:
Box Office: $305.4
___________________________________________________________________________
It is the sequel to the 2010 action film The Expendables, and stars Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Chuck Norris, Terry Crews, Randy Couture, Liam Hemsworth, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Bruce Willis, and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The story follows the mercenary group known as "the Expendables" as they undertake a seemingly simple mission which evolves into a quest for revenge against rival mercenary Jean Vilain, who murdered one of their own and threatens the world with a deadly weapon. It is the second installment in The Expendables film series.
Principal photography took place over 14 weeks (beginning in September 2011) on an estimated $100 million budget. Film locations included Bulgaria, Hong Kong and New Orleans. Controversy arose over the accidental death of a stuntman and environmental damage caused during filming in Bulgaria.
The film was released in Europe on August 16, 2012 and in North America the following day. The Expendables 2 grossed over $310 million worldwide, with its greatest success outside North America.
Critics generally considered the film an improvement over its predecessor (citing an increased use of humor and action scenes), but its plot and dialogue received negative reviews. A tie-in downloadable video game was released on July 31, 2012 as a prequel to the events of the film. A sequel, The Expendables 3, was released on August 15, 2014.
Plot:
The Expendables—leader Barney Ross, knife specialist Lee Christmas, hand-to-hand combat specialist Yin Yang, heavy-weapons specialist Hale Caesar, demolitions expert Toll Road, the unstable Gunner Jensen, and sniper Billy the Kid, the team's newest recruit and Ross' protégé—are deployed to Nepal to rescue Dr. Zhou, a hostage.
They also rescue the captured mercenary Trench, Ross's rival. Yang leaves the group to escort Zhou back to China.
After returning to New Orleans, Billy tells Ross that he intends to retire at the end of the month and live with his girlfriend Sophia. Later, Ross is forced to accept a mission from CIA operative Mr. Church to retrieve an item from a downed airplane in Albania. Church sends technical expert Maggie Chan with the team.
In Albania the Expendables retrieve the item, but are then ambushed by international criminal and arms dealer Jean Vilain, his right-hand man Hector and his mercenary group (the Sangs), who have captured Billy. Vilain demands the item in exchange for Billy's life.
The team gives up the item, but Vilain roundhouse kicks a knife through Billy's heart and flees with the Sangs by helicopter. Ross recovers a note for Sophia from Billy's body; the team buries their fallen comrade, swearing vengeance on Vilain.
Maggie tells them that the item is a computer, with the location of five tons of refined plutonium abandoned in a mine by the Soviet Union after the Cold War. Vilain intends to retrieve the plutonium and sell it.
The Expendables are able to weakly track the computer's signal and follow Vilain, which leads them to Bulgaria where they stay overnight at an abandoned Russian military base. The next morning, the team is ambushed by the Sangs and a tank.
After the Expendables run out of ammunition, they are saved by Ross's old friend, Booker, who quickly eliminates both the Sangs and the tank. Before he departs, Booker informs the group of a nearby village whose residents oppose Vilain. Meanwhile, Hector and Vilain dig up the plutonium and begin collecting it.
In the village, the Expendables find several armed female villagers guarding their children from Vilain's forces. The local inhabitants are taken and put to work as slaves in the mine, never returning, and the women ask for the Expendables' help. The Sangs arrive for more villagers, but are ambushed by the Expendables and killed.
After locating Vilain and the mine, the team assaults the area with their plane before deliberately crashing into the mine. The team saves the enslaved miners from execution, but Vilain and Hector escape with the plutonium. Vilain remotely detonates explosive charges in the mine; it collapses, trapping the miners and the Expendables.
Church and Trench arrive, freeing the miners and the team, and join the Expendables to pursue Vilain. The group intercepts Vilain and his men at an airport as he prepares to leave by plane. Joined again by Booker, the Expendables, Trench and Church engage the Sangs in battle. Christmas decapitates Hector, while Ross and Vilain fight hand-to-hand. Ross defeats Vilain, stabbing him and avenging Billy.
In the aftermath, Ross is given an old Antonov An-2 biplane by Church; Church, Maggie, Booker and Trench then leave the team. In France, Sophia discovers a box on her doorstep with a large sum of money and Billy's letter. As the Expendables depart in the plane, they propose a final toast to Billy.
Cast:
- Sylvester Stallone as Barney Ross:The Expendables' leader.
- Jason Statham as Lee Christmas
- Jet Li as Yin Yang
- Dolph Lundgren as Gunner Jensen
- Chuck Norris as Booker
- Terry Crews as Hale Caesar.
- Randy Couture as Toll Road
- Liam Hemsworth as Billy the Kid
- Jean-Claude Van Damme as Jean Vilain
- Bruce Willis as Church
- Arnold Schwarzenegger as Trench Mauser
- Scott Adkins as Hector:
- Yu Nan as Maggie Chan:
Box Office: $305.4
___________________________________________________________________________
The Expendables 3 (2014)
YouTube Video: The Expendables 3 Trailer
Pictured: The Expendables 3 Theatrical Poster (Courtesy of Wikipedia)
The Expendables 3 (sometimes stylized as The Expendables III) is a 2014 American ensemble action film directed by Patrick Hughes, and written by Creighton Rothenberger, Katrin Benedikt, and Sylvester Stallone.
It is the third installment in The Expendables film series. and features an ensemble cast that includes:
The story follows the mercenary group known as "The Expendables" as they come into conflict with ruthless arms dealer Conrad Stonebanks (Gibson), the Expendables' co-founder, who is determined to destroy the team.
Released on August 15, 2014, it is the first film in the Expendables series not to be rated R by the Motion Picture Association of America. It is instead rated PG-13. The film grossed $206.2 million in box offices sales.
Plot:
The Expendables—led by Barney Ross (Stallone) and formed by Lee Christmas (Statham), Gunnar Jensen (Gundgren), and Toll Road (Couture)—extract former member Doctor Death (Snipes), a knives specialist and team medic, from a military prison during his transfer on a train.
They recruit Doc to assist them in intercepting a shipment of bombs meant to be delivered to a warlord in Somalia. Arriving there, they reunite with Hale Caesar (Crews), who directs them to the drop point, where Ross is surprised to find out that the arms trader providing the bombs is Conrad Stonebanks (Gibson), a former co-founder of the Expendables who went rogue and was presumed dead.
In the ensuing firefight, The Expendables manage to kill all but Stonebanks, who shoots Caesar twice. As the team attempts to aid him, they are forced to retreat due to Stonebanks' advanced weaponry, and Caesar is severely injured in the process.
Back at the United States, CIA operative Max Drummer (Ford), the Expendables' new missions manager, gives Ross a mission to capture Stonebanks in order to bring him to the International Criminal Court to be tried for war crimes.
Blaming himself for Caesar's injuries, Ross disbands the Expendables, not wanting his team to get killed following him, and leaves for Las Vegas where he enlists retired mercenary-turned-recruiter Bonaparte (Grammer) to help him find a new team of younger mercenaries to pursue Stonebanks. The recruits include former U.S. Marine John Smilee (Lutz), nightclub bouncer Luna (Rousey), computer expert Thorn, and weapons expert Mars (Ortiz). Skilled sharpshooter Galgo (Banderas) asks to be included in the team, but Ross turns him down.
The new team members rendezvous with Ross's rival Trench Mauser (Schwarzenegger), returning a favor for Ross. Drummer has traced Stonebanks to Romania, where he is set to make an arms deal. Ross and the new recruits infiltrate an office building Stonebanks is using as a meeting place and, having to kill a few men in the process including arms buyer Goran Vata, manage to capture Stonebanks.
In transit, Stonebanks begins to taunt Ross and explains why he betrayed The Expendables in the first place. Ross nearly kills him to shut him up but, despite Stonebanks egging him on, he stands down. Stonebanks' men catch up to them, with the aid of his GPS Tracker, and fire a missile at the team's van. Ross is thrown into a river, while Smilee, Luna, Thorn and Mars are captured by Stonebanks' crew. Ross kills Stonebanks' retrieval team and escapes.
Stonebanks sends Ross a video, challenging Ross to come after him and giving him his location in the country of Azmenistan. While preparing to leave and mount a rescue alone, Ross is found by Galgo, who offers his services again. Ross gives him a chance, later accompanied by the veteran Expendables.
They rescue the young mercenaries, only to learn from Stonebanks that he has rigged the place with explosives. As both the young and veteran Expendables begin to fight one another, Ross convinces them to work together in order to take down Stonebanks once and for all. As the final battle begins, Thorn is able to use a jammer device to delay the countdown, giving them just under half an hour before detonation. Stonebanks then orders the armed forces of Azmenistan to attack the building with full force, including tanks and attack helicopters. Drummer and Trench arrive in a helicopter to help, alongside returning Expendables member Yin Yang (Jet Li).
The new and veteran members of the Expendables work together to kill Stonebanks' men. When a second wave moves in, Drummer lands on the building to evacuate the team. As everyone makes it to Drummer's chopper however, Stonebanks personally attacks Ross after shooting him down.
Having been forced to remove the armor and his weapon, Ross and Stonebanks engage in hand-to-hand combat after Stonebanks drops his gun to challenge Ross. Both are evenly matched, but Ross manages to knock down Stonebanks before they both reach for their guns, Stonebanks starts shooting but Ross gets the better of him. At his mercy, Stonebanks questions Ross "What about the Hague?".
Having coldly answered "I am the Hague" Ross shoots Stonebanks with his 45 Colt Peacemaker revolver, finally killing him. Seconds after Stonebanks' death, the batteries of Thorn's device run out and the building begins to explode and collapse.
The team makes it to Drummer's helicopter and flies away to safety, with Ross clinging to it from the outside.
In the aftermath, Caesar recovers from his wounds, and Ross officially accepts Galgo, Smilee, Luna, Thorn, and Mars into the team. They all celebrate at a bar together.
Box Office: $206.2 Million
It is the third installment in The Expendables film series. and features an ensemble cast that includes:
- Sylvester Stallone,
- Jason Statham,
- Antonio Banderas,
- Jet Li,
- Wesley Snipes,
- Dolph Lundgren,
- Kelsey Grammer,
- Randy Couture,
- Terry Crews,
- Kellan Lutz,
- Ronda Rousey,
- Glen Powell,
- Victor Ortiz,
- Robert Davi,
- Mel Gibson,
- Harrison Ford,
- and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The story follows the mercenary group known as "The Expendables" as they come into conflict with ruthless arms dealer Conrad Stonebanks (Gibson), the Expendables' co-founder, who is determined to destroy the team.
Released on August 15, 2014, it is the first film in the Expendables series not to be rated R by the Motion Picture Association of America. It is instead rated PG-13. The film grossed $206.2 million in box offices sales.
Plot:
The Expendables—led by Barney Ross (Stallone) and formed by Lee Christmas (Statham), Gunnar Jensen (Gundgren), and Toll Road (Couture)—extract former member Doctor Death (Snipes), a knives specialist and team medic, from a military prison during his transfer on a train.
They recruit Doc to assist them in intercepting a shipment of bombs meant to be delivered to a warlord in Somalia. Arriving there, they reunite with Hale Caesar (Crews), who directs them to the drop point, where Ross is surprised to find out that the arms trader providing the bombs is Conrad Stonebanks (Gibson), a former co-founder of the Expendables who went rogue and was presumed dead.
In the ensuing firefight, The Expendables manage to kill all but Stonebanks, who shoots Caesar twice. As the team attempts to aid him, they are forced to retreat due to Stonebanks' advanced weaponry, and Caesar is severely injured in the process.
Back at the United States, CIA operative Max Drummer (Ford), the Expendables' new missions manager, gives Ross a mission to capture Stonebanks in order to bring him to the International Criminal Court to be tried for war crimes.
Blaming himself for Caesar's injuries, Ross disbands the Expendables, not wanting his team to get killed following him, and leaves for Las Vegas where he enlists retired mercenary-turned-recruiter Bonaparte (Grammer) to help him find a new team of younger mercenaries to pursue Stonebanks. The recruits include former U.S. Marine John Smilee (Lutz), nightclub bouncer Luna (Rousey), computer expert Thorn, and weapons expert Mars (Ortiz). Skilled sharpshooter Galgo (Banderas) asks to be included in the team, but Ross turns him down.
The new team members rendezvous with Ross's rival Trench Mauser (Schwarzenegger), returning a favor for Ross. Drummer has traced Stonebanks to Romania, where he is set to make an arms deal. Ross and the new recruits infiltrate an office building Stonebanks is using as a meeting place and, having to kill a few men in the process including arms buyer Goran Vata, manage to capture Stonebanks.
In transit, Stonebanks begins to taunt Ross and explains why he betrayed The Expendables in the first place. Ross nearly kills him to shut him up but, despite Stonebanks egging him on, he stands down. Stonebanks' men catch up to them, with the aid of his GPS Tracker, and fire a missile at the team's van. Ross is thrown into a river, while Smilee, Luna, Thorn and Mars are captured by Stonebanks' crew. Ross kills Stonebanks' retrieval team and escapes.
Stonebanks sends Ross a video, challenging Ross to come after him and giving him his location in the country of Azmenistan. While preparing to leave and mount a rescue alone, Ross is found by Galgo, who offers his services again. Ross gives him a chance, later accompanied by the veteran Expendables.
They rescue the young mercenaries, only to learn from Stonebanks that he has rigged the place with explosives. As both the young and veteran Expendables begin to fight one another, Ross convinces them to work together in order to take down Stonebanks once and for all. As the final battle begins, Thorn is able to use a jammer device to delay the countdown, giving them just under half an hour before detonation. Stonebanks then orders the armed forces of Azmenistan to attack the building with full force, including tanks and attack helicopters. Drummer and Trench arrive in a helicopter to help, alongside returning Expendables member Yin Yang (Jet Li).
The new and veteran members of the Expendables work together to kill Stonebanks' men. When a second wave moves in, Drummer lands on the building to evacuate the team. As everyone makes it to Drummer's chopper however, Stonebanks personally attacks Ross after shooting him down.
Having been forced to remove the armor and his weapon, Ross and Stonebanks engage in hand-to-hand combat after Stonebanks drops his gun to challenge Ross. Both are evenly matched, but Ross manages to knock down Stonebanks before they both reach for their guns, Stonebanks starts shooting but Ross gets the better of him. At his mercy, Stonebanks questions Ross "What about the Hague?".
Having coldly answered "I am the Hague" Ross shoots Stonebanks with his 45 Colt Peacemaker revolver, finally killing him. Seconds after Stonebanks' death, the batteries of Thorn's device run out and the building begins to explode and collapse.
The team makes it to Drummer's helicopter and flies away to safety, with Ross clinging to it from the outside.
In the aftermath, Caesar recovers from his wounds, and Ross officially accepts Galgo, Smilee, Luna, Thorn, and Mars into the team. They all celebrate at a bar together.
Box Office: $206.2 Million
Indiana Jones Movie Franchise
YouTube Video: Top 10 Awesome Indiana Jones Moments by WatchMojo
Pictured: Indiana Jones Franchise Logo courtesy of Wikipedia
The Indiana Jones franchise is an American entertainment franchise, based on the adventures of Dr. Henry "Indiana" Jones, a fictional archaeologist.
The franchise began in 1981 with the film Raiders of the Lost Ark. A prequel, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, followed in 1984 and the sequel Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade in 1989.
A fourth film, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, was released in 2008 and was the last in the series to be distributed by Paramount Pictures.
In 1992, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, featuring adventures the character had as a child as he traveled around the world with his father, began airing on television.
A fifth film in the series will be released on July 19, 2019, with both Spielberg and Ford returning.
The series was created by George Lucas; the films star Harrison Ford and were directed by Steven Spielberg. The Walt Disney Company owns the Indiana Jones franchise since its acquisition of Lucasfilm in 2012.
The franchise has expanded beyond film and television. Marvel Comics began publishing The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones in 1983, and Dark Horse Comics earned the comic book rights to the character in 1991.
Novelizations of the films have been published, as well as many novels with original adventures, including a series of German novels by Wolfgang Hohlbein, twelve novels set before the films published by Bantam Books, and a series set during the character's childhood inspired by the television show. Numerous Indiana Jones video games have been released since 1982.
Total Box Office for the four movies released through 2008 = $1.984 Billion!
Click on any of the following Indiana Jones Movies blue hyperlink for more about each movie in the Indiana Jones franchise:
The franchise began in 1981 with the film Raiders of the Lost Ark. A prequel, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, followed in 1984 and the sequel Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade in 1989.
A fourth film, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, was released in 2008 and was the last in the series to be distributed by Paramount Pictures.
In 1992, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, featuring adventures the character had as a child as he traveled around the world with his father, began airing on television.
A fifth film in the series will be released on July 19, 2019, with both Spielberg and Ford returning.
The series was created by George Lucas; the films star Harrison Ford and were directed by Steven Spielberg. The Walt Disney Company owns the Indiana Jones franchise since its acquisition of Lucasfilm in 2012.
The franchise has expanded beyond film and television. Marvel Comics began publishing The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones in 1983, and Dark Horse Comics earned the comic book rights to the character in 1991.
Novelizations of the films have been published, as well as many novels with original adventures, including a series of German novels by Wolfgang Hohlbein, twelve novels set before the films published by Bantam Books, and a series set during the character's childhood inspired by the television show. Numerous Indiana Jones video games have been released since 1982.
Total Box Office for the four movies released through 2008 = $1.984 Billion!
Click on any of the following Indiana Jones Movies blue hyperlink for more about each movie in the Indiana Jones franchise:
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
YouTube Video: Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark - Trailer
Pictured: Raiders of the Lost Ark original release poster by Richard Amsel. ™ & © 1981 Lucasfilm Ltd.
Raiders of the Lost Ark is a 1981 American action adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg, with a screenplay written by Lawrence Kasdan, from a story by George Lucas and Philip Kaufman. It was produced by Frank Marshall for Lucasfilm Ltd., with Lucas and Howard Kazanjian as executive producers.
Starring Harrison Ford, it was the first installment in the Indiana Jones film franchise to be released, though it is the second in internal chronological order.
It pits Indiana Jones (Ford) against a group of Nazis who are searching for the Ark of the Covenant, which Adolf Hitler believes will make his army invincible.
The film co-stars Karen Allen as Indiana's former lover, Marion Ravenwood; Paul Freeman as Indiana's nemesis, French archaeologist René Belloq; John Rhys-Davies as Indiana's sidekick, Sallah; Ronald Lacey as Gestapo agent Arnold Toht; and Denholm Elliott as Indiana's colleague, Marcus Brody.
The film originated from Lucas' desire to create a modern version of the serials of the 1930s and 1940s. Production was based at Elstree Studios, England; but filming also took place in La Rochelle, France, Tunisia, Hawaii, and California from June to September 1980.
Released on June 12, 1981, Raiders of the Lost Ark became the year's top-grossing film and remains one of the highest-grossing films ever made. It was nominated for nine Academy Awards in 1982, including Best Picture, and won four for Best Art Direction, Film Editing, Sound, and Visual Effects with a fifth Academy Award: a Special Achievement Award for Sound Effects Editing.
The film's critical and popular success led to three additional films:
Also, included was the television series The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (1992–1996), and 15 video games as of 2009.
In 1999, the film was included in the U.S. Library of Congress' National Film Registry as having been deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Raiders of the Lost Ark is often ranked as one of the greatest films of all time, both in the action-adventure genre, and in general. The film also ranks #2 on Empire's 2008 list of the 500 greatest movies of all time
Plot:
In 1936, archaeologist Indiana Jones braves an ancient booby-trapped temple in Peru and retrieves a golden idol. He is confronted by rival archaeologist René Belloq and the indigenous Hovito people. Surrounded and outnumbered, Indy surrenders the idol to Belloq and escapes aboard a waiting floatplane.
Jones returns to his teaching position at Marshall College, where he is interviewed by two Army Intelligence agents. They inform him that the Nazis are searching for his old mentor, Abner Ravenwood, under whom Jones studied at the University of Chicago.
The Nazis know that Ravenwood is the leading expert on the ancient city of Tanis in Egypt, and that he possesses the headpiece of the Staff of Ra.
Jones deduces that the Nazis are searching for the Ark of the Covenant; the Nazis believe that if they acquire the Ark their armies will become invincible. The Staff of Ra is the key to finding the Well of Souls, a secret chamber in which the Ark is buried.
The agents authorize Jones to recover the Ark to prevent the Nazis from obtaining it. He travels to Nepal and discovers that Abner has died, and the headpiece is in the possession of Ravenwood's daughter Marion. Jones visits Marion at her tavern, where she reveals her bitter feelings toward him from a previous romantic affair. She physically rebuffs his offer to buy the headpiece, and Jones leaves.
Shortly after, a group of thugs arrive with their Nazi commander, Arnold Toht. Toht threatens Marion to get the headpiece, but when Jones returns to the bar to fight the Nazis and save Marion, her bar is accidentally set on fire; during the fight, the headpiece ends up in the fire and Toht severely burns his hand trying to take the hot headpiece, and flees the tavern screaming.
Indy and Marion escape with the headpiece, and Marion decides to accompany Indy in his search for the Ark so he can repay his debt to her.
The pair travels to Cairo, where they meet up with Indy's friend Sallah, a skilled excavator. Sallah informs them that Belloq and the Nazis are digging for the Well of Souls with a replica of the headpiece (created from the scar on Toht's hand). They quickly realize the Nazi headpiece is incomplete and that the Nazis are digging in the wrong place.
The Nazis kidnap Marion and it appears to Jones that she is killed in an exploding truck. After a confrontation with Belloq in a local bar, Indy and Sallah infiltrate the Nazi dig site and use their staff to correctly locate the Ark.
Indy discovers Marion is alive, bound and gagged in a tent, but does not release her for fear of blowing his cover. Indy, Sallah, and a small group of diggers unearth the Well of Souls and acquire the Ark. Belloq and Nazi officer Colonel Dietrich arrive, seize the Ark from Jones, throwing Marion into the Well of Souls with him before sealing it back up.
Jones and Marion escape to a local airstrip, where Jones has a fistfight with a Nazi mechanic and destroys the flying wing that was to transport the Ark to Berlin. The panicked Nazis remove the Ark in a truck and set off for Cairo, but Jones catches them and retakes it. He makes arrangements to take the Ark to London aboard a tramp steamer.
The next day, a Nazi U-boat appears and intercepts the ship. Belloq and Dietrich seize the Ark and Marion but cannot locate Jones, who stows away aboard the boat and travels with them to an island in the Aegean Sea.
Once there, Belloq plans to test the power of the Ark before presenting it to Hitler. Jones reveals himself and threatens to destroy the Ark with a panzerfaust, but Belloq calls his bluff and Jones surrenders rather than destroy such an important historical artifact. The Nazis take Indy and Marion to an area where the Ark will be opened and tie them to a post to observe.
Belloq performs a ceremonial opening of the Ark, which appears to contain nothing but sand, all that remains of the Ten Commandments. Suddenly, angelic ghost-like beings emerge from the Ark. Indy cautions Marion to keep her eyes closed and not to observe what happens next.
Belloq and the others look on in astonishment as the apparitions are suddenly revealed to be angels of death. A vortex of flame forms above the Ark and shoots bolts of fiery energy into the gathered Nazi soldiers, killing them all. As Belloq, Toht and Dietrich all scream in terror, the Ark turns its fury on them: Dietrich's head shrivels up, Toht's face is melted off his skull and Belloq's head explodes.
Flames then engulf the remains of the doomed assembly, save for Indy and Marion, and the pillar of fire rises into the sky. The Ark's lid is blasted high into the air before dropping back down onto the Ark and sealing it. Jones and Marion find their ropes burned off and embrace.
In Washington, D.C., the Army Intelligence agents inform Jones and Marcus Brody that the Ark is someplace safe and will be studied by "top men". The Ark is shown being stored in a giant government warehouse among countless similar crates.
Cast:
Box Office: $389.9 million
___________________________________________________________________________
Starring Harrison Ford, it was the first installment in the Indiana Jones film franchise to be released, though it is the second in internal chronological order.
It pits Indiana Jones (Ford) against a group of Nazis who are searching for the Ark of the Covenant, which Adolf Hitler believes will make his army invincible.
The film co-stars Karen Allen as Indiana's former lover, Marion Ravenwood; Paul Freeman as Indiana's nemesis, French archaeologist René Belloq; John Rhys-Davies as Indiana's sidekick, Sallah; Ronald Lacey as Gestapo agent Arnold Toht; and Denholm Elliott as Indiana's colleague, Marcus Brody.
The film originated from Lucas' desire to create a modern version of the serials of the 1930s and 1940s. Production was based at Elstree Studios, England; but filming also took place in La Rochelle, France, Tunisia, Hawaii, and California from June to September 1980.
Released on June 12, 1981, Raiders of the Lost Ark became the year's top-grossing film and remains one of the highest-grossing films ever made. It was nominated for nine Academy Awards in 1982, including Best Picture, and won four for Best Art Direction, Film Editing, Sound, and Visual Effects with a fifth Academy Award: a Special Achievement Award for Sound Effects Editing.
The film's critical and popular success led to three additional films:
- Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984),
- Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989),
- and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008),
- with a fifth slated for 2019;
Also, included was the television series The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (1992–1996), and 15 video games as of 2009.
In 1999, the film was included in the U.S. Library of Congress' National Film Registry as having been deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Raiders of the Lost Ark is often ranked as one of the greatest films of all time, both in the action-adventure genre, and in general. The film also ranks #2 on Empire's 2008 list of the 500 greatest movies of all time
Plot:
In 1936, archaeologist Indiana Jones braves an ancient booby-trapped temple in Peru and retrieves a golden idol. He is confronted by rival archaeologist René Belloq and the indigenous Hovito people. Surrounded and outnumbered, Indy surrenders the idol to Belloq and escapes aboard a waiting floatplane.
Jones returns to his teaching position at Marshall College, where he is interviewed by two Army Intelligence agents. They inform him that the Nazis are searching for his old mentor, Abner Ravenwood, under whom Jones studied at the University of Chicago.
The Nazis know that Ravenwood is the leading expert on the ancient city of Tanis in Egypt, and that he possesses the headpiece of the Staff of Ra.
Jones deduces that the Nazis are searching for the Ark of the Covenant; the Nazis believe that if they acquire the Ark their armies will become invincible. The Staff of Ra is the key to finding the Well of Souls, a secret chamber in which the Ark is buried.
The agents authorize Jones to recover the Ark to prevent the Nazis from obtaining it. He travels to Nepal and discovers that Abner has died, and the headpiece is in the possession of Ravenwood's daughter Marion. Jones visits Marion at her tavern, where she reveals her bitter feelings toward him from a previous romantic affair. She physically rebuffs his offer to buy the headpiece, and Jones leaves.
Shortly after, a group of thugs arrive with their Nazi commander, Arnold Toht. Toht threatens Marion to get the headpiece, but when Jones returns to the bar to fight the Nazis and save Marion, her bar is accidentally set on fire; during the fight, the headpiece ends up in the fire and Toht severely burns his hand trying to take the hot headpiece, and flees the tavern screaming.
Indy and Marion escape with the headpiece, and Marion decides to accompany Indy in his search for the Ark so he can repay his debt to her.
The pair travels to Cairo, where they meet up with Indy's friend Sallah, a skilled excavator. Sallah informs them that Belloq and the Nazis are digging for the Well of Souls with a replica of the headpiece (created from the scar on Toht's hand). They quickly realize the Nazi headpiece is incomplete and that the Nazis are digging in the wrong place.
The Nazis kidnap Marion and it appears to Jones that she is killed in an exploding truck. After a confrontation with Belloq in a local bar, Indy and Sallah infiltrate the Nazi dig site and use their staff to correctly locate the Ark.
Indy discovers Marion is alive, bound and gagged in a tent, but does not release her for fear of blowing his cover. Indy, Sallah, and a small group of diggers unearth the Well of Souls and acquire the Ark. Belloq and Nazi officer Colonel Dietrich arrive, seize the Ark from Jones, throwing Marion into the Well of Souls with him before sealing it back up.
Jones and Marion escape to a local airstrip, where Jones has a fistfight with a Nazi mechanic and destroys the flying wing that was to transport the Ark to Berlin. The panicked Nazis remove the Ark in a truck and set off for Cairo, but Jones catches them and retakes it. He makes arrangements to take the Ark to London aboard a tramp steamer.
The next day, a Nazi U-boat appears and intercepts the ship. Belloq and Dietrich seize the Ark and Marion but cannot locate Jones, who stows away aboard the boat and travels with them to an island in the Aegean Sea.
Once there, Belloq plans to test the power of the Ark before presenting it to Hitler. Jones reveals himself and threatens to destroy the Ark with a panzerfaust, but Belloq calls his bluff and Jones surrenders rather than destroy such an important historical artifact. The Nazis take Indy and Marion to an area where the Ark will be opened and tie them to a post to observe.
Belloq performs a ceremonial opening of the Ark, which appears to contain nothing but sand, all that remains of the Ten Commandments. Suddenly, angelic ghost-like beings emerge from the Ark. Indy cautions Marion to keep her eyes closed and not to observe what happens next.
Belloq and the others look on in astonishment as the apparitions are suddenly revealed to be angels of death. A vortex of flame forms above the Ark and shoots bolts of fiery energy into the gathered Nazi soldiers, killing them all. As Belloq, Toht and Dietrich all scream in terror, the Ark turns its fury on them: Dietrich's head shrivels up, Toht's face is melted off his skull and Belloq's head explodes.
Flames then engulf the remains of the doomed assembly, save for Indy and Marion, and the pillar of fire rises into the sky. The Ark's lid is blasted high into the air before dropping back down onto the Ark and sealing it. Jones and Marion find their ropes burned off and embrace.
In Washington, D.C., the Army Intelligence agents inform Jones and Marcus Brody that the Ark is someplace safe and will be studied by "top men". The Ark is shown being stored in a giant government warehouse among countless similar crates.
Cast:
- Harrison Ford stars as Indiana Jones, an archaeology professor who often embarks on perilous adventures to obtain rare artifacts. Jones claims that he has no belief in the supernatural, only to have his skepticism challenged when he discovers the Ark.
- Paul Freeman as Dr. René Belloq, Jones' nemesis. Belloq is also an archaeologist after the Ark, but he is working for the Nazis. He intends to harness the Ark's power himself before Hitler can, but he is killed by the Ark's supernatural powers.
- Karen Allen as Marion Ravenwood, a spirited, tough former lover of Indiana's. She is the daughter of Abner Ravenwood, Indiana Jones' mentor, and owns a bar in Nepal.
- John Rhys-Davies as Sallah, "the best digger in Cairo", who has been hired by the Nazis to help them excavate Tanis. He is an old friend of Indiana Jones, and agrees to help him obtain the Ark, although he fears disturbing it.
- Ronald Lacey as Major Arnold Toht, an interrogator for the Gestapo, who tries to torture Marion Ravenwood for the headpiece of the Staff of Ra. He is killed by the Ark's supernatural powers.
- Denholm Elliott as Dr. Marcus Brody, a museum curator, who buys the artifacts Indiana obtains for display in his museum. The U.S. government agents approach him with regard to the Ark's recovery, and he sets up a meeting between them and Indiana Jones.
- Wolf Kahler as Colonel Dietrich, a ruthless Nazi officer leading the operation to secure the Ark. He is killed by the Ark's supernatural powers.
- Alfred Molina, in his film debut, as Satipo, one of Jones' guides through the South American jungle. He betrays Jones and steals the golden idol, but is killed by traps before he can leave the temple.
- George Harris as Simon Katanga, captain of the Bantu Wind.
- Anthony Higgins as Major Gobler, Dietrich's right-hand-man.
- Vic Tablian as Barranca and the Monkey Man
- Don Fellows as Colonel Musgrove
- William Hootkins as Major Eaton
Box Office: $389.9 million
___________________________________________________________________________
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
YouTube Video: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom - Trailer
Pictured: Theatrical Movie Poster
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is a 1984 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg. It is the second installment in the Indiana Jones franchise and a prequel to the 1981 film Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark and followed by Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade in 1989 and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull in 2008 respectively, featuring Harrison Ford reprising his role as the title character.
After arriving in North India, Indiana Jones is asked by desperate villagers to find a mystical stone and rescue their children from a Thuggee cult practicing child slavery, black magic and ritual human sacrifice in honor of the goddess Kali.
Executive producer and co-writer George Lucas decided to make the film a prequel as he did not want the Nazis to be the villains again. After three rejected plot devices, Lucas wrote a film treatment that resembled the film's final storyline. Lawrence Kasdan, Lucas's collaborator on Raiders, turned down the offer to write the script, and Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz were hired as his replacements, with the screenplay partly based upon the 1939 film Gunga Din.
The film was released to financial success but mixed reviews, which criticized its violence, later contributing to the creation of the PG-13 rating, as well as the character of Willie Scott for being annoying and useless.
However, critical opinion has improved since 1984, citing the film's intensity and imagination. Some of the film's cast and crew, including Spielberg, retrospectively view the film in a negative light, partly due to the film being the most overtly violent Indiana Jones film. The film has also been the subject of controversy due to its portrayal of India and Hinduism.
Plot:
In 1935, Indiana Jones narrowly escapes the clutches of Lao Che, a crime boss in Shanghai in the Republic of China. With his 11-year-old Chinese sidekick Short Round and the nightclub singer Willie Scott in tow, Indy flees Shanghai on an airplane that, unknown to them, is owned by Lao.
While the three of them sleep on the plane, the pilots parachute out, and they leave the plane to crash over the Himalayas while dumping its fuel. Indy, Shorty, and Willie discover this and narrowly manage to escape by jumping out of the plane on an inflatable raft, and then riding down the slopes into a raging river.
They come to Mayapore, a desolate village in northern India, where the poor villagers believe them to have been sent by the Hindu god Shiva and enlist their help to retrieve the sacred Sivalinga stone stolen from their shrine, as well as the community's children, from evil forces in the nearby Pankot Palace.
During the journey to Pankot, Indy hypothesizes that the stone may be one of the five fabled Sankara stones that promise fortune and glory.
The trio receive a warm welcome from the Prime Minister of Pankot Palace, Chattar Lal. The visitors are allowed to stay the night as guests, during which they attend a lavish but grotesque banquet given by the young Maharajah, Zalim Singh. Chattar Lal rebuffs Indy's questions about the villagers' claims and his theory that the ancient Thuggee cult is responsible for their troubles.
Later that night, Indy is attacked by an assassin, leading Indy, Willie, and Shorty to believe that something is amiss. They discover a series of tunnels hidden behind a statue in Willie's room and set out to explore them, overcoming a number of booby-traps along the way.
The trio eventually reach an underground temple where the Thugs worship the Hindu goddess Kali with human sacrifice. They watch as the Thugs chain one of their victims in a cage and slowly lower him into a ceremonial fire pit burning him alive. They discover that the Thugs, led by their evil, bloodthirsty high priest Mola Ram are in possession of three of the five Sankara stones, and have enslaved the children to mine for the final two stones, which they hope will allow them to rule the world.
As Indy tries to retrieve the stones, he, Willie, and Shorty are captured and separated. Indy is whipped and forced to drink a potion called the "Blood of Kali", which places him in a trance-like state where he begins to mindlessly serve the Thugs. Willie, meanwhile, is kept as a human sacrifice, while Shorty is put to work in the mines alongside the enslaved children.
Shorty breaks free and escapes back into the temple where he burns Indy with a torch, shocking him out of the trance. After defeating Chattar Lal, also a Thuggee worshiper, Indy stops Willie's cage and cranks it out of the pit just in time before it has a chance to enter the fire. They go back to the mines to free the children, but Indy is caught up in a fight with a hulking overseer.
The Maharajah, who was also forcibly entranced by the "Blood of Kali," attempts to cripple Indy with a voodoo doll. Shorty spars with the Maharajah, ultimately burning him to snap him out of the trance. With his strength returned, Indy kills the overseer. The Maharajah then tells Shorty how to get out of the mines. While Mola Ram escapes, Indy and Shorty rescue Willie and retrieve the three Sankara stones, the village children escape.
After a mine cart chase to escape the temple, the trio emerge above ground and are again cornered by Mola Ram and his henchmen on a rope bridge high above a crocodile-infested river. Using a sword, Indy cuts the rope bridge in half, leaving everyone to hang on for their lives.
Indy utters an incantation which causes the stones to glow red hot. Two of the stones fall into the river, while the last falls into Mola Ram's hand, burning him. Indy catches the now-cool stone, while Mola Ram falls into the river below, where he is devoured by a Mugger crocodile.
The Thugs then attempt to shoot Indy with arrows, until a company of British Indian Army riflemen from Pankot arrive, having been summoned by the palace Maharajah. In the ensuing firefight, many of the Thuggee archers are killed and the remainder are surrounded and captured. Indy, Willie, and Shorty return victoriously to the village with the children and give the missing stone back to the villagers.
Cast:
Box Office: $333 Million
___________________________________________________________________________
After arriving in North India, Indiana Jones is asked by desperate villagers to find a mystical stone and rescue their children from a Thuggee cult practicing child slavery, black magic and ritual human sacrifice in honor of the goddess Kali.
Executive producer and co-writer George Lucas decided to make the film a prequel as he did not want the Nazis to be the villains again. After three rejected plot devices, Lucas wrote a film treatment that resembled the film's final storyline. Lawrence Kasdan, Lucas's collaborator on Raiders, turned down the offer to write the script, and Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz were hired as his replacements, with the screenplay partly based upon the 1939 film Gunga Din.
The film was released to financial success but mixed reviews, which criticized its violence, later contributing to the creation of the PG-13 rating, as well as the character of Willie Scott for being annoying and useless.
However, critical opinion has improved since 1984, citing the film's intensity and imagination. Some of the film's cast and crew, including Spielberg, retrospectively view the film in a negative light, partly due to the film being the most overtly violent Indiana Jones film. The film has also been the subject of controversy due to its portrayal of India and Hinduism.
Plot:
In 1935, Indiana Jones narrowly escapes the clutches of Lao Che, a crime boss in Shanghai in the Republic of China. With his 11-year-old Chinese sidekick Short Round and the nightclub singer Willie Scott in tow, Indy flees Shanghai on an airplane that, unknown to them, is owned by Lao.
While the three of them sleep on the plane, the pilots parachute out, and they leave the plane to crash over the Himalayas while dumping its fuel. Indy, Shorty, and Willie discover this and narrowly manage to escape by jumping out of the plane on an inflatable raft, and then riding down the slopes into a raging river.
They come to Mayapore, a desolate village in northern India, where the poor villagers believe them to have been sent by the Hindu god Shiva and enlist their help to retrieve the sacred Sivalinga stone stolen from their shrine, as well as the community's children, from evil forces in the nearby Pankot Palace.
During the journey to Pankot, Indy hypothesizes that the stone may be one of the five fabled Sankara stones that promise fortune and glory.
The trio receive a warm welcome from the Prime Minister of Pankot Palace, Chattar Lal. The visitors are allowed to stay the night as guests, during which they attend a lavish but grotesque banquet given by the young Maharajah, Zalim Singh. Chattar Lal rebuffs Indy's questions about the villagers' claims and his theory that the ancient Thuggee cult is responsible for their troubles.
Later that night, Indy is attacked by an assassin, leading Indy, Willie, and Shorty to believe that something is amiss. They discover a series of tunnels hidden behind a statue in Willie's room and set out to explore them, overcoming a number of booby-traps along the way.
The trio eventually reach an underground temple where the Thugs worship the Hindu goddess Kali with human sacrifice. They watch as the Thugs chain one of their victims in a cage and slowly lower him into a ceremonial fire pit burning him alive. They discover that the Thugs, led by their evil, bloodthirsty high priest Mola Ram are in possession of three of the five Sankara stones, and have enslaved the children to mine for the final two stones, which they hope will allow them to rule the world.
As Indy tries to retrieve the stones, he, Willie, and Shorty are captured and separated. Indy is whipped and forced to drink a potion called the "Blood of Kali", which places him in a trance-like state where he begins to mindlessly serve the Thugs. Willie, meanwhile, is kept as a human sacrifice, while Shorty is put to work in the mines alongside the enslaved children.
Shorty breaks free and escapes back into the temple where he burns Indy with a torch, shocking him out of the trance. After defeating Chattar Lal, also a Thuggee worshiper, Indy stops Willie's cage and cranks it out of the pit just in time before it has a chance to enter the fire. They go back to the mines to free the children, but Indy is caught up in a fight with a hulking overseer.
The Maharajah, who was also forcibly entranced by the "Blood of Kali," attempts to cripple Indy with a voodoo doll. Shorty spars with the Maharajah, ultimately burning him to snap him out of the trance. With his strength returned, Indy kills the overseer. The Maharajah then tells Shorty how to get out of the mines. While Mola Ram escapes, Indy and Shorty rescue Willie and retrieve the three Sankara stones, the village children escape.
After a mine cart chase to escape the temple, the trio emerge above ground and are again cornered by Mola Ram and his henchmen on a rope bridge high above a crocodile-infested river. Using a sword, Indy cuts the rope bridge in half, leaving everyone to hang on for their lives.
Indy utters an incantation which causes the stones to glow red hot. Two of the stones fall into the river, while the last falls into Mola Ram's hand, burning him. Indy catches the now-cool stone, while Mola Ram falls into the river below, where he is devoured by a Mugger crocodile.
The Thugs then attempt to shoot Indy with arrows, until a company of British Indian Army riflemen from Pankot arrive, having been summoned by the palace Maharajah. In the ensuing firefight, many of the Thuggee archers are killed and the remainder are surrounded and captured. Indy, Willie, and Shorty return victoriously to the village with the children and give the missing stone back to the villagers.
Cast:
- Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones: An archaeologist adventurer who is asked by a desperate Indian village to retrieve a mysterious stone and rescue the missing village children.
- Kate Capshaw as Wilhelmina "Willie" Scott: An American nightclub singer working in Shanghai. Willie is unprepared for her adventure with Indy and Short Round, and appears to be a damsel in distress. She also forms a romantic relationship with Indy.
- Amrish Puri as Mola Ram: A demonic Thuggee priest who performs rituals of human sacrifices.
- Jonathan Ke Quan as Short Round: Indy's eleven-year-old Chinese sidekick, who drives the 1936 Auburn Boat Tail Speedster which allows Indy to escape during the opening sequence.
- Roshan Seth as Chattar Lal: The Prime Minister of the Maharaja of Pankot. Chattar, also a Thuggee worshiper, is enchanted by Indy, Willie and Short Round's arrival, but is offended by Indy's questioning of the palace's history and the archaeologist's own dubious past.
- Philip Stone as Captain Philip Blumburtt: A British Indian Army Captain called to Pankot Palace for "exercises". Alongside a unit of his riflemen, Blumburtt assists Indy towards the end in fighting off Thuggee reinforcements.
- Roy Chiao as Lao Che: A Shanghai crime boss who, with his sons, hires Indy to recover the cremated ashes of one of his ancestors, only to attempt to kill him and cheat him out of his fee, a large diamond.
- David Yip as Wu Han: A friend of Indy. He is killed by one of Lao Che's sons while posing as a waiter at Club Obi Wan.
- Raj Singh as Zalim Singh: The adolescent Maharajá of Pankot, who appears as an innocent puppet of the Thuggee faithful. In the end, he helps to defeat them.
- D. R. Nanayakkara as Shaman: The leader of a small village that recruits Indy to retrieve their stolen sacred Shiva lingam stone
Box Office: $333 Million
___________________________________________________________________________
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
YouTube Video Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade - Trailer
Pictured: Theatrical Movie Poster
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is a 1989 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg, from a story co-written by executive producer George Lucas.
It is the third installment in the Indiana Jones franchise. Harrison Ford reprises the title role and Sean Connery plays Indiana's father, Henry Jones, Sr.
Other cast members featured include Alison Doody, Denholm Elliott, Julian Glover, River Phoenix, and John Rhys-Davies.
In the film, set largely in 1938, Indiana searches for his father, a Holy Grail scholar, who has been kidnapped by Nazis.
After the mixed reaction to Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Spielberg chose to compensate with a film that toned down the violence and gore. During the five years between Temple of Doom and Last Crusade, he and executive producer Lucas reviewed several scripts before accepting Jeffrey Boam's. Filming locations included Spain, Italy, the United Kingdom, Turkey and Jordan.
The film was released in North America on May 24, 1989, to mostly positive reviews. It was a financial success, earning $474,171,806 at the worldwide box office totals. It won an Academy Award for Best Sound Editing.
Plot:
In 1912, 13-year-old Indiana Jones is horseback riding with his Boy Scout troop at Arches National Park in Utah. While scouting caves, Indy discovers a group of grave robbers who have found a golden crucifix belonging to Coronado and steals it from them, hoping to donate it to a museum.
The men give chase through a passing circus train, leaving Indy with a bloody cut across his chin from a bullwhip and a new phobia of snakes. Indy escapes, but the local sheriff makes him return the crucifix to the robbers. Impressed with Indy's bravery, the leader of the robbers gives Indy his fedora, and encourages him to not give up.
In 1938, Indy recovers the crucifix off the coast of Portugal and donates it to Marcus Brody's museum. Later, Indy is introduced to Walter Donovan, who informs him that Indy's father, Henry Jones, Sr., has vanished while searching for the Holy Grail, using an incomplete inscription as his guide.
Indy then receives Henry's Grail diary via mail from Venice. Realizing that he would not have sent the diary unless he was in trouble, Indy and Marcus travel to Venice, where they meet Henry's Austrian colleague, Dr. Elsa Schneider.
Beneath the library where Henry was last seen, Indy and Elsa discover the tomb of a First Crusade knight, which also contains a complete version of the inscription that Henry had used, this one revealing the location of the Grail.
They flee, however, when the catacombs are set aflame by the Brotherhood of the Cruciform Sword, a secret society that protects the Grail from evildoers. After a speedboat chase, Indy and Elsa capture one of the Brotherhood, Kazim, and Indy tells him that his goal is only to find his father and that he has no interest in finding the Grail.
Kazim tells him that Henry is being held in Castle Brunwald on the Austrian-German border. Marcus later reveals a map drawn by Henry of the route to the Grail, which begins in Alexandretta.
Indy removes the pages containing the map from the diary, gives it to Marcus for safekeeping and sends Marcus to İskenderun, the city built on the ruins of Alexandretta to rendezvous with their old friend Sallah, and he and Elsa head to Castle Brunwald.
At Castle Brunwald, Indy rescues Henry, but learns that Elsa and Donovan are actually working with the Nazis, and are using him to find the Grail for them. Meanwhile, Marcus is captured in Hatay, while waiting with Sallah for the Joneses.
The Joneses escape from Castle Brunwald. Indy and the Nazis believe that with map removed, the diary is useless but Henry privately tells Indy that the map is only half of what is required. To actually reach the Grail, itself, one must face 3 lethal challenges/ booby traps and his diary contains the clues to guide them through the challenges safely.
Henry makes it clear to Indy that they must get the diary back at all costs because if the Nazis obtain the Grail, the world is doomed to be ruled by them. They recover the diary from Elsa at a Nazi book burning rally in Berlin where they have a dangerously close encounter with Adolf Hitler himself.
They board a Zeppelin to leave Germany, but the Zeppelin soon turns around and the Joneses escape in a parasite biplane. They crash while engaging in a dogfight with the Luftwaffe due to Henry's accidentally shooting the plane's tail off, but Henry redeems himself on the ground by alarming a flock of birds to take flight in front of the Luftwaffe fighter causing the pilot to crash.
The two meet up with Sallah in Hatay, where they learn of Marcus's abduction. The Nazis are already moving toward the Grail's location, using the map possessed by Marcus. In exchange for a Rolls-Royce Phantom II, the Sultan of Hatay has given the Nazis full access to his equipment for the expedition, including a large tank.
Indy, Henry, and Sallah find the Nazi expedition, which is ambushed by the Brotherhood. During the battle, Henry is captured by SS Colonel Ernst Vogel while attempting to rescue Marcus from the tank; Kazim and his comrades are killed. The younger Jones pursues the tank on horseback and, with the aid of Sallah, saves Henry and Marcus. He is then caught up in a fight with Vogel, and barely escapes before the tank goes over a cliff, crushing Vogel to death.
Indy, Henry, Marcus, and Sallah catch up with the surviving Nazis, led by Donovan and Elsa, who have found the temple where the Grail is kept but are unable to pass through the three protective booby traps.
Donovan mortally wounds Henry, forcing Indy to risk his life in the traps to find the Grail and use its healing power to save Henry. Using the information in the diary and followed by Donovan and Elsa, Indy safely overcomes the traps (circular blade traps, a word puzzle, and a invisible bridge over a bottomless pit) and reaches the Grail's chamber, which is guarded by a knight.
He has been kept alive for seven hundred years by the power of the Grail, which is hidden among dozens of false Grails; only the true Grail brings life, while a false one claims it. Donovan ages rapidly and decays into dust upon drinking from a false grail. Indy selects the true Grail, a simple clay cup, which the knight warns cannot be taken beyond the temple's entrance. Indy fills the Grail with holy water and takes it to Henry, which heals him instantly.
Elsa, disregarding the knight's warning, then takes the Grail and attempts to leave with it. The temple begins to collapse and Elsa falls to her death trying to recover the Grail. Indy nearly suffers the same fate but Henry persuades him to let it go. The Joneses, Marcus, and Sallah escape the temple and ride off into the sunset.
Cast:
Box Office: $474 million
___________________________________________________________________________
It is the third installment in the Indiana Jones franchise. Harrison Ford reprises the title role and Sean Connery plays Indiana's father, Henry Jones, Sr.
Other cast members featured include Alison Doody, Denholm Elliott, Julian Glover, River Phoenix, and John Rhys-Davies.
In the film, set largely in 1938, Indiana searches for his father, a Holy Grail scholar, who has been kidnapped by Nazis.
After the mixed reaction to Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Spielberg chose to compensate with a film that toned down the violence and gore. During the five years between Temple of Doom and Last Crusade, he and executive producer Lucas reviewed several scripts before accepting Jeffrey Boam's. Filming locations included Spain, Italy, the United Kingdom, Turkey and Jordan.
The film was released in North America on May 24, 1989, to mostly positive reviews. It was a financial success, earning $474,171,806 at the worldwide box office totals. It won an Academy Award for Best Sound Editing.
Plot:
In 1912, 13-year-old Indiana Jones is horseback riding with his Boy Scout troop at Arches National Park in Utah. While scouting caves, Indy discovers a group of grave robbers who have found a golden crucifix belonging to Coronado and steals it from them, hoping to donate it to a museum.
The men give chase through a passing circus train, leaving Indy with a bloody cut across his chin from a bullwhip and a new phobia of snakes. Indy escapes, but the local sheriff makes him return the crucifix to the robbers. Impressed with Indy's bravery, the leader of the robbers gives Indy his fedora, and encourages him to not give up.
In 1938, Indy recovers the crucifix off the coast of Portugal and donates it to Marcus Brody's museum. Later, Indy is introduced to Walter Donovan, who informs him that Indy's father, Henry Jones, Sr., has vanished while searching for the Holy Grail, using an incomplete inscription as his guide.
Indy then receives Henry's Grail diary via mail from Venice. Realizing that he would not have sent the diary unless he was in trouble, Indy and Marcus travel to Venice, where they meet Henry's Austrian colleague, Dr. Elsa Schneider.
Beneath the library where Henry was last seen, Indy and Elsa discover the tomb of a First Crusade knight, which also contains a complete version of the inscription that Henry had used, this one revealing the location of the Grail.
They flee, however, when the catacombs are set aflame by the Brotherhood of the Cruciform Sword, a secret society that protects the Grail from evildoers. After a speedboat chase, Indy and Elsa capture one of the Brotherhood, Kazim, and Indy tells him that his goal is only to find his father and that he has no interest in finding the Grail.
Kazim tells him that Henry is being held in Castle Brunwald on the Austrian-German border. Marcus later reveals a map drawn by Henry of the route to the Grail, which begins in Alexandretta.
Indy removes the pages containing the map from the diary, gives it to Marcus for safekeeping and sends Marcus to İskenderun, the city built on the ruins of Alexandretta to rendezvous with their old friend Sallah, and he and Elsa head to Castle Brunwald.
At Castle Brunwald, Indy rescues Henry, but learns that Elsa and Donovan are actually working with the Nazis, and are using him to find the Grail for them. Meanwhile, Marcus is captured in Hatay, while waiting with Sallah for the Joneses.
The Joneses escape from Castle Brunwald. Indy and the Nazis believe that with map removed, the diary is useless but Henry privately tells Indy that the map is only half of what is required. To actually reach the Grail, itself, one must face 3 lethal challenges/ booby traps and his diary contains the clues to guide them through the challenges safely.
Henry makes it clear to Indy that they must get the diary back at all costs because if the Nazis obtain the Grail, the world is doomed to be ruled by them. They recover the diary from Elsa at a Nazi book burning rally in Berlin where they have a dangerously close encounter with Adolf Hitler himself.
They board a Zeppelin to leave Germany, but the Zeppelin soon turns around and the Joneses escape in a parasite biplane. They crash while engaging in a dogfight with the Luftwaffe due to Henry's accidentally shooting the plane's tail off, but Henry redeems himself on the ground by alarming a flock of birds to take flight in front of the Luftwaffe fighter causing the pilot to crash.
The two meet up with Sallah in Hatay, where they learn of Marcus's abduction. The Nazis are already moving toward the Grail's location, using the map possessed by Marcus. In exchange for a Rolls-Royce Phantom II, the Sultan of Hatay has given the Nazis full access to his equipment for the expedition, including a large tank.
Indy, Henry, and Sallah find the Nazi expedition, which is ambushed by the Brotherhood. During the battle, Henry is captured by SS Colonel Ernst Vogel while attempting to rescue Marcus from the tank; Kazim and his comrades are killed. The younger Jones pursues the tank on horseback and, with the aid of Sallah, saves Henry and Marcus. He is then caught up in a fight with Vogel, and barely escapes before the tank goes over a cliff, crushing Vogel to death.
Indy, Henry, Marcus, and Sallah catch up with the surviving Nazis, led by Donovan and Elsa, who have found the temple where the Grail is kept but are unable to pass through the three protective booby traps.
Donovan mortally wounds Henry, forcing Indy to risk his life in the traps to find the Grail and use its healing power to save Henry. Using the information in the diary and followed by Donovan and Elsa, Indy safely overcomes the traps (circular blade traps, a word puzzle, and a invisible bridge over a bottomless pit) and reaches the Grail's chamber, which is guarded by a knight.
He has been kept alive for seven hundred years by the power of the Grail, which is hidden among dozens of false Grails; only the true Grail brings life, while a false one claims it. Donovan ages rapidly and decays into dust upon drinking from a false grail. Indy selects the true Grail, a simple clay cup, which the knight warns cannot be taken beyond the temple's entrance. Indy fills the Grail with holy water and takes it to Henry, which heals him instantly.
Elsa, disregarding the knight's warning, then takes the Grail and attempts to leave with it. The temple begins to collapse and Elsa falls to her death trying to recover the Grail. Indy nearly suffers the same fate but Henry persuades him to let it go. The Joneses, Marcus, and Sallah escape the temple and ride off into the sunset.
Cast:
- Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones: The archaeologist adventurer who seeks to rescue his father and find the Holy Grail. Ford said he loved the idea of introducing Indiana's father because it allowed him to explore another side to Indiana's personality: "These are men who have never made any accommodation to each other. Indy behaves differently in his father's presence. Who else would dare call Indy 'junior'?"
- River Phoenix as the 13-year-old Indiana.
- Sean Connery as Professor Henry Jones: Indiana's father, a professor of Medieval literature who cared more about looking for the Grail than raising his son.
- Alex Hyde-White as Young Henry Jones, Sr.
- Alison Doody as Dr. Elsa Schneider: An Austrian art professor who is in league with the Nazis. She seduces the Joneses to trick them. Doody was 21 when she auditioned and was one of the first actresses who met for the part.
- Denholm Elliott as Dr. Marcus Brody: Indiana's bumbling English colleague.
- John Rhys-Davies as Sallah: A friend of Indiana and a professional excavator living in Cairo.
- Julian Glover as Walter Donovan: An American businessman who sends the Joneses on their quest for the Holy Grail. Donovan works for the Nazis and desires immortality.
- Michael Byrne as Colonel Vogel: A brutal SS colonel.
- Kevork Malikyan as Kazim: The leader of the Brotherhood of the Cruciform Sword, an organization that protects the Holy Grail.
- Robert Eddison as the Grail Knight: The guardian of the Grail who drank from the cup of Christ during the Crusades and is immortal as long as he stays within the temple.
- Michael Sheard (uncredited) as Adolf Hitler. Jones briefly encounters him at a book burning rally in Berlin.
Box Office: $474 million
___________________________________________________________________________
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)
YouTube Video: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - Trailer
Pictured: Theatrical poster for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. The poster art copyright is believed to belong to the distributor of the film, Paramount Pictures
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is a 2008 American science fiction adventure film. It is the fourth installment in the Indiana Jones series created by George Lucas and directed by Steven Spielberg. Released nineteen years after the previous film, the film acknowledges the age of its star Harrison Ford by being set in 1957.
It pays tribute to the science fiction B-movies of the era, pitting Indiana Jones against Soviet agents—led by Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett)—searching for a telepathic crystal skull. Indiana is aided by his former lover Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen) and their son Mutt Williams (Shia LaBeouf). Ray Winstone, John Hurt and Jim Broadbent are also part of the supporting cast.
Screenwriters Jeb Stuart, Jeffrey Boam, Frank Darabont, and Jeff Nathanson wrote drafts before David Koepp's script satisfied the producers. Shooting began on June 18, 2007, and took place in various locations including New Mexico; New Haven, Connecticut; Hawaii; and Fresno, California, as well as on sound stages in Los Angeles.
To keep aesthetic continuity with the previous films, the crew relied on traditional stunt work instead of computer-generated stunt doubles, and cinematographer Janusz Kamiński studied Douglas Slocombe's style from the previous films.
The film premiered at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival on May 18, 2008, and was released worldwide on May 22, 2008 to generally positive reviews from critics, although audience reception was more mixed.
Significant praise was geared towards the performances, action scenes, John Williams' musical score, and costume design. However, the main points of criticism were towards the dialogue, storyline, pacing, and overuse of CGI.
It was also a financial success, grossing over $786 million worldwide, becoming the franchise's highest-grossing film when not adjusted for inflation, and the second highest-grossing film of 2008. Marketing relied heavily on the public's nostalgia for the series, with products taking inspiration from all four films. Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is also the last film in the series to be distributed by Paramount Pictures, as Walt Disney Studios has become the distributor of its future films, since its parent company's acquisition of Lucasfilm in 2012.
Plot:
In 1957, nineteen years after The Last Crusade, Indiana Jones and his partner George "Mac" McHale are kidnapped in Nevada by Soviet agents under Colonel Dr. Irina Spalko. The Soviets infiltrate a warehouse labeled "Warehouse 51" and force Jones to locate an alien corpse with a crystal skull, recovered ten years earlier.
Upon its discovery, Mac reveals he is a double agent working for the Soviets. Jones escapes and unsuccessfully attempts to retrieve the skull. After a fight with Spalko's sadistic henchman, Colonel Antonin Dovchenko, Jones escapes to a model town at the Nevada Test Site, minutes before an atomic bomb test, and takes shelter in a lead-lined refrigerator.
Jones is rescued, decontaminated, and apprehended by FBI agents, who suspect him of working for the Soviets; and though freed on the recommendation of General Ross, who vouches for him, he is put on indefinite leave of absence from Marshall College, also at the cost of the dean having to resign to keep Indiana's job at the college.
Jones is approached by greaser Mutt Williams, who tells him that Harold Oxley had found a crystal skull in Peru, suffered a mental breakdown, and was later kidnapped. In return, Jones tells Mutt about the legend of crystal skulls found in Akator. Mutt gives Jones a letter from his mother, who is also held captive, containing a riddle written by Oxley in an ancient Native American language.
KGB agents try to take the letter, but Jones and Mutt evade them and reach Peru. At the local psychiatric hospital, Oxley's scribbles on the walls and floor of his cell lead them to the grave of Francisco de Orellana, a Conquistador searching for Akator. They discover the skull at the grave, with Jones reasoning that Oxley had returned it there.
Jones and Mutt are captured by Mac and the Soviets and taken to their camp in the Amazon jungle, where they find Oxley and Mutt's mother, Marion Ravenwood, who later reveals that Mutt is Jones' son, Henry Jones III. Jones berates her for not convincing him to finish school. Mac tells Jones he is really a CIA double-agent to regain Jones' trust. Spalko believes that the crystal skull belongs to an alien life form and holds great psychic power, and that finding more skulls in Akator will grant the Soviets the advantage of psychic warfare.
Spalko uses the skull on Jones to enable him to understand Oxley and identify a route to Akator. Jones and his four allies escape with the skull into the Amazon. They elude giant ants, which devour Dovchenko after Jones beats him in a fight. Jones and his allies survive three waterfalls in a GAZ 46 amphibious vehicle, as many of the Soviets fall from a cliff while trying to pursue them. Jones and Oxley then identify a rock formation that leads them to Akator, unaware that Mac is still loyal to Spalko and has been dropping transceivers to allow the surviving Soviets to track them.
They escape the city's guardians, gain access to the temple, and find it filled with artifacts from many ancient civilizations. Indy believes the aliens - in fact, inter-dimensional beings - were "archaeologists" studying the different cultures of Earth, and Mac remarks that every museum in the world would want the temple's collection.
The five enter a chamber containing the crystal skeletons of thirteen enthroned skeletal crystal beings, one missing its skull. Spalko arrives and presents the skull to this skeleton. It suddenly flies from her hands to the skeleton and rejoins, whereupon the aliens reanimate and telepathically offer a reward in ancient Mayan through Oxley.
A portal to their dimension becomes activated, and Spalko demands knowledge equal to the aliens'. The thirteen beings fuse into one, and in the process of receiving the overwhelming knowledge, Spalko is disintegrated and sucked into the portal.
Indy, Marion, Mutt, and Oxley - now released from the skull - escape, while the Soviets are also drawn into the portal. Mac is caught in the pull while trying to scrounge some of the treasure, and even though Indy offers him his whip to pull him to safety, he replies with a wink of his eye, "Jonesy, I'm gonna be all right," lets go and is pulled in. The survivors watch as the temple walls crumble, revealing a flying saucer rising from the debris, which vanishes into the "space between spaces" while the hollow in the valley floor left by its departure is flooded by the waters of the Amazon.
The following year, Indy is reinstated at Marshall College and made an associate dean. He and Marion are then married in a church. As the wedding party leaves the chapel, a gust of wind blows Indy's brown fedora off the coat rack and deposits it at Mutt's feet. Mutt picks it up and is about to don it before Indy snatches it from his hands and puts it on with a grin.
Cast:
Box Office: $786.6 million
It pays tribute to the science fiction B-movies of the era, pitting Indiana Jones against Soviet agents—led by Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett)—searching for a telepathic crystal skull. Indiana is aided by his former lover Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen) and their son Mutt Williams (Shia LaBeouf). Ray Winstone, John Hurt and Jim Broadbent are also part of the supporting cast.
Screenwriters Jeb Stuart, Jeffrey Boam, Frank Darabont, and Jeff Nathanson wrote drafts before David Koepp's script satisfied the producers. Shooting began on June 18, 2007, and took place in various locations including New Mexico; New Haven, Connecticut; Hawaii; and Fresno, California, as well as on sound stages in Los Angeles.
To keep aesthetic continuity with the previous films, the crew relied on traditional stunt work instead of computer-generated stunt doubles, and cinematographer Janusz Kamiński studied Douglas Slocombe's style from the previous films.
The film premiered at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival on May 18, 2008, and was released worldwide on May 22, 2008 to generally positive reviews from critics, although audience reception was more mixed.
Significant praise was geared towards the performances, action scenes, John Williams' musical score, and costume design. However, the main points of criticism were towards the dialogue, storyline, pacing, and overuse of CGI.
It was also a financial success, grossing over $786 million worldwide, becoming the franchise's highest-grossing film when not adjusted for inflation, and the second highest-grossing film of 2008. Marketing relied heavily on the public's nostalgia for the series, with products taking inspiration from all four films. Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is also the last film in the series to be distributed by Paramount Pictures, as Walt Disney Studios has become the distributor of its future films, since its parent company's acquisition of Lucasfilm in 2012.
Plot:
In 1957, nineteen years after The Last Crusade, Indiana Jones and his partner George "Mac" McHale are kidnapped in Nevada by Soviet agents under Colonel Dr. Irina Spalko. The Soviets infiltrate a warehouse labeled "Warehouse 51" and force Jones to locate an alien corpse with a crystal skull, recovered ten years earlier.
Upon its discovery, Mac reveals he is a double agent working for the Soviets. Jones escapes and unsuccessfully attempts to retrieve the skull. After a fight with Spalko's sadistic henchman, Colonel Antonin Dovchenko, Jones escapes to a model town at the Nevada Test Site, minutes before an atomic bomb test, and takes shelter in a lead-lined refrigerator.
Jones is rescued, decontaminated, and apprehended by FBI agents, who suspect him of working for the Soviets; and though freed on the recommendation of General Ross, who vouches for him, he is put on indefinite leave of absence from Marshall College, also at the cost of the dean having to resign to keep Indiana's job at the college.
Jones is approached by greaser Mutt Williams, who tells him that Harold Oxley had found a crystal skull in Peru, suffered a mental breakdown, and was later kidnapped. In return, Jones tells Mutt about the legend of crystal skulls found in Akator. Mutt gives Jones a letter from his mother, who is also held captive, containing a riddle written by Oxley in an ancient Native American language.
KGB agents try to take the letter, but Jones and Mutt evade them and reach Peru. At the local psychiatric hospital, Oxley's scribbles on the walls and floor of his cell lead them to the grave of Francisco de Orellana, a Conquistador searching for Akator. They discover the skull at the grave, with Jones reasoning that Oxley had returned it there.
Jones and Mutt are captured by Mac and the Soviets and taken to their camp in the Amazon jungle, where they find Oxley and Mutt's mother, Marion Ravenwood, who later reveals that Mutt is Jones' son, Henry Jones III. Jones berates her for not convincing him to finish school. Mac tells Jones he is really a CIA double-agent to regain Jones' trust. Spalko believes that the crystal skull belongs to an alien life form and holds great psychic power, and that finding more skulls in Akator will grant the Soviets the advantage of psychic warfare.
Spalko uses the skull on Jones to enable him to understand Oxley and identify a route to Akator. Jones and his four allies escape with the skull into the Amazon. They elude giant ants, which devour Dovchenko after Jones beats him in a fight. Jones and his allies survive three waterfalls in a GAZ 46 amphibious vehicle, as many of the Soviets fall from a cliff while trying to pursue them. Jones and Oxley then identify a rock formation that leads them to Akator, unaware that Mac is still loyal to Spalko and has been dropping transceivers to allow the surviving Soviets to track them.
They escape the city's guardians, gain access to the temple, and find it filled with artifacts from many ancient civilizations. Indy believes the aliens - in fact, inter-dimensional beings - were "archaeologists" studying the different cultures of Earth, and Mac remarks that every museum in the world would want the temple's collection.
The five enter a chamber containing the crystal skeletons of thirteen enthroned skeletal crystal beings, one missing its skull. Spalko arrives and presents the skull to this skeleton. It suddenly flies from her hands to the skeleton and rejoins, whereupon the aliens reanimate and telepathically offer a reward in ancient Mayan through Oxley.
A portal to their dimension becomes activated, and Spalko demands knowledge equal to the aliens'. The thirteen beings fuse into one, and in the process of receiving the overwhelming knowledge, Spalko is disintegrated and sucked into the portal.
Indy, Marion, Mutt, and Oxley - now released from the skull - escape, while the Soviets are also drawn into the portal. Mac is caught in the pull while trying to scrounge some of the treasure, and even though Indy offers him his whip to pull him to safety, he replies with a wink of his eye, "Jonesy, I'm gonna be all right," lets go and is pulled in. The survivors watch as the temple walls crumble, revealing a flying saucer rising from the debris, which vanishes into the "space between spaces" while the hollow in the valley floor left by its departure is flooded by the waters of the Amazon.
The following year, Indy is reinstated at Marshall College and made an associate dean. He and Marion are then married in a church. As the wedding party leaves the chapel, a gust of wind blows Indy's brown fedora off the coat rack and deposits it at Mutt's feet. Mutt picks it up and is about to don it before Indy snatches it from his hands and puts it on with a grin.
Cast:
- Harrison Ford reprises the role of Dr. Henry "Indiana" Jones, Jr. To prepare for the role, the 64-year-old Ford spent three hours a day at a gym, practiced with the bullwhip for two weeks, and relied on a high-protein diet of fish and vegetables. Ford had kept fit during the series' hiatus anyway, as he hoped for another film. He performed many of his own stunts because stunt technology had become safer since 1989, and he also felt it improved his performance. It is also said that he still fit into his pants from Raiders of the Lost Ark. He argued, "The appeal of Indiana Jones isn't his youth but his imagination, his resourcefulness. His physicality is a big part of it, especially the way he gets out of tight situations. But it's not all hitting people and falling from high places. My ambition in action is to have the audience look straight in the face of character and not at the back of a capable stuntman's head. I hope to continue that no matter how old I get."
- Cate Blanchett plays Soviet agent Irina Spalko.
- Karen Allen reprises the role of Marion Ravenwood (under the married name of Marion Williams), who previously appeared in Raiders of the Lost Ark.
- Shia LaBeouf plays Mutt Williams/Henry Jones III, Indiana's sidekick and son.
- Ray Winstone plays George "Mac" McHale, a British agent whom Jones worked alongside in World War II, but has now allied with the Russians to resolve financial problems.
- John Hurt plays Harold "Ox" Oxley, Mutt's surrogate father and Indiana's old friend.
- Jim Broadbent plays Charles Stanforth, the dean of Marshall College and friend of Jones.
- Igor Jijikine plays Russian Colonel Antonin Dovchenko, Spalko's second-in-command.
Box Office: $786.6 million
Star Wars Franchise
YouTube Video: Top 10 Star Wars Moments by WatchMojo
Pictured: Star Wars Franchise Logo
Star Wars is an American epic space opera franchise, centered on a film series created by George Lucas. It depicts the adventures of various characters "a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away".
The franchise began in 1977 with the release of the film Star Wars (subtitled Episode IV: A New Hope in 1981), by 20th Century Fox, which became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon. It was followed by the similarly successful sequels The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983); these three films constitute the original Star Wars trilogy.
A prequel trilogy was later released between 1999 and 2005, which received a more mixed reaction from critics and fans in comparison to the original trilogy. A more-recent sequel trilogy began with the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015). All seven films were nominated for or won Academy Awards, and were commercial successes, with a combined box office revenue of $6.46 billion, making Star Wars the fourth highest-grossing film series.
The series has spawned an extensive media franchise—the Star Wars expanded universe—including books, television series, computer and video games, and comic books, resulting in significant development of the series's fictional universe.
Star Wars also holds a Guinness World Records title for the "Most successful film merchandising franchise." In 2012, the total value of the Star Wars franchise was estimated at USD $30.7 billion, including box-office receipts as well as profits from their video games and DVD sales.
In 2012, The Walt Disney Company acquired Lucasfilm for $4.06 billion and announced a new Star Wars trilogy, which began with the release of The Force Awakens in 2015.
20th Century Fox retains the physical distribution rights to the first two Star Wars trilogies, owning permanent rights for the original 1977 film and holding the rights to Episodes I–III, V and VI until May 2020.
Walt Disney Studios owns digital distribution rights to all the Star Wars films, excluding A New Hope.
Total Box Office for the Seven Star War Movies released to-date (through 2015): $6.480 Billion!
For amplification of each Star Wars Movie released to-date, click on the following links:
The franchise began in 1977 with the release of the film Star Wars (subtitled Episode IV: A New Hope in 1981), by 20th Century Fox, which became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon. It was followed by the similarly successful sequels The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983); these three films constitute the original Star Wars trilogy.
A prequel trilogy was later released between 1999 and 2005, which received a more mixed reaction from critics and fans in comparison to the original trilogy. A more-recent sequel trilogy began with the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015). All seven films were nominated for or won Academy Awards, and were commercial successes, with a combined box office revenue of $6.46 billion, making Star Wars the fourth highest-grossing film series.
The series has spawned an extensive media franchise—the Star Wars expanded universe—including books, television series, computer and video games, and comic books, resulting in significant development of the series's fictional universe.
Star Wars also holds a Guinness World Records title for the "Most successful film merchandising franchise." In 2012, the total value of the Star Wars franchise was estimated at USD $30.7 billion, including box-office receipts as well as profits from their video games and DVD sales.
In 2012, The Walt Disney Company acquired Lucasfilm for $4.06 billion and announced a new Star Wars trilogy, which began with the release of The Force Awakens in 2015.
20th Century Fox retains the physical distribution rights to the first two Star Wars trilogies, owning permanent rights for the original 1977 film and holding the rights to Episodes I–III, V and VI until May 2020.
Walt Disney Studios owns digital distribution rights to all the Star Wars films, excluding A New Hope.
Total Box Office for the Seven Star War Movies released to-date (through 2015): $6.480 Billion!
For amplification of each Star Wars Movie released to-date, click on the following links:
Star Wars (Episode IV – A New Hope) (1977)
YouTube Video of Star Wars (1977) Original Trailer
Star Wars, later retitled Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, is a 1977 American epic space opera film written and directed by George Lucas.
The first installment in the original Star Wars trilogy, it stars Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Peter Cushing, and Alec Guinness. David Prowse, James Earl Jones, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker and Peter Mayhew co-star in supporting roles.
The plot focuses on the Rebel Alliance, led by Princess Leia (Fisher), and its attempt to destroy the Galactic Empire's space station, the Death Star. This conflict disrupts the isolated life of farmhand Luke Skywalker (Hamill) who inadvertently acquires a pair of droids that possess stolen architectural plans for the Death Star. When the Empire begins a destructive search for the missing droids, Skywalker accompanies Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi (Guinness) on a mission to return the plans to the Rebel Alliance and rescue Leia from her imprisonment by the Empire.
Star Wars was released theatrically in the United States on May 25, 1977. It earned $461 million in the U.S. and $314 million overseas, totaling $775 million. It surpassed Jaws (1975) to become the highest-grossing film of all time, until the release of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982). When adjusted for inflation, Star Wars is the second-highest-grossing film in North America, and the third-highest-grossing film in the world.
The film received ten Academy Award nominations (including Best Picture), winning seven. It was selected to become part of the U.S. National Film Registry by the Library of Congress in its first year of opening as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant"; at the time, it was the newest film to be selected, and it was the only film from the 1970s to be chosen.
The film's soundtrack was added to the U.S. National Recording Registry 15 years later.
Today, it is often regarded as one of the best films of all time, as well as one of the most important films in the history of motion pictures. It also launched an industry of media tie-in products, including TV series spinoffs, novels, comic books, and video games, as well as various other merchandise, such as toys, games, clothing, and other paraphernalia.
The film's massive success led to the production of two sequels: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983), both of which became critically and commercially successful.
Since 1977, Star Wars was subsequently reissued multiple times at Lucas' behest, incorporating many changes including modified computer-generated effects, altered dialogue, re-edited shots, remixed soundtracks, and added scenes. A prequel trilogy was later released between 1999 and 2005, followed by a sequel trilogy which began in 2015.
Plot:
The galaxy is in the midst of a civil war. Spies for the Rebel Alliance have stolen plans to the Galactic Empire's Death Star, a heavily armed space station capable of destroying planets.
Rebel leader Princess Leia has the plans, but her ship is captured by Imperial forces under the command of the evil Sith lord Darth Vader. Before she is captured, Leia hides the plans in the memory of an astromech droid, R2-D2, along with a holographic recording.
The droid flees to the surface of the desert planet Tatooine with C-3PO, a protocol droid.
The droids are captured by Jawa traders, who sell them to moisture farmers Owen and Beru Lars and their nephew, Luke Skywalker.
While cleaning R2-D2, Luke accidentally triggers part of Leia's message, in which she requests help from Obi-Wan Kenobi. The next morning, Luke finds R2-D2 searching for Obi-Wan, and meets Ben Kenobi, an old hermit who lives in the hills and reveals himself to be Obi-Wan.
Obi-Wan tells Luke of his days as a Jedi Knight, former Galactic Republic peacekeepers with supernatural powers derived from an energy called The Force, who were all but wiped out by the Empire.
Contrary to his uncle's statements, Luke learns that his father, Anakin, fought alongside Obi-Wan as a Jedi Knight. Obi-Wan tells Luke that Vader was his former pupil who turned to the dark side of the Force and killed Anakin. Obi-Wan presents Luke his father's weapon - a lightsaber.
Obi-Wan views Leia's complete message, in which she begs him to take the Death Star plans to her home planet of Alderaan and give them to her father for analysis. Obi-Wan invites Luke to accompany him to Alderaan and learn the ways of the Force. Luke declines, but changes his mind after discovering that Imperial stormtroopers searching for C-3PO and R2-D2 have destroyed his home and killed his aunt and uncle. Obi-Wan and Luke hire smuggler Han Solo and his Wookiee first mate Chewbacca to transport them to Alderaan on Han's ship, the Millennium Falcon.
Upon the Falcon's arrival at the location of Alderaan, the group discover that the planet has been destroyed by order of the Death Star's commanding officer, Grand Moff Tarkin, as a show of power. The Falcon is captured by the Death Star's tractor beam and brought into its hangar bay.
While Obi-Wan goes to disable the tractor beam, Luke discovers that Leia is imprisoned aboard, and with the help of Han and Chewbacca, rescues her. After several escapes, the group makes its way back to the Falcon. Obi-Wan disables the tractor beam, and on the way back to the Falcon, he engages in a lightsaber duel with Vader. Once he is sure the others can escape, Obi-Wan allows himself to be killed. The Falcon escapes the Death Star, unknowingly carrying a tracking beacon, which the Empire follows to the Rebels' hidden base on Yavin IV.
The Rebels analyze the Death Star's plans and identify a vulnerable exhaust port that connects to the station's main reactor. Luke joins the Rebel assault squadron, while Han collects his payment for the transport and intends to leave, despite Luke's request that he stay and help. In the ensuing battle, the Rebels suffer heavy losses after several unsuccessful attack runs, leaving Luke as one of the few surviving pilots.
Vader leads a squad of TIE fighters and prepares to attack Luke's X-wing fighter, but Han returns and fires on the Imperials, sending Vader spiraling away. Helped by guidance from Obi-Wan's spirit, Luke uses the Force and successfully destroys the Death Star seconds before it can fire on the Rebel base. Leia awards Luke and Han with medals for their heroism.
Cast:
Total Box Office: $775.4 million
___________________________________________________________________________
The first installment in the original Star Wars trilogy, it stars Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Peter Cushing, and Alec Guinness. David Prowse, James Earl Jones, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker and Peter Mayhew co-star in supporting roles.
The plot focuses on the Rebel Alliance, led by Princess Leia (Fisher), and its attempt to destroy the Galactic Empire's space station, the Death Star. This conflict disrupts the isolated life of farmhand Luke Skywalker (Hamill) who inadvertently acquires a pair of droids that possess stolen architectural plans for the Death Star. When the Empire begins a destructive search for the missing droids, Skywalker accompanies Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi (Guinness) on a mission to return the plans to the Rebel Alliance and rescue Leia from her imprisonment by the Empire.
Star Wars was released theatrically in the United States on May 25, 1977. It earned $461 million in the U.S. and $314 million overseas, totaling $775 million. It surpassed Jaws (1975) to become the highest-grossing film of all time, until the release of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982). When adjusted for inflation, Star Wars is the second-highest-grossing film in North America, and the third-highest-grossing film in the world.
The film received ten Academy Award nominations (including Best Picture), winning seven. It was selected to become part of the U.S. National Film Registry by the Library of Congress in its first year of opening as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant"; at the time, it was the newest film to be selected, and it was the only film from the 1970s to be chosen.
The film's soundtrack was added to the U.S. National Recording Registry 15 years later.
Today, it is often regarded as one of the best films of all time, as well as one of the most important films in the history of motion pictures. It also launched an industry of media tie-in products, including TV series spinoffs, novels, comic books, and video games, as well as various other merchandise, such as toys, games, clothing, and other paraphernalia.
The film's massive success led to the production of two sequels: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983), both of which became critically and commercially successful.
Since 1977, Star Wars was subsequently reissued multiple times at Lucas' behest, incorporating many changes including modified computer-generated effects, altered dialogue, re-edited shots, remixed soundtracks, and added scenes. A prequel trilogy was later released between 1999 and 2005, followed by a sequel trilogy which began in 2015.
Plot:
The galaxy is in the midst of a civil war. Spies for the Rebel Alliance have stolen plans to the Galactic Empire's Death Star, a heavily armed space station capable of destroying planets.
Rebel leader Princess Leia has the plans, but her ship is captured by Imperial forces under the command of the evil Sith lord Darth Vader. Before she is captured, Leia hides the plans in the memory of an astromech droid, R2-D2, along with a holographic recording.
The droid flees to the surface of the desert planet Tatooine with C-3PO, a protocol droid.
The droids are captured by Jawa traders, who sell them to moisture farmers Owen and Beru Lars and their nephew, Luke Skywalker.
While cleaning R2-D2, Luke accidentally triggers part of Leia's message, in which she requests help from Obi-Wan Kenobi. The next morning, Luke finds R2-D2 searching for Obi-Wan, and meets Ben Kenobi, an old hermit who lives in the hills and reveals himself to be Obi-Wan.
Obi-Wan tells Luke of his days as a Jedi Knight, former Galactic Republic peacekeepers with supernatural powers derived from an energy called The Force, who were all but wiped out by the Empire.
Contrary to his uncle's statements, Luke learns that his father, Anakin, fought alongside Obi-Wan as a Jedi Knight. Obi-Wan tells Luke that Vader was his former pupil who turned to the dark side of the Force and killed Anakin. Obi-Wan presents Luke his father's weapon - a lightsaber.
Obi-Wan views Leia's complete message, in which she begs him to take the Death Star plans to her home planet of Alderaan and give them to her father for analysis. Obi-Wan invites Luke to accompany him to Alderaan and learn the ways of the Force. Luke declines, but changes his mind after discovering that Imperial stormtroopers searching for C-3PO and R2-D2 have destroyed his home and killed his aunt and uncle. Obi-Wan and Luke hire smuggler Han Solo and his Wookiee first mate Chewbacca to transport them to Alderaan on Han's ship, the Millennium Falcon.
Upon the Falcon's arrival at the location of Alderaan, the group discover that the planet has been destroyed by order of the Death Star's commanding officer, Grand Moff Tarkin, as a show of power. The Falcon is captured by the Death Star's tractor beam and brought into its hangar bay.
While Obi-Wan goes to disable the tractor beam, Luke discovers that Leia is imprisoned aboard, and with the help of Han and Chewbacca, rescues her. After several escapes, the group makes its way back to the Falcon. Obi-Wan disables the tractor beam, and on the way back to the Falcon, he engages in a lightsaber duel with Vader. Once he is sure the others can escape, Obi-Wan allows himself to be killed. The Falcon escapes the Death Star, unknowingly carrying a tracking beacon, which the Empire follows to the Rebels' hidden base on Yavin IV.
The Rebels analyze the Death Star's plans and identify a vulnerable exhaust port that connects to the station's main reactor. Luke joins the Rebel assault squadron, while Han collects his payment for the transport and intends to leave, despite Luke's request that he stay and help. In the ensuing battle, the Rebels suffer heavy losses after several unsuccessful attack runs, leaving Luke as one of the few surviving pilots.
Vader leads a squad of TIE fighters and prepares to attack Luke's X-wing fighter, but Han returns and fires on the Imperials, sending Vader spiraling away. Helped by guidance from Obi-Wan's spirit, Luke uses the Force and successfully destroys the Death Star seconds before it can fire on the Rebel base. Leia awards Luke and Han with medals for their heroism.
Cast:
- Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker: a young man raised by his aunt and uncle on Tatooine, who dreams of something more than his current life and learns the way of a Jedi.
- Harrison Ford as Han Solo: a cynical smuggler hired by Obi-Wan and Luke to take them to Alderaan in his ship, the Millennium Falcon, co-piloted with Chewbacca.
- Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia: a member of the Imperial Senate and leader of the Rebel Alliance.
- Peter Cushing as Grand Moff Tarkin: Governor of the Imperial Outland Regions and commander of the Death Star.
- Alec Guinness as Obi-Wan "Ben" Kenobi: an aging Jedi Master who fought during the Clone Wars, survivor of the Great Jedi Purge, and who introduces Luke to the Force.
- Anthony Daniels as C-3PO: a protocol droid who speaks over six million languages.
- Kenny Baker as R2-D2: an astromech droid who is carrying the Death Star plans and a secret message for Obi-Wan from Princess Leia.
- Peter Mayhew as Chewbacca: a 200-year-old Wookiee, Han Solo's sidekick, and first mate of the Millennium Falcon.
- David Prowse as Darth Vader (voiced by James Earl Jones): A Sith lord, second in command of the Galactic Empire, who hopes to destroy the Rebel Alliance.
Total Box Office: $775.4 million
___________________________________________________________________________
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
YouTube Video of Trailer for Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
Pictured: Theatrical Movie Poster (Courtesy of Wikipedia)
The Empire Strikes Back (also known as Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back or Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back) is a 1980 American epic space opera film directed by Irvin Kershner.
Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan wrote the screenplay, with George Lucas writing the film's story and serving as executive producer.
The second installment in the original Star Wars trilogy, it was produced by Gary Kurtz for Lucasfilm Ltd.
The movie stars:
The film is set three years after Star Wars. The Galactic Empire, under the leadership of the villainous Darth Vader and the Emperor, is in pursuit of Luke Skywalker and the rest of the Rebel Alliance.
While Vader chases a small band of Luke's friends--Han Solo, Princess Leia Organa, and others—across the galaxy, Luke studies the Force under Jedi Master Yoda. When Vader captures Luke's friends, Luke must decide whether to complete his training and become a full Jedi Knight or to confront Vader and save them.
Following a difficult production, The Empire Strikes Back was released on May 21, 1980. It received mixed reviews from critics initially but has since grown in esteem, becoming the most critically acclaimed chapter in the Star Wars saga; it is now widely regarded as one of the greatest films of all time.
The film ranks #3 on Empire's 2008 list of the 500 greatest movies of all time. It became the highest-grossing film of 1980 and, to date, has earned more than $538 million worldwide from its original run and several re-releases. When adjusted for inflation, it is the second-highest-grossing sequel of all time and the 13th-highest-grossing film in North America. The film was followed by a sequel, titled Return of the Jedi, which was released in 1983.
In 2010, the film was selected for preservation in the United States' National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant."
Plot:
Three years after the destruction of the Death Star, the Rebel Alliance has been driven from their former base on Yavin IV by the Galactic Empire. The Rebels, led by Princess Leia, set up their new base on the ice planet Hoth.
The Imperial fleet, led by Darth Vader, continues to hunt for the Rebels’ new base by dispatching probe droids across the galaxy.
While investigating a potential meteor strike, Luke Skywalker is captured by a wampa. He manages to escape from its cave with his lightsaber, but soon succumbs to the brutally cold temperatures.
The ghost of his late mentor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, instructs him to go to the Dagobah system to train under Jedi Master Yoda. He is found by Han Solo, who uses the warmth of his dead tauntaun to keep Luke warm while he sets up a shelter. Han and Luke make it through the night and are rescued by Zev Senesca.
On patrol, Han and Chewbacca discover the meteor Luke had planned to investigate is actually a probe droid, which alerts the Empire to the Rebels’ location.
The Empire launches a large-scale attack, using AT-AT Walkers to capture the base. Han and Leia escape on the Millennium Falcon with C-3PO and Chewbacca, but their hyperdrive malfunctions. They hide in an asteroid field, where Han and Leia grow closer.
Vader summons bounty hunters, including the notorious Boba Fett, to assist in finding the Falcon. Luke, meanwhile, escapes with R2-D2 in his X-wing fighter and crash-lands on the swamp planet Dagobah. He meets a diminutive creature who is revealed to be Yoda; after conferring with Obi-Wan's spirit, Yoda reluctantly accepts Luke as his pupil.
After evading the Empire, Han sets a course for Cloud City, a floating colony in the skies of the planet Bespin. Cloud City is run by Han's old friend, Lando Calrissian. Unknowingly, the Millennium Falcon has been tracked by Boba Fett; shortly after they arrive, Lando leads the group into a trap and they are handed over to Darth Vader.
Vader plans to use the group as bait to lure out Luke, intending to capture him alive and take him to the Emperor. During his training on Dagobah, Luke sees a premonition of Han and Leia in pain and, against Yoda's wishes, leaves to save them.
Vader goes back on his agreement with Lando and takes Leia and Chewbacca into custody. He intends to hold Luke in suspended animation and, as a test, freezes Han alive in a block of carbonite. Vader hands the frozen Han over to Fett, who intends to leave for Tatooine to deliver Han to Jabba the Hutt and claim the bounty on Solo's head.
Lando, who was forced into cooperating with the Empire, initiates an escape and frees Leia and the others. They try to save Han but are unable to stop Fett. They then flee Cloud City in the Falcon.
Luke arrives at Cloud City and falls into Vader's trap. The two engage in a lightsaber duel that leads them over the city's central air shaft where, as his mentors warned, Luke proves to be no match for Vader who severs Luke's right hand, causing him to lose his weapon. After Luke refuses to join Vader against the Emperor, Vader reveals that he is Luke's father.
Horrified, Luke falls through the air shaft. He is ejected beneath the floating city and makes a desperate telepathic plea to Leia, who senses it and persuades Lando to return for him in the Falcon. R2-D2 repairs the Falcon's hyperdrive, allowing them to escape the Empire.
Later, aboard a Rebel medical frigate, Luke's amputated hand is replaced with a robotic prosthetic. Lando and Chewbacca set off for Tatooine in the Falcon in order to save Han. As the Falcon departs, Luke, Leia, R2-D2, and C-3PO look on and await word from Lando.
Cast:
Box Office: 538.4 million
___________________________________________________________________________
Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan wrote the screenplay, with George Lucas writing the film's story and serving as executive producer.
The second installment in the original Star Wars trilogy, it was produced by Gary Kurtz for Lucasfilm Ltd.
The movie stars:
- Mark Hamill,
- Harrison Ford,
- Carrie Fisher,
- Billy Dee Williams,
- Anthony Daniels,
- David Prowse,
- Kenny Baker,
- Peter Mayhew,
- and Frank Oz.
The film is set three years after Star Wars. The Galactic Empire, under the leadership of the villainous Darth Vader and the Emperor, is in pursuit of Luke Skywalker and the rest of the Rebel Alliance.
While Vader chases a small band of Luke's friends--Han Solo, Princess Leia Organa, and others—across the galaxy, Luke studies the Force under Jedi Master Yoda. When Vader captures Luke's friends, Luke must decide whether to complete his training and become a full Jedi Knight or to confront Vader and save them.
Following a difficult production, The Empire Strikes Back was released on May 21, 1980. It received mixed reviews from critics initially but has since grown in esteem, becoming the most critically acclaimed chapter in the Star Wars saga; it is now widely regarded as one of the greatest films of all time.
The film ranks #3 on Empire's 2008 list of the 500 greatest movies of all time. It became the highest-grossing film of 1980 and, to date, has earned more than $538 million worldwide from its original run and several re-releases. When adjusted for inflation, it is the second-highest-grossing sequel of all time and the 13th-highest-grossing film in North America. The film was followed by a sequel, titled Return of the Jedi, which was released in 1983.
In 2010, the film was selected for preservation in the United States' National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant."
Plot:
Three years after the destruction of the Death Star, the Rebel Alliance has been driven from their former base on Yavin IV by the Galactic Empire. The Rebels, led by Princess Leia, set up their new base on the ice planet Hoth.
The Imperial fleet, led by Darth Vader, continues to hunt for the Rebels’ new base by dispatching probe droids across the galaxy.
While investigating a potential meteor strike, Luke Skywalker is captured by a wampa. He manages to escape from its cave with his lightsaber, but soon succumbs to the brutally cold temperatures.
The ghost of his late mentor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, instructs him to go to the Dagobah system to train under Jedi Master Yoda. He is found by Han Solo, who uses the warmth of his dead tauntaun to keep Luke warm while he sets up a shelter. Han and Luke make it through the night and are rescued by Zev Senesca.
On patrol, Han and Chewbacca discover the meteor Luke had planned to investigate is actually a probe droid, which alerts the Empire to the Rebels’ location.
The Empire launches a large-scale attack, using AT-AT Walkers to capture the base. Han and Leia escape on the Millennium Falcon with C-3PO and Chewbacca, but their hyperdrive malfunctions. They hide in an asteroid field, where Han and Leia grow closer.
Vader summons bounty hunters, including the notorious Boba Fett, to assist in finding the Falcon. Luke, meanwhile, escapes with R2-D2 in his X-wing fighter and crash-lands on the swamp planet Dagobah. He meets a diminutive creature who is revealed to be Yoda; after conferring with Obi-Wan's spirit, Yoda reluctantly accepts Luke as his pupil.
After evading the Empire, Han sets a course for Cloud City, a floating colony in the skies of the planet Bespin. Cloud City is run by Han's old friend, Lando Calrissian. Unknowingly, the Millennium Falcon has been tracked by Boba Fett; shortly after they arrive, Lando leads the group into a trap and they are handed over to Darth Vader.
Vader plans to use the group as bait to lure out Luke, intending to capture him alive and take him to the Emperor. During his training on Dagobah, Luke sees a premonition of Han and Leia in pain and, against Yoda's wishes, leaves to save them.
Vader goes back on his agreement with Lando and takes Leia and Chewbacca into custody. He intends to hold Luke in suspended animation and, as a test, freezes Han alive in a block of carbonite. Vader hands the frozen Han over to Fett, who intends to leave for Tatooine to deliver Han to Jabba the Hutt and claim the bounty on Solo's head.
Lando, who was forced into cooperating with the Empire, initiates an escape and frees Leia and the others. They try to save Han but are unable to stop Fett. They then flee Cloud City in the Falcon.
Luke arrives at Cloud City and falls into Vader's trap. The two engage in a lightsaber duel that leads them over the city's central air shaft where, as his mentors warned, Luke proves to be no match for Vader who severs Luke's right hand, causing him to lose his weapon. After Luke refuses to join Vader against the Emperor, Vader reveals that he is Luke's father.
Horrified, Luke falls through the air shaft. He is ejected beneath the floating city and makes a desperate telepathic plea to Leia, who senses it and persuades Lando to return for him in the Falcon. R2-D2 repairs the Falcon's hyperdrive, allowing them to escape the Empire.
Later, aboard a Rebel medical frigate, Luke's amputated hand is replaced with a robotic prosthetic. Lando and Chewbacca set off for Tatooine in the Falcon in order to save Han. As the Falcon departs, Luke, Leia, R2-D2, and C-3PO look on and await word from Lando.
Cast:
- Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker, a Jedi in training who is strong with the Force.
- Harrison Ford as Han Solo, a smuggler and captain of the Millennium Falcon.
- Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia Organa, a leader of the Rebel Alliance.
- Billy Dee Williams as Lando Calrissian, Administrator of Cloud City and an old friend of Han Solo.
- Anthony Daniels as C-3PO, Luke's humanoid protocol droid.
- David Prowse as Darth Vader, a Sith Lord and Luke's father. James Earl Jones returns as the voice of Vader (initially uncredited, but credit given in the Special Edition.)
- Peter Mayhew as Chewbacca, a Wookiee and loyal friend to Han Solo.
- Kenny Baker as R2-D2, Luke's blue-and-white astromech droid
- Frank Oz performing Yoda, a self-exiled Jedi Master who lives on the planet Dagobah.
Box Office: 538.4 million
___________________________________________________________________________
Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (1983)
YouTube Video: Movie Trailer for Return of the Jedi
Pictured: Theatrical Movie Poster (Courtesy of Wikipedia)
Return of the Jedi (also known as Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi) is a 1983 American epic space opera film directed by Richard Marquand.
The screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan and George Lucas was from a story by Lucas, who was also the executive producer.
It was the third film released in the Star Wars saga and the first film to use THX technology.
The film is set one year after The Empire Strikes Back and was produced by Howard Kazanjian for Lucasfilm Ltd.
The film stars include:
The Galactic Empire, under the direction of the ruthless Emperor, is constructing a second Death Star in order to crush the Rebel Alliance once and for all. Since the Emperor plans to personally oversee the final stages of its construction, the Rebel Fleet launches a full-scale attack on the Death Star in order to prevent its completion and kill the Emperor, effectively bringing an end to the Empire's hold over the galaxy.
Meanwhile, Luke Skywalker, a Jedi apprentice, struggles to bring Darth Vader, whom he finds out is actually his father Anakin Skywalker and a fallen Jedi, back from the Dark Side of the Force.
The production team relied on Lucas' storyboards during pre-production. While writing the shooting script, Lucas, Kasdan, Marquand, and producer Howard Kazanjian spent two weeks in conference discussing ideas to construct it.
Kazanjian's schedule pushed shooting to begin a few weeks early to allow Industrial Light & Magic more time to work on the film's effects in post-production.
Filming took place in England, California, and Arizona from January to May 1982. Strict secrecy surrounded the production and the film used the working title Blue Harvest to prevent price gouging.
The film was released in theaters on May 25, 1983, six years to the day after the release of the first film, receiving mostly positive reviews. The film grossed between $475 million and $572 million worldwide.
Several home video and theatrical releases and revisions to the film followed over the next 20 years. Star Wars continued with Episode I: The Phantom Menace as part of the film series' prequel trilogy. A sequel, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, was released on December 18, 2015 as part of the new sequel trilogy.
Plot:
Luke Skywalker initiates a plan to rescue Han Solo from the crime lord Jabba the Hutt with the help of Princess Leia, Lando Calrissian, Chewbacca, C-3PO, and R2-D2.
Leia infiltrates Jabba's palace on Tatooine, disguised as a bounty hunter with Chewbacca as her prisoner. Lando is already there, disguised as a guard. Leia releases Han from the carbonite, but she is captured and enslaved.
Luke arrives soon afterward but, after a tense standoff with Jabba and a battle with his rancor, is captured. Jabba sentences him, Han and Chewbacca to death, planning to feed them to the Sarlacc, a pit monster. They are taken to the Great Pit of Carkoon, the Sarlacc's nesting ground.
Luke, with R2-D2's help, frees himself and battles Jabba's guards. During the chaos, Boba Fett attempts to attack Luke, but Han, temporarily blinded from the carbonite, inadvertently knocks him into the Sarlacc pit.
Meanwhile, Leia strangles Jabba to death, and Luke destroys Jabba's sail barge as the group escapes. While the others rendezvous with the Rebel Alliance, Luke returns to Dagobah, where he finds that Yoda is on his deathbed. Before he dies, Yoda confirms that Darth Vader, once known as Anakin Skywalker, is Luke's father, and that "there is another".
The ghost of Obi-Wan Kenobi confirms that this "other" is Luke's twin sister: Leia. Obi-Wan tells Luke that he must fight Vader again to defeat the Empire. Obi-Wan also warns Luke to keep his emotions in check, as his anger could lead him to the Dark Side.
The Rebels learn that the Empire has been constructing a second Death Star under the direct supervision of the Emperor himself. As the station is protected by an energy shield, Han leads a strike team to destroy the shield generator on the forest moon of Endor; doing so would allow a squadron of starfighters to destroy the Death Star.
The strike team, accompanied by Luke and Leia, travels to Endor in a stolen Imperial shuttle. On Endor, Luke and his companions encounter a tribe of Ewoks and, after an initial conflict, gain their trust. Later, Luke tells Leia that she is his sister, Vader is their father, and he must go and confront him. Luke surrenders to Imperial troops and is taken to Vader. Luke tries to convince Vader to turn from the dark side of the Force, but fails.
Vader takes Luke to the new Death Star to meet the Emperor, who is intent on turning him to the dark side. The Emperor reveals that the Death Star is fully operational and the Rebel fleet will fall into a trap. On Endor, Han's strike team is captured by Imperial forces, but a surprise counterattack by the Ewoks allows the Rebels to battle the Imperials.
Meanwhile, Lando, piloting the Millennium Falcon, leads the Rebel fleet to the Death Star, only to find that the station's shield is still active and the Imperial fleet is waiting for them. The Emperor tempts Luke to give in to his anger and join him. Luke engages Vader in a lightsaber duel. Vader senses that Luke has a sister and suggests turning her to the dark side. Enraged, Luke overpowers Vader and severs his father's prosthetic right hand.
Upon seeing the remnants of Vader's prosthetic, he sees a parallel between himself and Vader, and fears he will become like Vader. The Emperor tells Luke to kill Vader and take his place, but Luke refuses, declaring himself a Jedi as his father had been. On Endor, the strike team defeats the Imperial forces and destroys the shield generator, allowing the Rebel fleet to launch their assault on the Death Star.
Simultaneously, the Emperor tortures Luke with Force lightning. Unwilling to let his son die, Vader throws the Emperor down the Death Star reactor shaft, killing him, but is mortally wounded in the process. He asks Luke to remove his mask, and after a brief talk, he dies peacefully.
As the battle between the Imperial and Alliance fleets continues, Lando leads a group of Rebel ships into the Death Star's core and destroys the main reactor. As Luke escapes on a shuttle with his father's body, the Falcon flies out of the Death Star as the station explodes.
On Endor, Leia reveals to Han that Luke is her brother, and they kiss. Luke returns to Endor and cremates his father's body on a funeral pyre. As the Rebels celebrate their victory over the Empire, Luke smiles as he sees the ghosts of Obi-Wan, Yoda, and the redeemed Anakin watching over them.
Cast:
Box Office: $572.6 million
___________________________________________________________________________
The screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan and George Lucas was from a story by Lucas, who was also the executive producer.
It was the third film released in the Star Wars saga and the first film to use THX technology.
The film is set one year after The Empire Strikes Back and was produced by Howard Kazanjian for Lucasfilm Ltd.
The film stars include:
- Mark Hamill,
- Harrison Ford,
- Carrie Fisher,
- Billy Dee Williams,
- Anthony Daniels,
- David Prowse,
- Kenny Baker,
- Peter Mayhew
- and Frank Oz.
The Galactic Empire, under the direction of the ruthless Emperor, is constructing a second Death Star in order to crush the Rebel Alliance once and for all. Since the Emperor plans to personally oversee the final stages of its construction, the Rebel Fleet launches a full-scale attack on the Death Star in order to prevent its completion and kill the Emperor, effectively bringing an end to the Empire's hold over the galaxy.
Meanwhile, Luke Skywalker, a Jedi apprentice, struggles to bring Darth Vader, whom he finds out is actually his father Anakin Skywalker and a fallen Jedi, back from the Dark Side of the Force.
The production team relied on Lucas' storyboards during pre-production. While writing the shooting script, Lucas, Kasdan, Marquand, and producer Howard Kazanjian spent two weeks in conference discussing ideas to construct it.
Kazanjian's schedule pushed shooting to begin a few weeks early to allow Industrial Light & Magic more time to work on the film's effects in post-production.
Filming took place in England, California, and Arizona from January to May 1982. Strict secrecy surrounded the production and the film used the working title Blue Harvest to prevent price gouging.
The film was released in theaters on May 25, 1983, six years to the day after the release of the first film, receiving mostly positive reviews. The film grossed between $475 million and $572 million worldwide.
Several home video and theatrical releases and revisions to the film followed over the next 20 years. Star Wars continued with Episode I: The Phantom Menace as part of the film series' prequel trilogy. A sequel, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, was released on December 18, 2015 as part of the new sequel trilogy.
Plot:
Luke Skywalker initiates a plan to rescue Han Solo from the crime lord Jabba the Hutt with the help of Princess Leia, Lando Calrissian, Chewbacca, C-3PO, and R2-D2.
Leia infiltrates Jabba's palace on Tatooine, disguised as a bounty hunter with Chewbacca as her prisoner. Lando is already there, disguised as a guard. Leia releases Han from the carbonite, but she is captured and enslaved.
Luke arrives soon afterward but, after a tense standoff with Jabba and a battle with his rancor, is captured. Jabba sentences him, Han and Chewbacca to death, planning to feed them to the Sarlacc, a pit monster. They are taken to the Great Pit of Carkoon, the Sarlacc's nesting ground.
Luke, with R2-D2's help, frees himself and battles Jabba's guards. During the chaos, Boba Fett attempts to attack Luke, but Han, temporarily blinded from the carbonite, inadvertently knocks him into the Sarlacc pit.
Meanwhile, Leia strangles Jabba to death, and Luke destroys Jabba's sail barge as the group escapes. While the others rendezvous with the Rebel Alliance, Luke returns to Dagobah, where he finds that Yoda is on his deathbed. Before he dies, Yoda confirms that Darth Vader, once known as Anakin Skywalker, is Luke's father, and that "there is another".
The ghost of Obi-Wan Kenobi confirms that this "other" is Luke's twin sister: Leia. Obi-Wan tells Luke that he must fight Vader again to defeat the Empire. Obi-Wan also warns Luke to keep his emotions in check, as his anger could lead him to the Dark Side.
The Rebels learn that the Empire has been constructing a second Death Star under the direct supervision of the Emperor himself. As the station is protected by an energy shield, Han leads a strike team to destroy the shield generator on the forest moon of Endor; doing so would allow a squadron of starfighters to destroy the Death Star.
The strike team, accompanied by Luke and Leia, travels to Endor in a stolen Imperial shuttle. On Endor, Luke and his companions encounter a tribe of Ewoks and, after an initial conflict, gain their trust. Later, Luke tells Leia that she is his sister, Vader is their father, and he must go and confront him. Luke surrenders to Imperial troops and is taken to Vader. Luke tries to convince Vader to turn from the dark side of the Force, but fails.
Vader takes Luke to the new Death Star to meet the Emperor, who is intent on turning him to the dark side. The Emperor reveals that the Death Star is fully operational and the Rebel fleet will fall into a trap. On Endor, Han's strike team is captured by Imperial forces, but a surprise counterattack by the Ewoks allows the Rebels to battle the Imperials.
Meanwhile, Lando, piloting the Millennium Falcon, leads the Rebel fleet to the Death Star, only to find that the station's shield is still active and the Imperial fleet is waiting for them. The Emperor tempts Luke to give in to his anger and join him. Luke engages Vader in a lightsaber duel. Vader senses that Luke has a sister and suggests turning her to the dark side. Enraged, Luke overpowers Vader and severs his father's prosthetic right hand.
Upon seeing the remnants of Vader's prosthetic, he sees a parallel between himself and Vader, and fears he will become like Vader. The Emperor tells Luke to kill Vader and take his place, but Luke refuses, declaring himself a Jedi as his father had been. On Endor, the strike team defeats the Imperial forces and destroys the shield generator, allowing the Rebel fleet to launch their assault on the Death Star.
Simultaneously, the Emperor tortures Luke with Force lightning. Unwilling to let his son die, Vader throws the Emperor down the Death Star reactor shaft, killing him, but is mortally wounded in the process. He asks Luke to remove his mask, and after a brief talk, he dies peacefully.
As the battle between the Imperial and Alliance fleets continues, Lando leads a group of Rebel ships into the Death Star's core and destroys the main reactor. As Luke escapes on a shuttle with his father's body, the Falcon flies out of the Death Star as the station explodes.
On Endor, Leia reveals to Han that Luke is her brother, and they kiss. Luke returns to Endor and cremates his father's body on a funeral pyre. As the Rebels celebrate their victory over the Empire, Luke smiles as he sees the ghosts of Obi-Wan, Yoda, and the redeemed Anakin watching over them.
Cast:
- Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker, one of the last living Jedi and a skilled X-wing fighter pilot
- Harrison Ford as Han Solo, a rogue smuggler and Luke and Leia's friend and Leia's love interest
- Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia Organa, the former princess of the destroyed planet Alderaan, Luke's twin sister, and Han's love interest
- Billy Dee Williams as Lando Calrissian, the former Baron Administrator of Cloud City and one of Han's companions
- Anthony Daniels as C-3PO, Luke's humanoid protocol droid
- Peter Mayhew as Chewbacca, a loyal Wookiee and Han's longtime companion
- Sebastian Shaw as Anakin Skywalker, Luke and Leia's father; he was partly replaced by Hayden Christensen in the 2004 and 2011 Special Editions.
- Ian McDiarmid as the Emperor, the scarred and deformed founding supreme ruler of the Galactic Empire and Vader's Sith master
- Frank Oz as Yoda, Luke's self-exiled Jedi master living on Dagobah
- David Prowse as Darth Vader, a powerful Sith lord and the second in command of the Galactic Empire. James Earl Jones provides the voice of Darth Vader.
- Alec Guinness as Obi-Wan "Ben" Kenobi, Luke's deceased Jedi master
Box Office: $572.6 million
___________________________________________________________________________
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999)
YouTube Video from Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace - Trailer
Pictured: Theatrical Movie Poster for Star Wars: The Phantom Menace (Courtesy of Wikipedia)
Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace is a 1999 American epic space opera film written and directed by George Lucas, produced by Lucasfilm and distributed by 20th Century Fox.
It is the first installment in the Star Wars prequel trilogy and stars:
The film is set thirty-two years before the original film, and follows Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi as they protect Queen Amidala, in hopes of securing a peaceful end to a large-scale interplanetary trade dispute. Joined by Anakin Skywalker—a young slave with unusually strong natural powers of the Force—they simultaneously contend with the mysterious return of the Sith.
Lucas began production of this film after he determined that film special effects had advanced to the level he wanted for the fourth film in the saga.
Filming started on June 26, 1997, at locations including Leavesden Film Studios and the Tunisian desert. Its visual effects included extensive use of computer-generated imagery (CGI); many of its characters and settings were completely computerized. The film was Lucas's first directorial effort after a 22-year hiatus following Star Wars in 1977.
The Phantom Menace was released to theaters on May 19, 1999, sixteen years after the premiere of the previous Star Wars film, Return of the Jedi. The film's premiere was extensively covered by media and was greatly anticipated because of the large cultural following the Star Wars saga had cultivated.
Despite mixed reviews from critics, who tended to praise the visuals, action sequences, John Williams' musical score and the performances of Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Pernilla August, Ray Park and Ian McDiarmid, but criticize the writing, characterization and the majority of the acting (particularly from Ahmed Best and Jake Lloyd), it grossed more than $924.3 million worldwide during its initial theatrical run, making it the second-highest-grossing film worldwide at the time, behind Titanic.
It became the highest-grossing film of 1999, the highest-grossing Star Wars film (until the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens in 2015), and is currently the seventeenth-highest-grossing film in North America unadjusted for inflation.
A 3D reissue, which has earned an additional $102.7 million at the box office and brought the film's overall worldwide takings to over $1 billion, was released in February 2012. The film was followed by two sequels, Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones in 2002 and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith in 2005.
Plot:
Supreme Chancellor Valorum, leader of the Galactic Republic, dispatches Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi, to negotiate with the Trade Federation leadership to end a blockade of battleships around the planet Naboo.
Darth Sidious, a Sith Lord and the Trade Federation's secret adviser, orders Federation Viceroy Nute Gunray to kill the Jedi and invade Naboo with an army of battle droids. The Jedi escape and flee to Naboo, where Qui-Gon saves a Gungan outcast, Jar Jar Binks, from being killed during the invasion.
Indebted to the Jedi, Jar Jar leads them to an underwater Gungan city. The Jedi unsuccessfully try to persuade the Gungan leader, Boss Nass, into helping the people of Naboo, though they are able to obtain transportation to Theed, the capital city on the surface. They rescue Queen Amidala, the ruler of the Naboo people, and escape the planet on her royal starship, which is damaged as they pass the Federation blockade.
Amidala's ship is unable to sustain its hyperdrive and lands for repairs on the desert planet Tatooine. Qui-Gon, Jar Jar, astromech droid R2-D2, and Amidala (in disguise as Padmé, her handmaiden) visit the settlement of Mos Espa to buy new parts at a junk shop.
They meet the shop's owner Watto and his nine-year-old slave, Anakin Skywalker, who is a gifted pilot and engineer and has created a protocol droid called C-3PO. Qui-Gon senses a strong presence of the Force within Anakin and is convinced that he is the "chosen one" of Jedi prophecy who will bring balance to the Force.
Qui-Gon wagers Anakin's freedom with Watto in a Podrace, which Anakin wins. Anakin joins the group to be trained as a Jedi, leaving his mother, Shmi, behind. En route to their starship, Qui-Gon briefly duels with Darth Maul, Darth Sidious's apprentice, who was sent to capture Amidala.
The Jedi escort Amidala to the Republic capital planet, Coruscant, so she can plead her people's case to Chancellor Valorum and the Galactic Senate. Qui-Gon asks the Jedi Council for permission to train Anakin as a Jedi, but the Council, concerned that Anakin is vulnerable to the dark side, refuse.
Undaunted, Qui-Gon vows to train Anakin anyway. Meanwhile, Naboo's Senator Palpatine persuades Amidala to make a vote of no confidence in Valorum to elect a more capable chancellor to resolve the crisis on Naboo. Though she pushes for the vote, Amidala grows frustrated with the corruption in the Senate and decides to return to Naboo with the Jedi.
On Naboo, Padmé reveals herself to the Gungans as Queen Amidala and persuades them into an alliance against the Trade Federation. Jar Jar leads his people in a battle against the droid army while Padmé leads the hunt for Gunray in Theed.
In a starship hangar, Anakin enters a vacant starfighter and inadvertently triggers its autopilot, joining the battle against the Federation droid control ship in space. Anakin ventures into the ship and destroys it from within, deactivating the droid army.
Meanwhile, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan battle Darth Maul, who mortally wounds Qui-Gon before being bisected by Obi-Wan. As he dies, Qui-Gon asks Obi-Wan to train Anakin.
Subsequently, Palpatine is elected as the new Supreme Chancellor and Gunray is arrested. The Jedi Council promotes Obi-Wan to the rank of Jedi Knight and reluctantly accepts Anakin as Obi-Wan's apprentice. At a festive ceremony, Padmé presents a gift of appreciation and friendship to the Gungans.
Cast:
Box Office Receipts: $1.027 billion
___________________________________________________________________________
It is the first installment in the Star Wars prequel trilogy and stars:
- Liam Neeson,
- Ewan McGregor,
- Natalie Portman,
- Jake Lloyd,
- Ian McDiarmid,
- Anthony Daniels,
- Kenny Baker,
- Pernilla August
- and Frank Oz.
The film is set thirty-two years before the original film, and follows Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi as they protect Queen Amidala, in hopes of securing a peaceful end to a large-scale interplanetary trade dispute. Joined by Anakin Skywalker—a young slave with unusually strong natural powers of the Force—they simultaneously contend with the mysterious return of the Sith.
Lucas began production of this film after he determined that film special effects had advanced to the level he wanted for the fourth film in the saga.
Filming started on June 26, 1997, at locations including Leavesden Film Studios and the Tunisian desert. Its visual effects included extensive use of computer-generated imagery (CGI); many of its characters and settings were completely computerized. The film was Lucas's first directorial effort after a 22-year hiatus following Star Wars in 1977.
The Phantom Menace was released to theaters on May 19, 1999, sixteen years after the premiere of the previous Star Wars film, Return of the Jedi. The film's premiere was extensively covered by media and was greatly anticipated because of the large cultural following the Star Wars saga had cultivated.
Despite mixed reviews from critics, who tended to praise the visuals, action sequences, John Williams' musical score and the performances of Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Pernilla August, Ray Park and Ian McDiarmid, but criticize the writing, characterization and the majority of the acting (particularly from Ahmed Best and Jake Lloyd), it grossed more than $924.3 million worldwide during its initial theatrical run, making it the second-highest-grossing film worldwide at the time, behind Titanic.
It became the highest-grossing film of 1999, the highest-grossing Star Wars film (until the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens in 2015), and is currently the seventeenth-highest-grossing film in North America unadjusted for inflation.
A 3D reissue, which has earned an additional $102.7 million at the box office and brought the film's overall worldwide takings to over $1 billion, was released in February 2012. The film was followed by two sequels, Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones in 2002 and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith in 2005.
Plot:
Supreme Chancellor Valorum, leader of the Galactic Republic, dispatches Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi, to negotiate with the Trade Federation leadership to end a blockade of battleships around the planet Naboo.
Darth Sidious, a Sith Lord and the Trade Federation's secret adviser, orders Federation Viceroy Nute Gunray to kill the Jedi and invade Naboo with an army of battle droids. The Jedi escape and flee to Naboo, where Qui-Gon saves a Gungan outcast, Jar Jar Binks, from being killed during the invasion.
Indebted to the Jedi, Jar Jar leads them to an underwater Gungan city. The Jedi unsuccessfully try to persuade the Gungan leader, Boss Nass, into helping the people of Naboo, though they are able to obtain transportation to Theed, the capital city on the surface. They rescue Queen Amidala, the ruler of the Naboo people, and escape the planet on her royal starship, which is damaged as they pass the Federation blockade.
Amidala's ship is unable to sustain its hyperdrive and lands for repairs on the desert planet Tatooine. Qui-Gon, Jar Jar, astromech droid R2-D2, and Amidala (in disguise as Padmé, her handmaiden) visit the settlement of Mos Espa to buy new parts at a junk shop.
They meet the shop's owner Watto and his nine-year-old slave, Anakin Skywalker, who is a gifted pilot and engineer and has created a protocol droid called C-3PO. Qui-Gon senses a strong presence of the Force within Anakin and is convinced that he is the "chosen one" of Jedi prophecy who will bring balance to the Force.
Qui-Gon wagers Anakin's freedom with Watto in a Podrace, which Anakin wins. Anakin joins the group to be trained as a Jedi, leaving his mother, Shmi, behind. En route to their starship, Qui-Gon briefly duels with Darth Maul, Darth Sidious's apprentice, who was sent to capture Amidala.
The Jedi escort Amidala to the Republic capital planet, Coruscant, so she can plead her people's case to Chancellor Valorum and the Galactic Senate. Qui-Gon asks the Jedi Council for permission to train Anakin as a Jedi, but the Council, concerned that Anakin is vulnerable to the dark side, refuse.
Undaunted, Qui-Gon vows to train Anakin anyway. Meanwhile, Naboo's Senator Palpatine persuades Amidala to make a vote of no confidence in Valorum to elect a more capable chancellor to resolve the crisis on Naboo. Though she pushes for the vote, Amidala grows frustrated with the corruption in the Senate and decides to return to Naboo with the Jedi.
On Naboo, Padmé reveals herself to the Gungans as Queen Amidala and persuades them into an alliance against the Trade Federation. Jar Jar leads his people in a battle against the droid army while Padmé leads the hunt for Gunray in Theed.
In a starship hangar, Anakin enters a vacant starfighter and inadvertently triggers its autopilot, joining the battle against the Federation droid control ship in space. Anakin ventures into the ship and destroys it from within, deactivating the droid army.
Meanwhile, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan battle Darth Maul, who mortally wounds Qui-Gon before being bisected by Obi-Wan. As he dies, Qui-Gon asks Obi-Wan to train Anakin.
Subsequently, Palpatine is elected as the new Supreme Chancellor and Gunray is arrested. The Jedi Council promotes Obi-Wan to the rank of Jedi Knight and reluctantly accepts Anakin as Obi-Wan's apprentice. At a festive ceremony, Padmé presents a gift of appreciation and friendship to the Gungans.
Cast:
- Liam Neeson as Qui-Gon Jinn, a Jedi Master and mentor to Obi-Wan. When he discovers Anakin he insists that the boy be trained as a Jedi despite the Jedi Council's protests. Lucas originally wanted to cast an American actor in the role, but cast Irishman Neeson because he considered that Neeson had great skills and presence. Lucas said Neeson was a "master actor, who the other actors will look up to, who has got the qualities of strength that the character demands".
- Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi, Qui-Gon's young Jedi apprentice. He holds Qui-Gon in high regard but questions his motives at times.
- Natalie Portman as Queen Padmé Amidala: Amidala, the 14-year-old Queen of Naboo, hopes to protect her planet from a blockade by the Trade Federation.
- Jake Lloyd as Anakin Skywalker, a 9-year-old slave boy and a skilled pilot who dreams of becoming a Jedi.
- Ian McDiarmid as Senator Palpatine / Darth Sidious, a Senator of Naboo who is eventually elected Chancellor of the Republic.
- Pernilla August as Shmi Skywalker, Anakin's mother who is concerned for her son's future and allows him leave with the Jedi.
- Frank Oz voices Yoda, the centuries-old leader of the Jedi Council who is apprehensive about allowing Anakin to be trained.
- Oliver Ford Davies as Sio Bibble, the governor of Naboo.
- Hugh Quarshie as Captain Panaka, Queen Amidala's chief of security at Theed Palace.
- Ahmed Best as Jar Jar Binks, a clumsy Gungan exiled from his home and taken in by Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan.
- Anthony Daniels voices C-3PO, a protocol droid built by Anakin. He lacks a metal covering in this film; R2-D2 refers to it as being "naked".
- Kenny Baker as R2-D2, an astromech droid that saves Queen Amidala's ship when other droids fail.
- Terence Stamp as Supreme Chancellor Valorum, the current Chancellor who commissions Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon to negotiate with the Trade Federation Viceroy.
- Samuel L. Jackson appears as Mace Windu, a high-ranking member of the Jedi Council who also opposes the training of Anakin.
- Ray Park portrays Darth Maul, a Zabrak warrior and Darth Sidious' Sith apprentice who uses a double-bladed lightsaber, while Peter Serafinowicz provides Maul's voice.
- Keira Knightley plays Sabé, one of Queen Amidala's handmaidens who serves as her decoy throughout the majority of the film.
- Silas Carson portrays Nute Gunray, the Viceroy of the Trade Federation who leads Naboo's invasion and tries to force Queen Amidala to sign a treaty to legitimize the occupation.
Box Office Receipts: $1.027 billion
___________________________________________________________________________
Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002)
YouTube Video: Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones - Trailer
Pictured: Theatrical release poster by Drew Struzan (Courtesy of Wikipedia)
Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones is a 2002 American epic space opera film directed by George Lucas and written by Lucas and Jonathan Hales. It is the second installment of the Star Wars prequel trilogy, and stars
The film is set ten years after the events in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. The galaxy is on the brink of civil war. Led by a former Jedi named Count Dooku, thousands of planetary systems threaten to secede from the Galactic Republic. After Senator Padmé Amidala evades assassination, Jedi apprentice Anakin Skywalker becomes her protector, while his mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi investigates the attempt on Padmé's life. Soon Anakin, Padmé, and Obi-Wan witness the onset of a new threat to the galaxy, the Clone Wars.
Development of Attack of the Clones began in March 2000, after the release of The Phantom Menace. By June 2000, Lucas and Hales completed a draft of the script and principal photography took place from June to September 2000. The film crew primarily shot at Fox Studios Australia in Sydney, Australia, with additional footage filmed in Tunisia, Spain and Italy. It was one of the first motion pictures shot completely on a high definition digital 24-frame system.
The film premiered on May 16, 2002. Critics praised the visual effects, costume design, musical score, and Ewan McGregor’s performance as Obi-Wan Kenobi. Despite this, critics lambasted the romance of Anakin and Padmé, the dialogue, most of the acting, and the film's long runtime.
Nevertheless, the film was a financial success; however, it also became the first Star Wars film to be out-grossed in its year of release, placing only third domestically and fourth internationally.
The film came out on DVD and VHS on November 12, 2002 and was later released on Blu-ray on September 16, 2011. Following Attack of the Clones, the third and final film of the prequel trilogy, Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, premiered in 2005.
Plot:
Ten years after the Trade Federation's invasion of Naboo, the Galactic Republic is threatened by a Separatist movement organized by former Jedi Master Count Dooku. Senator Padmé Amidala comes to Coruscant to vote on a motion to create an army to assist the Jedi against this threat. Narrowly avoiding an assassination attempt upon arrival, she is placed under the protection of Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi and his apprentice, Anakin Skywalker.
The two Jedi thwart a second attempt on her life and subdue the assassin, Zam Wesell, a shape-shifter who is soon killed by her bounty hunter client before she can reveal his identity. The Jedi Council assigns Obi-Wan to identify and capture the bounty hunter, while Anakin is assigned to escort Padmé back to Naboo, where the two fall in love.
Obi-Wan's investigation leads him to the remote ocean planet Kamino, where he discovers an army of clones is being produced for the Republic, with bounty hunter Jango Fett serving as their genetic template. Obi-Wan deduces Jango to be the bounty hunter he is seeking, and follows him and his clone son, Boba, to the desert planet Geonosis via a homing beacon placed on their ship, the Slave I.
Meanwhile, Anakin becomes troubled by premonitions of his mother, Shmi, in pain, and travels to Tatooine with Padmé to save her. They meet Owen Lars, Anakin's stepbrother and the son of Shmi's new husband, Cliegg Lars. Cliegg tells Anakin that Shmi was abducted by Tusken Raiders weeks earlier and is likely dead.
Determined to find her, Anakin ventures out and, finding the Tusken campsite, locates Shmi, dying from torture at the hands of the Tuskens. She dies in Anakin's arms. Anakin, enraged, massacres the Tuskens and returns to the Lars homestead with Shmi's body. After revealing his deed to Padmé, Anakin says that he wants to prevent death.
On Geonosis, Obi-Wan discovers a Separatist gathering led by Count Dooku, who Obi-Wan learns had authorized Padmé's assassination and is developing a battle droid army with Trade Federation Viceroy Nute Gunray. Obi-Wan transmits his findings to Anakin to relay to the Jedi Council, but is captured mid-transmission.
With knowledge of the droid army, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine is voted emergency powers to send the clones into battle. Anakin and Padmé journey to Geonosis to rescue Obi-Wan, but are also captured.
The three are sentenced to death, but are eventually saved by a battalion of Jedi and clone troopers led by Mace Windu and Yoda; Jango Fett is killed by Mace during the rescue. As the clone and droid armies battle, Obi-Wan and Anakin intercept Dooku, and the three engage in a lightsaber battle. Dooku overpowers Obi-Wan and Anakin, but then Yoda arrives and engages the Count in a duel.
Finding he is unable to defeat Yoda, Dooku flees. Arriving at Coruscant, he delivers blueprints for a superweapon, the Death Star, to his Sith master, Darth Sidious, who confirms that everything is going as planned. As the Jedi gravely acknowledge the beginning of the Clone Wars, Anakin is fitted with a robotic arm and secretly marries Padmé on Naboo, with C-3PO and R2-D2 as their witnesses.
Cast:
Box Office: $649.4 million
___________________________________________________________________________
- Ewan McGregor,
- Natalie Portman,
- Hayden Christensen,
- Ian McDiarmid,
- Samuel L. Jackson,
- Christopher Lee,
- Temuera Morrison,
- Anthony Daniels,
- Kenny Baker,
- and Frank Oz.
The film is set ten years after the events in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. The galaxy is on the brink of civil war. Led by a former Jedi named Count Dooku, thousands of planetary systems threaten to secede from the Galactic Republic. After Senator Padmé Amidala evades assassination, Jedi apprentice Anakin Skywalker becomes her protector, while his mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi investigates the attempt on Padmé's life. Soon Anakin, Padmé, and Obi-Wan witness the onset of a new threat to the galaxy, the Clone Wars.
Development of Attack of the Clones began in March 2000, after the release of The Phantom Menace. By June 2000, Lucas and Hales completed a draft of the script and principal photography took place from June to September 2000. The film crew primarily shot at Fox Studios Australia in Sydney, Australia, with additional footage filmed in Tunisia, Spain and Italy. It was one of the first motion pictures shot completely on a high definition digital 24-frame system.
The film premiered on May 16, 2002. Critics praised the visual effects, costume design, musical score, and Ewan McGregor’s performance as Obi-Wan Kenobi. Despite this, critics lambasted the romance of Anakin and Padmé, the dialogue, most of the acting, and the film's long runtime.
Nevertheless, the film was a financial success; however, it also became the first Star Wars film to be out-grossed in its year of release, placing only third domestically and fourth internationally.
The film came out on DVD and VHS on November 12, 2002 and was later released on Blu-ray on September 16, 2011. Following Attack of the Clones, the third and final film of the prequel trilogy, Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, premiered in 2005.
Plot:
Ten years after the Trade Federation's invasion of Naboo, the Galactic Republic is threatened by a Separatist movement organized by former Jedi Master Count Dooku. Senator Padmé Amidala comes to Coruscant to vote on a motion to create an army to assist the Jedi against this threat. Narrowly avoiding an assassination attempt upon arrival, she is placed under the protection of Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi and his apprentice, Anakin Skywalker.
The two Jedi thwart a second attempt on her life and subdue the assassin, Zam Wesell, a shape-shifter who is soon killed by her bounty hunter client before she can reveal his identity. The Jedi Council assigns Obi-Wan to identify and capture the bounty hunter, while Anakin is assigned to escort Padmé back to Naboo, where the two fall in love.
Obi-Wan's investigation leads him to the remote ocean planet Kamino, where he discovers an army of clones is being produced for the Republic, with bounty hunter Jango Fett serving as their genetic template. Obi-Wan deduces Jango to be the bounty hunter he is seeking, and follows him and his clone son, Boba, to the desert planet Geonosis via a homing beacon placed on their ship, the Slave I.
Meanwhile, Anakin becomes troubled by premonitions of his mother, Shmi, in pain, and travels to Tatooine with Padmé to save her. They meet Owen Lars, Anakin's stepbrother and the son of Shmi's new husband, Cliegg Lars. Cliegg tells Anakin that Shmi was abducted by Tusken Raiders weeks earlier and is likely dead.
Determined to find her, Anakin ventures out and, finding the Tusken campsite, locates Shmi, dying from torture at the hands of the Tuskens. She dies in Anakin's arms. Anakin, enraged, massacres the Tuskens and returns to the Lars homestead with Shmi's body. After revealing his deed to Padmé, Anakin says that he wants to prevent death.
On Geonosis, Obi-Wan discovers a Separatist gathering led by Count Dooku, who Obi-Wan learns had authorized Padmé's assassination and is developing a battle droid army with Trade Federation Viceroy Nute Gunray. Obi-Wan transmits his findings to Anakin to relay to the Jedi Council, but is captured mid-transmission.
With knowledge of the droid army, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine is voted emergency powers to send the clones into battle. Anakin and Padmé journey to Geonosis to rescue Obi-Wan, but are also captured.
The three are sentenced to death, but are eventually saved by a battalion of Jedi and clone troopers led by Mace Windu and Yoda; Jango Fett is killed by Mace during the rescue. As the clone and droid armies battle, Obi-Wan and Anakin intercept Dooku, and the three engage in a lightsaber battle. Dooku overpowers Obi-Wan and Anakin, but then Yoda arrives and engages the Count in a duel.
Finding he is unable to defeat Yoda, Dooku flees. Arriving at Coruscant, he delivers blueprints for a superweapon, the Death Star, to his Sith master, Darth Sidious, who confirms that everything is going as planned. As the Jedi gravely acknowledge the beginning of the Clone Wars, Anakin is fitted with a robotic arm and secretly marries Padmé on Naboo, with C-3PO and R2-D2 as their witnesses.
Cast:
- Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi: A Jedi Master and mentor of Anakin Skywalker.
- Natalie Portman as Padmé Amidala: The former Queen of Naboo, who has recently been elected the planet's senator.
- Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker: Obi-Wan's Padawan apprentice, who has grown into a powerful but arrogant Jedi.
- Ian McDiarmid as Chancellor Palpatine / Darth Sidious: A former senator of Naboo and secretly a Sith Lord who has recently been elected Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic.
- Samuel L. Jackson as Mace Windu: A Jedi Master sitting on the Jedi Council who warily watches the Galactic Senate's politics.
- Christopher Lee as Count Dooku / Darth Tyranus: A former Jedi Master who now leads a Separatist movement and is Darth Sidious' new Sith apprentice.
- Anthony Daniels as C-3PO: A protocol droid built by Anakin for his mother.
- Kenny Baker as R2-D2: An astromech droid often seen on missions with Anakin and Obi-Wan.
- Frank Oz voices Yoda: The centuries-old Jedi Grand Master of an unknown species who, in addition to sitting on the Jedi Council, is the instructor for young Jedi.
Box Office: $649.4 million
___________________________________________________________________________
Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005)
YouTube Video: Trailer for Star Wars Episode III Revenge of the Sith
Pictured: The poster art copyright is believed to belong to the distributor of the film, 20th Century Fox, the publisher of the film or the graphic artist.
Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith is a 2005 American epic space opera film written and directed by George Lucas. It is the third and final installment of the Star Wars prequel trilogy and stars:
The film begins three years after the onset of the Clone Wars. The Jedi Knights are spread across the galaxy, leading a massive war against the Separatists. The Jedi Council dispatches Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi to eliminate the notorious General Grievous, leader of the Separatist Army.
Meanwhile, Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker grows close to Palpatine, the Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic and, unknown to the public, a Sith Lord. Their deepening friendship threatens the Jedi Order, the Republic, and Anakin himself.
Lucas began writing the script before production of Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones ended. Production of Revenge of the Sith started in September 2003, filming in Australia with additional locations in Thailand, Switzerland, China, Italy and the United Kingdom.
Revenge of the Sith premiered on May 15, 2005 at the Cannes Film Festival, then released worldwide on May 19, 2005. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, especially in contrast to the less positive reviews of the previous two prequels, receiving praise for its story line, action scenes, John Williams' musical score, the visual effects, and the performances of Ewan McGregor, Ian McDiarmid, Frank Oz, Jimmy Smits, and Samuel L. Jackson.
It is the last film in the Star Wars franchise to be distributed by 20th Century Fox before the acquisition of Lucasfilm by The Walt Disney Company in 2012.
Revenge of the Sith broke several box office records during its opening week and went on to earn over $848 million worldwide, making it, at the time, the third-highest-grossing film in the Star Wars franchise, unadjusted for inflation. It was the highest-grossing film of 2005 in the U.S. and the second-highest-grossing film of 2005 behind Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
The Star Wars saga continued with the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the first installment of the sequel trilogy, in 2015.
Plot:
During a space battle over the planet Coruscant, Jedi Knights Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker lead a mission to rescue the kidnapped Supreme Chancellor Palpatine from Separatist commander General Grievous.
After infiltrating Grievous's flagship, the Jedi battle the Sith Lord Count Dooku. Anakin subdues Dooku and, on Palpatine's urging, kills him. Grievous flees the battle-torn cruiser, which the Jedi crash-land on Coruscant. There, Anakin reunites with his wife, Padmé Amidala, who reveals she is pregnant. While initially excited, Anakin begins to have prophetic visions of Padmé dying in childbirth, and his worry steadily grows.
Palpatine appoints Anakin to the Jedi Council as his representative, but the Council refuses to grant Anakin the rank of Jedi Master and orders him to spy on Palpatine, which diminishes Anakin's faith in the Jedi.
Palpatine tantalizes Anakin with secret knowledge of the dark side of the Force, including the power to save his loved ones from dying. Meanwhile, Obi-Wan is dispatched to the planet Utapau to deal with General Grievous, and Yoda is dispatched to Kashyyyk to defend the planet from invasion.
Tempting Anakin, Palpatine eventually reveals that he is the Sith Lord Darth Sidious, saying that only he has the knowledge to save Padmé from dying. Anakin reports Palpatine's treachery to Mace Windu, who confronts and subdues the Sith Lord. Fearing that he will lose Padmé, Anakin intervenes on Palpatine's behalf, allowing Palpatine to kill Windu. Anakin pledges himself to Palpatine, who dubs him Darth Vader.
Palpatine issues an order for the clone troopers to kill their Jedi commanders and dispatches Vader and a legion of clones to kill everyone in the Jedi Temple. Vader massacres the remaining Separatist leaders hiding on the volcanic planet Mustafar, while Palpatine addresses the Senate, transforming the Republic into the Galactic Empire and declaring himself Emperor. Having survived the attack, Obi-Wan and Yoda return to Coruscant and uncover Anakin's treachery.
Unable to convince Padmé about Anakin's turn to the dark side, Obi-Wan stows aboard her ship. Padmé travels to Mustafar and implores Vader to leave the dark side. Vader refuses, and when he witnesses Obi-Wan, he chokes Padmé into unconsciousness. Obi-Wan duels and defeats Vader, leaving him for dead on the bank of a lava flow. On Coruscant, Yoda fights Palpatine; their duel reaches a stalemate and Yoda flees. Palpatine, sensing that his apprentice is in danger, travels to Mustafar.
On the asteroid Polis Massa, Obi-Wan regroups with Yoda and Padmé gives birth to twins, Luke and Leia, as she dies. A funeral is held for Padmé on Naboo. On Mustafar, Palpatine finds Vader badly burnt but alive.
After returning to Coruscant, he rebuilds Vader's mutilated body and outfits him in a black armored suit. Palpatine tells Vader that he killed Padmé in his anger. Meanwhile, Obi-Wan and Yoda decide to hide the twins from the Sith, as they were the only hope to the galaxy for freedom. Yoda exiles himself to the planet Dagobah, while Vader and the Emperor oversee the construction of a massive space station, the Death Star.
Bail Organa adopts Leia as his own daughter and takes her to Alderaan, while Obi-Wan delivers Luke to his step-family Owen and Beru Lars on Tatooine, where Obi-Wan intends to watch over Luke until the time is right to challenge the Empire.
Cast:
Jimmy Smits, Peter Mayhew, Oliver Ford Davies, Ahmed Best and Silas Carson reprise their roles as Senator Bail Organa, Chewbacca, Sio Bibble, Jar Jar Binks, Nute Gunray and Ki-Adi-Mundi, respectively from the previous films.
Box Office: $848.8 million
___________________________________________________________________________
- Ewan McGregor,
- Natalie Portman,
- Hayden Christensen,
- Ian McDiarmid,
- Samuel L. Jackson,
- Christopher Lee,
- Anthony Daniels,
- Kenny Baker
- and Frank Oz.
The film begins three years after the onset of the Clone Wars. The Jedi Knights are spread across the galaxy, leading a massive war against the Separatists. The Jedi Council dispatches Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi to eliminate the notorious General Grievous, leader of the Separatist Army.
Meanwhile, Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker grows close to Palpatine, the Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic and, unknown to the public, a Sith Lord. Their deepening friendship threatens the Jedi Order, the Republic, and Anakin himself.
Lucas began writing the script before production of Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones ended. Production of Revenge of the Sith started in September 2003, filming in Australia with additional locations in Thailand, Switzerland, China, Italy and the United Kingdom.
Revenge of the Sith premiered on May 15, 2005 at the Cannes Film Festival, then released worldwide on May 19, 2005. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, especially in contrast to the less positive reviews of the previous two prequels, receiving praise for its story line, action scenes, John Williams' musical score, the visual effects, and the performances of Ewan McGregor, Ian McDiarmid, Frank Oz, Jimmy Smits, and Samuel L. Jackson.
It is the last film in the Star Wars franchise to be distributed by 20th Century Fox before the acquisition of Lucasfilm by The Walt Disney Company in 2012.
Revenge of the Sith broke several box office records during its opening week and went on to earn over $848 million worldwide, making it, at the time, the third-highest-grossing film in the Star Wars franchise, unadjusted for inflation. It was the highest-grossing film of 2005 in the U.S. and the second-highest-grossing film of 2005 behind Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
The Star Wars saga continued with the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the first installment of the sequel trilogy, in 2015.
Plot:
During a space battle over the planet Coruscant, Jedi Knights Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker lead a mission to rescue the kidnapped Supreme Chancellor Palpatine from Separatist commander General Grievous.
After infiltrating Grievous's flagship, the Jedi battle the Sith Lord Count Dooku. Anakin subdues Dooku and, on Palpatine's urging, kills him. Grievous flees the battle-torn cruiser, which the Jedi crash-land on Coruscant. There, Anakin reunites with his wife, Padmé Amidala, who reveals she is pregnant. While initially excited, Anakin begins to have prophetic visions of Padmé dying in childbirth, and his worry steadily grows.
Palpatine appoints Anakin to the Jedi Council as his representative, but the Council refuses to grant Anakin the rank of Jedi Master and orders him to spy on Palpatine, which diminishes Anakin's faith in the Jedi.
Palpatine tantalizes Anakin with secret knowledge of the dark side of the Force, including the power to save his loved ones from dying. Meanwhile, Obi-Wan is dispatched to the planet Utapau to deal with General Grievous, and Yoda is dispatched to Kashyyyk to defend the planet from invasion.
Tempting Anakin, Palpatine eventually reveals that he is the Sith Lord Darth Sidious, saying that only he has the knowledge to save Padmé from dying. Anakin reports Palpatine's treachery to Mace Windu, who confronts and subdues the Sith Lord. Fearing that he will lose Padmé, Anakin intervenes on Palpatine's behalf, allowing Palpatine to kill Windu. Anakin pledges himself to Palpatine, who dubs him Darth Vader.
Palpatine issues an order for the clone troopers to kill their Jedi commanders and dispatches Vader and a legion of clones to kill everyone in the Jedi Temple. Vader massacres the remaining Separatist leaders hiding on the volcanic planet Mustafar, while Palpatine addresses the Senate, transforming the Republic into the Galactic Empire and declaring himself Emperor. Having survived the attack, Obi-Wan and Yoda return to Coruscant and uncover Anakin's treachery.
Unable to convince Padmé about Anakin's turn to the dark side, Obi-Wan stows aboard her ship. Padmé travels to Mustafar and implores Vader to leave the dark side. Vader refuses, and when he witnesses Obi-Wan, he chokes Padmé into unconsciousness. Obi-Wan duels and defeats Vader, leaving him for dead on the bank of a lava flow. On Coruscant, Yoda fights Palpatine; their duel reaches a stalemate and Yoda flees. Palpatine, sensing that his apprentice is in danger, travels to Mustafar.
On the asteroid Polis Massa, Obi-Wan regroups with Yoda and Padmé gives birth to twins, Luke and Leia, as she dies. A funeral is held for Padmé on Naboo. On Mustafar, Palpatine finds Vader badly burnt but alive.
After returning to Coruscant, he rebuilds Vader's mutilated body and outfits him in a black armored suit. Palpatine tells Vader that he killed Padmé in his anger. Meanwhile, Obi-Wan and Yoda decide to hide the twins from the Sith, as they were the only hope to the galaxy for freedom. Yoda exiles himself to the planet Dagobah, while Vader and the Emperor oversee the construction of a massive space station, the Death Star.
Bail Organa adopts Leia as his own daughter and takes her to Alderaan, while Obi-Wan delivers Luke to his step-family Owen and Beru Lars on Tatooine, where Obi-Wan intends to watch over Luke until the time is right to challenge the Empire.
Cast:
- Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi: a Jedi Master and general for the Galactic Republic.
- Natalie Portman as Padmé Amidala: a senator of Naboo who is secretly Anakin's wife.
- Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker / Darth Vader: a recently promoted Jedi Knight and hero of the Clone Wars who turns to the dark side of the Force.
- Ian McDiarmid as Palpatine/Darth Sidious: the Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic who is secretly a Sith lord.
- Samuel L. Jackson as Mace Windu: a senior member of the Jedi Council.
- Christopher Lee as Count Dooku / Darth Tyranus: Darth Sidious' Sith apprentice, who was selected by his master to lead the Separatists.
- Anthony Daniels as C-3PO: Padmé's personal protocol droid, created by Anakin.
- Kenny Baker as R2-D2: Anakin's astromech droid.
- Frank Oz voices Yoda: the leader of the Jedi Council.
Jimmy Smits, Peter Mayhew, Oliver Ford Davies, Ahmed Best and Silas Carson reprise their roles as Senator Bail Organa, Chewbacca, Sio Bibble, Jar Jar Binks, Nute Gunray and Ki-Adi-Mundi, respectively from the previous films.
Box Office: $848.8 million
___________________________________________________________________________
Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)
YouTube Video of the Movie Trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Pictured: Theatrical Movie Poster courtesy of Wikipedia)
Star Wars: The Force Awakens (also known as Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens) is a 2015 American space opera epic film directed, co-produced and co-written by J. J. Abrams, and marks a break in creative control from the original series.
The seventh installment of the Star Wars film series, it stars:
Produced by Lucasfilm Ltd. and Abrams' production company Bad Robot Productions and distributed worldwide by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, The Force Awakens is set 30 years after Return of the Jedi; it follows Rey, Finn, and Poe Dameron's search for Luke Skywalker and their fight alongside the Resistance, led by veterans of the Rebel Alliance, against Kylo Ren and the First Order, a successor group to the Galactic Empire.
The Force Awakens is the first film in the Star Wars sequel trilogy announced after Disney's acquisition of Lucasfilm in October 2012. It was produced by Abrams, his longtime collaborator Bryan Burk, and Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy.
Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan, co-writer of the original trilogy films The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983), rewrote an initial script by Michael Arndt. John Williams, composer for the previous six films, returned to compose its score.
Star Wars creator George Lucas served as creative consultant during the film's early production. Filming began in April 2014 in Abu Dhabi and Iceland, with principal photography also taking place in Ireland and Pinewood Studios in England, and concluded in November 2014.
It is the first live-action film in the franchise since Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, released ten years before in 2005.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens was widely anticipated, with Disney backing the film with extensive marketing campaigns. It premiered in Los Angeles on December 14, 2015, four days before its wide release in North America and the rest of the world.
The film received overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics, with its ensemble cast and action sequences being particular areas of praise, although some criticized it as being derivative. The film broke various box office records and became the highest-grossing installment in the franchise, the highest-grossing film in North America unadjusted for inflation and the third highest-grossing film of all time, with a worldwide gross of over $2 billion.
It received five Academy Award nominations and four British Academy Film Award nominations, where it won Best Special Visual Effects. Two sequels, Episode VIII and Episode IX, are scheduled for 2017 and 2019 respectively.
Plot:
Approximately 30 years after the destruction of the second Death Star, the last remaining Jedi, Luke Skywalker, has disappeared. The First Order has risen from the fallen Galactic Empire and seeks to eliminate the New Republic. The Resistance, backed by the Republic and led by Luke's twin sister, General Leia Organa, opposes them while searching for Luke to enlist his aid.
Resistance pilot Poe Dameron meets village elder Lor San Tekka on the planet Jakku to obtain a map to Luke's location. Stormtroopers commanded by Kylo Ren destroy the village and capture Poe, while Ren kills Tekka. Poe's droid, BB-8 escapes with the map, and encounters a scavenger named Rey near a junkyard settlement.
Ren tortures Poe using the Force, and learns of BB-8. Stormtrooper FN-2187, unable to bring himself to kill for the First Order, frees Poe, and they escape in a stolen TIE fighter; Poe dubs FN-2187 "Finn". They crash on Jakku, and Finn survives, but is unable to determine if Poe did as well. He encounters Rey and BB-8, but the First Order tracks them and launches an airstrike. Finn, Rey, and BB-8 flee the planet in the Millennium Falcon, which they steal from a junkyard.
After breaking down, the Falcon is caught in a tractor beam and captured by a larger ship piloted by Han Solo and Chewbacca, looking to reclaim their former vessel. Two rival gangs, seeking to settle debts with Han, board and attack, but Han and his allies flee in the Falcon.
The gangs inform the First Order of the events. At the First Order's Starkiller Base – a planet converted into a superweapon that harnesses energy from stars – Supreme Leader Snoke orders General Hux to use the weapon for the first time. Snoke questions Ren's ability to deal with emotions relating to his father, Han Solo; Ren says Solo means nothing to him.
The Falcon crew views BB-8's map and determines it is incomplete. Han explains that Luke attempted to rebuild the Jedi Order, but exiled himself when an apprentice turned to the dark side and slaughtered the rising Order. The crew travels to the planet Takodana and meets with cantina owner Maz Kanata, who offers assistance in getting BB-8 to the Resistance. Rey is drawn to a vault on the lower level and finds the lightsaber that once belonged to Luke and his father, Anakin Skywalker. She experiences disturbing visions and flees into the woods. Maz gives Finn the lightsaber for safekeeping.
Starkiller Base fires and destroys the Republic capital and a portion of its fleet. The First Order attacks Takodana in search of BB-8. Han, Chewbacca, and Finn are saved by Resistance X-wing fighters led by Poe, who survived the earlier crash. Leia arrives at Takodana with C-3PO and reunites with Han and Chewbacca.
Meanwhile, Ren captures Rey and takes her to Starkiller Base. However, when he interrogates her about the map, she is able to resist his mind-reading attempts. Discovering she can use the Force, she escapes using a Jedi mind trick on a nearby guard.
At the Resistance base on D'Qar, BB-8 finds R2-D2, who has been inactive since Luke's disappearance. As Starkiller Base prepares to fire on D'Qar, the Resistance devises a plan to destroy the superweapon by attacking a critical facility.
Leia urges Han to return their son alive. Using the Falcon, Han, Chewbacca, and Finn infiltrate the facility, find Rey, and plant explosives. Han confronts Ren, calling him by his birth name, Ben, and implores him to abandon the dark side. Ren refuses and kills his father, enraging Chewbacca, who fires and hits Ren. He sets off the explosives, allowing the Resistance to attack and destroy Starkiller Base.
The injured Ren pursues Finn and Rey to the surface. A lightsaber battle between Ren and Finn ensues, leaving Finn badly wounded. Rey takes the lightsaber and uses the Force to defeat Ren, before they are separated by a fissure as the planet begins to disintegrate and implode.
Snoke orders Hux to evacuate and bring Ren to him. Rey and Chewbacca escape with Finn in the Falcon. On D'Qar, the Resistance celebrates while Leia, Chewbacca, and Rey mourn Han's death. R2-D2 awakens and reveals the rest of the map, which Rey follows to the aquatic planet Ahch-To. She finds Luke and presents him with the lightsaber.
Cast:
Box Office: $2.068 billion
The seventh installment of the Star Wars film series, it stars:
- Harrison Ford,
- Mark Hamill,
- Carrie Fisher,
- Adam Driver,
- Daisy Ridley,
- John Boyega,
- Oscar Isaac,
- Lupita Nyong'o,
- Andy Serkis,
- Domhnall Gleeson,
- Anthony Daniels,
- Peter Mayhew,
- and Max von Sydow.
Produced by Lucasfilm Ltd. and Abrams' production company Bad Robot Productions and distributed worldwide by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, The Force Awakens is set 30 years after Return of the Jedi; it follows Rey, Finn, and Poe Dameron's search for Luke Skywalker and their fight alongside the Resistance, led by veterans of the Rebel Alliance, against Kylo Ren and the First Order, a successor group to the Galactic Empire.
The Force Awakens is the first film in the Star Wars sequel trilogy announced after Disney's acquisition of Lucasfilm in October 2012. It was produced by Abrams, his longtime collaborator Bryan Burk, and Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy.
Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan, co-writer of the original trilogy films The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983), rewrote an initial script by Michael Arndt. John Williams, composer for the previous six films, returned to compose its score.
Star Wars creator George Lucas served as creative consultant during the film's early production. Filming began in April 2014 in Abu Dhabi and Iceland, with principal photography also taking place in Ireland and Pinewood Studios in England, and concluded in November 2014.
It is the first live-action film in the franchise since Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, released ten years before in 2005.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens was widely anticipated, with Disney backing the film with extensive marketing campaigns. It premiered in Los Angeles on December 14, 2015, four days before its wide release in North America and the rest of the world.
The film received overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics, with its ensemble cast and action sequences being particular areas of praise, although some criticized it as being derivative. The film broke various box office records and became the highest-grossing installment in the franchise, the highest-grossing film in North America unadjusted for inflation and the third highest-grossing film of all time, with a worldwide gross of over $2 billion.
It received five Academy Award nominations and four British Academy Film Award nominations, where it won Best Special Visual Effects. Two sequels, Episode VIII and Episode IX, are scheduled for 2017 and 2019 respectively.
Plot:
Approximately 30 years after the destruction of the second Death Star, the last remaining Jedi, Luke Skywalker, has disappeared. The First Order has risen from the fallen Galactic Empire and seeks to eliminate the New Republic. The Resistance, backed by the Republic and led by Luke's twin sister, General Leia Organa, opposes them while searching for Luke to enlist his aid.
Resistance pilot Poe Dameron meets village elder Lor San Tekka on the planet Jakku to obtain a map to Luke's location. Stormtroopers commanded by Kylo Ren destroy the village and capture Poe, while Ren kills Tekka. Poe's droid, BB-8 escapes with the map, and encounters a scavenger named Rey near a junkyard settlement.
Ren tortures Poe using the Force, and learns of BB-8. Stormtrooper FN-2187, unable to bring himself to kill for the First Order, frees Poe, and they escape in a stolen TIE fighter; Poe dubs FN-2187 "Finn". They crash on Jakku, and Finn survives, but is unable to determine if Poe did as well. He encounters Rey and BB-8, but the First Order tracks them and launches an airstrike. Finn, Rey, and BB-8 flee the planet in the Millennium Falcon, which they steal from a junkyard.
After breaking down, the Falcon is caught in a tractor beam and captured by a larger ship piloted by Han Solo and Chewbacca, looking to reclaim their former vessel. Two rival gangs, seeking to settle debts with Han, board and attack, but Han and his allies flee in the Falcon.
The gangs inform the First Order of the events. At the First Order's Starkiller Base – a planet converted into a superweapon that harnesses energy from stars – Supreme Leader Snoke orders General Hux to use the weapon for the first time. Snoke questions Ren's ability to deal with emotions relating to his father, Han Solo; Ren says Solo means nothing to him.
The Falcon crew views BB-8's map and determines it is incomplete. Han explains that Luke attempted to rebuild the Jedi Order, but exiled himself when an apprentice turned to the dark side and slaughtered the rising Order. The crew travels to the planet Takodana and meets with cantina owner Maz Kanata, who offers assistance in getting BB-8 to the Resistance. Rey is drawn to a vault on the lower level and finds the lightsaber that once belonged to Luke and his father, Anakin Skywalker. She experiences disturbing visions and flees into the woods. Maz gives Finn the lightsaber for safekeeping.
Starkiller Base fires and destroys the Republic capital and a portion of its fleet. The First Order attacks Takodana in search of BB-8. Han, Chewbacca, and Finn are saved by Resistance X-wing fighters led by Poe, who survived the earlier crash. Leia arrives at Takodana with C-3PO and reunites with Han and Chewbacca.
Meanwhile, Ren captures Rey and takes her to Starkiller Base. However, when he interrogates her about the map, she is able to resist his mind-reading attempts. Discovering she can use the Force, she escapes using a Jedi mind trick on a nearby guard.
At the Resistance base on D'Qar, BB-8 finds R2-D2, who has been inactive since Luke's disappearance. As Starkiller Base prepares to fire on D'Qar, the Resistance devises a plan to destroy the superweapon by attacking a critical facility.
Leia urges Han to return their son alive. Using the Falcon, Han, Chewbacca, and Finn infiltrate the facility, find Rey, and plant explosives. Han confronts Ren, calling him by his birth name, Ben, and implores him to abandon the dark side. Ren refuses and kills his father, enraging Chewbacca, who fires and hits Ren. He sets off the explosives, allowing the Resistance to attack and destroy Starkiller Base.
The injured Ren pursues Finn and Rey to the surface. A lightsaber battle between Ren and Finn ensues, leaving Finn badly wounded. Rey takes the lightsaber and uses the Force to defeat Ren, before they are separated by a fissure as the planet begins to disintegrate and implode.
Snoke orders Hux to evacuate and bring Ren to him. Rey and Chewbacca escape with Finn in the Falcon. On D'Qar, the Resistance celebrates while Leia, Chewbacca, and Rey mourn Han's death. R2-D2 awakens and reveals the rest of the map, which Rey follows to the aquatic planet Ahch-To. She finds Luke and presents him with the lightsaber.
Cast:
- Harrison Ford as Han Solo: A rogue and a smuggler, formerly a key player in the Rebel Alliance.
- Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker
- Adam Driver as Kylo Ren
- Daisy Ridley as Rey
- John Boyega as Finn
- Oscar Isaac as Poe Dameron
- Lupita Nyong'o as Maz Kanata
- Andy Serkis as Supreme Leader Snoke
- Domhnall Gleeson as General Hux:
- Anthony Daniels as C-3PO
Box Office: $2.068 billion
Mission: Impossible (Franchise: 1996-2015)
YouTube Video: Top 10 Mission Impossible Scenes by WatchMojo
Pictured: Box art for Mission: Impossible Series blu-ray box set. Copyright Paramount Pictures.
Mission: Impossible is a series of action spy thriller films based on the television series of the same name, produced by and starring Tom Cruise as IMF agent Ethan Hunt.
The series follows the missions of the Impossible Missions Force's main field team under the command of Hunt, who is forced to take over after the team is betrayed from within in the first film. As such, the series focuses on Hunt as the lead character as opposed to the ensemble cast structure of the television series.
The series is the 18th-highest-grossing film series of all time (Total box office for the five movies below = $2.779 Billion
Below we cover each of the five movies of this series: click on any blue underlined topic for additional information:
The series follows the missions of the Impossible Missions Force's main field team under the command of Hunt, who is forced to take over after the team is betrayed from within in the first film. As such, the series focuses on Hunt as the lead character as opposed to the ensemble cast structure of the television series.
The series is the 18th-highest-grossing film series of all time (Total box office for the five movies below = $2.779 Billion
Below we cover each of the five movies of this series: click on any blue underlined topic for additional information:
Mission Impossible (1996)
YouTube video of Movie Trailer for Mission: Impossible (1996)
Pictured: Theatrical Movie Poster
Mission: Impossible is a 1996 American action spy film directed by Brian De Palma, produced by and starring Tom Cruise. Based on the television series of the same name, the plot follows Ethan Hunt (Cruise) and his mission to uncover the mole who has framed him for the murders of his entire IMF team.
Work on the script had begun early with filmmaker Sydney Pollack on board, before De Palma, Steven Zaillian, David Koepp, and Robert Towne were brought in. Mission: Impossible went into pre-production without a shooting script. De Palma came up with some action sequences, but Koepp and Towne were dissatisfied with the story that led up to those events.
U2 band members Larry Mullen, Jr. and Adam Clayton produced an electronic dance version of the original theme music. The tune went into the top-ten lists of music charts around the world and was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance.
The film was a critical and commercial success, eventually becoming the third highest-grossing film of 1996. The film's success spawned four sequels: Mission: Impossible II (2000), Mission: Impossible III (2006), Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011), and Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015).
Plot:
Several years after the events of the series, Jim Phelps and his team, the Impossible Missions Force (IMF), attempt to retrieve the IMF non-official cover list from the American embassy in Prague. Their mission fails: Phelps is shot, his wife Claire seemingly dies in a car bombing, and the rest of the team except agent Ethan Hunt are eliminated by unknown assassins.
Meeting with IMF director Eugene Kittridge, Hunt reveals his awareness of a second IMF team sent to keep an eye on them, and learns the job was a setup to lure out a mole within IMF. The mole is believed to be in contact with an arms dealer known as "Max" as part of "Job 314." As Hunt is the only member left, Kittridge suspects him of being the mole, and Hunt flees.
Returning to the Prague safe house, Hunt realizes "Job 314" refers to Bible verse Job 3:14, with "Job" as the mole's code name. Claire arrives at the safe house, explaining she escaped the bomb after Phelps aborted the mission. Hunt arranges a meeting with Max, where he warns her that the list she possesses has a tracking device. He promises to deliver the real list in return for $10 million and Job's identity. Hunt, Max, and her agents escape just as a CIA team arrives.
Hunt recruits two disavowed IMF agents: computer expert Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames) and pilot Franz Krieger (Jean Reno). They infiltrate CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, steal the real list, and flee to London.
Kittridge, detecting the theft, has Hunt's mother and uncle falsely arrested for drug trafficking. He provides media coverage of the arrest, forcing Hunt to contact him from Liverpool Street Station. Hunt allows the CIA to trace him to London before hanging up, but is surprised to find Phelps nearby.
Phelps recounts surviving the shooting, naming Kittridge as the mole. Hunt realizes Phelps is the mole, having discovered that Phelps stole a Bible from a Chicago hotel. He also suspects Krieger as the one who killed the other IMF members on the Prague job, but is unsure whether Claire was involved. Hunt arranges with Max to exchange the list aboard the TGV train to Paris the next day.
On the train, Hunt remotely directs Max to the list. Max verifies it and gives Hunt the code to a briefcase containing the payment along with Job in the baggage car. Ethan calls Claire and tells her to meet him there.
Meanwhile, Stickell uses a jamming device to prevent Max from uploading the data to her servers. When Claire reaches the baggage car, she finds Phelps, and tells him Ethan will arrive shortly. She questions the idea of killing Ethan, since they'll need a fall guy for the money. To Claire's surprise, Phelps reveals himself to be Ethan in disguise, exposing her as a co-conspirator. Moments later, the real Phelps arrives and takes the money at gunpoint. Hunt dons a pair of video glasses that reveals Phelps' existence to Kittridge, proving that Phelps is the mole.
With his cover blown, Phelps tries to kill Ethan. Claire intervenes and Phelps kills her. He climbs to the roof of the train, where Krieger is waiting with a helicopter and a tether. Hunt stops Phelps from escaping and connects the tether to the train itself, forcing Krieger to pilot the helicopter into the Channel Tunnel after the train.
Hunt places an explosive chewing gum on the helicopter windshield, killing Krieger and Phelps. Kittridge arrests Max and recovers the list, then reinstates Hunt and Stickell as IMF agents, but Hunt resigns. As he flies home, a flight attendant approaches him and asks, through a coded phrase, if he is ready to take on a new mission, just as she asked Phelps at the beginning.
Cast:
Box Office: $457.7 Million
___________________________________________________________________________
Work on the script had begun early with filmmaker Sydney Pollack on board, before De Palma, Steven Zaillian, David Koepp, and Robert Towne were brought in. Mission: Impossible went into pre-production without a shooting script. De Palma came up with some action sequences, but Koepp and Towne were dissatisfied with the story that led up to those events.
U2 band members Larry Mullen, Jr. and Adam Clayton produced an electronic dance version of the original theme music. The tune went into the top-ten lists of music charts around the world and was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance.
The film was a critical and commercial success, eventually becoming the third highest-grossing film of 1996. The film's success spawned four sequels: Mission: Impossible II (2000), Mission: Impossible III (2006), Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011), and Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015).
Plot:
Several years after the events of the series, Jim Phelps and his team, the Impossible Missions Force (IMF), attempt to retrieve the IMF non-official cover list from the American embassy in Prague. Their mission fails: Phelps is shot, his wife Claire seemingly dies in a car bombing, and the rest of the team except agent Ethan Hunt are eliminated by unknown assassins.
Meeting with IMF director Eugene Kittridge, Hunt reveals his awareness of a second IMF team sent to keep an eye on them, and learns the job was a setup to lure out a mole within IMF. The mole is believed to be in contact with an arms dealer known as "Max" as part of "Job 314." As Hunt is the only member left, Kittridge suspects him of being the mole, and Hunt flees.
Returning to the Prague safe house, Hunt realizes "Job 314" refers to Bible verse Job 3:14, with "Job" as the mole's code name. Claire arrives at the safe house, explaining she escaped the bomb after Phelps aborted the mission. Hunt arranges a meeting with Max, where he warns her that the list she possesses has a tracking device. He promises to deliver the real list in return for $10 million and Job's identity. Hunt, Max, and her agents escape just as a CIA team arrives.
Hunt recruits two disavowed IMF agents: computer expert Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames) and pilot Franz Krieger (Jean Reno). They infiltrate CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, steal the real list, and flee to London.
Kittridge, detecting the theft, has Hunt's mother and uncle falsely arrested for drug trafficking. He provides media coverage of the arrest, forcing Hunt to contact him from Liverpool Street Station. Hunt allows the CIA to trace him to London before hanging up, but is surprised to find Phelps nearby.
Phelps recounts surviving the shooting, naming Kittridge as the mole. Hunt realizes Phelps is the mole, having discovered that Phelps stole a Bible from a Chicago hotel. He also suspects Krieger as the one who killed the other IMF members on the Prague job, but is unsure whether Claire was involved. Hunt arranges with Max to exchange the list aboard the TGV train to Paris the next day.
On the train, Hunt remotely directs Max to the list. Max verifies it and gives Hunt the code to a briefcase containing the payment along with Job in the baggage car. Ethan calls Claire and tells her to meet him there.
Meanwhile, Stickell uses a jamming device to prevent Max from uploading the data to her servers. When Claire reaches the baggage car, she finds Phelps, and tells him Ethan will arrive shortly. She questions the idea of killing Ethan, since they'll need a fall guy for the money. To Claire's surprise, Phelps reveals himself to be Ethan in disguise, exposing her as a co-conspirator. Moments later, the real Phelps arrives and takes the money at gunpoint. Hunt dons a pair of video glasses that reveals Phelps' existence to Kittridge, proving that Phelps is the mole.
With his cover blown, Phelps tries to kill Ethan. Claire intervenes and Phelps kills her. He climbs to the roof of the train, where Krieger is waiting with a helicopter and a tether. Hunt stops Phelps from escaping and connects the tether to the train itself, forcing Krieger to pilot the helicopter into the Channel Tunnel after the train.
Hunt places an explosive chewing gum on the helicopter windshield, killing Krieger and Phelps. Kittridge arrests Max and recovers the list, then reinstates Hunt and Stickell as IMF agents, but Hunt resigns. As he flies home, a flight attendant approaches him and asks, through a coded phrase, if he is ready to take on a new mission, just as she asked Phelps at the beginning.
Cast:
- Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt
- Jon Voight as Jim Phelps
- Emmanuelle Béart as Claire Phelps
- Henry Czerny as Eugene Kittridge
- Jean Reno as Franz Krieger
- Ving Rhames as Luther Stickell
- Kristin Scott Thomas as Sarah Davies
- Vanessa Redgrave as Max
- Emilio Estevez as Jack Harmon
- Ingeborga Dapkūnaitė as Hannah Williams
- Karel Dobrý as Matthias
- Marcel Iureş as Alexander Golitsyn
- Rolf Saxon as C.I.A. Analyst William Donloe
- Olegar Fedoro as Kiev Agent
- Dale Dye as Frank Barnes
Box Office: $457.7 Million
___________________________________________________________________________
Mission: Impossible II (2000)
YouTube Video of Trailer for Mission Impossible II
Pictured: Theatrical poster for Mission: Impossible II, Copyright © 2000 by Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.
Mission: Impossible II (marketed as M:I-2) is a 2000 American-Australian action spy film directed by John Woo and starring Tom Cruise, who also served as the film's producer. It is the sequel to the 1996 film Mission: Impossible and the second installment in the Mission: Impossible film series.
In the film, Ethan Hunt is recruited by the IMF to find and destroy a dangerous chemical weapon called "Chimera" from a rogue IMF agent named Sean Ambrose with the help of his new girlfriend, Nyah Nordoff-Hall.
Production began after the successful release of the first film. Brian De Palma declined the offer to direct. During production, several action sequences were added.
It is the first film in the Mission: Impossible series where Ethan Hunt is actually working for the IMF.
Mission: Impossible 2 was released in theatres worldwide on May 24, 2000. It grossed more than $546.4 million worldwide. Critical response was mixed; praised was directed at Tom Cruise's performance and the action sequences, but the plot and dialogue were criticized.
Plot:
Ethan Hunt is alerted by the IMF that someone has used his identity to assist bio-chemical expert Dr. Vladimir Nekhorvich to enter the United States, only to kill him in a subsequent plane crash. Nekhorvich, an old friend of Ethan, had forewarned the IMF of his arrival, planning to deliver to them a new bioweapon, Chimera, and its cure, Bellerophon.
He was forced to develop these by Biocyte Pharmaceuticals. IMF determines that rogue IMF agent Sean Ambrose is responsible. IMF assigns Ethan to recover the virus and its cure. It also insists that he recruits Nyah Nordoff-Hall, a professional thief presently operating in Seville, Spain. Later, Ethan finds out that she is Ambrose's ex-girlfriend.
After recruiting Nyah, Ethan assembles his team, computer expert Luther Stickell and pilot Billy Baird, in Sydney, Australia, where Biocyte laboratories are located and Ambrose is staying. As Ethan stakes out Biocyte, Nyah gets close to Ambrose and begins to learn about the Chimera virus.
At a horse racing event, Ambrose meets with Biocyte's CEO, John C. McCloy. He shows McCloy a video of Chimera affecting one of Nekhorvich's colleagues. He then blackmails McCloy into cooperating with him. Nyah steals video footage and transfers it to Ethan. Ethan's team learn that Chimera has a 20-hour dormant period before it causes death by mass destruction of the victim's red blood cells. Bellerophon can only save the victim if used within that 20-hour window.
The IMF team kidnaps McCloy to force him to give up Bellerophon. However, they learn that the only samples of Bellerophon were taken by Nekhorvich, and are now in Ambrose's hands. Ambrose has the cure, but does not have the virus (which Nekhorvich injected himself with). As a result, Ambrose forced McCloy to exchange a sample of the virus for a sample of Bellerophon.
The team break into Biocyte to destroy the virus. Ambrose, posing as Ethan, tricks Nyah into revealing his plan. Ambrose captures Nyah and raids Biocyte to secure the virus. Ethan is able to destroy all but one sample of the virus before Ambrose intervenes, and a firefight ensues. Ambrose orders Nyah to retrieve the last sample of Chimera. She injects herself with it, preventing Ambrose from simply killing her to get it. Ambrose takes Nyah away, and Ethan escapes from the laboratory.
Ambrose lets Nyah wander the streets of Sydney in a daze, intending to start a pandemic. He offers to sell Bellerophon to McCloy in exchange for stock options, to make him the majority shareholder. He predicts that the price of Biocyte's stock will skyrocket due to demand for Bellerophon after the Chimera outbreak.
Ethan infiltrates the meeting and steals the remaining samples of Bellerophon. While Ethan is pursued by Ambrose, Luther and Billy locate Nyah, who has wandered to a cliff side, intent on killing herself to prevent Chimera from spreading. Ethan eventually gains the upper hand over Ambrose and kills him.
With little time left on the 20-hour countdown, Luther reaches Ethan, takes Bellerophon and injects Nyah with it. IMF clears Nyah's criminal record and Ethan starts his vacation with her in Sydney.
Cast:
Box Office: $546.4 million
___________________________________________________________________________
In the film, Ethan Hunt is recruited by the IMF to find and destroy a dangerous chemical weapon called "Chimera" from a rogue IMF agent named Sean Ambrose with the help of his new girlfriend, Nyah Nordoff-Hall.
Production began after the successful release of the first film. Brian De Palma declined the offer to direct. During production, several action sequences were added.
It is the first film in the Mission: Impossible series where Ethan Hunt is actually working for the IMF.
Mission: Impossible 2 was released in theatres worldwide on May 24, 2000. It grossed more than $546.4 million worldwide. Critical response was mixed; praised was directed at Tom Cruise's performance and the action sequences, but the plot and dialogue were criticized.
Plot:
Ethan Hunt is alerted by the IMF that someone has used his identity to assist bio-chemical expert Dr. Vladimir Nekhorvich to enter the United States, only to kill him in a subsequent plane crash. Nekhorvich, an old friend of Ethan, had forewarned the IMF of his arrival, planning to deliver to them a new bioweapon, Chimera, and its cure, Bellerophon.
He was forced to develop these by Biocyte Pharmaceuticals. IMF determines that rogue IMF agent Sean Ambrose is responsible. IMF assigns Ethan to recover the virus and its cure. It also insists that he recruits Nyah Nordoff-Hall, a professional thief presently operating in Seville, Spain. Later, Ethan finds out that she is Ambrose's ex-girlfriend.
After recruiting Nyah, Ethan assembles his team, computer expert Luther Stickell and pilot Billy Baird, in Sydney, Australia, where Biocyte laboratories are located and Ambrose is staying. As Ethan stakes out Biocyte, Nyah gets close to Ambrose and begins to learn about the Chimera virus.
At a horse racing event, Ambrose meets with Biocyte's CEO, John C. McCloy. He shows McCloy a video of Chimera affecting one of Nekhorvich's colleagues. He then blackmails McCloy into cooperating with him. Nyah steals video footage and transfers it to Ethan. Ethan's team learn that Chimera has a 20-hour dormant period before it causes death by mass destruction of the victim's red blood cells. Bellerophon can only save the victim if used within that 20-hour window.
The IMF team kidnaps McCloy to force him to give up Bellerophon. However, they learn that the only samples of Bellerophon were taken by Nekhorvich, and are now in Ambrose's hands. Ambrose has the cure, but does not have the virus (which Nekhorvich injected himself with). As a result, Ambrose forced McCloy to exchange a sample of the virus for a sample of Bellerophon.
The team break into Biocyte to destroy the virus. Ambrose, posing as Ethan, tricks Nyah into revealing his plan. Ambrose captures Nyah and raids Biocyte to secure the virus. Ethan is able to destroy all but one sample of the virus before Ambrose intervenes, and a firefight ensues. Ambrose orders Nyah to retrieve the last sample of Chimera. She injects herself with it, preventing Ambrose from simply killing her to get it. Ambrose takes Nyah away, and Ethan escapes from the laboratory.
Ambrose lets Nyah wander the streets of Sydney in a daze, intending to start a pandemic. He offers to sell Bellerophon to McCloy in exchange for stock options, to make him the majority shareholder. He predicts that the price of Biocyte's stock will skyrocket due to demand for Bellerophon after the Chimera outbreak.
Ethan infiltrates the meeting and steals the remaining samples of Bellerophon. While Ethan is pursued by Ambrose, Luther and Billy locate Nyah, who has wandered to a cliff side, intent on killing herself to prevent Chimera from spreading. Ethan eventually gains the upper hand over Ambrose and kills him.
With little time left on the 20-hour countdown, Luther reaches Ethan, takes Bellerophon and injects Nyah with it. IMF clears Nyah's criminal record and Ethan starts his vacation with her in Sydney.
Cast:
- Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt
- Dougray Scott as Sean Ambrose
- Thandie Newton as Nyah Nordoff-Hall
- Ving Rhames as Luther Stickell
- Richard Roxburgh as Hugh Stamp
- John Polson as Billy Baird
- Brendan Gleeson as John C. McCloy
- Radé Sherbedgia as Dr. Nekhorvich
- William Mapother as Wallis
- Dominic Purcell as Ulrich
- Mathew Wilkinson as Michael
Box Office: $546.4 million
___________________________________________________________________________
Mission: Impossible III (2006)
YouTube Video: Trailer of Mission Impossible III
Pictured: Theatrical Movie Poster
Mission: Impossible III (marketed as M:i:III, M:I-3, or Mission: Impossible 3) is a 2006 American-Chinese-German action spy film co-written and directed by J.J. Abrams, in his feature directorial debut, starring Tom Cruise, who also served as a producer, in the role of IMF agent Ethan Hunt.
It is the third installment in the Mission: Impossible film series. On April 26, 2006, the film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, and widely released in the United States on May 5, 2006, and was a critical and commercial success.
Ethan Hunt (Cruise) has retired from field work for the Impossible Missions Force (IMF) and trains new recruits. Ethan is sent back into action to track down the elusive arms dealer Owen Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman).
Plot:
Ethan Hunt has retired from field work for the IMF. He instead trains new recruits while settling down with his fiancée, Julia Meade, a nurse who is unaware of Ethan's true job.
He is approached by fellow IMF agent John Musgrave about a mission to rescue one of Ethan's protégés, Lindsey Farris. Lindsey was captured while investigating arms dealer Owen Davian. Musgrave has already prepared a team for Ethan: Declan Gormley, Zhen Lei, and his old partner Luther Stickell.
The team rescues Lindsey and collects two damaged laptop computers. As they flee, Ethan discovers an explosive pellet implanted in Lindsey's head. Before he can disable it, it goes off and kills her. Back in the U.S., Ethan and Musgrave are reprimanded by IMF Director Theodore Brassel. Ethan learns that Lindsey mailed him a postcard before her capture and discovers a magnetic microdot under the stamp.
IMF technician Benji Dunn recovers enough data from the laptops to determine Davian will be in Vatican City to obtain a mysterious object called the "Rabbit's Foot". Ethan plans a mission to capture Davian without seeking official approval. Before leaving, he and Julia have an impromptu wedding at the hospital's chapel. The team successfully infiltrates Vatican City and captures Davian.
On the flight back to the U.S., Ethan threatens to drop Davian from the plane as he interrogates him about Rabbit's foot, but Davian remains tightlipped. After landing, Ethan learns that the microdot contains a video of Lindsey warning that Brassel is working with Davian.
The convoy taking Davian across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge–Tunnel is attacked, and Davian escapes. Ethan races to Julia's workplace, only to find she has already been kidnapped. Davian gives Ethan 48 hours to recover the Rabbit's Foot in exchange for Julia's life, but Ethan is soon captured by the IMF.
Musgrave takes part in Ethan's interrogation but discreetly mouths that the Rabbit's Foot is located in Shanghai, China, and provides Ethan with the means to escape. Ethan escapes IMF headquarters, travels to Shanghai, and acquires Rabbit's Foot along with his team.
As he delivers Rabbit's Foot to the meeting point, Ethan is tranquilized. When he comes to, he realizes a micro-explosive is implanted in his head. The restrained Ethan sees Davian holding Julia at gunpoint. Despite Ethan asserting that he brought the real Rabbit's Foot, Davian shoots Julia and leaves.
Musgrave arrives and explains that the woman killed was not Julia, but Davian's head of security, executed for failing to protect him in Vatican City. The ruse was to confirm the authenticity of Rabbit's Foot. Julia is alive and held as hostage. Musgrave reveals himself as the mole. He arranged for Davian to acquire the Rabbit's Foot and sell to a terrorist group, so that IMF would have reasons to launch a preemptive strike.
When Musgrave lets his guard down, Ethan knocks him unconscious. He frees himself and uses Musgrave's phone to track the last call's location to find Julia. He arrives and finds the place, but encounters Davian.
Davian triggers the micro-explosive in Ethan's head, but Ethan kills him and the jury-rigs an impromptu defibrillator to deactivate the explosive. Before electrocuting himself, he teaches Julia to use his gun to defend herself. As Ethan is unconscious, a henchman and Musgrave arrive and Julia shoots them dead. She successfully revives Ethan and he explains his true IMF career to her.
Back in the U.S., Brassel congratulates Ethan Hunt as he leaves for his honeymoon with Julia.
Cast:
Box Office: $397.9 million
___________________________________________________________________________
It is the third installment in the Mission: Impossible film series. On April 26, 2006, the film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, and widely released in the United States on May 5, 2006, and was a critical and commercial success.
Ethan Hunt (Cruise) has retired from field work for the Impossible Missions Force (IMF) and trains new recruits. Ethan is sent back into action to track down the elusive arms dealer Owen Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman).
Plot:
Ethan Hunt has retired from field work for the IMF. He instead trains new recruits while settling down with his fiancée, Julia Meade, a nurse who is unaware of Ethan's true job.
He is approached by fellow IMF agent John Musgrave about a mission to rescue one of Ethan's protégés, Lindsey Farris. Lindsey was captured while investigating arms dealer Owen Davian. Musgrave has already prepared a team for Ethan: Declan Gormley, Zhen Lei, and his old partner Luther Stickell.
The team rescues Lindsey and collects two damaged laptop computers. As they flee, Ethan discovers an explosive pellet implanted in Lindsey's head. Before he can disable it, it goes off and kills her. Back in the U.S., Ethan and Musgrave are reprimanded by IMF Director Theodore Brassel. Ethan learns that Lindsey mailed him a postcard before her capture and discovers a magnetic microdot under the stamp.
IMF technician Benji Dunn recovers enough data from the laptops to determine Davian will be in Vatican City to obtain a mysterious object called the "Rabbit's Foot". Ethan plans a mission to capture Davian without seeking official approval. Before leaving, he and Julia have an impromptu wedding at the hospital's chapel. The team successfully infiltrates Vatican City and captures Davian.
On the flight back to the U.S., Ethan threatens to drop Davian from the plane as he interrogates him about Rabbit's foot, but Davian remains tightlipped. After landing, Ethan learns that the microdot contains a video of Lindsey warning that Brassel is working with Davian.
The convoy taking Davian across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge–Tunnel is attacked, and Davian escapes. Ethan races to Julia's workplace, only to find she has already been kidnapped. Davian gives Ethan 48 hours to recover the Rabbit's Foot in exchange for Julia's life, but Ethan is soon captured by the IMF.
Musgrave takes part in Ethan's interrogation but discreetly mouths that the Rabbit's Foot is located in Shanghai, China, and provides Ethan with the means to escape. Ethan escapes IMF headquarters, travels to Shanghai, and acquires Rabbit's Foot along with his team.
As he delivers Rabbit's Foot to the meeting point, Ethan is tranquilized. When he comes to, he realizes a micro-explosive is implanted in his head. The restrained Ethan sees Davian holding Julia at gunpoint. Despite Ethan asserting that he brought the real Rabbit's Foot, Davian shoots Julia and leaves.
Musgrave arrives and explains that the woman killed was not Julia, but Davian's head of security, executed for failing to protect him in Vatican City. The ruse was to confirm the authenticity of Rabbit's Foot. Julia is alive and held as hostage. Musgrave reveals himself as the mole. He arranged for Davian to acquire the Rabbit's Foot and sell to a terrorist group, so that IMF would have reasons to launch a preemptive strike.
When Musgrave lets his guard down, Ethan knocks him unconscious. He frees himself and uses Musgrave's phone to track the last call's location to find Julia. He arrives and finds the place, but encounters Davian.
Davian triggers the micro-explosive in Ethan's head, but Ethan kills him and the jury-rigs an impromptu defibrillator to deactivate the explosive. Before electrocuting himself, he teaches Julia to use his gun to defend herself. As Ethan is unconscious, a henchman and Musgrave arrive and Julia shoots them dead. She successfully revives Ethan and he explains his true IMF career to her.
Back in the U.S., Brassel congratulates Ethan Hunt as he leaves for his honeymoon with Julia.
Cast:
- Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt
- Philip Seymour Hoffman as Owen Davian, black market dealer
- Ving Rhames as Luther Stickell, member of Ethan's team
- Billy Crudup as John Musgrave, IMF Operations Director
- Michelle Monaghan as Julia "Jules" Meade, Ethan's fiancée
- Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Declan Gormley, member of Ethan's team
- Keri Russell as Lindsey Farris, IMF agent trained by Ethan
- Maggie Q as Zhen Lei, member of Ethan's team
- Simon Pegg as Benjamín "Benji" Dunn, IMF technician
- Eddie Marsan as Brownway, Davian's right-hand man
- Laurence Fishburne as Theodore Brassel, Head of the IMF
- Bahar Soomekh as Davian's Translator
- Jeff Chase as Davian's Bodyguard
- Michael Berry, Jr. as Julia's Kidnapper
Box Office: $397.9 million
___________________________________________________________________________
Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011)
YouTube Video of Movie Trailer for Ghost Protocol
Pictured: Movie Theatrical Release Poster
Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol is a 2011 American action film and the fourth installment in the Mission: Impossible film series, and director Brad Bird's first live-action film.
It stars Tom Cruise, who reprises his role of IMF agent Ethan Hunt, with Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, and Paula Patton as his supporting team.
Ghost Protocol was written by André Nemec and Josh Appelbaum, and produced by Cruise, J. J. Abrams (the third film's director) and Bryan Burk. It saw the return of editor Paul Hirsch and visual effects supervisor John Knoll from the first film, and is also the first Mission: Impossible film to be partially filmed using IMAX cameras.
Released in North America by Paramount Pictures on December 16, 2011, the film was a critical and commercial success. Ghost Protocol became the highest-grossing film in the series, and the highest-grossing film starring Cruise.
Plot:
In Budapest, after stealing Russian codes from a courier working for an individual code-named "Cobalt", IMF agent Trevor Hanaway is killed by assassin Sabine Moreau. Jane Carter, Hanaway's team leader, and newly promoted field agent Benjamin Dunn free Ethan Hunt from a Moscow prison, along with Ethan's source, Bogdan.
Ethan is tasked with infiltrating the Moscow Kremlin archives and locating files identifying Cobalt. During the mission, someone broadcasts on the IMF frequency, ordering the detonation of a bomb and alerting the Russians to the presence of Ethan's team. A bomb destroys the Kremlin. Benji and Jane escape, but Ethan is captured by SVR agent Anatoly Sidorov.
Ethan escapes and meets the IMF Secretary, who is in Moscow on another matter. The U.S. President is forced to initiate "Ghost Protocol", disavowing the entire IMF. Ethan and his team are to take the blame for the attack, but the Secretary unofficially orders Ethan to track down Cobalt. Before Ethan can leave, the Secretary is killed by Russian security forces led by Sidorov, but Hunt and intelligence analyst William Brandt get away.
Brandt identifies Cobalt as Kurt Hendricks, a Swedish-born Russian nuclear strategist. Hendricks plans to start a nuclear war between the U.S. and Russia. The Kremlin attack also conceals his theft of a Russian nuclear launch-control device. His next move is to launch a nuclear missile at the United States in "retaliation" for the Kremlin attack. For this, he needs the activation codes, now possessed by Moreau.
The team learns that the exchange between Moreau and Hendricks' right-hand man, Marius Wistrom, is to take place in the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. After successfully gaining control of the cameras and elevators, Ethan and Brandt pose as Wistrom and Leonid Lisenkar (a cryptographer who accompanies Wistrom to authenticate the codes) respectively and Jane as Moreau in different suites to fool both sides.
However, Moreau notices a gadget in one of Brandt's eyes. While Jane detains Moreau, Wistrom (actually Hendricks in disguise) gets away with the launch codes. When Moreau attempts to escape, Jane kicks her out a window to her death. Brandt accuses Jane of compromising the mission for revenge (she loved Hanaway), but Ethan accuses Brandt of keeping secrets from them, as he has demonstrated combat skills atypical of a mere analyst.
Ethan leaves to meet Bogdan. Brandt then confides that he was assigned to protect Ethan and his wife Julia in Croatia. While Brandt was on patrol, Julia was killed by a Serbian hit squad. Ethan killed the Serbs, got caught by the Russians and was sent to prison.
Bogdan's relative, an arms dealer, informs Ethan that Hendricks will be in Mumbai, where an obsolete Soviet military satellite was sold to Indian telecommunications entrepreneur Brij Nath. The satellite can be used to transmit launch codes to nuclear missiles.
While Brandt and Benji infiltrate Nath's server room to deactivate the satellite, Jane gets Nath alone and forces him to reveal the satellite override code.
Hendricks sends a signal to a Russian Delta III-class nuclear submarine to fire a single missile at San Francisco. Afterwards, he has Nath's servers infected with a virus and the broadcast station is partially dismantled. While the other team members bring the broadcast station back online, Ethan pursues Hendricks and the launch device.
Ethan and Hendricks fight in an automated car park; eventually Hendricks jumps to his death with the device to make sure Ethan cannot reach it in time, but Ethan finds a way to reach it. Ethan deactivates the missile just in time, and the warhead crashes harmlessly into the water. The dying Hendricks witnesses the failure of his plan. Sidorov arrives and realizes that the IMF is innocent of the Kremlin bombing.
The team meets in Seattle after Ethan accepts a new mission from Luther Stickell. Brandt confesses to Ethan about his failure to protect Julia. Ethan, however, reveals that her "death" and the murder of the Serbians were part of a plot to give her a new identity and enable Ethan to infiltrate the prison. A relieved Brandt accepts his mission. Ethan and Julia gaze at each other from afar before Ethan departs for his next mission.
Cast:
Box Office: $694.7 million
___________________________________________________________________________
It stars Tom Cruise, who reprises his role of IMF agent Ethan Hunt, with Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, and Paula Patton as his supporting team.
Ghost Protocol was written by André Nemec and Josh Appelbaum, and produced by Cruise, J. J. Abrams (the third film's director) and Bryan Burk. It saw the return of editor Paul Hirsch and visual effects supervisor John Knoll from the first film, and is also the first Mission: Impossible film to be partially filmed using IMAX cameras.
Released in North America by Paramount Pictures on December 16, 2011, the film was a critical and commercial success. Ghost Protocol became the highest-grossing film in the series, and the highest-grossing film starring Cruise.
Plot:
In Budapest, after stealing Russian codes from a courier working for an individual code-named "Cobalt", IMF agent Trevor Hanaway is killed by assassin Sabine Moreau. Jane Carter, Hanaway's team leader, and newly promoted field agent Benjamin Dunn free Ethan Hunt from a Moscow prison, along with Ethan's source, Bogdan.
Ethan is tasked with infiltrating the Moscow Kremlin archives and locating files identifying Cobalt. During the mission, someone broadcasts on the IMF frequency, ordering the detonation of a bomb and alerting the Russians to the presence of Ethan's team. A bomb destroys the Kremlin. Benji and Jane escape, but Ethan is captured by SVR agent Anatoly Sidorov.
Ethan escapes and meets the IMF Secretary, who is in Moscow on another matter. The U.S. President is forced to initiate "Ghost Protocol", disavowing the entire IMF. Ethan and his team are to take the blame for the attack, but the Secretary unofficially orders Ethan to track down Cobalt. Before Ethan can leave, the Secretary is killed by Russian security forces led by Sidorov, but Hunt and intelligence analyst William Brandt get away.
Brandt identifies Cobalt as Kurt Hendricks, a Swedish-born Russian nuclear strategist. Hendricks plans to start a nuclear war between the U.S. and Russia. The Kremlin attack also conceals his theft of a Russian nuclear launch-control device. His next move is to launch a nuclear missile at the United States in "retaliation" for the Kremlin attack. For this, he needs the activation codes, now possessed by Moreau.
The team learns that the exchange between Moreau and Hendricks' right-hand man, Marius Wistrom, is to take place in the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. After successfully gaining control of the cameras and elevators, Ethan and Brandt pose as Wistrom and Leonid Lisenkar (a cryptographer who accompanies Wistrom to authenticate the codes) respectively and Jane as Moreau in different suites to fool both sides.
However, Moreau notices a gadget in one of Brandt's eyes. While Jane detains Moreau, Wistrom (actually Hendricks in disguise) gets away with the launch codes. When Moreau attempts to escape, Jane kicks her out a window to her death. Brandt accuses Jane of compromising the mission for revenge (she loved Hanaway), but Ethan accuses Brandt of keeping secrets from them, as he has demonstrated combat skills atypical of a mere analyst.
Ethan leaves to meet Bogdan. Brandt then confides that he was assigned to protect Ethan and his wife Julia in Croatia. While Brandt was on patrol, Julia was killed by a Serbian hit squad. Ethan killed the Serbs, got caught by the Russians and was sent to prison.
Bogdan's relative, an arms dealer, informs Ethan that Hendricks will be in Mumbai, where an obsolete Soviet military satellite was sold to Indian telecommunications entrepreneur Brij Nath. The satellite can be used to transmit launch codes to nuclear missiles.
While Brandt and Benji infiltrate Nath's server room to deactivate the satellite, Jane gets Nath alone and forces him to reveal the satellite override code.
Hendricks sends a signal to a Russian Delta III-class nuclear submarine to fire a single missile at San Francisco. Afterwards, he has Nath's servers infected with a virus and the broadcast station is partially dismantled. While the other team members bring the broadcast station back online, Ethan pursues Hendricks and the launch device.
Ethan and Hendricks fight in an automated car park; eventually Hendricks jumps to his death with the device to make sure Ethan cannot reach it in time, but Ethan finds a way to reach it. Ethan deactivates the missile just in time, and the warhead crashes harmlessly into the water. The dying Hendricks witnesses the failure of his plan. Sidorov arrives and realizes that the IMF is innocent of the Kremlin bombing.
The team meets in Seattle after Ethan accepts a new mission from Luther Stickell. Brandt confesses to Ethan about his failure to protect Julia. Ethan, however, reveals that her "death" and the murder of the Serbians were part of a plot to give her a new identity and enable Ethan to infiltrate the prison. A relieved Brandt accepts his mission. Ethan and Julia gaze at each other from afar before Ethan departs for his next mission.
Cast:
- Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt
- Jeremy Renner as William Brandt
- Simon Pegg as Benjamín "Benji" Dunn
- Paula Patton as Jane Carter
- Michael Nyqvist as Kurt Hendricks
- Vladimir Mashkov as Anatoly Sidorov
- Samuli Edelmann as Marius Wistrom
- Ivan Shvedoff as Leonid Lisenker, a nuclear code expert forced by Hendricks to authenticate the codes
- Anil Kapoor as Brij Nath, an Indian media tycoon
- Léa Seydoux as Sabine Moreau
- Josh Holloway as Trevor Hanaway
- Pavel Kříž as Marek Stefanski
- Miraj Grbić as Bogdan
- Ilia Volok as the Fog, an arms dealer and Bogdan's cousin
- Tom Wilkinson (uncredited) as the IMF Secretary.
- Ving Rhames (uncredited cameo) as Luther Stickell
- Michelle Monaghan (uncredited cameo) as Julia Meade-Hunt, Ethan's wife
Box Office: $694.7 million
___________________________________________________________________________
Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015)
YouTube Video of Movie Trailer for Rogue Nation
Pictured: Theatrical Movie Poster
Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation is a 2015 American action spy film co-written and directed by Christopher McQuarrie. It is the fifth installment in the Mission: Impossible film series.
The film stars:
Cruise, Renner, Pegg, and Rhames reprise their roles from previous films. Rogue Nation is produced by Cruise, J. J. Abrams, and David Ellison of Skydance Productions.
In the film, IMF agent Ethan Hunt (Cruise) is on the run from the CIA, following the IMF's disbandment as he tries to prove the existence of the Syndicate, an international mysterious terrorist consortium.
Filming began on August 21, 2014, in Vienna, Austria, and concluded on March 12, 2015. The film was released in North America by Paramount Pictures on July 31, 2015. In its opening weekend it took in $56 million at the U.S. box office and went on to gross $195 million in North America and $682 million worldwide, becoming the second highest-grossing film in the series.
Plot:
After intercepting nerve gas being sold to Chechen terrorists in Minsk, Belarus, Impossible Missions Force (IMF) agent Ethan Hunt is convinced he can prove the existence of the Syndicate, an international criminal consortium that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) does not believe exists. Hunt is captured by the Syndicate, but escapes a torture chamber led by Syndicate member Janik "Bone Doctor" Vinter with the help of disavowed MI6 agent and Syndicate operative Ilsa Faust.
CIA Director Alan Hunley and IMF Field Operations Director William Brandt testify before a Senate committee. The IMF, currently without a secretary in charge, is controversial because of its destructive methods and various misconducts.
Hunley succeeds in having the IMF disbanded and absorbed into the CIA. Brandt, knowing that Hunley will try to capture Hunt, warns him to stay undercover. Cut off from the IMF, Hunt follows his only lead: a blonde man in glasses, later identified as former MI6 agent Solomon Lane.
Six months later, Hunt remains a fugitive. He enlists former colleague Benji Dunn to attend an opera in Vienna. He predicts that an attempt will be made on the Austrian Chancellor at the performance, and believes that Lane will also be there.
He and Dunn stop three snipers including Faust, but the Chancellor is killed by a car bomb, and Lane is still not found. Faust drops hints of Lane's plan to Hunt before leaving. Dunn decides to stay with Hunt instead of reporting back to the CIA, despite knowing his action amounts to treason.
Hunt, blamed for the Chancellor's death, is pursued by the CIA's Special Activities Division. Learning of this, Brandt contacts Luther Stickell to find Hunt before the CIA does. Stickell tracks Hunt, Dunn, and Faust to Casablanca, Morocco. Here, the group plans to acquire a list of Syndicate agents, contained in a secure building. After they retrieve the data, Faust flees with it, evading both Hunt and Syndicate members. Hunt kills the pursuing Syndicate members, but Faust escapes with the data. Dunn reveals he copied the data onto a USB drive, as Stickell and Brandt catch up to Hunt and Dunn.
Faust returns to London and attempts to use the file to quit her mission to infiltrate the Syndicate, but her MI6 handler, Atlee, compels her to continue. She and Lane learn that Atlee wiped the drive. Meanwhile, Ethan learns that the data is actually an encrypted British-government red box that requires the Prime Minister's biometrics to unlock it. Lane's men abduct Dunn, and use Dunn and Faust to blackmail Hunt into decrypting the data and delivering it to them. Hunt agrees to the ultimatum, despite protests from Brandt.
As part of Hunt's plan, Brandt reveals their location to Hunley. At a London charity auction, Hunley, Brandt, and Atlee take the Prime Minister to a secure room to protect him from Hunt. Atlee reveals himself as a disguised Hunt and has the Prime Minister confirm the existence of the Syndicate, a proposed project to perform missions without oversight, making the Prime Minister an executioner with zero accountability.
When the real Atlee arrives, Hunt forces him to admit that he began the Syndicate without permission. Atlee admits he has been covering up its existence after Lane hijacked the project and went rogue, turning the Syndicate against him and MI6.
With the Prime Minister's biometrics, Stickell decrypts the data and discovers the file actually contains access to 2.4 billion British pounds in various bank accounts. Hunt promptly destroys the data.
At the meeting, he tells Lane he memorized the data, and offers himself in exchange for Dunn and Faust. Dunn escapes, while Ethan and Faust are chased through the streets of London by Lane's men. Faust kills Vinter in a knife fight, while Ethan confronts Lane and lures him into a bulletproof cell where he is gassed and taken into custody.
Hunley, having witnessed an IMF operation's success firsthand, returns with Brandt to the Senate committee meeting and convinces them to restore the IMF by covering for Hunt and his team. After the meeting, Brandt congratulates Hunley, who is now the new IMF Secretary.
Cast:
Box Office: $682.3 million
The film stars:
Cruise, Renner, Pegg, and Rhames reprise their roles from previous films. Rogue Nation is produced by Cruise, J. J. Abrams, and David Ellison of Skydance Productions.
In the film, IMF agent Ethan Hunt (Cruise) is on the run from the CIA, following the IMF's disbandment as he tries to prove the existence of the Syndicate, an international mysterious terrorist consortium.
Filming began on August 21, 2014, in Vienna, Austria, and concluded on March 12, 2015. The film was released in North America by Paramount Pictures on July 31, 2015. In its opening weekend it took in $56 million at the U.S. box office and went on to gross $195 million in North America and $682 million worldwide, becoming the second highest-grossing film in the series.
Plot:
After intercepting nerve gas being sold to Chechen terrorists in Minsk, Belarus, Impossible Missions Force (IMF) agent Ethan Hunt is convinced he can prove the existence of the Syndicate, an international criminal consortium that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) does not believe exists. Hunt is captured by the Syndicate, but escapes a torture chamber led by Syndicate member Janik "Bone Doctor" Vinter with the help of disavowed MI6 agent and Syndicate operative Ilsa Faust.
CIA Director Alan Hunley and IMF Field Operations Director William Brandt testify before a Senate committee. The IMF, currently without a secretary in charge, is controversial because of its destructive methods and various misconducts.
Hunley succeeds in having the IMF disbanded and absorbed into the CIA. Brandt, knowing that Hunley will try to capture Hunt, warns him to stay undercover. Cut off from the IMF, Hunt follows his only lead: a blonde man in glasses, later identified as former MI6 agent Solomon Lane.
Six months later, Hunt remains a fugitive. He enlists former colleague Benji Dunn to attend an opera in Vienna. He predicts that an attempt will be made on the Austrian Chancellor at the performance, and believes that Lane will also be there.
He and Dunn stop three snipers including Faust, but the Chancellor is killed by a car bomb, and Lane is still not found. Faust drops hints of Lane's plan to Hunt before leaving. Dunn decides to stay with Hunt instead of reporting back to the CIA, despite knowing his action amounts to treason.
Hunt, blamed for the Chancellor's death, is pursued by the CIA's Special Activities Division. Learning of this, Brandt contacts Luther Stickell to find Hunt before the CIA does. Stickell tracks Hunt, Dunn, and Faust to Casablanca, Morocco. Here, the group plans to acquire a list of Syndicate agents, contained in a secure building. After they retrieve the data, Faust flees with it, evading both Hunt and Syndicate members. Hunt kills the pursuing Syndicate members, but Faust escapes with the data. Dunn reveals he copied the data onto a USB drive, as Stickell and Brandt catch up to Hunt and Dunn.
Faust returns to London and attempts to use the file to quit her mission to infiltrate the Syndicate, but her MI6 handler, Atlee, compels her to continue. She and Lane learn that Atlee wiped the drive. Meanwhile, Ethan learns that the data is actually an encrypted British-government red box that requires the Prime Minister's biometrics to unlock it. Lane's men abduct Dunn, and use Dunn and Faust to blackmail Hunt into decrypting the data and delivering it to them. Hunt agrees to the ultimatum, despite protests from Brandt.
As part of Hunt's plan, Brandt reveals their location to Hunley. At a London charity auction, Hunley, Brandt, and Atlee take the Prime Minister to a secure room to protect him from Hunt. Atlee reveals himself as a disguised Hunt and has the Prime Minister confirm the existence of the Syndicate, a proposed project to perform missions without oversight, making the Prime Minister an executioner with zero accountability.
When the real Atlee arrives, Hunt forces him to admit that he began the Syndicate without permission. Atlee admits he has been covering up its existence after Lane hijacked the project and went rogue, turning the Syndicate against him and MI6.
With the Prime Minister's biometrics, Stickell decrypts the data and discovers the file actually contains access to 2.4 billion British pounds in various bank accounts. Hunt promptly destroys the data.
At the meeting, he tells Lane he memorized the data, and offers himself in exchange for Dunn and Faust. Dunn escapes, while Ethan and Faust are chased through the streets of London by Lane's men. Faust kills Vinter in a knife fight, while Ethan confronts Lane and lures him into a bulletproof cell where he is gassed and taken into custody.
Hunley, having witnessed an IMF operation's success firsthand, returns with Brandt to the Senate committee meeting and convinces them to restore the IMF by covering for Hunt and his team. After the meeting, Brandt congratulates Hunley, who is now the new IMF Secretary.
Cast:
- Tom Cruise as IMF agent Ethan Hunt
- Simon Pegg as IMF technical field agent Benjamín "Benji" Dunn
- Jeremy Renner as IMF Field Operations Director William Brandt
- Rebecca Ferguson as Ilsa Faust, an MI6 agent undercover in the Syndicate
- Ving Rhames as IMF agent Luther Stickell
- Sean Harris as Solomon Lane, a former MI6 agent who went rogue to lead The Syndicate
- Alec Baldwin as Alan Hunley, the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency
- Jens Hultén as Janik "Bone Doctor" Vinter, Lane's personal henchman and a former KGB operative who went rogue to assist the Syndicate
- Simon McBurney as Atlee, head of the Secret Intelligence Service
- Zhang Jingchu as Lauren, a CIA analyst
- Tom Hollander as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
- Hermione Corfield as an IMF agent who doubles as a record-shop keeper in London
Box Office: $682.3 million
The Lord of the Rings Franchise
YouTube Video of the Top 10 The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit Moments by WatchMojo
Pictured: The poster for the series is a montage that features a range of characters and scenes from all three "Lord of the Rings" films
The Lord of the Rings (also promoted as The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy) is a film series consisting of three high fantasy adventure films directed by Peter Jackson.
They are based on the novel The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien. The films are subtitled The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Two Towers (2002) and The Return of the King (2003). They were distributed by New Line Cinema.
Considered to be one of the biggest and most ambitious film projects ever undertaken, with an overall budget of $281 million (some sources say $310-$330 million), the entire project took eight years, with the filming for all three films done simultaneously and entirely in New Zealand, Jackson's native country.
Each film in the series also had special extended editions released on DVD a year after their respective theatrical releases.
While the films follow the book's general story line, they do omit some of the novel's plot elements and include some additions to and deviations from the source material.
Set in the fictional world of Middle-earth, the films follow the hobbit Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) as he and a Fellowship embark on a quest to destroy the One Ring, and thus ensure the destruction of its maker, the Dark Lord Sauron (Sala Baker).
The Fellowship becomes divided and Frodo continues the quest together with his loyal companion Sam (Sean Astin) and the treacherous Gollum (Andy Serkis).
Meanwhile, Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), heir in exile to the throne of Gondor, and the wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen) unite and rally the Free Peoples of Middle-earth in the War of the Ring.
The series was a major financial success, with the films collectively being among the highest-grossing film series of all time, with total box office receipts of $2.917 Billion.
The films were critically acclaimed and heavily awarded, winning 17 out of 30 total Academy Award nominations.
The final film in the series, The Return of the King, won all of its 11 Academy Award nominations including Best Picture, which also tied it with Ben-Hur and Titanic for most Academy Awards received for a film. The series received wide praise for its innovative special and visual effects.
Below, you will find amplification of each of the three movies in the order released.
They are based on the novel The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien. The films are subtitled The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Two Towers (2002) and The Return of the King (2003). They were distributed by New Line Cinema.
Considered to be one of the biggest and most ambitious film projects ever undertaken, with an overall budget of $281 million (some sources say $310-$330 million), the entire project took eight years, with the filming for all three films done simultaneously and entirely in New Zealand, Jackson's native country.
Each film in the series also had special extended editions released on DVD a year after their respective theatrical releases.
While the films follow the book's general story line, they do omit some of the novel's plot elements and include some additions to and deviations from the source material.
Set in the fictional world of Middle-earth, the films follow the hobbit Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) as he and a Fellowship embark on a quest to destroy the One Ring, and thus ensure the destruction of its maker, the Dark Lord Sauron (Sala Baker).
The Fellowship becomes divided and Frodo continues the quest together with his loyal companion Sam (Sean Astin) and the treacherous Gollum (Andy Serkis).
Meanwhile, Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), heir in exile to the throne of Gondor, and the wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen) unite and rally the Free Peoples of Middle-earth in the War of the Ring.
The series was a major financial success, with the films collectively being among the highest-grossing film series of all time, with total box office receipts of $2.917 Billion.
The films were critically acclaimed and heavily awarded, winning 17 out of 30 total Academy Award nominations.
The final film in the series, The Return of the King, won all of its 11 Academy Award nominations including Best Picture, which also tied it with Ben-Hur and Titanic for most Academy Awards received for a film. The series received wide praise for its innovative special and visual effects.
Below, you will find amplification of each of the three movies in the order released.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
YouTube Video of Movie Trailer for Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring is a 2001 epic high fantasy adventure film directed by Peter Jackson based on the first volume of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings (1954–1955).
Set in Middle-earth, the story tells of the Dark Lord Sauron (Sala Baker), who is seeking the One Ring. The Ring has found its way to the young hobbit Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood).
The fate of Middle-earth hangs in the balance as Frodo and eight companions who form the Fellowship of the Ring begin their journey to Mount Doom in the land of Mordor, the only place where the Ring can be destroyed.
Released in December, 2001, the film was highly acclaimed by critics and fans alike who considered it to be a landmark in film-making and an achievement in the fantasy film genre. It has continued to be featured on critic lists of the greatest fantasy films ever made, as of 2015. The film was a massive box office success, earning over $871 million worldwide, and becoming the second highest-grossing film of 2001 in the US and worldwide (behind Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone). As of June 2016, it is the 47th highest-grossing film of all time worldwide unadjusted for inflation.
It was nominated for thirteen Oscars at the 74th Academy Awards ceremony, including Best Picture and Best Director, and winning four for Best Cinematography, Best Makeup, Best Original Score, and Best Visual Effects. It also won four British Academy Film Awards, including Best Film and Best Director BAFTA awards.
The Special Extended Edition was released to DVD on 12 November 2002 and to Blu-ray Disc on 28 June 2011. In 2007, The Fellowship of the Ring was voted No. 50 on the American Film Institute's list of 100 greatest American films. The AFI also voted it the second greatest fantasy film of all time during their 10 Top 10 special. The film ranks #24 on Empire magazine's 2008 list of the 500 greatest movies of all time.
Plot:
In the Second Age of Middle-earth, the Dark Lord Sauron forges the One Ring in Mount Doom to conquer all, abandoning a great part of his power to it in order to dominate, through it, at a distance, the other Rings of Power, which had been granted to lords of Elves, Dwarves and Men.
An army of men and elves battle Sauron’s forces in Mordor, where Prince Isildur of Gondor cuts the One Ring off of Sauron's finger, thereby temporarily destroying his physical shape, and decides to take care of the Ring himself, but the evil influence of the Ring corrupts Isildur, preventing him from destroying it in Mount Doom.
Isildur is later killed by Orcs, and the Ring is lost for 2,500 years, found and owned by Gollum for five centuries. The Ring is then found by a Hobbit named Bilbo Baggins.
Sixty years on, Bilbo celebrates his 111th birthday in the Shire, reuniting with his old friend Gandalf the Grey. Bilbo reveals he intends on leaving the Shire for one last adventure and leaves his inheritance to his nephew Frodo, including the Ring. Gandalf investigates the Ring, discovering its true identity and warns Frodo.
Learning Gollum was tortured by Orcs and told them that Bilbo took the Ring, Gandalf instructs Frodo to leave the Shire, accompanied by his gardener Samwise Gamgee. Gandalf rides to Isengard, meeting fellow wizard Saruman the White, but learns he is in league with Sauron, who has unleashed the Ringwraiths to find Frodo.
After a brief battle, Saruman imprisons Gandalf. Frodo and Sam are joined by fellow Hobbits, Merry and Pippin, and they evade the Ringwraiths, arriving in Bree where they are meant to meet Gandalf, but are instead aided by a ranger named Strider, a friend of Gandalf's who escorts them to Rivendell.
The Hobbits are ambushed by the Ringwraiths, one stabbing Frodo with a morgul blade. Arwen, an elf and Strider’s lover, comes to Frodo’s aid and successfully takes him to Rivendell where he is healed, meeting Gandalf who escaped Saruman on the back of a giant eagle.
Arwen’s father, Lord Elrond, holds a council, deciding that the Ring must be destroyed in Mount Doom. While the members argue, Frodo volunteers to take the Ring, accompanied by Gandalf, Sam, Merry, Pippin, elf Legolas, dwarf Gimli, Boromir of Gondor, and Strider, who is revealed to be Aragorn, Isildur’s heir and rightful King of Gondor. Bilbo gives Frodo his sword, Sting. The Fellowship of the Ring sets off but Saruman’s magic forces them to travel through the Mines of Moria.
The Fellowship find the dwarves within Moria have been slain, and they are attacked by Orcs and a cave troll. They defeat them, but are confronted by an ancient demon called the Balrog.
Gandalf casts the Balrog into a vast chasm, but its fiery whip drags Gandalf down into the darkness with it. The rest of the Fellowship, now led by Aragorn, reach Lothlórien, home to elves Galadriel and Celeborn. Galadriel privately informs Frodo that only he can complete the quest and one of his friends will try to take the Ring. Meanwhile, Saruman creates an army of Uruk-hai to track and kill the Fellowship save Frodo.
The Fellowship leave Lothlórien by river to Parth Galen. Frodo wanders off, confronted by Boromir who tries to take the Ring in desperation. Afraid of the Ring corrupting his friends, Frodo decides to travel to Mordor alone.
The other members fight off the Uruk-hai, but Merry and Pippin are taken captive, and Boromir is mortally wounded by the Uruk chieftain. After killing the chieftain, Aragorn helps Boromir die peacefully. Sam follows Frodo, accompanying him to keep his promise to Gandalf to protect Frodo, while Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli go to rescue Merry and Pippin.
Cast:
Box Office: $871.5 million
___________________________________________________________________________
Set in Middle-earth, the story tells of the Dark Lord Sauron (Sala Baker), who is seeking the One Ring. The Ring has found its way to the young hobbit Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood).
The fate of Middle-earth hangs in the balance as Frodo and eight companions who form the Fellowship of the Ring begin their journey to Mount Doom in the land of Mordor, the only place where the Ring can be destroyed.
Released in December, 2001, the film was highly acclaimed by critics and fans alike who considered it to be a landmark in film-making and an achievement in the fantasy film genre. It has continued to be featured on critic lists of the greatest fantasy films ever made, as of 2015. The film was a massive box office success, earning over $871 million worldwide, and becoming the second highest-grossing film of 2001 in the US and worldwide (behind Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone). As of June 2016, it is the 47th highest-grossing film of all time worldwide unadjusted for inflation.
It was nominated for thirteen Oscars at the 74th Academy Awards ceremony, including Best Picture and Best Director, and winning four for Best Cinematography, Best Makeup, Best Original Score, and Best Visual Effects. It also won four British Academy Film Awards, including Best Film and Best Director BAFTA awards.
The Special Extended Edition was released to DVD on 12 November 2002 and to Blu-ray Disc on 28 June 2011. In 2007, The Fellowship of the Ring was voted No. 50 on the American Film Institute's list of 100 greatest American films. The AFI also voted it the second greatest fantasy film of all time during their 10 Top 10 special. The film ranks #24 on Empire magazine's 2008 list of the 500 greatest movies of all time.
Plot:
In the Second Age of Middle-earth, the Dark Lord Sauron forges the One Ring in Mount Doom to conquer all, abandoning a great part of his power to it in order to dominate, through it, at a distance, the other Rings of Power, which had been granted to lords of Elves, Dwarves and Men.
An army of men and elves battle Sauron’s forces in Mordor, where Prince Isildur of Gondor cuts the One Ring off of Sauron's finger, thereby temporarily destroying his physical shape, and decides to take care of the Ring himself, but the evil influence of the Ring corrupts Isildur, preventing him from destroying it in Mount Doom.
Isildur is later killed by Orcs, and the Ring is lost for 2,500 years, found and owned by Gollum for five centuries. The Ring is then found by a Hobbit named Bilbo Baggins.
Sixty years on, Bilbo celebrates his 111th birthday in the Shire, reuniting with his old friend Gandalf the Grey. Bilbo reveals he intends on leaving the Shire for one last adventure and leaves his inheritance to his nephew Frodo, including the Ring. Gandalf investigates the Ring, discovering its true identity and warns Frodo.
Learning Gollum was tortured by Orcs and told them that Bilbo took the Ring, Gandalf instructs Frodo to leave the Shire, accompanied by his gardener Samwise Gamgee. Gandalf rides to Isengard, meeting fellow wizard Saruman the White, but learns he is in league with Sauron, who has unleashed the Ringwraiths to find Frodo.
After a brief battle, Saruman imprisons Gandalf. Frodo and Sam are joined by fellow Hobbits, Merry and Pippin, and they evade the Ringwraiths, arriving in Bree where they are meant to meet Gandalf, but are instead aided by a ranger named Strider, a friend of Gandalf's who escorts them to Rivendell.
The Hobbits are ambushed by the Ringwraiths, one stabbing Frodo with a morgul blade. Arwen, an elf and Strider’s lover, comes to Frodo’s aid and successfully takes him to Rivendell where he is healed, meeting Gandalf who escaped Saruman on the back of a giant eagle.
Arwen’s father, Lord Elrond, holds a council, deciding that the Ring must be destroyed in Mount Doom. While the members argue, Frodo volunteers to take the Ring, accompanied by Gandalf, Sam, Merry, Pippin, elf Legolas, dwarf Gimli, Boromir of Gondor, and Strider, who is revealed to be Aragorn, Isildur’s heir and rightful King of Gondor. Bilbo gives Frodo his sword, Sting. The Fellowship of the Ring sets off but Saruman’s magic forces them to travel through the Mines of Moria.
The Fellowship find the dwarves within Moria have been slain, and they are attacked by Orcs and a cave troll. They defeat them, but are confronted by an ancient demon called the Balrog.
Gandalf casts the Balrog into a vast chasm, but its fiery whip drags Gandalf down into the darkness with it. The rest of the Fellowship, now led by Aragorn, reach Lothlórien, home to elves Galadriel and Celeborn. Galadriel privately informs Frodo that only he can complete the quest and one of his friends will try to take the Ring. Meanwhile, Saruman creates an army of Uruk-hai to track and kill the Fellowship save Frodo.
The Fellowship leave Lothlórien by river to Parth Galen. Frodo wanders off, confronted by Boromir who tries to take the Ring in desperation. Afraid of the Ring corrupting his friends, Frodo decides to travel to Mordor alone.
The other members fight off the Uruk-hai, but Merry and Pippin are taken captive, and Boromir is mortally wounded by the Uruk chieftain. After killing the chieftain, Aragorn helps Boromir die peacefully. Sam follows Frodo, accompanying him to keep his promise to Gandalf to protect Frodo, while Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli go to rescue Merry and Pippin.
Cast:
- Elijah Wood as Frodo Baggin;
- Ian McKellen as Gandalf the Grey;
- Viggo Mortensen as "Strider" Aragorn II Elessar: a Dúnedain ranger, the descendant of Isildur, and heir to Gondor's throne;
- Sean Astin as Samwise "Sam" Gamgee;
- Liv Tyler as Arwen Undomiel;
- Sala Baker as Sauron, the Dark Lord of Mordor;
- Cate Blanchett as as Galadriel: the elven co-ruler of Lothlórien alongside her husband Celeborn;
- John Rhys-Davies as Gimli;
- Billy Boyd as Peregrin "Pippin" Took;
- Dominic Monaghan as Meriadoc "Merry" Brandybuck;
- Orlando Bloom as Legolas Greenleaf;
- Christopher Lee as Saruman the White;
- Hugo Weaving as Elrond: the elven Lord of Rivendell;
- Sean Bean as Boromir;
- Ian Holm as Bilbo Baggins;
- Andy Serkis as Gollum voice and motion capture;
- Marton Csokas;
- Lawrence Makoare as Lurtz;
- Mark Ferguson as Ereinion Gil-galad;
- Peter McKenzie as Elendil the Tall;
- Harry Sinclair as Isildur.
Box Office: $871.5 million
___________________________________________________________________________
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
YouTube Video of the Movie Trailer for Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is a 2002 epic high fantasy adventure film directed by Peter Jackson and based on the second volume of J. R. R. Tolkien's novel The Lord of the Rings. It is the second installment in The Lord of the Rings film series, preceded by The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) and concluding with The Return of the King (2003).
Continuing the plot of The Fellowship of the Ring, the film intercuts three storylines. Frodo and Sam continue their journey towards Mordor to destroy the One Ring, meeting and joined by Gollum, the ring's former owner.
Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli come to the war-torn nation of Rohan and are reunited with the resurrected Gandalf, before fighting at the Battle of Helm's Deep. Merry and Pippin escape capture, meet Treebeard the Ent, and help to plan an attack on Isengard.
Meeting high critical acclaim, the film was an enormous box-office success, earning over $926 million worldwide and is currently the 33rd highest-grossing film of all time (inflation-adjusted, it is the 62nd most successful film in North America).
The film won numerous accolades and was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and took home the awards for Best Visual Effects and Best Sound Editing.
Plot:
Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee continue their journey to Mordor to destroy the One Ring by throwing it into Mount Doom. They are attacked in the night by Gollum, former owner of the Ring, but they capture him.
Sympathizing with Gollum for their shared burden, Frodo asks Gollum to lead them safely to Mordor, despite Sam’s objections. Meanwhile, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli pursue the Uruk-hai who kidnapped their friends Merry and Pippin.
The Uruk-hai are slaughtered by the Rohirrim army of Rohan, but the two Hobbits escape into Fangorn Forest where they meet the Ent Treebeard. Aragorn’s group later meet the Rohirrim who have been banished by their king Théoden, who is manipulated by Saruman’s servant Grima Wormtongue. Tracking the Hobbits in Fangorn, Aragorn’s group encounter a resurrected Gandalf who perished in Moria, but was revived to help save Middle Earth.
Gollum leads Frodo and Sam through the Dead Marshes while evading the Nazgûl. They reach the Black Gate to Mordor but Gollum stops them, saying it's too risky and that there is another entrance, finding himself becoming loyal to Frodo for his kindness.
The trio later are captured by the Rangers of Ithilien, led by Faramir, brother of the late Boromir. When Faramir discovers Frodo has the Ring, he intends on taking him to Gondor, capturing Gollum when Frodo exposes him.
Aragorn, Gandalf, Legolas, and Gimli travel to Rohan’s capital Edoras where Gandalf releases Théoden from Saruman’s power and Wormtongue is banished. Learning Saruman plans on wiping out Rohan with an army of Uruk-hai, Théoden decides to move his citizens to the protection of Helm's Deep, but Gandalf departs to find the Rohirrim led by Théoden's nephew Éomer.
Aragorn strikes up a friendship with Théoden’s niece Éowyn who quickly falls in love with him. During a Warg attack, Aragorn falls off a cliff into a river, but is found by his horse and taken to Helm’s Deep.
In Fangorn, Merry and Pippin attend an Ent council but learn Treebeard and the others will not participate in the war. They convince them otherwise when they show the destruction Saruman has unleashed on the forests around Isengard.
The Ents storm Isengard and imprison Saruman in his tower. The Uruk-hai army arrive at Helm’s Deep, finding a makeshift army of peasants and Elves from Rivendell waiting for them. A great battle follows with Théoden losing hope until Aragorn convinces him to ride out and meet them. Gandalf and the Rohirrim arrive, turning the tide of the battle and destroying the Uruk-hai.
Frodo, Sam, and Gollum are taken to the fallen Gondor city Osgiliath but they are attacked by the Nazgûl and Mordor army. Sam informs Faramir of how the Ring nearly drove Boromir mad, stunning Faramir. Frodo is nearly captured by the Nazgûl but Sam tackles him down a flight of stairs, saving him.
After the attack ends, Faramir frees the trio and sends them on their way. Gollum, hurt by Frodo’s seeming betrayal, decides to reclaim the Ring by leading Frodo and Sam to a creature he refers to as “her”, leading them away towards Mordor.+
Cast:
Box Office: $926 million
___________________________________________________________________________
Continuing the plot of The Fellowship of the Ring, the film intercuts three storylines. Frodo and Sam continue their journey towards Mordor to destroy the One Ring, meeting and joined by Gollum, the ring's former owner.
Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli come to the war-torn nation of Rohan and are reunited with the resurrected Gandalf, before fighting at the Battle of Helm's Deep. Merry and Pippin escape capture, meet Treebeard the Ent, and help to plan an attack on Isengard.
Meeting high critical acclaim, the film was an enormous box-office success, earning over $926 million worldwide and is currently the 33rd highest-grossing film of all time (inflation-adjusted, it is the 62nd most successful film in North America).
The film won numerous accolades and was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and took home the awards for Best Visual Effects and Best Sound Editing.
Plot:
Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee continue their journey to Mordor to destroy the One Ring by throwing it into Mount Doom. They are attacked in the night by Gollum, former owner of the Ring, but they capture him.
Sympathizing with Gollum for their shared burden, Frodo asks Gollum to lead them safely to Mordor, despite Sam’s objections. Meanwhile, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli pursue the Uruk-hai who kidnapped their friends Merry and Pippin.
The Uruk-hai are slaughtered by the Rohirrim army of Rohan, but the two Hobbits escape into Fangorn Forest where they meet the Ent Treebeard. Aragorn’s group later meet the Rohirrim who have been banished by their king Théoden, who is manipulated by Saruman’s servant Grima Wormtongue. Tracking the Hobbits in Fangorn, Aragorn’s group encounter a resurrected Gandalf who perished in Moria, but was revived to help save Middle Earth.
Gollum leads Frodo and Sam through the Dead Marshes while evading the Nazgûl. They reach the Black Gate to Mordor but Gollum stops them, saying it's too risky and that there is another entrance, finding himself becoming loyal to Frodo for his kindness.
The trio later are captured by the Rangers of Ithilien, led by Faramir, brother of the late Boromir. When Faramir discovers Frodo has the Ring, he intends on taking him to Gondor, capturing Gollum when Frodo exposes him.
Aragorn, Gandalf, Legolas, and Gimli travel to Rohan’s capital Edoras where Gandalf releases Théoden from Saruman’s power and Wormtongue is banished. Learning Saruman plans on wiping out Rohan with an army of Uruk-hai, Théoden decides to move his citizens to the protection of Helm's Deep, but Gandalf departs to find the Rohirrim led by Théoden's nephew Éomer.
Aragorn strikes up a friendship with Théoden’s niece Éowyn who quickly falls in love with him. During a Warg attack, Aragorn falls off a cliff into a river, but is found by his horse and taken to Helm’s Deep.
In Fangorn, Merry and Pippin attend an Ent council but learn Treebeard and the others will not participate in the war. They convince them otherwise when they show the destruction Saruman has unleashed on the forests around Isengard.
The Ents storm Isengard and imprison Saruman in his tower. The Uruk-hai army arrive at Helm’s Deep, finding a makeshift army of peasants and Elves from Rivendell waiting for them. A great battle follows with Théoden losing hope until Aragorn convinces him to ride out and meet them. Gandalf and the Rohirrim arrive, turning the tide of the battle and destroying the Uruk-hai.
Frodo, Sam, and Gollum are taken to the fallen Gondor city Osgiliath but they are attacked by the Nazgûl and Mordor army. Sam informs Faramir of how the Ring nearly drove Boromir mad, stunning Faramir. Frodo is nearly captured by the Nazgûl but Sam tackles him down a flight of stairs, saving him.
After the attack ends, Faramir frees the trio and sends them on their way. Gollum, hurt by Frodo’s seeming betrayal, decides to reclaim the Ring by leading Frodo and Sam to a creature he refers to as “her”, leading them away towards Mordor.+
Cast:
- Elijah Wood as Frodo Baggins: a young hobbit sent on a quest to destroy the One Ring, the burden of which is becoming heavier.
- Ian McKellen as Gandalf the Grey / Gandalf the White: an Istari wizard who fell fighting a Balrog and has now returned, more powerful than ever, to finish his task.
- Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn: the heir-in-exile to Gondor's throne who has come to Rohan's defence.
- Liv Tyler as Arwen: an elven princess of Rivendell and Aragorn's true love.
- Sean Astin as Samwise "Sam" Gamgee: Frodo's loyal hobbit gardener and companion.
- Cate Blanchett as Galadriel: the Elven-Queen of Lothlórien, who discusses Middle-earth's future with Elrond.
- John Rhys-Davies as Gimli: a dwarf warrior and one of Aragorn's companions. (Also voices Treebeard: the leader of the ents, who is roused to anger after seeing that Saruman had decimated a large part of Fangorn Forest.)
- Bernard Hill as Théoden: the King of Rohan, who is under Saruman's spell until Gandalf heals him so he can lead his people once more.
- Christopher Lee as Saruman the White: an Istari wizard waging war upon Rohan and devastating Fangorn Forest, who allied himself with Sauron in the previous film.
- Billy Boyd as Peregrin "Pippin" Took: a hobbit mistakenly captured by the Uruk-hai.
- Dominic Monaghan as Meriadoc "Merry" Brandybuck: a distant cousin of Frodo's who is mistakenly captured along with Pippin by the Uruk-hai.
- Orlando Bloom as Legolas: an elven archer and one of Aragorn's companions.
- Hugo Weaving as Elrond: the Elven-Lord of Rivendell who expresses doubt over his daughter's love for Aragorn.
- Miranda Otto as Éowyn: Théoden's niece, who is in love with Aragorn.
- David Wenham as Faramir: a prince of the Stewards of Gondor and captain of the Ithilien Rangers, who captures Frodo, Sam and Gollum.
- Brad Dourif as Gríma Wormtongue: an agent of Saruman at Edoras, who renders Théoden incapable of decisions, and desires Éowyn.
- Karl Urban as Éomer: Théoden's nephew and previous Chief Marshal of the Riddermark who was exiled by Gríma.
- Andy Serkis as Gollum/Sméagol: a wretched hobbit-like creature who owned the Ring for five centuries and now guides Frodo on his quest; voice and motion capture.
- Craig Parker as Haldir of Lórien: the leader of the Lórien Elves sent by Elrond and Galadriel to defend Helm's Deep.
- John Leigh as Háma: the loyal doorwarden of the Golden Hall and a majordomo of Théoden.
- Bruce Hopkins as Gamling: Théoden's chief lieutenant and a skilled member of the Royal Guard of Rohan.
- John Bach as Madril: Faramir's closest aide, who informs him of battle preparations.
Box Office: $926 million
___________________________________________________________________________
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
YouTube Video of Movie Trailer for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is a 2003 epic high fantasy adventure film directed by Peter Jackson based on the second and third volumes of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. It is the third and final installment in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, following The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) and The Two Towers (2002), preceding The Hobbit trilogy (2012–14).
Released December, 2003, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King received rave reviews and universal acclaim, and became one of the greatest critical and box-office successes of all time.
It was only the second film to gross $1 billion worldwide ($1.12 billion), becoming the highest-grossing film released by New Line Cinema, as well as the biggest financial success for Time Warner in general, until Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 ($1.31 billion) surpassed The Return of the King's final gross in 2011.
The film was the highest-grossing film of 2003 and, by the end of its theatrical run, the second highest-grossing film in history. As of June 2016, it is the fourteenth highest-grossing film in history.
At the 76th Academy Awards, it won all 11 Academy Awards for which it was nominated, therefore holding the record for highest Oscar sweep. The wins included the awards for Best Picture, the first and only time a fantasy film has done so; it was also the second sequel to win a Best Picture Oscar (following The Godfather Part II) and Best Director.
The film jointly holds the record for the largest number of Academy Awards won with Ben-Hur (1959) and Titanic (1997).
Plot:
Gandalf leads Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, and King Théoden to Isengard where they reunite with Merry and Pippin. With Saruman defeated, Gandalf retrieves Saruman's palantír.
Overcome by curiosity, Pippin steals a glance into the seeing-stone, and suffers a mental attack from Sauron himself. Gandalf deduces that Sauron will attack Gondor's capital Minas Tirith, so he rides there to warn them, taking Pippin with him because Sauron thinks Pippin is the ring bearer.
Meanwhile, Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee are led by Gollum to Minas Morgul where they witness the Witch-king of Angmar leading an Orc army to drive Denethor's younger son Faramir and his men from Osgiliath.
At Gollum's urging, the three begin climbing a precarious stair carved in the cliff face that will take them into Mordor via a 'secret way'. But having overheard Gollum's plot to regain the Ring, Sam keeps a suspicious eye on him. In Gondor, Pippin follows Gandalf's instructions and secretly lights the beacon to signal Théoden to assemble the Rohirrim and come to Gondor's aid.
While helping Théoden gather his forces, Aragorn is approached by Elrond who says Arwen is dying. After seeing a vision of her son she refused to leave Middle Earth. Elrond then gives Aragorn the sword Andúril, Isildur's sword Narsil reforged, so he can reclaim his birthright while gaining reinforcements from the Dead Men of Dunharrow.
Joined by Legolas and Gimli, Aragorn travels to the Paths of the Dead, recruiting the Army of the Dead with the promise to release them from their curse once they fulfil their oath to Isildur.
Faramir is gravely wounded after a futile effort to retake Osgiliath, and believing his son to be dead, Denethor falls into madness. Gandalf is left to command the city defences against the Orc army led by Gothmog. But as Gothmog's forces eventually force their way into the city, Denethor tries to kill himself and Faramir on a pyre.
Pippin alerts Gandalf and they save Faramir, but Denethor leaps to his death from the top of Minas Tirith just before Théoden and the Rohirrim arrive. Initially the Rohirrim have the advantage at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, but are eventually overwhelmed by the Oliphaunt-riding Haradrim while the Witch-king mortally wounds Théoden.
Though Théoden's niece Éowyn, having posed as a male soldier, battles and slays the Witch-King with Merry's help, Théoden dies of his wounds. Aragorn arrives with the Army of the Dead, they overcome the Orcs and win the battle. The Dead are released from their curse, and the wounded are tended to. Aragorn and the other captains of Men decide to lead all who can march upon the Black Gate as a distraction, so Frodo and Sam can get to Mount Doom.
Meanwhile, Gollum manipulates Frodo into leaving Sam behind before they arrive at the tunnel leading to Mordor, and then tricks him into lair of the giant spider Shelob, who paralyses and binds Frodo. Sam arrives and drives Shelob away, but believing his friend to be dead takes Frodo's sword Sting and The One Ring for safekeeping. When he sees Frodo's body being taken by Orcs to Cirith Ungol he realises that Frodo is still alive, and gives chase. Sam rescues Frodo from the Orcs, and returns the Ring to him.
Aragorn's army draw out Sauron's forces and empty Mordor, allowing the exhausted Hobbits to stagger to the volcano, but they're attacked by Gollum when they reach Mount Doom.
Frodo finally succumbs to the Ring's power and claims it as his own, and refuses to destroy it. Gollum attacks Frodo and bites his finger off to reclaim the Ring, but Frodo fights back and knocks Gollum, who is holding the Ring, into the volcano. While Frodo holds onto the ledge for dear life, Sam manages to save him and both escape the volcano at the last second.
The Ring and Sauron are both destroyed, causing a chain-reaction that consumes the mountain, topples Barad-dûr, and kills most of the fleeing Orcs as the ground crumbles beneath them. Gandalf flies in with eagles to rescue the Hobbits, who awaken later in Minas Tirith and are reunited with the surviving Fellowship members.
Aragorn is crowned King of Gondor and takes Arwen as his queen. They, and all others present at his coronation, bow before Frodo and the Hobbits. The Hobbits then return to the Shire where Sam marries Rosie Cotton.
Frodo, while happy for his friends, is unable to cope with the traumas of his journey, and departs Middle Earth for the Grey Havens with his uncle Bilbo, Gandalf, and the Elves. He leaves Sam the Red Book of Westmarch which details their adventures. Though saddened by Frodo's departure, Sam is gladdened by the warm welcome he receives upon returning home.
Cast:
Box Office: $1.12 Billion
Released December, 2003, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King received rave reviews and universal acclaim, and became one of the greatest critical and box-office successes of all time.
It was only the second film to gross $1 billion worldwide ($1.12 billion), becoming the highest-grossing film released by New Line Cinema, as well as the biggest financial success for Time Warner in general, until Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 ($1.31 billion) surpassed The Return of the King's final gross in 2011.
The film was the highest-grossing film of 2003 and, by the end of its theatrical run, the second highest-grossing film in history. As of June 2016, it is the fourteenth highest-grossing film in history.
At the 76th Academy Awards, it won all 11 Academy Awards for which it was nominated, therefore holding the record for highest Oscar sweep. The wins included the awards for Best Picture, the first and only time a fantasy film has done so; it was also the second sequel to win a Best Picture Oscar (following The Godfather Part II) and Best Director.
The film jointly holds the record for the largest number of Academy Awards won with Ben-Hur (1959) and Titanic (1997).
Plot:
Gandalf leads Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, and King Théoden to Isengard where they reunite with Merry and Pippin. With Saruman defeated, Gandalf retrieves Saruman's palantír.
Overcome by curiosity, Pippin steals a glance into the seeing-stone, and suffers a mental attack from Sauron himself. Gandalf deduces that Sauron will attack Gondor's capital Minas Tirith, so he rides there to warn them, taking Pippin with him because Sauron thinks Pippin is the ring bearer.
Meanwhile, Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee are led by Gollum to Minas Morgul where they witness the Witch-king of Angmar leading an Orc army to drive Denethor's younger son Faramir and his men from Osgiliath.
At Gollum's urging, the three begin climbing a precarious stair carved in the cliff face that will take them into Mordor via a 'secret way'. But having overheard Gollum's plot to regain the Ring, Sam keeps a suspicious eye on him. In Gondor, Pippin follows Gandalf's instructions and secretly lights the beacon to signal Théoden to assemble the Rohirrim and come to Gondor's aid.
While helping Théoden gather his forces, Aragorn is approached by Elrond who says Arwen is dying. After seeing a vision of her son she refused to leave Middle Earth. Elrond then gives Aragorn the sword Andúril, Isildur's sword Narsil reforged, so he can reclaim his birthright while gaining reinforcements from the Dead Men of Dunharrow.
Joined by Legolas and Gimli, Aragorn travels to the Paths of the Dead, recruiting the Army of the Dead with the promise to release them from their curse once they fulfil their oath to Isildur.
Faramir is gravely wounded after a futile effort to retake Osgiliath, and believing his son to be dead, Denethor falls into madness. Gandalf is left to command the city defences against the Orc army led by Gothmog. But as Gothmog's forces eventually force their way into the city, Denethor tries to kill himself and Faramir on a pyre.
Pippin alerts Gandalf and they save Faramir, but Denethor leaps to his death from the top of Minas Tirith just before Théoden and the Rohirrim arrive. Initially the Rohirrim have the advantage at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, but are eventually overwhelmed by the Oliphaunt-riding Haradrim while the Witch-king mortally wounds Théoden.
Though Théoden's niece Éowyn, having posed as a male soldier, battles and slays the Witch-King with Merry's help, Théoden dies of his wounds. Aragorn arrives with the Army of the Dead, they overcome the Orcs and win the battle. The Dead are released from their curse, and the wounded are tended to. Aragorn and the other captains of Men decide to lead all who can march upon the Black Gate as a distraction, so Frodo and Sam can get to Mount Doom.
Meanwhile, Gollum manipulates Frodo into leaving Sam behind before they arrive at the tunnel leading to Mordor, and then tricks him into lair of the giant spider Shelob, who paralyses and binds Frodo. Sam arrives and drives Shelob away, but believing his friend to be dead takes Frodo's sword Sting and The One Ring for safekeeping. When he sees Frodo's body being taken by Orcs to Cirith Ungol he realises that Frodo is still alive, and gives chase. Sam rescues Frodo from the Orcs, and returns the Ring to him.
Aragorn's army draw out Sauron's forces and empty Mordor, allowing the exhausted Hobbits to stagger to the volcano, but they're attacked by Gollum when they reach Mount Doom.
Frodo finally succumbs to the Ring's power and claims it as his own, and refuses to destroy it. Gollum attacks Frodo and bites his finger off to reclaim the Ring, but Frodo fights back and knocks Gollum, who is holding the Ring, into the volcano. While Frodo holds onto the ledge for dear life, Sam manages to save him and both escape the volcano at the last second.
The Ring and Sauron are both destroyed, causing a chain-reaction that consumes the mountain, topples Barad-dûr, and kills most of the fleeing Orcs as the ground crumbles beneath them. Gandalf flies in with eagles to rescue the Hobbits, who awaken later in Minas Tirith and are reunited with the surviving Fellowship members.
Aragorn is crowned King of Gondor and takes Arwen as his queen. They, and all others present at his coronation, bow before Frodo and the Hobbits. The Hobbits then return to the Shire where Sam marries Rosie Cotton.
Frodo, while happy for his friends, is unable to cope with the traumas of his journey, and departs Middle Earth for the Grey Havens with his uncle Bilbo, Gandalf, and the Elves. He leaves Sam the Red Book of Westmarch which details their adventures. Though saddened by Frodo's departure, Sam is gladdened by the warm welcome he receives upon returning home.
Cast:
- Elijah Wood as Frodo Baggins: a young hobbit who continues his quest to destroy the One Ring.
- Ian McKellen as Gandalf the White: an Istari wizard who travels to aid the Men of Gondor, acting as a general at the Siege of Gondor.
- Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn: a Dúnedain ranger with claims to the throne of Gondor.
- Liv Tyler as Arwen: Elrond's daughter and Aragorn's true love.
- Sean Astin as Sam Gamgee: Frodo's loyal hobbit gardener and companion.
- Sala Baker as Sauron: the Dark Lord of Mordor and the Ring's true master, who is waging war across Middle-Earth once more.
- Cate Blanchett as Galadriel: the Elven-Queen of Lothlórien who is aware the time of the elves is at an end.
- John Rhys-Davies as Gimli: a dwarf warrior and companion to Aragorn along with Legolas. Rhys-Davies also voices Treebeard: the ent leader.
- Bernard Hill as Théoden: the King of Rohan who, after triumphing at Helm's Deep, is preparing his troops for the Battle of the Pelennor Fields.
- Billy Boyd as Pippin Took: a hobbit who came along with his cousin Frodo and is now caught in the wars.
- Dominic Monaghan as Merry Brandybuck: another cousin of Frodo's who becomes an esquire of Rohan.
- Orlando Bloom as Legolas: an elven prince of Mirkwood and skilled archer who aids Aragorn in his quest to reclaim the throne.
- Hugo Weaving as Elrond: the Elven-King of Rivendell and father of Arwen.
- Miranda Otto as Éowyn: Théoden's niece, who wishes to prove herself in battle and starts to fall in love with Aragorn.
- David Wenham as Faramir: a prince of the Stewards of Gondor and Captain of the Rangers defending Osgiliath, who seeks his father's love in vain.
- Karl Urban as Éomer: Éowyn's brother, who serves as Chief Marshal of the Riders of Rohan and heir to his uncle's throne.
- John Noble as Denethor: the Steward of Gondor and father of Faramir and Boromir, whose grief over Boromir's death and despair over Mordor's superior numbers drive him into madness during the Siege of Gondor.
- Andy Serkis as Gollum: a wretched and treacherous hobbit-like creature who kept the Ring for centuries and now guides Frodo and Sam into Mordor.
- Ian Holm as Bilbo Baggins: Frodo's elderly uncle, who has rapidly aged after giving away the Ring.
- Marton Csokas as Celeborn: the Elven-King of Lothlórien.
- Lawrence Makoare as the Witch-King of Angmar: the lord of the Nazgûl, who leads Mordor's assault on Minas Tirith. Makoare also plays Gothmog: an Orc commander, who is voiced by Craig Parker.
- Thomas Robins as Déagol: Sméagol's cousin.
Box Office: $1.12 Billion
Harry Potter Movie Franchise
YouTube Video: Top 10 Unforgettable Harry Potter Moments by WatchMojo
Pictured: Harry Potter Franchise logo
Harry Potter is a British-American film series based on the Harry Potter novels by author J. K. Rowling. The series is distributed by Warner Bros. and consists of eight fantasy films, beginning with Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001) and culminating with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 (2011).
The series was mainly produced by David Heyman and stars Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson as the three leading characters: Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger.
Four directors worked on the series: Chris Columbus, Alfonso Cuarón, Mike Newell, and David Yates.
All eight movies had their screenplays written by Steve Kloves, with the exception of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007), written by Michael Goldenberg. Production took over ten years to complete, with the main story arc following Harry Potter's quest to overcome his arch-enemy Lord Voldemort.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the seventh and final novel in the series, was adapted into two feature-length parts. Part 1 was released in November 2010, and Part 2 was released in July 2011.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is the only film in the series not among the 50 highest-grossing films, with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, the highest-grossing film in the series and one of 26 films to gross over $1 billion, ranking at number 8.
Without inflation adjustment, the Harry Potter franchise is the second highest-grossing film series with $7.7 billion in worldwide receipts.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for amplification about each of the eight Harry Potter movies, displayed by the date of each movie's release:
The series was mainly produced by David Heyman and stars Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson as the three leading characters: Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger.
Four directors worked on the series: Chris Columbus, Alfonso Cuarón, Mike Newell, and David Yates.
All eight movies had their screenplays written by Steve Kloves, with the exception of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007), written by Michael Goldenberg. Production took over ten years to complete, with the main story arc following Harry Potter's quest to overcome his arch-enemy Lord Voldemort.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the seventh and final novel in the series, was adapted into two feature-length parts. Part 1 was released in November 2010, and Part 2 was released in July 2011.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is the only film in the series not among the 50 highest-grossing films, with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, the highest-grossing film in the series and one of 26 films to gross over $1 billion, ranking at number 8.
Without inflation adjustment, the Harry Potter franchise is the second highest-grossing film series with $7.7 billion in worldwide receipts.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for amplification about each of the eight Harry Potter movies, displayed by the date of each movie's release:
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001)
YouTube Video of Movie Trailer for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (released in some countries as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone) is a 2001 British-American fantasy film directed by Chris Columbus and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures.
It is based on the novel of the same name by J. K. Rowling. The film, the first installment in the Harry Potter film series, was written by Steve Kloves and produced by David Heyman.
The story follows Harry Potter's first year at Hogwarts as he discovers that he is a famous wizard and begins his magical education.
The film stars Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, with Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley, and Emma Watson as Hermione Granger. It is followed by seven sequels, beginning with Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
Warner Bros. bought the film rights to the book in 1999 for a reported £1 million. Production began in the United Kingdom in 2000, with Columbus being chosen to create the film from a short list of directors that included Steven Spielberg and Rob Reiner. J. K. Rowling insisted that the entire cast be British or Irish. The film was shot at Leavesden Film Studios and historic buildings around the UK.
The film was released in the UK and US on 16 November 2001. It received positive critical reception, made more than $970 million at the worldwide box office, and was nominated for many awards, including the Academy Awards for Best Original Score, Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design.
As of December 2015, it is the 26th-highest-grossing film of all time and the second-highest-grossing film in the series behind the final film, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2.
Plot:
Harry Potter is a seemingly ordinary boy, living with his neglectful relatives the Dursleys, in Surrey, England.
On his eleventh birthday Harry discovers from a mysterious stranger, Rubeus Hagrid, that he is actually a wizard, famous in the Wizarding World for surviving an attack by the evil Lord Voldemort when Harry was only a baby.
Voldemort killed Harry's parents, but his attack on Harry rebounded leaving only a lightning-bolt scar on Harry's forehead and rendering Voldemort powerless. Hagrid reveals to Harry that he has been invited to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. After buying his school supplies from the hidden London street, Diagon Alley, Harry boards the train to Hogwarts via the concealed Platform 9¾ in King's Cross Station.
On the train Harry meets Ron Weasley, a boy from a large but poor pure-blood wizarding family, and Hermione Granger, a witch born to non-magical parents. Once they arrive Harry and all the other first-year students are sorted between four houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin.
Because Slytherin is noted for being the house of darker wizards and witches, Harry convinces the Sorting Hat not to put him in Slytherin. He ends up in Gryffindor along with Ron and Hermione. Ron's older brothers were all placed in Gryffindor as well: mischievous twins Fred and George, Percy the prefect, Charlie (who researches dragons in Romania) and Bill (who works for Gringotts Bank).
At Hogwarts Harry begins learning wizardry and discovers more about his past and his parents. He gets recruited for Gryffindor's Quidditch (a sport in the wizard world where people fly on broomsticks) team as a Seeker, as his father was before him.
One night he, Ron, and Hermione discover a large three-headed dog named Fluffy (owned by Hagrid) on a restricted floor in the school. They later find out Fluffy is guarding the Philosopher's Stone, an item that can be used to grant its owner immortality.
Harry concludes that his potions teacher, the unfriendly Severus Snape, is trying to obtain the stone in order to return Voldemort (who Harry encounters in the Forbidden Forest where he, Ron, Hermione, and Draco Malfoy are serving detention by helping Hagrid look for an injured unicorn after being caught wandering around at night) to a human form.
After hearing from Hagrid that Fluffy will fall asleep if played music, Harry, Ron and Hermione decide to find the stone before Snape does. They face a series of tasks that are helping guard the stone which include surviving a deadly plant known as Devil's Snare, flying past a swarm of bird-shaped flying keys and winning a dangerous, life-sized chess game.
After getting past the tasks Harry discovers that it was really Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher Professor Quirrell who was trying to steal the stone, and that Snape was protecting Harry all along. Quirrell removes his turban and reveals Voldemort to be living on the back of his head. Voldemort attempts to convince Harry to give him the stone (which Harry suddenly finds in his pocket as the result of an enchantment by the headmaster, Albus Dumbledore), by promising to bring his parents back from the dead, but Harry refuses.
Quirrell attempts to kill him but Harry's touch prevents Quirrell from hurting Harry and causes his hand to turn to dust. Quirrell then attempts to take the stone but Harry grabs his face causing Quirrell to turn into dust and die. When Harry gets up Voldemort's spirit forms and passes through Harry knocking him unconscious before fleeing.
Harry wakes up in the school's hospital wing with Professor Dumbledore at his side. Dumbledore explains that the stone has been destroyed and that, despite Ron nearly being killed in the chess match, he and Hermione are both fine.
The reason Quirrell burned at Harry's touch was because when Harry's mother died to save him her death gave Harry a magical, love-based protection against Voldemort. Harry, Ron, and Hermione are rewarded with house points for their heroic performances, and Neville Longbottom is rewarded for bravely standing up to them, winning Gryffindor the House Cup.
Before Harry and the rest of the students leave for the summer, Harry realises that while all other students are going home, Hogwarts is truly his home.
Cast:
Box Office: $974.8 million
___________________________________________________________________________
It is based on the novel of the same name by J. K. Rowling. The film, the first installment in the Harry Potter film series, was written by Steve Kloves and produced by David Heyman.
The story follows Harry Potter's first year at Hogwarts as he discovers that he is a famous wizard and begins his magical education.
The film stars Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, with Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley, and Emma Watson as Hermione Granger. It is followed by seven sequels, beginning with Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
Warner Bros. bought the film rights to the book in 1999 for a reported £1 million. Production began in the United Kingdom in 2000, with Columbus being chosen to create the film from a short list of directors that included Steven Spielberg and Rob Reiner. J. K. Rowling insisted that the entire cast be British or Irish. The film was shot at Leavesden Film Studios and historic buildings around the UK.
The film was released in the UK and US on 16 November 2001. It received positive critical reception, made more than $970 million at the worldwide box office, and was nominated for many awards, including the Academy Awards for Best Original Score, Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design.
As of December 2015, it is the 26th-highest-grossing film of all time and the second-highest-grossing film in the series behind the final film, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2.
Plot:
Harry Potter is a seemingly ordinary boy, living with his neglectful relatives the Dursleys, in Surrey, England.
On his eleventh birthday Harry discovers from a mysterious stranger, Rubeus Hagrid, that he is actually a wizard, famous in the Wizarding World for surviving an attack by the evil Lord Voldemort when Harry was only a baby.
Voldemort killed Harry's parents, but his attack on Harry rebounded leaving only a lightning-bolt scar on Harry's forehead and rendering Voldemort powerless. Hagrid reveals to Harry that he has been invited to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. After buying his school supplies from the hidden London street, Diagon Alley, Harry boards the train to Hogwarts via the concealed Platform 9¾ in King's Cross Station.
On the train Harry meets Ron Weasley, a boy from a large but poor pure-blood wizarding family, and Hermione Granger, a witch born to non-magical parents. Once they arrive Harry and all the other first-year students are sorted between four houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin.
Because Slytherin is noted for being the house of darker wizards and witches, Harry convinces the Sorting Hat not to put him in Slytherin. He ends up in Gryffindor along with Ron and Hermione. Ron's older brothers were all placed in Gryffindor as well: mischievous twins Fred and George, Percy the prefect, Charlie (who researches dragons in Romania) and Bill (who works for Gringotts Bank).
At Hogwarts Harry begins learning wizardry and discovers more about his past and his parents. He gets recruited for Gryffindor's Quidditch (a sport in the wizard world where people fly on broomsticks) team as a Seeker, as his father was before him.
One night he, Ron, and Hermione discover a large three-headed dog named Fluffy (owned by Hagrid) on a restricted floor in the school. They later find out Fluffy is guarding the Philosopher's Stone, an item that can be used to grant its owner immortality.
Harry concludes that his potions teacher, the unfriendly Severus Snape, is trying to obtain the stone in order to return Voldemort (who Harry encounters in the Forbidden Forest where he, Ron, Hermione, and Draco Malfoy are serving detention by helping Hagrid look for an injured unicorn after being caught wandering around at night) to a human form.
After hearing from Hagrid that Fluffy will fall asleep if played music, Harry, Ron and Hermione decide to find the stone before Snape does. They face a series of tasks that are helping guard the stone which include surviving a deadly plant known as Devil's Snare, flying past a swarm of bird-shaped flying keys and winning a dangerous, life-sized chess game.
After getting past the tasks Harry discovers that it was really Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher Professor Quirrell who was trying to steal the stone, and that Snape was protecting Harry all along. Quirrell removes his turban and reveals Voldemort to be living on the back of his head. Voldemort attempts to convince Harry to give him the stone (which Harry suddenly finds in his pocket as the result of an enchantment by the headmaster, Albus Dumbledore), by promising to bring his parents back from the dead, but Harry refuses.
Quirrell attempts to kill him but Harry's touch prevents Quirrell from hurting Harry and causes his hand to turn to dust. Quirrell then attempts to take the stone but Harry grabs his face causing Quirrell to turn into dust and die. When Harry gets up Voldemort's spirit forms and passes through Harry knocking him unconscious before fleeing.
Harry wakes up in the school's hospital wing with Professor Dumbledore at his side. Dumbledore explains that the stone has been destroyed and that, despite Ron nearly being killed in the chess match, he and Hermione are both fine.
The reason Quirrell burned at Harry's touch was because when Harry's mother died to save him her death gave Harry a magical, love-based protection against Voldemort. Harry, Ron, and Hermione are rewarded with house points for their heroic performances, and Neville Longbottom is rewarded for bravely standing up to them, winning Gryffindor the House Cup.
Before Harry and the rest of the students leave for the summer, Harry realises that while all other students are going home, Hogwarts is truly his home.
Cast:
- Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, an 11-year-old British orphan raised by his unwelcoming aunt and uncle, who learns of his own fame as a wizard known to have survived his parents' murder at the hands of the psychopathic dark wizard Lord Voldemort as an infant when he is accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
- Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley, Harry's best friend at Hogwarts.
- Emma Watson as Hermione Granger, Harry's other best friend and the trio's brains.
- John Cleese as Nearly Headless Nick, the ghost of Hogwarts' Gryffindor House.
- Robbie Coltrane as Rubeus Hagrid, a half-giant and Hogwarts' Groundskeeper.
- Warwick Davis as Filius Flitwick, the Charms Master and head of Hogwarts' Ravenclaw House.
- Richard Griffiths as Vernon Dursley, Harry's Muggle (non-magical) uncle.
- Richard Harris as Albus Dumbledore, Hogwarts' Headmaster and one of the most famous and powerful wizards of all time.
- Ian Hart as Quirinus Quirrell, the slightly nervous Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts, and also Lord Voldemort's voice.
- John Hurt as Mr. Ollivander, the owner of Ollivanders, the finest wand producers in the wizarding world since 382 B.C.
- Alan Rickman as Severus Snape, the Potions Master and head of Hogwarts' Slytherin House.
- Fiona Shaw as Petunia Dursley, Harry's Muggle aunt.
- Maggie Smith as Minerva McGonagall, the Deputy Headmistress, head of Gryffindor and transfiguration teacher at Hogwarts.
- Julie Walters as Molly Weasley, Ron's caring mother. She shows Harry how to get to Platform 9 3⁄4.
Box Office: $974.8 million
___________________________________________________________________________
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)
YouTube Video of Movie Trailer for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is a 2002 British-American fantasy film directed by Chris Columbus and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures.
It is based on the novel of the same name by J. K. Rowling. The film, which is the second installment in the Harry Potter film series, was written by Steve Kloves and produced by David Heyman. The story follows Harry Potter's second year at Hogwarts as the Heir of Salazar Slytherin opens the Chamber of Secrets, unleashing a monster that petrifies the school's denizens.
The film stars Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, alongside Rupert Grint and Emma Watson as Harry's best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. It is the sequel to Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and is followed by Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
The film was released November 2002 in the United Kingdom and North America. It was very well received critically and commercially, making US$879 million worldwide. It is the seventh-highest-grossing film in the Harry Potter series and the 45th-highest-grossing film of all time. It was nominated for three BAFTA Film Awards in 2003.
Plot:
Harry Potter spends the summer without receiving letters from his Hogwarts friends. In his room, Harry meets Dobby, a house-elf who warns him bad things will happen if he returns to Hogwarts, and reveals he intercepted his friends' letters. Harry chases him downstairs, where Dobby destroys a cake. The Dursleys lock Harry up, but Ron, Fred and George Weasley rescue him in their father's flying Ford Anglia.
While buying school supplies, Harry and the Weasley family encounter Rubeus Hagrid and Hermione Granger, and they attend a book-signing by celebrity wizard Gilderoy Lockhart, who announces he will be the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher.
Harry also encounters Draco Malfoy and his father Lucius, who slips a book in Ginny Weasley's belongings. When Harry and Ron are blocked from entering Platform Nine and Three-Quarters (later revealed to be Dobby's doing), they fly to Hogwarts in the Ford Anglia and crash into the hostile Whomping Willow. Ron's wand is damaged, and the car throws them out before driving off. They are allowed back into school but face detention.
While serving detention with Lockhart, Harry hears strange voices and later finds caretaker Argus Filch's cat, Mrs. Norris, petrified, and a message written in blood announcing the "Chamber of Secrets has been opened, Enemies of the Heir, beware". Professor McGonagall explains that one of Hogwarts' founders, Salazar Slytherin, supposedly constructed a secret Chamber and placed inside it a monster that only his Heir can control, to purge the school of impure-blooded wizards and witches.
More attacks occur over the course of the year. Harry and Ron suspect Malfoy is the Heir, so Hermione suggests they question him while disguised using polyjuice potion. Their makeshift laboratory is in a disused bathroom haunted by a ghost, Moaning Myrtle.
When Harry communicates with a snake (something Salazar Slytherin could do) the school suspects him as the Heir. At Christmas, Harry and Ron learn that Malfoy is not the Heir, but he mentions that a girl died when the Chamber was last opened fifty years ago. Harry finds an enchanted diary, owned by a former student named Tom Riddle, which shows him a flashback to fifty years before, where Riddle accused Hagrid, then a student, of opening the Chamber.
When the diary disappears and Hermione is petrified, Harry and Ron question Hagrid. Professor Dumbledore, Cornelius Fudge, and Lucius Malfoy come to take Hagrid to Azkaban, but he discreetly tells the boys to "follow the spiders". Lucius has Dumbledore suspended. In the Forbidden Forest, Harry and Ron find Aragog, a giant spider who reveals Hagrid's innocence and that the dead girl was found in a bathroom. Aragog then sets his colony of Acromantula on the boys, but the now-wild Ford Anglia saves them.
A book page in Hermione's hand identifies the monster is a basilisk, a giant serpent that instantly kills those who make direct eye contact with it; the petrified victims saw it indirectly. The school staff learn that Ginny was taken into the Chamber, and convince Lockhart to save her. Harry and Ron find Lockhart, exposed as a fraud, planning to flee; knowing Myrtle was the girl the Basilisk killed, they drag him to her bathroom and find the Chamber's entrance. Once inside, Lockhart uses Ron's damaged wand against them, but it backfires, wiping his memory, and causes a cave-in.
Harry enters the Chamber alone and finds Ginny unconscious and dying guarded by Tom Riddle. Harry realizes Riddle is the Heir and he used the diary to manipulate Ginny and reopen the Chamber. Riddle then reveals his full name, Tom Marvolo Riddle, from which he created the anagram for his future new identity, "I am Lord Voldemort".
After Harry expresses support for Dumbledore, Dumbledore's Fawkes flies in with the Sorting Hat, and Riddle summons the Basilisk. Fawkes blinds the Basilisk, and the Sorting Hat eventually produces a sword with which Harry battles and slays the Basilisk, but he is poisoned by its fangs.
Harry defeats Riddle and revives Ginny by stabbing the diary with a basilisk fang. Fawkes' tears heal him, and he returns to Hogwarts with his friends and a baffled Lockhart. Dumbledore, reinstated as headmaster, praises them and orders for Hagrid's release.
Dumbledore shows Harry that the sword he wielded was Godric Gryffindor's own sword, and says he is different from Voldemort because he chose Gryffindor House instead of Slytherin House. Harry accuses Lucius, Dobby's master, of putting the diary in Ginny's cauldron and tricks him into freeing Dobby. The Basilisk's victims are healed, Hermione reunites with Harry and Ron, and Hagrid returns.
Cast:
Box Office Receipts: $879 million
___________________________________________________________________________
It is based on the novel of the same name by J. K. Rowling. The film, which is the second installment in the Harry Potter film series, was written by Steve Kloves and produced by David Heyman. The story follows Harry Potter's second year at Hogwarts as the Heir of Salazar Slytherin opens the Chamber of Secrets, unleashing a monster that petrifies the school's denizens.
The film stars Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, alongside Rupert Grint and Emma Watson as Harry's best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. It is the sequel to Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and is followed by Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
The film was released November 2002 in the United Kingdom and North America. It was very well received critically and commercially, making US$879 million worldwide. It is the seventh-highest-grossing film in the Harry Potter series and the 45th-highest-grossing film of all time. It was nominated for three BAFTA Film Awards in 2003.
Plot:
Harry Potter spends the summer without receiving letters from his Hogwarts friends. In his room, Harry meets Dobby, a house-elf who warns him bad things will happen if he returns to Hogwarts, and reveals he intercepted his friends' letters. Harry chases him downstairs, where Dobby destroys a cake. The Dursleys lock Harry up, but Ron, Fred and George Weasley rescue him in their father's flying Ford Anglia.
While buying school supplies, Harry and the Weasley family encounter Rubeus Hagrid and Hermione Granger, and they attend a book-signing by celebrity wizard Gilderoy Lockhart, who announces he will be the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher.
Harry also encounters Draco Malfoy and his father Lucius, who slips a book in Ginny Weasley's belongings. When Harry and Ron are blocked from entering Platform Nine and Three-Quarters (later revealed to be Dobby's doing), they fly to Hogwarts in the Ford Anglia and crash into the hostile Whomping Willow. Ron's wand is damaged, and the car throws them out before driving off. They are allowed back into school but face detention.
While serving detention with Lockhart, Harry hears strange voices and later finds caretaker Argus Filch's cat, Mrs. Norris, petrified, and a message written in blood announcing the "Chamber of Secrets has been opened, Enemies of the Heir, beware". Professor McGonagall explains that one of Hogwarts' founders, Salazar Slytherin, supposedly constructed a secret Chamber and placed inside it a monster that only his Heir can control, to purge the school of impure-blooded wizards and witches.
More attacks occur over the course of the year. Harry and Ron suspect Malfoy is the Heir, so Hermione suggests they question him while disguised using polyjuice potion. Their makeshift laboratory is in a disused bathroom haunted by a ghost, Moaning Myrtle.
When Harry communicates with a snake (something Salazar Slytherin could do) the school suspects him as the Heir. At Christmas, Harry and Ron learn that Malfoy is not the Heir, but he mentions that a girl died when the Chamber was last opened fifty years ago. Harry finds an enchanted diary, owned by a former student named Tom Riddle, which shows him a flashback to fifty years before, where Riddle accused Hagrid, then a student, of opening the Chamber.
When the diary disappears and Hermione is petrified, Harry and Ron question Hagrid. Professor Dumbledore, Cornelius Fudge, and Lucius Malfoy come to take Hagrid to Azkaban, but he discreetly tells the boys to "follow the spiders". Lucius has Dumbledore suspended. In the Forbidden Forest, Harry and Ron find Aragog, a giant spider who reveals Hagrid's innocence and that the dead girl was found in a bathroom. Aragog then sets his colony of Acromantula on the boys, but the now-wild Ford Anglia saves them.
A book page in Hermione's hand identifies the monster is a basilisk, a giant serpent that instantly kills those who make direct eye contact with it; the petrified victims saw it indirectly. The school staff learn that Ginny was taken into the Chamber, and convince Lockhart to save her. Harry and Ron find Lockhart, exposed as a fraud, planning to flee; knowing Myrtle was the girl the Basilisk killed, they drag him to her bathroom and find the Chamber's entrance. Once inside, Lockhart uses Ron's damaged wand against them, but it backfires, wiping his memory, and causes a cave-in.
Harry enters the Chamber alone and finds Ginny unconscious and dying guarded by Tom Riddle. Harry realizes Riddle is the Heir and he used the diary to manipulate Ginny and reopen the Chamber. Riddle then reveals his full name, Tom Marvolo Riddle, from which he created the anagram for his future new identity, "I am Lord Voldemort".
After Harry expresses support for Dumbledore, Dumbledore's Fawkes flies in with the Sorting Hat, and Riddle summons the Basilisk. Fawkes blinds the Basilisk, and the Sorting Hat eventually produces a sword with which Harry battles and slays the Basilisk, but he is poisoned by its fangs.
Harry defeats Riddle and revives Ginny by stabbing the diary with a basilisk fang. Fawkes' tears heal him, and he returns to Hogwarts with his friends and a baffled Lockhart. Dumbledore, reinstated as headmaster, praises them and orders for Hagrid's release.
Dumbledore shows Harry that the sword he wielded was Godric Gryffindor's own sword, and says he is different from Voldemort because he chose Gryffindor House instead of Slytherin House. Harry accuses Lucius, Dobby's master, of putting the diary in Ginny's cauldron and tricks him into freeing Dobby. The Basilisk's victims are healed, Hermione reunites with Harry and Ron, and Hagrid returns.
Cast:
- Daniel Radcliffe as Harry James Potter, a 12-year-old British wizard famous for surviving his parents' murder at the hands of the psychopathic dark wizard Lord Voldemort as an infant, who now enters his second year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
- Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley, Harry's best friend at Hogwarts.
- Emma Watson as Hermione Granger, Harry's Muggle-born best friend and the trio's brains.
- Kenneth Branagh as Gilderoy Lockhart, a celebrity author and the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts.
- John Cleese as Nearly Headless Nick, the ghost of Gryffindor.
- Robbie Coltrane as Rubeus Hagrid, the half-giant gamekeeper at Hogwarts. Martin Bayfield portrays a young Hagrid.
- Warwick Davis as Filius Flitwick, the Charms teacher and head of Ravenclaw.
- Richard Griffiths as Vernon Dursley, Harry's Muggle uncle.
- Richard Harris as Albus Dumbledore, the Hogwarts headmaster and one of the greatest wizards of the age. Harris died shortly before the film was released.
- Jason Isaacs as Lucius Malfoy, a former senior Death Eater now working as a school governor at Hogwarts.
- Alan Rickman as Severus Snape, the Potions teacher and head of Slytherin.
- Fiona Shaw as Petunia Dursley, Harry's Muggle aunt.
- Maggie Smith as Minerva McGonagall, the Transfiguration teacher and head of Gryffindor.
- Julie Walters as Molly Weasley, the Weasley matriarch and a mother figure to Harry.
Box Office Receipts: $879 million
___________________________________________________________________________
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
YouTube Video of Movie Trailer for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is a 2004 British-American fantasy film directed by Alfonso Cuarón and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is based on the novel of the same name by J. K. Rowling.
The film, which is the third installment in the Harry Potter film series, was written by Steve Kloves and produced by Chris Columbus (director of the first two installments), David Heyman, and Mark Radcliffe. The story follows Harry Potter's third year at Hogwarts as he is informed that a prisoner named Sirius Black has escaped from Azkaban intending to kill him.
The film stars Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, alongside Rupert Grint and Emma Watson as Harry's best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger.
It also features a star-studded supporting cast including:
It is the sequel to Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and is followed by Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
The film was released May, 2004 in the United Kingdom and June, 2004 in North America, as the first Harry Potter film released into IMAX theatres and to be using IMAX Technology. It is also the last Harry Potter film to be released on VHS.
The film was nominated for two Academy Awards, Best Original Music Score and Best Visual Effects at the 77th Academy Awards in 2005.
Prisoner of Azkaban grossed a total of $796.7 million worldwide, with its box office performance ranking as the lowest-grossing in the series. However it is the second-best-reviewed film of the franchise according to review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes and is considered the best Harry Potter film by many critics and fans.
Plot:
Harry Potter, now aged 13, has been spending another dissatisfying summer at Privet Drive. When Uncle Vernon's sister, Marge, insults Harry's parents, he becomes angry and accidentally causes her to inflate and float away.
Harry flees with his luggage, fed up with his life with the Dursleys. The Knight Bus delivers Harry to the Leaky Cauldron, where he is forgiven by Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge for using magic outside of Hogwarts. After reuniting with his best friends Ron and Hermione, Harry learns that Sirius Black, a convicted supporter of the dark wizard Voldemort, who murdered Harry's parents, has escaped Azkaban prison, intending to kill Harry.
The trio are returning to Hogwarts for the school year on the Hogwarts Express when dementors suddenly board the train, searching for Sirius. One enters the trio's compartment, causing Harry to pass out.
New Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher Professor Lupin repels the dementor with a Patronus Charm. At Hogwarts, headmaster Albus Dumbledore announces that dementors will be guarding the school while Sirius is at large. Hogwarts groundskeeper Hagrid is announced as the new Care of Magical Creatures teacher; his first class goes awry when Draco Malfoy deliberately provokes a hippogriff, Buckbeak, who attacks him. Draco's father Lucius Malfoy later has Buckbeak sentenced to death.
The Fat Lady's portrait, which guards the Gryffindor quarters, is found ruined and empty. Terrified and hiding in another painting, the Fat Lady tells Dumbledore that Sirius Black has entered the castle. During a stormy Quidditch match, dementors attack Harry, causing him to fall off his broomstick, which is then destroyed by the Whomping Willow. Lupin privately teaches Harry to defend himself against dementors, using the Patronus Charm.
At Hogsmeade, Harry is shocked to learn that not only had Sirius Black been his parents' best friend and betrayed them to Voldemort, but that Sirius is also his godfather.
After Harry, Ron and Hermione witness Buckbeak's execution, Ron's pet rat Scabbers bites him and escapes. When Ron gives chase, a large dog appears and drags both Ron and Scabbers into a hole at the Whomping Willow's base, which is actually an underground passage to the Shrieking Shack.
The trio discovers that the dog is actually Sirius, who is an Animagus. Lupin arrives and embraces Sirius as an old friend. He admits to being a werewolf, and explains that Sirius is innocent. Sirius was falsely accused of betraying James and Lily to Voldemort, and murdering their mutual friend Peter Pettigrew. It is revealed that Scabbers is actually Pettigrew, an Animagus who committed the crime for which Sirius was convicted. After forcing him back into a human, Lupin and Sirius prepare to kill him, but Harry convinces them to turn Pettigrew over to the dementors.
As the group departs, the full moon rises; Lupin transforms into a werewolf, and Sirius transforms into his dog form to fight him off. In the chaos, Pettigrew escapes in his rat form. Sirius and Harry are attacked by dementors and Harry sees a figure in the distance save them by casting a powerful Patronus spell. He believes the mysterious figure is his dead father, and passes out.
He awakens to discover that Sirius has been captured and sentenced to the Dementor's Kiss. Acting on Dumbledore's advice, Harry and Hermione travel back in time with Hermione's Time Turner, and watch themselves and Ron repeat the night's events. They save Buckbeak from execution and witness the Dementors overpower Sirius and Harry. The present Harry realises that it was actually him who conjured the Patronus, and does so again.
Harry and Hermione then rescue Sirius, who escapes on Buckbeak. Lupin resigns to preempt an uproar from parents over a werewolf teaching their children. Sirius sends Harry a Firebolt broom, the fastest broom in the world, and Harry happily takes it for a ride.
Cast:
Box Office: $796.7 million
___________________________________________________________________________
The film, which is the third installment in the Harry Potter film series, was written by Steve Kloves and produced by Chris Columbus (director of the first two installments), David Heyman, and Mark Radcliffe. The story follows Harry Potter's third year at Hogwarts as he is informed that a prisoner named Sirius Black has escaped from Azkaban intending to kill him.
The film stars Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, alongside Rupert Grint and Emma Watson as Harry's best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger.
It also features a star-studded supporting cast including:
- Gary Oldman,
- David Thewlis,
- Michael Gambon (in his debut in the role of Albus Dumbledore),
- Emma Thompson,
- and Timothy Spall.
It is the sequel to Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and is followed by Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
The film was released May, 2004 in the United Kingdom and June, 2004 in North America, as the first Harry Potter film released into IMAX theatres and to be using IMAX Technology. It is also the last Harry Potter film to be released on VHS.
The film was nominated for two Academy Awards, Best Original Music Score and Best Visual Effects at the 77th Academy Awards in 2005.
Prisoner of Azkaban grossed a total of $796.7 million worldwide, with its box office performance ranking as the lowest-grossing in the series. However it is the second-best-reviewed film of the franchise according to review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes and is considered the best Harry Potter film by many critics and fans.
Plot:
Harry Potter, now aged 13, has been spending another dissatisfying summer at Privet Drive. When Uncle Vernon's sister, Marge, insults Harry's parents, he becomes angry and accidentally causes her to inflate and float away.
Harry flees with his luggage, fed up with his life with the Dursleys. The Knight Bus delivers Harry to the Leaky Cauldron, where he is forgiven by Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge for using magic outside of Hogwarts. After reuniting with his best friends Ron and Hermione, Harry learns that Sirius Black, a convicted supporter of the dark wizard Voldemort, who murdered Harry's parents, has escaped Azkaban prison, intending to kill Harry.
The trio are returning to Hogwarts for the school year on the Hogwarts Express when dementors suddenly board the train, searching for Sirius. One enters the trio's compartment, causing Harry to pass out.
New Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher Professor Lupin repels the dementor with a Patronus Charm. At Hogwarts, headmaster Albus Dumbledore announces that dementors will be guarding the school while Sirius is at large. Hogwarts groundskeeper Hagrid is announced as the new Care of Magical Creatures teacher; his first class goes awry when Draco Malfoy deliberately provokes a hippogriff, Buckbeak, who attacks him. Draco's father Lucius Malfoy later has Buckbeak sentenced to death.
The Fat Lady's portrait, which guards the Gryffindor quarters, is found ruined and empty. Terrified and hiding in another painting, the Fat Lady tells Dumbledore that Sirius Black has entered the castle. During a stormy Quidditch match, dementors attack Harry, causing him to fall off his broomstick, which is then destroyed by the Whomping Willow. Lupin privately teaches Harry to defend himself against dementors, using the Patronus Charm.
At Hogsmeade, Harry is shocked to learn that not only had Sirius Black been his parents' best friend and betrayed them to Voldemort, but that Sirius is also his godfather.
After Harry, Ron and Hermione witness Buckbeak's execution, Ron's pet rat Scabbers bites him and escapes. When Ron gives chase, a large dog appears and drags both Ron and Scabbers into a hole at the Whomping Willow's base, which is actually an underground passage to the Shrieking Shack.
The trio discovers that the dog is actually Sirius, who is an Animagus. Lupin arrives and embraces Sirius as an old friend. He admits to being a werewolf, and explains that Sirius is innocent. Sirius was falsely accused of betraying James and Lily to Voldemort, and murdering their mutual friend Peter Pettigrew. It is revealed that Scabbers is actually Pettigrew, an Animagus who committed the crime for which Sirius was convicted. After forcing him back into a human, Lupin and Sirius prepare to kill him, but Harry convinces them to turn Pettigrew over to the dementors.
As the group departs, the full moon rises; Lupin transforms into a werewolf, and Sirius transforms into his dog form to fight him off. In the chaos, Pettigrew escapes in his rat form. Sirius and Harry are attacked by dementors and Harry sees a figure in the distance save them by casting a powerful Patronus spell. He believes the mysterious figure is his dead father, and passes out.
He awakens to discover that Sirius has been captured and sentenced to the Dementor's Kiss. Acting on Dumbledore's advice, Harry and Hermione travel back in time with Hermione's Time Turner, and watch themselves and Ron repeat the night's events. They save Buckbeak from execution and witness the Dementors overpower Sirius and Harry. The present Harry realises that it was actually him who conjured the Patronus, and does so again.
Harry and Hermione then rescue Sirius, who escapes on Buckbeak. Lupin resigns to preempt an uproar from parents over a werewolf teaching their children. Sirius sends Harry a Firebolt broom, the fastest broom in the world, and Harry happily takes it for a ride.
Cast:
- Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, a 13-year-old British wizard famous for surviving his parents' murder at the hands of the evil dark wizard Lord Voldemort as an infant, who now enters his third year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
- Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley, Harry's best friend at Hogwarts.
- Emma Watson as Hermione Granger, Harry's Muggle-born best friend and the trio's brains.
- Robbie Coltrane as Rubeus Hagrid, the gamekeeper and new Care of Magical Creatures teacher at Hogwarts.
- Michael Gambon as Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts and one of the greatest wizards of the age. Gambon assumed the role after Richard Harris, who played Dumbledore in the previous two films, died in October, 2002.
- Richard Griffiths as Vernon Dursley, Harry's Muggle uncle.
- Gary Oldman as Sirius Black, Harry's infamous godfather, who escapes from the Wizarding prison Azkaban after serving twelve years there for being falsely accused of being the Death Eater who betrayed Harry's parents to Voldemort.
- Alan Rickman as Severus Snape, the Potions teacher at Hogwarts and head of Slytherin.
- Fiona Shaw as Petunia Dursley, Harry's Muggle aunt.
- Maggie Smith as Minerva McGonagall, the Transfiguration teacher at Hogwarts and head of Gryffindor.
- Timothy Spall as Peter Pettigrew, a friend of Harry's parents said to have been killed by Sirius Black, but was later revealed to have been the real Death Eater who betrayed Harry's parents to Voldemort.
- David Thewlis as Remus Lupin, the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts and a werewolf.
- Emma Thompson as Sybill Trelawney, the Divination teacher at Hogwarts.
Box Office: $796.7 million
___________________________________________________________________________
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)
YouTube Video of Movie Trailer for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is a 2005 British-American fantasy film directed by Mike Newell and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is based on the novel of the same name by J. K. Rowling.
The film, which is the fourth installment in the Harry Potter film series, was written by Steve Kloves and produced by David Heyman. The story follows Harry Potter's fourth year at Hogwarts as he is chosen by the Goblet of Fire to compete in the Triwizard Tournament.
The film stars Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter alongside Rupert Grint and Emma Watson as Harry's best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. It is the sequel to Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and is followed by Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
Filming began in early 2004. The Hogwarts scenes were shot at the Leavesden Film Studios. Five days after its release, the film had grossed over US$102 million at the North American box office, which is the third-highest first-weekend tally for a Harry Potter film behind Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 and Part 2.
Goblet of Fire enjoyed an immensely successful run at the box office, earning just under $900 million worldwide, which made it the highest-grossing film of 2005 and the eighth-highest-grossing film of all time at that time. As of December 2015, it is the 37th highest-grossing film worldwide and the sixth-highest-grossing film in the Harry Potter series.
The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Art Direction, and won the BAFTA Award for Best Production Design. Goblet of Fire was the second Potter film to be released in IMAX. The film is one of the best reviewed installments within the series, being praised for the higher level of maturity and sophistication of its characters, plot line, writing and performances of the lead actors.
Plot:
Harry Potter dreams of Frank Bryce, who is killed after overhearing Lord Voldemort discussing plans with Peter Pettigrew and another man. Harry attends the Quidditch World Cup with the Weasleys, but after the game, Death Eaters terrorize the spectators, and the man who appeared in Harry's dream summons the Dark Mark.
At Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore introduces ex-Auror Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody as the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. He also announces that the school will host the legendary event known as Triwizard Tournament where three magical schools are going to compete against each other in a very deadly competition by facing three dangerous challenges.
The champions are selected by the Goblet of Fire: Cedric Diggory of Hufflepuff is chosen to represent Hogwarts,Viktor Krum will represent Durmstrang Institute, and Fleur Delacour will represent Beauxbatons Academy of Magic. The Goblet unexpectedly chooses a fourth champion: Harry Potter.
Dumbfounded, Dumbledore is unable to pull the underage Harry out of the tournament, as the Ministry official Barty Crouch Sr. insists that the champions are bound by a contract, and therefore, Harry is invited to compete. This makes Harry's best friend Ron Weasley jealous of him.
For the tournament's first task, the champions must each retrieve a golden egg guarded by a dragon. Harry succeeds after he summons his broomstick to retrieve the egg, which contains information about the second challenge.
Shortly after, another event known as the Yule Ball dance takes place, during which Harry's crush Cho Chang attends with Cedric, and Hermione Granger attends with Viktor, which makes Ron jealous of Viktor. During the second task, the champions are instructed to dive underwater to rescue their mates.
Harry comes out in 3rd place but is placed second behind Cedric due to his "moral fiber". Afterwards, Barty Crouch Sr. is found dead by Harry. Harry visits Dumbledore at his office, and while waiting for him, he discovers a Pensieve, which holds Dumbledore's memories.
Inside it, Harry witnesses a trial in which Igor Karkaroff (Durmstrang Institute's Headmaster) confessed to the Ministry of Magic names of other Death Eaters, after Voldemort's defeat. He named Severus Snape as one, but Dumbledore defended him; he then named Barty Crouch Jr. Barty Crouch Sr. was left devastated, and his son was taken to Azkaban. After exiting the Pensieve, Harry deduces that the man he has seen in his dreams with Voldemort is Barty Crouch Jr.
In the third and final task, the competitors are placed inside a hedge maze and must reach the Triwizard Cup. Viktor, under the influence of the Imperius Curse, incapacitates Fleur. After Harry saves Cedric when the maze attacks him, the two claim a draw and grab the cup together, which turns out to be a Portkey and transports the two to a graveyard, where Pettigrew and Voldemort are waiting.
Pettigrew kills Cedric with the Killing Curse and performs a ritual using a bone of Voldemort's father, Pettigrew's flesh and Harry's blood, which rejuvenates Voldemort, who then summons the Death Eaters. Voldemort releases Harry in order to beat him in a duel to prove he is the better wizard. Harry is unable to defend himself, but tries the Expelliarmus charm at the same moment Voldemort attempts the Killing Curse.
Their wands do not work against each other, and Voldemort's wand is forced to disgorge the last spells it performed. This results in shadow impressions of the people he murdered appearing in the graveyard, including Harry's parents and Cedric. This provides an ample distraction to Voldemort and his Death Eaters, allowing Harry to escape with Cedric's body by grabbing the Portkey.
Upon his return, Harry tells Dumbledore that Voldemort has returned and is responsible for Cedric's death. Moody takes a devastated Harry back to his room to interrogate him about Lord Voldemort, where he inadvertently blows his cover when he asks Harry whether there were "others" in the graveyard, despite Harry never saying that he was transported there.
Exposed, Moody reveals that he was the one who put Harry's name in the Goblet of Fire, and that he had been guiding and manipulating Harry throughout the tournament to ensure that he would win, so Voldemort would take Harry's blood to return. Moody then tries to kill Harry, only for Harry to be saved by Dumbledore, Severus Snape, and Minerva McGonagall.
The teachers force Moody to drink Veritaserum, a truth telling potion where it is revealed that he isn't Moody, and that the real Moody is imprisoned in a magical trunk. The false Moody's Polyjuice Potion wears off and he is revealed as Barty Crouch Jr., working for Voldemort. Crouch Jr. is sent back to Azkaban, from which he had escaped.
In the morning, Dumbledore reveals to the students that Voldemort killed Cedric, although the Ministry of Magic is against this. Later, Dumbledore visits Harry in his dormitory, and apologizes to him for the dangers he had to go through. Harry reveals that he saw his parents in the graveyard; Dumbledore names this effect as "Priori Incantatem".
Dumbledore acknowledges that even though Harry's parents appeared through Voldemort's wand, no spell can awaken the dead. Dumbledore reminds Harry that he is not alone. Soon after, Hogwarts, Durmstrang and Beauxbatons bid farewell to each other.
Cast:
Box Office: $896.9 million
___________________________________________________________________________
The film, which is the fourth installment in the Harry Potter film series, was written by Steve Kloves and produced by David Heyman. The story follows Harry Potter's fourth year at Hogwarts as he is chosen by the Goblet of Fire to compete in the Triwizard Tournament.
The film stars Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter alongside Rupert Grint and Emma Watson as Harry's best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. It is the sequel to Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and is followed by Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
Filming began in early 2004. The Hogwarts scenes were shot at the Leavesden Film Studios. Five days after its release, the film had grossed over US$102 million at the North American box office, which is the third-highest first-weekend tally for a Harry Potter film behind Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 and Part 2.
Goblet of Fire enjoyed an immensely successful run at the box office, earning just under $900 million worldwide, which made it the highest-grossing film of 2005 and the eighth-highest-grossing film of all time at that time. As of December 2015, it is the 37th highest-grossing film worldwide and the sixth-highest-grossing film in the Harry Potter series.
The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Art Direction, and won the BAFTA Award for Best Production Design. Goblet of Fire was the second Potter film to be released in IMAX. The film is one of the best reviewed installments within the series, being praised for the higher level of maturity and sophistication of its characters, plot line, writing and performances of the lead actors.
Plot:
Harry Potter dreams of Frank Bryce, who is killed after overhearing Lord Voldemort discussing plans with Peter Pettigrew and another man. Harry attends the Quidditch World Cup with the Weasleys, but after the game, Death Eaters terrorize the spectators, and the man who appeared in Harry's dream summons the Dark Mark.
At Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore introduces ex-Auror Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody as the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. He also announces that the school will host the legendary event known as Triwizard Tournament where three magical schools are going to compete against each other in a very deadly competition by facing three dangerous challenges.
The champions are selected by the Goblet of Fire: Cedric Diggory of Hufflepuff is chosen to represent Hogwarts,Viktor Krum will represent Durmstrang Institute, and Fleur Delacour will represent Beauxbatons Academy of Magic. The Goblet unexpectedly chooses a fourth champion: Harry Potter.
Dumbfounded, Dumbledore is unable to pull the underage Harry out of the tournament, as the Ministry official Barty Crouch Sr. insists that the champions are bound by a contract, and therefore, Harry is invited to compete. This makes Harry's best friend Ron Weasley jealous of him.
For the tournament's first task, the champions must each retrieve a golden egg guarded by a dragon. Harry succeeds after he summons his broomstick to retrieve the egg, which contains information about the second challenge.
Shortly after, another event known as the Yule Ball dance takes place, during which Harry's crush Cho Chang attends with Cedric, and Hermione Granger attends with Viktor, which makes Ron jealous of Viktor. During the second task, the champions are instructed to dive underwater to rescue their mates.
Harry comes out in 3rd place but is placed second behind Cedric due to his "moral fiber". Afterwards, Barty Crouch Sr. is found dead by Harry. Harry visits Dumbledore at his office, and while waiting for him, he discovers a Pensieve, which holds Dumbledore's memories.
Inside it, Harry witnesses a trial in which Igor Karkaroff (Durmstrang Institute's Headmaster) confessed to the Ministry of Magic names of other Death Eaters, after Voldemort's defeat. He named Severus Snape as one, but Dumbledore defended him; he then named Barty Crouch Jr. Barty Crouch Sr. was left devastated, and his son was taken to Azkaban. After exiting the Pensieve, Harry deduces that the man he has seen in his dreams with Voldemort is Barty Crouch Jr.
In the third and final task, the competitors are placed inside a hedge maze and must reach the Triwizard Cup. Viktor, under the influence of the Imperius Curse, incapacitates Fleur. After Harry saves Cedric when the maze attacks him, the two claim a draw and grab the cup together, which turns out to be a Portkey and transports the two to a graveyard, where Pettigrew and Voldemort are waiting.
Pettigrew kills Cedric with the Killing Curse and performs a ritual using a bone of Voldemort's father, Pettigrew's flesh and Harry's blood, which rejuvenates Voldemort, who then summons the Death Eaters. Voldemort releases Harry in order to beat him in a duel to prove he is the better wizard. Harry is unable to defend himself, but tries the Expelliarmus charm at the same moment Voldemort attempts the Killing Curse.
Their wands do not work against each other, and Voldemort's wand is forced to disgorge the last spells it performed. This results in shadow impressions of the people he murdered appearing in the graveyard, including Harry's parents and Cedric. This provides an ample distraction to Voldemort and his Death Eaters, allowing Harry to escape with Cedric's body by grabbing the Portkey.
Upon his return, Harry tells Dumbledore that Voldemort has returned and is responsible for Cedric's death. Moody takes a devastated Harry back to his room to interrogate him about Lord Voldemort, where he inadvertently blows his cover when he asks Harry whether there were "others" in the graveyard, despite Harry never saying that he was transported there.
Exposed, Moody reveals that he was the one who put Harry's name in the Goblet of Fire, and that he had been guiding and manipulating Harry throughout the tournament to ensure that he would win, so Voldemort would take Harry's blood to return. Moody then tries to kill Harry, only for Harry to be saved by Dumbledore, Severus Snape, and Minerva McGonagall.
The teachers force Moody to drink Veritaserum, a truth telling potion where it is revealed that he isn't Moody, and that the real Moody is imprisoned in a magical trunk. The false Moody's Polyjuice Potion wears off and he is revealed as Barty Crouch Jr., working for Voldemort. Crouch Jr. is sent back to Azkaban, from which he had escaped.
In the morning, Dumbledore reveals to the students that Voldemort killed Cedric, although the Ministry of Magic is against this. Later, Dumbledore visits Harry in his dormitory, and apologizes to him for the dangers he had to go through. Harry reveals that he saw his parents in the graveyard; Dumbledore names this effect as "Priori Incantatem".
Dumbledore acknowledges that even though Harry's parents appeared through Voldemort's wand, no spell can awaken the dead. Dumbledore reminds Harry that he is not alone. Soon after, Hogwarts, Durmstrang and Beauxbatons bid farewell to each other.
Cast:
- Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter
- Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley
- Emma Watson as Hermione Granger
- Robbie Coltrane as Rubeus Hagrid
- Ralph Fiennes as Lord Voldemort
- Michael Gambon as Albus Dumbledore
- Brendan Gleeson as Alastor Moody
- Jason Isaacs as Lucius Malfoy
- Gary Oldman as Sirius Black
- Miranda Richardson as Rita Skeeter
- Alan Rickman as Severus Snape
- Maggie Smith as Minerva McGonagall
- Timothy Spall as Peter Pettigrew
- Frances de la Tour as Olympe Maxime
Box Office: $896.9 million
___________________________________________________________________________
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)
YouTube Video of Movie Trailer for Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is a 2007 British-American fantasy film directed by David Yates and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is based on the novel of the same name by J. K. Rowling.
The film, which is the fifth installment in the Harry Potter film series, was written by Michael Goldenberg (making this the only film in the series not to be scripted by Steve Kloves) and produced by David Heyman and David Barron. The story follows Harry Potter's fifth year at Hogwarts as the Ministry of Magic is in denial of Lord Voldemort's return.
The film stars Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, alongside Rupert Grint and Emma Watson as Harry's best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. It is the sequel to Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and is followed by Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
Live-action filming took place in England and Scotland for exterior locations and Leavesden Film Studios in Watford for interior locations from February to November 2006, with a one-month break in June.
Post-production on the film continued for several months afterwards to add in visual effects. The film's budget was reportedly between £75 and 100 million ($150–200 million). Warner Bros. released the film in the United Kingdom on 12 July 2007 and in North America on 11 July, both in conventional and IMAX theatres; it is the first Potter film to be released in IMAX 3D.
Order of the Phoenix is the unadjusted 32nd highest-grossing film of all time, and a critical and commercial success, acclaimed as "the best one yet" by Rowling, who has consistently offered praise for the film adaptations of her work.
The film opened to a worldwide 5-day opening of $333 million, fourteenth all-time, and grossed nearly $940 million total, second to Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End for the greatest total of 2007. The film was nominated for two BAFTA Film Awards in 2008.
Plot:
Following a Dementor attack on Harry Potter and his cousin Dudley Dursley, the Order of the Phoenix, a secret organization founded by Albus Dumbledore, informs him that the Ministry of Magic in denial of Lord Voldemort's return. While at the Order's headquarters, Harry's godfather, Sirius Black, mentions that Voldemort is after an object he did not have during his previous attack.
Upon arrival at Hogwarts, Harry learns that Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge has appointed a new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor: Dolores Umbridge. She and Harry immediately clash, and she punishes Harry for his "lies" by forcing him to write a message with a magic quill, scarring his hand.
When Ron and Hermione notice Harry's scars, they are outraged but he refuses to go to Dumbledore, who has distanced himself from Harry since the summer. As Umbridge's control over the school increases, Ron and Hermione aid Harry in forming a secret group to train students in defensive spells in the Room of Requirement, calling themselves "Dumbledore's Army".
The Slytherin students are recruited by Umbridge to expose the group. Harry and Cho Chang develop romantic feelings for each other.
Harry has a vision involving an attack upon Arthur Weasley, from the point of view of Arthur's attacker. Concerned that Voldemort will exploit this connection to Harry, Dumbledore instructs Severus Snape to give Harry Occlumency lessons to defend his mind from Voldemort's influence.
The connection between Harry and Voldemort leads Harry to further isolate himself from his friends. Meanwhile, Bellatrix Lestrange, Sirius' deranged cousin, escapes from Azkaban along with nine other Death Eaters. At Hogwarts, Umbridge and her Inquisitorial Squad expose Dumbledore's Army.
Dumbledore escapes as Fudge orders his arrest. Umbridge becomes the new Headmistress. Harry's relationship with Cho falls apart, as he believes she betrayed Dumbledore's Army to Umbridge, unaware that Cho was under the effects of Veritaserum potion. Harry discovers through Snape's memories why Snape hated Harry's father James, who often ridiculed him.
Harry has another vision, this one of Sirius being tortured by Voldemort. Harry, Ron and Hermione rush to Umbridge's fireplace to alert the Order via the Floo Network, since hers is the only fireplace not being monitored, but Umbridge stops them before they can do so.
As Umbridge tortures Harry, Hermione tricks Umbridge into entering the Forbidden Forest in search of Dumbledore's "secret weapon". She and Harry lead her to the hiding place of Hagrid's giant half-brother, Grawp, only to be confronted by centaurs who kidnap Umbridge after she attacks and insults them.
Harry, Hermione, Ron, Luna Lovegood, Neville and Ginny fly to the Ministry of Magic on Thestrals to save Sirius.
The six enter the Department of Mysteries where they uncover a bottled prophecy, the object Voldemort was after. However, they are ambushed by Death Eaters including Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix. Lucius reveals that Harry only saw a vision of Sirius being tortured; it was simply a ruse to lure Harry into their grasp.
Harry refuses to give Lucius the prophecy, and a fight between Dumbledore's Army and the Death Eaters ensues. The Death Eaters take everyone (except Harry) as hostages, threatening to kill them unless he surrenders the prophecy.
Harry obliges just as Sirius and Remus Lupin arrive with Order members Nymphadora Tonks, Kingsley Shacklebolt and Mad-Eye Moody. As they attack the Death Eaters, the prophecy is destroyed. Just as Sirius overpowers Lucius, Bellatrix kills Sirius. Voldemort appears, but Dumbledore arrives through the Floo Network moments before Voldemort can kill Harry.
A duel between Voldemort and Dumbledore ensues, destroying much of the Atrium, while Bellatrix escapes. After the two prove evenly matched, Voldemort possesses Harry to have Dumbledore sacrifice Harry, but the bond Harry feels for his friends and Sirius makes it impossible for Voldemort to remain in his body.
Ministry officials arrive before Voldemort disapparates; Fudge is forced to admit that Voldemort has returned and resigns as Minister in disgrace. Umbridge is removed from Hogwarts and Dumbledore returns as headmaster. Dumbledore explains he distanced himself from Harry throughout the year hoping it would lessen the risk of Voldemort using their connection.
Harry comes to terms with the prophecy; "Neither can live while the other survives." As they walk towards the Hogwarts Express, Harry says to his friends that even though a war is about to begin, the one thing they have that Voldemort doesn't is something worth fighting for.
Cast:
Box Office: $939.9 million
___________________________________________________________________________
The film, which is the fifth installment in the Harry Potter film series, was written by Michael Goldenberg (making this the only film in the series not to be scripted by Steve Kloves) and produced by David Heyman and David Barron. The story follows Harry Potter's fifth year at Hogwarts as the Ministry of Magic is in denial of Lord Voldemort's return.
The film stars Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, alongside Rupert Grint and Emma Watson as Harry's best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. It is the sequel to Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and is followed by Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
Live-action filming took place in England and Scotland for exterior locations and Leavesden Film Studios in Watford for interior locations from February to November 2006, with a one-month break in June.
Post-production on the film continued for several months afterwards to add in visual effects. The film's budget was reportedly between £75 and 100 million ($150–200 million). Warner Bros. released the film in the United Kingdom on 12 July 2007 and in North America on 11 July, both in conventional and IMAX theatres; it is the first Potter film to be released in IMAX 3D.
Order of the Phoenix is the unadjusted 32nd highest-grossing film of all time, and a critical and commercial success, acclaimed as "the best one yet" by Rowling, who has consistently offered praise for the film adaptations of her work.
The film opened to a worldwide 5-day opening of $333 million, fourteenth all-time, and grossed nearly $940 million total, second to Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End for the greatest total of 2007. The film was nominated for two BAFTA Film Awards in 2008.
Plot:
Following a Dementor attack on Harry Potter and his cousin Dudley Dursley, the Order of the Phoenix, a secret organization founded by Albus Dumbledore, informs him that the Ministry of Magic in denial of Lord Voldemort's return. While at the Order's headquarters, Harry's godfather, Sirius Black, mentions that Voldemort is after an object he did not have during his previous attack.
Upon arrival at Hogwarts, Harry learns that Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge has appointed a new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor: Dolores Umbridge. She and Harry immediately clash, and she punishes Harry for his "lies" by forcing him to write a message with a magic quill, scarring his hand.
When Ron and Hermione notice Harry's scars, they are outraged but he refuses to go to Dumbledore, who has distanced himself from Harry since the summer. As Umbridge's control over the school increases, Ron and Hermione aid Harry in forming a secret group to train students in defensive spells in the Room of Requirement, calling themselves "Dumbledore's Army".
The Slytherin students are recruited by Umbridge to expose the group. Harry and Cho Chang develop romantic feelings for each other.
Harry has a vision involving an attack upon Arthur Weasley, from the point of view of Arthur's attacker. Concerned that Voldemort will exploit this connection to Harry, Dumbledore instructs Severus Snape to give Harry Occlumency lessons to defend his mind from Voldemort's influence.
The connection between Harry and Voldemort leads Harry to further isolate himself from his friends. Meanwhile, Bellatrix Lestrange, Sirius' deranged cousin, escapes from Azkaban along with nine other Death Eaters. At Hogwarts, Umbridge and her Inquisitorial Squad expose Dumbledore's Army.
Dumbledore escapes as Fudge orders his arrest. Umbridge becomes the new Headmistress. Harry's relationship with Cho falls apart, as he believes she betrayed Dumbledore's Army to Umbridge, unaware that Cho was under the effects of Veritaserum potion. Harry discovers through Snape's memories why Snape hated Harry's father James, who often ridiculed him.
Harry has another vision, this one of Sirius being tortured by Voldemort. Harry, Ron and Hermione rush to Umbridge's fireplace to alert the Order via the Floo Network, since hers is the only fireplace not being monitored, but Umbridge stops them before they can do so.
As Umbridge tortures Harry, Hermione tricks Umbridge into entering the Forbidden Forest in search of Dumbledore's "secret weapon". She and Harry lead her to the hiding place of Hagrid's giant half-brother, Grawp, only to be confronted by centaurs who kidnap Umbridge after she attacks and insults them.
Harry, Hermione, Ron, Luna Lovegood, Neville and Ginny fly to the Ministry of Magic on Thestrals to save Sirius.
The six enter the Department of Mysteries where they uncover a bottled prophecy, the object Voldemort was after. However, they are ambushed by Death Eaters including Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix. Lucius reveals that Harry only saw a vision of Sirius being tortured; it was simply a ruse to lure Harry into their grasp.
Harry refuses to give Lucius the prophecy, and a fight between Dumbledore's Army and the Death Eaters ensues. The Death Eaters take everyone (except Harry) as hostages, threatening to kill them unless he surrenders the prophecy.
Harry obliges just as Sirius and Remus Lupin arrive with Order members Nymphadora Tonks, Kingsley Shacklebolt and Mad-Eye Moody. As they attack the Death Eaters, the prophecy is destroyed. Just as Sirius overpowers Lucius, Bellatrix kills Sirius. Voldemort appears, but Dumbledore arrives through the Floo Network moments before Voldemort can kill Harry.
A duel between Voldemort and Dumbledore ensues, destroying much of the Atrium, while Bellatrix escapes. After the two prove evenly matched, Voldemort possesses Harry to have Dumbledore sacrifice Harry, but the bond Harry feels for his friends and Sirius makes it impossible for Voldemort to remain in his body.
Ministry officials arrive before Voldemort disapparates; Fudge is forced to admit that Voldemort has returned and resigns as Minister in disgrace. Umbridge is removed from Hogwarts and Dumbledore returns as headmaster. Dumbledore explains he distanced himself from Harry throughout the year hoping it would lessen the risk of Voldemort using their connection.
Harry comes to terms with the prophecy; "Neither can live while the other survives." As they walk towards the Hogwarts Express, Harry says to his friends that even though a war is about to begin, the one thing they have that Voldemort doesn't is something worth fighting for.
Cast:
- Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, a 15-year-old British wizard famous for surviving his parents' murder at the hands of Voldemort as an infant, who now enters his fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
- Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley, Harry's best friend at Hogwarts.
- Emma Watson as Hermione Granger, Harry's Muggle-born best friend and the brains of the trio.
- Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix Lestrange, one of Voldemort's most loyal Death Eaters and the cousin of Sirius Black.
- Robbie Coltrane as Rubeus Hagrid, the half-giant Gamekeeper and Care of Magical Creatures teacher at Hogwarts and a member of the Order of the Phoenix.
- Ralph Fiennes as Lord Voldemort, leader of the Death Eaters, a dark wizard intent on conquering the Wizarding World.
- Michael Gambon as Albus Dumbledore, the legendary Hogwarts headmaster and leader of the Order of the Phoenix.
- Brendan Gleeson as Mad-Eye Moody, Harry's ex-Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher and a member of the Order of the Phoenix.
- Richard Griffiths as Vernon Dursley, Harry's Muggle uncle.
- Jason Isaacs as Lucius Malfoy, a falsely pardoned senior Death Eater.
- Gary Oldman as Sirius Black, Harry's godfather and a member of the Order of the Phoenix.
- Alan Rickman as Severus Snape, the Potions teacher at Hogwarts and the Head of Slytherin, serving as a spy among the Death Eaters for the Order of the Phoenix.
- Fiona Shaw as Petunia Dursley, Harry's Muggle aunt.
- Maggie Smith as Minerva McGonagall, the Transfiguration teacher at Hogwarts and a member of the Order of the Phoenix.
- Imelda Staunton as Dolores Umbridge, the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher and a plant from the corrupt Ministry of Magic.
- David Thewlis as Remus Lupin, Harry's ex-Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher and a member of the Order of the Phoenix.
- Emma Thompson as Sybill Trelawney, the Divination teacher at Hogwarts.
- David Bradley as Argus Filch, the ill-tempered Squib caretaker of Hogwarts.
- Warwick Davis as Filius Flitwick, the Charms teacher at Hogwarts and the Head of Ravenclaw.
- Tom Felton as Draco Malfoy, Lucius Malfoy's son and Harry's rival at Hogwarts.
- Robert Hardy as Cornelius Fudge, the paranoid and foolish Minister of Magic.
- George Harris as Kingsley Shacklebolt, an Auror and member of the Order of the Phoenix.
- Natalia Tena as Nymphadora Tonks, a young Auror trained under Moody and member of the Order of the Phoenix.
- Julie Walters as Molly Weasley, the Weasley matriarch and a mother figure to Harry, also a member of the Order of the Phoenix.
Box Office: $939.9 million
___________________________________________________________________________
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)
YouTube Video of the Movie Trailer for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is a 2009 British-American fantasy film directed by David Yates and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is based on the novel of the same name by J. K. Rowling. The film, which is the sixth installment in the Harry Potter film series, was written by Steve Kloves and produced by David Heyman and David Barron.
The story follows Harry Potter's sixth year at Hogwarts as he becomes obsessed with a mysterious textbook, falls in love, and attempts to retrieve a memory that holds the key to Lord Voldemort's downfall.
The film stars Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, alongside Rupert Grint and Emma Watson as Harry's best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. It is the sequel to Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and is followed by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1.
Filming began September 2007, leading to the film's worldwide cinematic release in July 2009, one day short of the fourth anniversary of the corresponding novel's release. The film was simultaneously released in regular cinemas and IMAX 3D everywhere except North America, where its IMAX release was delayed for two weeks.
Half-Blood Prince opened to positive reviews along with immediate commercial success, breaking the record for the biggest single-day worldwide gross. In five days the film made $394 million, breaking the record for highest five-day worldwide gross. With a total gross of $934 million, it became the 8th-highest-grossing movie of all time and the second-highest-grossing film of 2009 (behind Avatar). It is currently the 34th-highest-grossing film of all time worldwide unadjusted for inflation. It is the fifth-highest-grossing film in the franchise.
The film attained a mix of awards and nominations, including gaining recognition at the 82nd Academy Awards for Best Cinematography and the 63rd British Academy Film Awards for Best Special Visual Effects and Best Production Design.
Half-Blood Prince remains one of the most positively reviewed films within the series among film critics; at the time of its release, it became the third-highest-rated Harry Potter film on review aggregators Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic.
Critics praised the film's "emotionally satisfying" story, David Yates' direction, cinematography, performances; particularly those of Michael Gambon, Jim Broadbent, Alan Rickman, Emma Watson, Tom Felton and Daniel Radcliffe; the visuals and Nicholas Hooper's musical score.
Plot:
Lord Voldemort is tightening his grip on both the wizarding and Muggle worlds and has chosen Draco Malfoy to carry out a secret mission. Severus Snape makes an Unbreakable Vow with Draco's mother, Narcissa, to protect Draco and fulfill the assignment if he fails.
16-year-old Harry accompanies Albus Dumbledore to visit former Potions professor Horace Slughorn, who has gone into hiding but agrees to return to teach at Hogwarts. Dumbledore then takes Harry to the Burrow, where Harry reunites with his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger.
Harry believes Voldemort has made Draco a Death Eater, after seeing Draco taking part in a ceremony, but Ron and Hermione are skeptical. At Hogwarts, Harry and Ron are forced to borrow textbooks for Slughorn's Potions class, and Harry is stuck with a copy that turns out to be filled with helpful notes, instructions, and spells left by the book's previous owner, the "Half-Blood Prince".
Using the book, Harry excels in the class and impresses Slughorn. Ron becomes Keeper of the GryffindorQuidditch team and forms a romantic relationship with Lavender Brown, upsetting Hermione. Harry consoles Hermione, revealing that he now has feelings for Ron's younger sister, Ginny Weasley.
Harry spends the Christmas holidays with the Weasleys. On Christmas Eve, Bellatrix Lestrange and Fenrir Greyback set fire to the Burrow. Back at school, Ron is nearly killed when he drinks poisoned mead, a drink originally intended for Dumbledore. While recovering, Ron murmurs Hermione's name, causing Lavender to end their relationship.
Harry confronts Draco and severely injures him with a Sectumsempra curse taken from the textbook of the Half-Blood Prince. Snape enters and quickly heals Draco's wound. Fearing the book may be filled with more Dark Magic, Ginny and Harry hide it in the Room of Requirement and share their first kiss.
Dumbledore shows Harry memories of a young Tom Riddle and reveals that Slughorn retains a memory critical to Voldemort's defeat. Harry eventually succeeds in retrieving the memory, and learns that Voldemort wanted information for creating Horcruxes, objects that contain pieces of his soul. In the memory, Tom asked if dividing his soul into seven pieces was possible.
Dumbledore concludes that Voldemort eventually did this, and two of his Horcruxes have already been destroyed: Tom Riddle's diary and his mother's ring. After discovering the possible location of another Horcrux, Harry and Dumbledore travel to a seaside cave where Harry is forced to make Dumbledore drink a painful potion that hides the Horcrux, Slytherin's locket.
A weakened Dumbledore defends them from Inferi and apparates back to Hogwarts, where Bellatrix, Greyback and more Death Eaters have entered with Draco's help through a Vanishing Cabinet.
Dumbledore instructs Harry to hide as Draco arrives, disarms Dumbledore and reveals that he has been chosen by Voldemort to kill the headmaster. However, he is unable to bring himself to do it, and Snape casts the Avada Kedavra curse instead, killing Dumbledore.
Harry attempts to curse Snape, but Snape overpowers him and reveals that he is the Half-Blood Prince. Harry returns to the school to find the staff and students mourning Dumbledore. Harry later reveals to Ron and Hermione that the locket Horcrux was a fake.
The locket contains a message from "R.A.B.", stating that he has stolen the real Horcrux with the intent of destroying it. Rather than return for their final year at Hogwarts, Harry, Ron and Hermione vow to seek out and destroy the remaining Horcruxes.
Cast:
Box Office: $934.4 million
___________________________________________________________________________
The story follows Harry Potter's sixth year at Hogwarts as he becomes obsessed with a mysterious textbook, falls in love, and attempts to retrieve a memory that holds the key to Lord Voldemort's downfall.
The film stars Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, alongside Rupert Grint and Emma Watson as Harry's best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. It is the sequel to Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and is followed by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1.
Filming began September 2007, leading to the film's worldwide cinematic release in July 2009, one day short of the fourth anniversary of the corresponding novel's release. The film was simultaneously released in regular cinemas and IMAX 3D everywhere except North America, where its IMAX release was delayed for two weeks.
Half-Blood Prince opened to positive reviews along with immediate commercial success, breaking the record for the biggest single-day worldwide gross. In five days the film made $394 million, breaking the record for highest five-day worldwide gross. With a total gross of $934 million, it became the 8th-highest-grossing movie of all time and the second-highest-grossing film of 2009 (behind Avatar). It is currently the 34th-highest-grossing film of all time worldwide unadjusted for inflation. It is the fifth-highest-grossing film in the franchise.
The film attained a mix of awards and nominations, including gaining recognition at the 82nd Academy Awards for Best Cinematography and the 63rd British Academy Film Awards for Best Special Visual Effects and Best Production Design.
Half-Blood Prince remains one of the most positively reviewed films within the series among film critics; at the time of its release, it became the third-highest-rated Harry Potter film on review aggregators Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic.
Critics praised the film's "emotionally satisfying" story, David Yates' direction, cinematography, performances; particularly those of Michael Gambon, Jim Broadbent, Alan Rickman, Emma Watson, Tom Felton and Daniel Radcliffe; the visuals and Nicholas Hooper's musical score.
Plot:
Lord Voldemort is tightening his grip on both the wizarding and Muggle worlds and has chosen Draco Malfoy to carry out a secret mission. Severus Snape makes an Unbreakable Vow with Draco's mother, Narcissa, to protect Draco and fulfill the assignment if he fails.
16-year-old Harry accompanies Albus Dumbledore to visit former Potions professor Horace Slughorn, who has gone into hiding but agrees to return to teach at Hogwarts. Dumbledore then takes Harry to the Burrow, where Harry reunites with his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger.
Harry believes Voldemort has made Draco a Death Eater, after seeing Draco taking part in a ceremony, but Ron and Hermione are skeptical. At Hogwarts, Harry and Ron are forced to borrow textbooks for Slughorn's Potions class, and Harry is stuck with a copy that turns out to be filled with helpful notes, instructions, and spells left by the book's previous owner, the "Half-Blood Prince".
Using the book, Harry excels in the class and impresses Slughorn. Ron becomes Keeper of the GryffindorQuidditch team and forms a romantic relationship with Lavender Brown, upsetting Hermione. Harry consoles Hermione, revealing that he now has feelings for Ron's younger sister, Ginny Weasley.
Harry spends the Christmas holidays with the Weasleys. On Christmas Eve, Bellatrix Lestrange and Fenrir Greyback set fire to the Burrow. Back at school, Ron is nearly killed when he drinks poisoned mead, a drink originally intended for Dumbledore. While recovering, Ron murmurs Hermione's name, causing Lavender to end their relationship.
Harry confronts Draco and severely injures him with a Sectumsempra curse taken from the textbook of the Half-Blood Prince. Snape enters and quickly heals Draco's wound. Fearing the book may be filled with more Dark Magic, Ginny and Harry hide it in the Room of Requirement and share their first kiss.
Dumbledore shows Harry memories of a young Tom Riddle and reveals that Slughorn retains a memory critical to Voldemort's defeat. Harry eventually succeeds in retrieving the memory, and learns that Voldemort wanted information for creating Horcruxes, objects that contain pieces of his soul. In the memory, Tom asked if dividing his soul into seven pieces was possible.
Dumbledore concludes that Voldemort eventually did this, and two of his Horcruxes have already been destroyed: Tom Riddle's diary and his mother's ring. After discovering the possible location of another Horcrux, Harry and Dumbledore travel to a seaside cave where Harry is forced to make Dumbledore drink a painful potion that hides the Horcrux, Slytherin's locket.
A weakened Dumbledore defends them from Inferi and apparates back to Hogwarts, where Bellatrix, Greyback and more Death Eaters have entered with Draco's help through a Vanishing Cabinet.
Dumbledore instructs Harry to hide as Draco arrives, disarms Dumbledore and reveals that he has been chosen by Voldemort to kill the headmaster. However, he is unable to bring himself to do it, and Snape casts the Avada Kedavra curse instead, killing Dumbledore.
Harry attempts to curse Snape, but Snape overpowers him and reveals that he is the Half-Blood Prince. Harry returns to the school to find the staff and students mourning Dumbledore. Harry later reveals to Ron and Hermione that the locket Horcrux was a fake.
The locket contains a message from "R.A.B.", stating that he has stolen the real Horcrux with the intent of destroying it. Rather than return for their final year at Hogwarts, Harry, Ron and Hermione vow to seek out and destroy the remaining Horcruxes.
Cast:
- Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter.
- Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley, one of Harry's two best friends.
- Emma Watson as Hermione Granger, one of Harry's two best friends.
- Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix Lestrange, one of Voldemort's principal Death Eaters and Draco Malfoy's aunt.
- Jim Broadbent as Horace Slughorn, the newly appointed Potions master who held the position before.
- Robbie Coltrane as Rubeus Hagrid, the Hogwarts gamekeeper and Care of Magical Creatures teacher at Hogwarts.
- Warwick Davis as Filius Flitwick, the Charms master and head of Ravenclaw.
- Tom Felton as Draco Malfoy, Harry's rival and recipient of Voldemort's secret mission.
- Michael Gambon as Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts.
- Alan Rickman as Severus Snape, the former Potions master, current Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher and head of Slytherin.
- Maggie Smith as Minerva McGonagall, the Hogwarts Transfiguration teacher, deputy headmistress and head of Gryffindor.
- Timothy Spall as Peter Pettigrew, the Death Eater who betrayed Harry's parents to Voldemort. Pettigrew has no lines in this film, but appears as a servant at Snape's house.
- David Thewlis as Remus Lupin, a member of the Order of the Phoenix and Harry's ex-Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher.
- Julie Walters as Molly Weasley, the Weasley matriarch and a mother figure to Harry.
Box Office: $934.4 million
___________________________________________________________________________
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 (2010)
YouTube Video of Movie Trailer for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows -- Part 1
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 is a 2010 British fantasy film directed by David Yates and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures.
It is the first of two cinematic parts based on the novel by J. K. Rowling.The film, which is the seventh and penultimate installment in the Harry Potter film series, was written by Steve Kloves and produced by David Heyman, David Barron, and Rowling.
The film stars Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, alongside Rupert Grint and Emma Watson as Harry's best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. It is the sequel to Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and is followed by the concluding entry, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2.
The story follows Harry Potter on a quest to find and destroy Lord Voldemort's secret to immortality – the Horcruxes. Principal photography began February 2009 and was completed June 2010. Part 1 was released in 2D cinemas and IMAX formats worldwide November 2010.
In the film's worldwide opening weekend, Part 1 grossed $330 million, the third highest in the series, and the highest opening of 2010, as well as the eighth-highest of all-time. With a worldwide gross of $960 million, Part 1 is the third-highest-grossing film of 2010, behind Toy Story 3 and Alice in Wonderland, and the third highest grossing Harry Potter film in terms of worldwide totals behind Deathly Hallows – Part 2 and Philosopher's Stone, and the 28th highest-grossing film of all-time.
The film received two nominations at the 83rd Academy Awards: Best Visual Effects and Best Art Direction.
Plot:
The Minister of Magic, Rufus Scrimgeour, addresses the wizarding media, stating that the Ministry will remain strong even as Lord Voldemort gains strength. Harry, Ron and Hermione prepare for a journey to find and destroy Voldemort's Horcruxes, with Harry watching the Dursleys depart and Hermione wiping her parents' memories of her.
Severus Snape arrives at Malfoy Manor to inform Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters of Harry's impending departure from No. 4 Privet Drive. Voldemort commandeers Lucius Malfoy's wand, as Voldemort's own wand cannot be used to kill Harry, because the wands are "twins."
Meanwhile, the Order of the Phoenix gather at Privet Drive and escort Harry to safety, using Polyjuice Potion to create six decoy Harrys out of everyone else. During their flight to the Weasley family home at the Burrow, all are ambushed by Death Eaters. They kill Mad-Eye Moody and Harry's owl, Hedwig, injure George Weasley, and knock out Hagrid.
This forces Harry to take over and drive his flying motorbike while fighting Voldemort. In the process, destroying some power lines that causes a blackout to the city. After arriving at the Burrow, Harry has a vision of the wand-maker Ollivander being tormented by Voldemort, who claims that Ollivander had lied to him. Ollivander claimed that the only way Voldemort could kill Harry was by using another person's wand.
Scrimgeour arrives at the Burrow with Albus Dumbledore's Will and distributes three items to Ron, Hermione, and Harry. Ron receives Dumbledore's Deluminator, Hermione a copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard, and Harry the first Golden Snitch that he ever caught in a Quidditch match. Scrimgeour reveals that Harry was also bequeathed the Sword of Godric Gryffindor. The minister states, though, that the sword was not Dumbledore's to pass on and, in any case, is missing.
Next, the Death Eaters assassinate Scrimgeour and replace him with their puppet Pius Thicknesse. Thicknesse, under the influence of the Imperius curse, begins persecuting Muggle-born witches and wizards. Then the Minister disrupts the wedding of Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour, by sending a patronus charm to tell everyone what they did and attack them. Harry, Hermione, and Ron Disapparate to London and find sanctuary at No. 12 Grimmauld Place.
There they discover that the "R.A.B." from the false Horcrux locket is Regulus Arcturus Black, the younger brother of Sirius Black. Kreacher, the Black's house-elf, tells them that Mundungus Fletcher stole the real locket. Kreacher and Dobby apprehend Fletcher, who reveals that the locket is in the possession of Dolores Umbridge.
Under the disguise of Polyjuice Potion, the trio infiltrate the Ministry. In the courtroom, Umbridge is interrogating a Muggle-born witch and threatens her, which enrages Harry, who says to her "You're lying, Dolores. And one mustn't tell lies."
He then stuns her and Hermione successfully retrieves the locket. The trio escape from the Dementors by fleeing into the wilderness after accidentally revealing the location of No. 12 Grimmauld Place to Yaxley, a Death Eater.
Unable to destroy the Horcrux, they take turns wearing it to dilute its malignant power. Harry sees a vision of Voldemort interrogating Gregorovitch, a renowned wand-maker, who claims that a teenage boy had once stolen the legendary Elder Wand from his shop. While Ron wears the locket, he is overcome by his negative feelings and after arguing with Harry, he leaves, upsetting Hermione. Harry and Hermione decide to go to Godric's Hollow, where they visit Harry's parents' graves and the house where they were killed.
Next Harry and Hermoine visit Bathilda Bagshot, who they believe has the Sword of Gryffindor, which they deduce can destroy Horcruxes. They are surprised by Voldemort's snake, Nagini, who has been possessing her corpse. Hermione accidentally breaks Harry's wand as they escape into the Forest of Dean. Hermione is able to identify the mysterious thief seen in Harry's vision as Gellert Grindelwald.
When evening falls, Harry sees a Patronus in the form of a doe which leads him to a frozen pond. Gryffindor's sword lies beneath the pond's ice. Harry breaks the ice and jumps in to reach the sword. The locket around his neck attempts to strangle him, but Ron arrives to rescue Harry. Despite the soul inside the locket attacking both of them, Ron manages to destroy it with the Sword of Gryffindor. Hermione is angry with Ron at first but then reconciles with him.
The trio then visit Xenophilius Lovegood to learn about a symbol seen several times on their journey. He tells them that the symbol represents the Deathly Hallows: the Elder Wand, the Resurrection Stone and the Cloak of Invisibility. Lovegood betrays them to the Death Eaters in an effort to have his kidnapped daughter returned.
The trio escape into the wilderness once more, but Snatchers appear and chase them. Harry has a vision of Voldemort learning from Grindelwald that the Elder Wand lies with Dumbledore in his grave. They are then captured and taken to Malfoy Manor.
Bellatrix Lestrange imprisons Harry and Ron in a cellar, in which they discover Luna, Ollivander, and Griphook the goblin. Bellatrix tortures Hermione for information on how they got the sword of Gryffindor. After Dobby apparates in the cellar to save them, and incapacitates Peter Pettigrew, a short battle ensues; Harry duels and disarms Draco Malfoy. Narcissa Malfoy's wand is taken by Dobby who says "Dobby has no master.
Dobby is a free elf. And Dobby has come to save Harry Potter and his friends." Dobby is killed by Bellatrix right after he helps Harry and the other captives escape. Meanwhile, Voldemort breaks into Dumbledore's tomb and takes the Elder Wand.
Cast:
Box Office: $960.3 million
___________________________________________________________________________
It is the first of two cinematic parts based on the novel by J. K. Rowling.The film, which is the seventh and penultimate installment in the Harry Potter film series, was written by Steve Kloves and produced by David Heyman, David Barron, and Rowling.
The film stars Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, alongside Rupert Grint and Emma Watson as Harry's best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. It is the sequel to Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and is followed by the concluding entry, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2.
The story follows Harry Potter on a quest to find and destroy Lord Voldemort's secret to immortality – the Horcruxes. Principal photography began February 2009 and was completed June 2010. Part 1 was released in 2D cinemas and IMAX formats worldwide November 2010.
In the film's worldwide opening weekend, Part 1 grossed $330 million, the third highest in the series, and the highest opening of 2010, as well as the eighth-highest of all-time. With a worldwide gross of $960 million, Part 1 is the third-highest-grossing film of 2010, behind Toy Story 3 and Alice in Wonderland, and the third highest grossing Harry Potter film in terms of worldwide totals behind Deathly Hallows – Part 2 and Philosopher's Stone, and the 28th highest-grossing film of all-time.
The film received two nominations at the 83rd Academy Awards: Best Visual Effects and Best Art Direction.
Plot:
The Minister of Magic, Rufus Scrimgeour, addresses the wizarding media, stating that the Ministry will remain strong even as Lord Voldemort gains strength. Harry, Ron and Hermione prepare for a journey to find and destroy Voldemort's Horcruxes, with Harry watching the Dursleys depart and Hermione wiping her parents' memories of her.
Severus Snape arrives at Malfoy Manor to inform Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters of Harry's impending departure from No. 4 Privet Drive. Voldemort commandeers Lucius Malfoy's wand, as Voldemort's own wand cannot be used to kill Harry, because the wands are "twins."
Meanwhile, the Order of the Phoenix gather at Privet Drive and escort Harry to safety, using Polyjuice Potion to create six decoy Harrys out of everyone else. During their flight to the Weasley family home at the Burrow, all are ambushed by Death Eaters. They kill Mad-Eye Moody and Harry's owl, Hedwig, injure George Weasley, and knock out Hagrid.
This forces Harry to take over and drive his flying motorbike while fighting Voldemort. In the process, destroying some power lines that causes a blackout to the city. After arriving at the Burrow, Harry has a vision of the wand-maker Ollivander being tormented by Voldemort, who claims that Ollivander had lied to him. Ollivander claimed that the only way Voldemort could kill Harry was by using another person's wand.
Scrimgeour arrives at the Burrow with Albus Dumbledore's Will and distributes three items to Ron, Hermione, and Harry. Ron receives Dumbledore's Deluminator, Hermione a copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard, and Harry the first Golden Snitch that he ever caught in a Quidditch match. Scrimgeour reveals that Harry was also bequeathed the Sword of Godric Gryffindor. The minister states, though, that the sword was not Dumbledore's to pass on and, in any case, is missing.
Next, the Death Eaters assassinate Scrimgeour and replace him with their puppet Pius Thicknesse. Thicknesse, under the influence of the Imperius curse, begins persecuting Muggle-born witches and wizards. Then the Minister disrupts the wedding of Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour, by sending a patronus charm to tell everyone what they did and attack them. Harry, Hermione, and Ron Disapparate to London and find sanctuary at No. 12 Grimmauld Place.
There they discover that the "R.A.B." from the false Horcrux locket is Regulus Arcturus Black, the younger brother of Sirius Black. Kreacher, the Black's house-elf, tells them that Mundungus Fletcher stole the real locket. Kreacher and Dobby apprehend Fletcher, who reveals that the locket is in the possession of Dolores Umbridge.
Under the disguise of Polyjuice Potion, the trio infiltrate the Ministry. In the courtroom, Umbridge is interrogating a Muggle-born witch and threatens her, which enrages Harry, who says to her "You're lying, Dolores. And one mustn't tell lies."
He then stuns her and Hermione successfully retrieves the locket. The trio escape from the Dementors by fleeing into the wilderness after accidentally revealing the location of No. 12 Grimmauld Place to Yaxley, a Death Eater.
Unable to destroy the Horcrux, they take turns wearing it to dilute its malignant power. Harry sees a vision of Voldemort interrogating Gregorovitch, a renowned wand-maker, who claims that a teenage boy had once stolen the legendary Elder Wand from his shop. While Ron wears the locket, he is overcome by his negative feelings and after arguing with Harry, he leaves, upsetting Hermione. Harry and Hermione decide to go to Godric's Hollow, where they visit Harry's parents' graves and the house where they were killed.
Next Harry and Hermoine visit Bathilda Bagshot, who they believe has the Sword of Gryffindor, which they deduce can destroy Horcruxes. They are surprised by Voldemort's snake, Nagini, who has been possessing her corpse. Hermione accidentally breaks Harry's wand as they escape into the Forest of Dean. Hermione is able to identify the mysterious thief seen in Harry's vision as Gellert Grindelwald.
When evening falls, Harry sees a Patronus in the form of a doe which leads him to a frozen pond. Gryffindor's sword lies beneath the pond's ice. Harry breaks the ice and jumps in to reach the sword. The locket around his neck attempts to strangle him, but Ron arrives to rescue Harry. Despite the soul inside the locket attacking both of them, Ron manages to destroy it with the Sword of Gryffindor. Hermione is angry with Ron at first but then reconciles with him.
The trio then visit Xenophilius Lovegood to learn about a symbol seen several times on their journey. He tells them that the symbol represents the Deathly Hallows: the Elder Wand, the Resurrection Stone and the Cloak of Invisibility. Lovegood betrays them to the Death Eaters in an effort to have his kidnapped daughter returned.
The trio escape into the wilderness once more, but Snatchers appear and chase them. Harry has a vision of Voldemort learning from Grindelwald that the Elder Wand lies with Dumbledore in his grave. They are then captured and taken to Malfoy Manor.
Bellatrix Lestrange imprisons Harry and Ron in a cellar, in which they discover Luna, Ollivander, and Griphook the goblin. Bellatrix tortures Hermione for information on how they got the sword of Gryffindor. After Dobby apparates in the cellar to save them, and incapacitates Peter Pettigrew, a short battle ensues; Harry duels and disarms Draco Malfoy. Narcissa Malfoy's wand is taken by Dobby who says "Dobby has no master.
Dobby is a free elf. And Dobby has come to save Harry Potter and his friends." Dobby is killed by Bellatrix right after he helps Harry and the other captives escape. Meanwhile, Voldemort breaks into Dumbledore's tomb and takes the Elder Wand.
Cast:
- Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter
- Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley, one of Harry's best friends.
- Emma Watson as Hermione Granger, one of Harry's best friends.
- Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix Lestrange, a Death Eater and Sirius Black's cousin and murderer.
- Robbie Coltrane as Rubeus Hagrid, Harry's half-giant friend, and gamekeeper at Hogwarts.
- Warwick Davis as Griphook, a goblin and former employee at Gringotts Bank.
- Tom Felton as Draco Malfoy, a Death Eater and son of Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy.
- Ralph Fiennes as Lord Voldemort, an evil, power-hungry wizard, and the leader of the Death Eaters.
- Michael Gambon as Albus Dumbledore, former headmaster of Hogwarts killed by Severus Snape in the previous film.
- Brendan Gleeson as Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody, a member of the Order of the Phoenix.
- Richard Griffiths as Vernon Dursley, Harry's Muggle uncle.
- John Hurt as Garrick Ollivander, a wandmaker abducted by the Death Eaters.
- Rhys Ifans as Xenophilius Lovegood, the eccentric father of the trio's friend Luna.
- Jason Isaacs as Lucius Malfoy, Draco Malfoy's father and a disgraced Death Eater.
- Bill Nighy as Rufus Scrimgeour, the new Minister of Magic.
- Alan Rickman as Severus Snape, a double agent to the Death Eaters and the new headmaster of Hogwarts.
- Fiona Shaw as Petunia Dursley, Harry's Muggle aunt.
- Timothy Spall as Peter Pettigrew, the Death Eater who betrayed Harry's parents to Voldemort.
- Imelda Staunton as Dolores Umbridge, Senior Undersecretary to the Minister and Head of the Muggle-born Registration Commission.
- David Thewlis as Remus Lupin, a member of the Order of the Phoenix and a former teacher at Hogwarts.
- Julie Walters as Molly Weasley, the Weasley matriarch and a mother figure to Harry.
Box Office: $960.3 million
___________________________________________________________________________
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 (2011)
YouTube Video of the Movie Trailer for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 is a 2011 British fantasy film directed by David Yates and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is the second of two cinematic parts based on the novel Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling.
The film, which is the eighth and final installment in the Harry Potter film series, was written by Steve Kloves and produced by David Heyman, David Barron, and Rowling. It is the sequel to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1. The story continues to follow Harry Potter's quest to find and destroy Lord Voldemort's Horcruxes in order to stop him once and for all.
The film stars Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, alongside Rupert Grint and Emma Watson as Harry's best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Principal photography began February 2009, and was completed June 2010, with re-shoots taking place in December 2010, more than ten years after filming started on the first installment of the series.
Part 2 was released in 2D, 3-D and IMAX cinemas worldwide from 13–15 July 2011, and is the only Harry Potter film to be released in 3-D.
The film became a financial success and was one of the best-reviewed films of 2011. The film received praised for its visual effects, cinematography, Alexandre Desplat's musical score, the action sequences, David Yates' direction, and the performances, especially Alan Rickman.
At the box office, Part 2 claimed the worldwide opening weekend record, earning $483.2 million, as well as setting opening day and opening weekend records in various countries. As of 2016, the film is the eighth highest-grossing film of all time. It became the highest-grossing film of 2011, the highest-grossing film in the Harry Potter series, and the ninth film to gross over $1 billion.
The Blu-ray and DVD sets were released November 2011 in the United States and on December 2011 in the United Kingdom. The film was also released in the Harry Potter: Complete 8-Film Collection box set on DVD and Blu-ray, which included all eight films and new special features. Part 1 and Part 2 were released as a combo pack on DVD and Blu-ray November 2011 in Canada.
The film won several awards and was nominated for many more, including three nominations at the Academy Awards for Best Art Direction, Best Visual Effects, and Best Makeup and Hairstyling.
Plot:
After burying Dobby, Harry Potter asks the goblin Griphook to help him, Ron, and Hermione break into Bellatrix Lestrange's vault at Gringotts bank, suspecting a Horcrux may be there. Griphook agrees, in exchange for the Sword of Gryffindor. Wandmaker Ollivander tells Harry that two wands taken from Malfoy Manor belonged to Bellatrix and to Draco Malfoy, but Malfoy's has changed its allegiance to Harry.
In Bellatrix's vault, Harry discovers the Horcrux is Helga Hufflepuff's cup. He retrieves it, but Griphook snatches the sword and abandons the trio, leaving them cornered by security. The three release the dragon guardian and flee on its back. Harry sees a vision of Voldemort killing goblins, including Griphook, and learns Voldemort is aware of the theft.
Harry also realizes there is a Horcrux at Hogwarts somehow connected to Rowena Ravenclaw. The trio apparate into Hogsmeade, where Aberforth Dumbledore reluctantly instructs the portrait of his deceased younger sister, Ariana, to fetch Neville Longbottom, who leads the trio through a secret passageway into Hogwarts.
Severus Snape hears of Harry's return and warns staff and students of punishment for aiding Harry. Harry confronts Snape, who flees after Minerva McGonagall challenges him to a duel. McGonagall gathers the Hogwarts community for battle. At Luna Lovegood's insistence, Harry speaks to Helena Ravenclaw's ghost, who reveals that Voldemort performed "dark magic" on her mother's diadem, which is in the Room of Requirement.
In the Chamber of Secrets, Ron and Hermione destroy the Horcrux cup with a Basilisk fang. In the Room of Requirement, Draco, Blaise Zabini and Gregory Goyle attack Harry after he finds the diadem, but Ron and Hermione intervene. Goyle casts a Fiendfyre curse and, unable to control it, is swallowed up by the flames while Harry and his friends save Malfoy and Zabini.
Harry stabs the diadem with the Basilisk fang and Ron kicks it into the Room of Requirement, where it is destroyed. As Voldemort's army attacks, Harry, seeing into Voldemort's mind, realizes that Voldemort's snake Nagini is the final Horcrux.
After entering the boathouse, the trio witness Voldemort incorrectly telling Snape that the Elder Wand cannot serve Voldemort until Snape dies since he killed its last owner (Dumbledore); he then orders Nagini to kill Snape, which Nagini does. Before dying, Snape tells Harry to take his memories to the Pensieve. In the chaos at Hogwarts, Fred, Lupin, and Tonks have been killed.
Harry learns from Snape's memories that Snape loved Harry's late mother, Lily, but despised his father, James, who had bullied him. Following her death, Snape worked secretly with Dumbledore to protect Harry from Voldemort because of his love for Lily. Harry also learns Dumbledore wanted Snape to kill him, and that the Patronus doe he saw in the woods that led him to the sword had been conjured by Snape.
Harry discovers that he himself became a Horcrux when Voldemort originally failed to kill him and that Harry must die to destroy the piece of Voldemort's soul within him. Harry then surrenders himself to Voldemort in the Forbidden Forest. Voldemort casts the Killing Curse upon Harry, who finds himself in limbo, where Dumbledore's spirit meets him and explains that the part of Voldemort within Harry was killed by Voldemort's own curse. Harry then returns to his body, determined to defeat Voldemort once and for all.
Voldemort announces Harry's apparent death to everyone at Hogwarts and demands they all surrender. As Neville gives a defiant response and draws the Sword of Gryffindor from the Sorting Hat, Harry reveals he is still alive.
While Harry confronts Voldemort in a duel throughout the castle, Molly Weasley kills Bellatrix in the Great Hall, and Neville decapitates Nagini, leaving Voldemort mortal. Harry and Voldemort's fight ends with Voldemort's own Killing Curse rebounding, killing and obliterating him.
After the battle, Harry explains to Ron and Hermione that the Elder Wand had recognized him as its true master because he had disarmed Draco, who earlier had disarmed its previous owner, Dumbledore, but instead of claiming the Elder Wand, Harry breaks and discards it.
Nineteen years later, Harry, Ginny, Hermione, Ron, and Draco proudly watch their own children leave for Hogwarts at King's Cross station.
Cast:
Box Office: $1.341 billion
The film, which is the eighth and final installment in the Harry Potter film series, was written by Steve Kloves and produced by David Heyman, David Barron, and Rowling. It is the sequel to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1. The story continues to follow Harry Potter's quest to find and destroy Lord Voldemort's Horcruxes in order to stop him once and for all.
The film stars Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, alongside Rupert Grint and Emma Watson as Harry's best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Principal photography began February 2009, and was completed June 2010, with re-shoots taking place in December 2010, more than ten years after filming started on the first installment of the series.
Part 2 was released in 2D, 3-D and IMAX cinemas worldwide from 13–15 July 2011, and is the only Harry Potter film to be released in 3-D.
The film became a financial success and was one of the best-reviewed films of 2011. The film received praised for its visual effects, cinematography, Alexandre Desplat's musical score, the action sequences, David Yates' direction, and the performances, especially Alan Rickman.
At the box office, Part 2 claimed the worldwide opening weekend record, earning $483.2 million, as well as setting opening day and opening weekend records in various countries. As of 2016, the film is the eighth highest-grossing film of all time. It became the highest-grossing film of 2011, the highest-grossing film in the Harry Potter series, and the ninth film to gross over $1 billion.
The Blu-ray and DVD sets were released November 2011 in the United States and on December 2011 in the United Kingdom. The film was also released in the Harry Potter: Complete 8-Film Collection box set on DVD and Blu-ray, which included all eight films and new special features. Part 1 and Part 2 were released as a combo pack on DVD and Blu-ray November 2011 in Canada.
The film won several awards and was nominated for many more, including three nominations at the Academy Awards for Best Art Direction, Best Visual Effects, and Best Makeup and Hairstyling.
Plot:
After burying Dobby, Harry Potter asks the goblin Griphook to help him, Ron, and Hermione break into Bellatrix Lestrange's vault at Gringotts bank, suspecting a Horcrux may be there. Griphook agrees, in exchange for the Sword of Gryffindor. Wandmaker Ollivander tells Harry that two wands taken from Malfoy Manor belonged to Bellatrix and to Draco Malfoy, but Malfoy's has changed its allegiance to Harry.
In Bellatrix's vault, Harry discovers the Horcrux is Helga Hufflepuff's cup. He retrieves it, but Griphook snatches the sword and abandons the trio, leaving them cornered by security. The three release the dragon guardian and flee on its back. Harry sees a vision of Voldemort killing goblins, including Griphook, and learns Voldemort is aware of the theft.
Harry also realizes there is a Horcrux at Hogwarts somehow connected to Rowena Ravenclaw. The trio apparate into Hogsmeade, where Aberforth Dumbledore reluctantly instructs the portrait of his deceased younger sister, Ariana, to fetch Neville Longbottom, who leads the trio through a secret passageway into Hogwarts.
Severus Snape hears of Harry's return and warns staff and students of punishment for aiding Harry. Harry confronts Snape, who flees after Minerva McGonagall challenges him to a duel. McGonagall gathers the Hogwarts community for battle. At Luna Lovegood's insistence, Harry speaks to Helena Ravenclaw's ghost, who reveals that Voldemort performed "dark magic" on her mother's diadem, which is in the Room of Requirement.
In the Chamber of Secrets, Ron and Hermione destroy the Horcrux cup with a Basilisk fang. In the Room of Requirement, Draco, Blaise Zabini and Gregory Goyle attack Harry after he finds the diadem, but Ron and Hermione intervene. Goyle casts a Fiendfyre curse and, unable to control it, is swallowed up by the flames while Harry and his friends save Malfoy and Zabini.
Harry stabs the diadem with the Basilisk fang and Ron kicks it into the Room of Requirement, where it is destroyed. As Voldemort's army attacks, Harry, seeing into Voldemort's mind, realizes that Voldemort's snake Nagini is the final Horcrux.
After entering the boathouse, the trio witness Voldemort incorrectly telling Snape that the Elder Wand cannot serve Voldemort until Snape dies since he killed its last owner (Dumbledore); he then orders Nagini to kill Snape, which Nagini does. Before dying, Snape tells Harry to take his memories to the Pensieve. In the chaos at Hogwarts, Fred, Lupin, and Tonks have been killed.
Harry learns from Snape's memories that Snape loved Harry's late mother, Lily, but despised his father, James, who had bullied him. Following her death, Snape worked secretly with Dumbledore to protect Harry from Voldemort because of his love for Lily. Harry also learns Dumbledore wanted Snape to kill him, and that the Patronus doe he saw in the woods that led him to the sword had been conjured by Snape.
Harry discovers that he himself became a Horcrux when Voldemort originally failed to kill him and that Harry must die to destroy the piece of Voldemort's soul within him. Harry then surrenders himself to Voldemort in the Forbidden Forest. Voldemort casts the Killing Curse upon Harry, who finds himself in limbo, where Dumbledore's spirit meets him and explains that the part of Voldemort within Harry was killed by Voldemort's own curse. Harry then returns to his body, determined to defeat Voldemort once and for all.
Voldemort announces Harry's apparent death to everyone at Hogwarts and demands they all surrender. As Neville gives a defiant response and draws the Sword of Gryffindor from the Sorting Hat, Harry reveals he is still alive.
While Harry confronts Voldemort in a duel throughout the castle, Molly Weasley kills Bellatrix in the Great Hall, and Neville decapitates Nagini, leaving Voldemort mortal. Harry and Voldemort's fight ends with Voldemort's own Killing Curse rebounding, killing and obliterating him.
After the battle, Harry explains to Ron and Hermione that the Elder Wand had recognized him as its true master because he had disarmed Draco, who earlier had disarmed its previous owner, Dumbledore, but instead of claiming the Elder Wand, Harry breaks and discards it.
Nineteen years later, Harry, Ginny, Hermione, Ron, and Draco proudly watch their own children leave for Hogwarts at King's Cross station.
Cast:
- Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter
- Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley, Harry's best friend.
- Emma Watson as Hermione Granger, Harry's other best friend, and the trio's brains.
- Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix Lestrange, a Death Eater and Sirius Black's cousin and murderer.
- Robbie Coltrane as Rubeus Hagrid, Harry's half-giant friend and a former member of the staff of Hogwarts.
- Warwick Davis as Filius Flitwick, the Charms master and Head of the Ravenclaw house at Hogwarts; and Griphook, a goblin and former employee at Gringotts Bank.
- Tom Felton as Draco Malfoy, Harry's former school rival, a Death Eater, and son of Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy (Helen McCrory).
- Ralph Fiennes as Lord Voldemort, a twisted, evil, power-hungry, powerful wizard, and the founder and supreme leader of the Death Eaters.
- Michael Gambon as Albus Dumbledore, the late headmaster of Hogwarts
- John Hurt as Mr. Ollivander, a wandmaker abducted by the Death Eaters.
- Jason Isaacs as Lucius Malfoy, Draco Malfoy's father and a disgraced Death Eater.
- Kelly Macdonald as Helena Ravenclaw, the ghost of Ravenclaw at Hogwarts.
- Gary Oldman as Sirius Black, Harry's late godfather.
- Alan Rickman as Severus Snape, former Head of the Slytherin House and Potions and Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher and the new headmaster of Hogwarts.
- Maggie Smith as Minerva McGonagall, the Transfiguration teacher and the Head of the Gryffindor house at Hogwarts.
- David Thewlis as Remus Lupin, a member of the Order of the Phoenix and a former Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts.
- Julie Walters as Molly Weasley, the Weasley matriarch
Box Office: $1.341 billion
Batman Movie Franchise
YouTube Video of Top 10 Moments in The Dark Knight Trilogy by WatchMojo
Pictured: Batman Logo
The fictional superhero Batman, who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics, has appeared in various films since his inception. Created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger, the character first starred in two serial films in the 1940s, Batman and Batman and Robin.
The character also appeared in the 1966 film Batman, which was a feature film adaptation of the 1960s Batman TV series starring Adam West and Burt Ward, who also starred in the film.
Toward the end of the 1980s, the Warner Bros. studio began producing a series of feature films starring Batman, beginning with the 1989 film Batman, directed by Tim Burton and starring Michael Keaton. Burton and Keaton returned for the 1992 sequel Batman Returns, and in 1995, Joel Schumacher directed Batman Forever with Val Kilmer as Batman.
Schumacher also directed the 1997 sequel Batman & Robin, which starred George Clooney. Batman & Robin was poorly received by both critics and fans, leading to the cancellation of Batman Unchained.
Over the course of seven years, Warner Bros. commissioned Darren Aronofsky for an adaptation of Batman: Year One and Wolfgang Petersen for Batman vs. Superman before deciding to reboot the film franchise in 2005 with Batman Begins, directed by Christopher Nolan and starring Christian Bale.
Nolan returned to direct two further installments in the trilogy, The Dark Knight in 2008 and The Dark Knight Rises in 2012 with Bale reprising his role in both films. The two sequels both earned over $1 billion worldwide, making Batman the second film franchise (and to date one of only five, the others being Pirates of the Caribbean, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Transformers and Jurassic Park) to have two of its films earn more than $1 billion worldwide.
Ben Affleck became the newest actor to portray Batman in 2016 with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, which had put into motion a new DC Extended Universe, including a much larger crossover Justice League film in 2017 and a stand-alone film that is currently in development.
Batman has also appeared in multiple animated films, both as a starring character and as an ensemble character. While most animated films were released direct-to-video, the 1993 animated feature Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, based on the 1990s Batman: The Animated Series, was released theatrically. Having earned a total of U.S. $1,900,844,295, the Batman series is the fifth-highest-grossing film series in North America.
Below, we will feature a short synopsis (along with including a movie trailer) of each Baman movie:
The character also appeared in the 1966 film Batman, which was a feature film adaptation of the 1960s Batman TV series starring Adam West and Burt Ward, who also starred in the film.
Toward the end of the 1980s, the Warner Bros. studio began producing a series of feature films starring Batman, beginning with the 1989 film Batman, directed by Tim Burton and starring Michael Keaton. Burton and Keaton returned for the 1992 sequel Batman Returns, and in 1995, Joel Schumacher directed Batman Forever with Val Kilmer as Batman.
Schumacher also directed the 1997 sequel Batman & Robin, which starred George Clooney. Batman & Robin was poorly received by both critics and fans, leading to the cancellation of Batman Unchained.
Over the course of seven years, Warner Bros. commissioned Darren Aronofsky for an adaptation of Batman: Year One and Wolfgang Petersen for Batman vs. Superman before deciding to reboot the film franchise in 2005 with Batman Begins, directed by Christopher Nolan and starring Christian Bale.
Nolan returned to direct two further installments in the trilogy, The Dark Knight in 2008 and The Dark Knight Rises in 2012 with Bale reprising his role in both films. The two sequels both earned over $1 billion worldwide, making Batman the second film franchise (and to date one of only five, the others being Pirates of the Caribbean, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Transformers and Jurassic Park) to have two of its films earn more than $1 billion worldwide.
Ben Affleck became the newest actor to portray Batman in 2016 with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, which had put into motion a new DC Extended Universe, including a much larger crossover Justice League film in 2017 and a stand-alone film that is currently in development.
Batman has also appeared in multiple animated films, both as a starring character and as an ensemble character. While most animated films were released direct-to-video, the 1993 animated feature Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, based on the 1990s Batman: The Animated Series, was released theatrically. Having earned a total of U.S. $1,900,844,295, the Batman series is the fifth-highest-grossing film series in North America.
Below, we will feature a short synopsis (along with including a movie trailer) of each Baman movie:
Batman was a 15-chapter serial film released in 1943 by Columbia Pictures. The serial starred Lewis Wilson as Batman and Douglas Croft as Robin. J. Carrol Naish played the villain, an original character named Dr. Daka. Rounding out the cast were Shirley Patterson as Linda Page (Bruce Wayne's love interest), and William Austin as the butler, Alfred.
The plot is based on Batman, a US government agent, attempting to defeat the Japanese agent Dr. Daka, at the height of World War II. The film is notable for being the first filmed appearance of Batman and for providing two core elements of the Batman mythos. The film introduced "The Bat's Cave" and the Grandfather clock entrance. The name was altered to the Batcave for the comic. William Austin, who played Alfred, had a trim physique and sported a thin mustache, while the contemporary comic book version of Alfred was overweight and clean-shaven prior to the serial's release. The comics version of Alfred was altered to match that of Austin's, and has stayed that way.
___________________________________________________________________________
The plot is based on Batman, a US government agent, attempting to defeat the Japanese agent Dr. Daka, at the height of World War II. The film is notable for being the first filmed appearance of Batman and for providing two core elements of the Batman mythos. The film introduced "The Bat's Cave" and the Grandfather clock entrance. The name was altered to the Batcave for the comic. William Austin, who played Alfred, had a trim physique and sported a thin mustache, while the contemporary comic book version of Alfred was overweight and clean-shaven prior to the serial's release. The comics version of Alfred was altered to match that of Austin's, and has stayed that way.
___________________________________________________________________________
Batman and Robin (serial) (1949)
YouTube Video of the Movie Trailer for Batman and Robin (1949)
Batman and Robin was another 15-chapter serial film released in 1949 by Columbia Pictures. Robert Lowery played Batman, while Johnny Duncan played Robin. Supporting players included Jane Adams as Vicki Vale and veteran character actor Lyle Talbot as Commissioner Gordon.
The plot dealt with the Dynamic Duo facing off against the Wizard, a hooded villain whose identity remains a mystery throughout the serial until the end.
___________________________________________________________________________
The plot dealt with the Dynamic Duo facing off against the Wizard, a hooded villain whose identity remains a mystery throughout the serial until the end.
___________________________________________________________________________
Batman (1966)
YouTube Video of Movie Trailer for Batman (1966)
Batman, often promoted as Batman: The Movie, is a 1966 American superhero film based on the Batman television series, and the first full-length theatrical adaptation of the DC Comics character Batman. Released by 20th Century Fox, the film starred Adam West as Batman and Burt Ward as Robin.
Released in July, the film hit theaters two months after the last episode of the first season of the television series. The film includes most members of the original TV cast, with the exception of Lee Meriwether as Catwoman, the character previously played by Julie Newmar in two episodes of the series' first season.
___________________________________________________________________________
Released in July, the film hit theaters two months after the last episode of the first season of the television series. The film includes most members of the original TV cast, with the exception of Lee Meriwether as Catwoman, the character previously played by Julie Newmar in two episodes of the series' first season.
___________________________________________________________________________
Batman (1989)
YouTube Video of Movie Trailer for Batman (1989)
Tim Burton took over as director of the first Batman film in 1986. Steve Englehart and Julie Hickson wrote film treatments before Sam Hamm wrote the first screenplay.
Numerous A-list actors were considered for the role of Batman before Michael Keaton was cast. Keaton was a controversial choice for the role since, by 1988, he had become typecast as a comedic actor and many observers doubted he could portray a serious role. Jack Nicholson accepted the role of the Joker under strict conditions that dictated a high salary, a portion of the box office profits and his shooting schedule. Nicholson's final salary is reported to be as high as $50 million.
Principal photography took place at Pinewood Studios from October 1988 to January 1989. The budget escalated from $30 million to $48 million, while the 1988 Writers Guild of America strike forced Hamm to drop out.
Rewrites were performed by Warren Skaaren, Charles McKeown and Jonathan Gems.
Batman received positive reviews, broke numerous box office records, and won the Academy Award for Best Art Direction. The film grossed over $400 million, and left a legacy over the modern perception of the superhero film genre.
___________________________________________________________________________
Numerous A-list actors were considered for the role of Batman before Michael Keaton was cast. Keaton was a controversial choice for the role since, by 1988, he had become typecast as a comedic actor and many observers doubted he could portray a serious role. Jack Nicholson accepted the role of the Joker under strict conditions that dictated a high salary, a portion of the box office profits and his shooting schedule. Nicholson's final salary is reported to be as high as $50 million.
Principal photography took place at Pinewood Studios from October 1988 to January 1989. The budget escalated from $30 million to $48 million, while the 1988 Writers Guild of America strike forced Hamm to drop out.
Rewrites were performed by Warren Skaaren, Charles McKeown and Jonathan Gems.
Batman received positive reviews, broke numerous box office records, and won the Academy Award for Best Art Direction. The film grossed over $400 million, and left a legacy over the modern perception of the superhero film genre.
___________________________________________________________________________
Batman Returns (1992)
YouTube Video of Movie Trailer for Batman Returns (1992)
Batman Returns is a 1992 American superhero film, directed and produced by Tim Burton, based on the DC Comics character Batman. It is the second installment of Warner Bros.' initial Batman film series, with Michael Keaton reprising the title role of Bruce Wayne/Batman.
The film introduces the characters of Max Shreck (Christopher Walken), a corrupt business tycoon who teams up with the Penguin (Danny DeVito) to take over Gotham City, as well as the character of Catwoman (Michelle Pfeiffer).
Warner Bros. developed a script with writer Sam Hamm which had the Penguin and Catwoman going after hidden treasure. Burton agreed to return after they granted him more creative control and replaced Hamm with Daniel Waters. Wesley Strick did an uncredited rewrite, removing the characters of Harvey Dent and Robin and rewriting the climax.
Filming for Batman Returns started in June 1991 at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California.
Batman Returns was released on June 19, 1992. The film was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Visual Effects and Best Makeup, as well as two BAFTA awards.
Batman Returns's budget was $80 million and it grossed $266.8 million worldwide, making the film a financial success. The film received generally positive reviews from critics praising the action sequences, the acting, effects and the film's villains.
___________________________________________________________________________
The film introduces the characters of Max Shreck (Christopher Walken), a corrupt business tycoon who teams up with the Penguin (Danny DeVito) to take over Gotham City, as well as the character of Catwoman (Michelle Pfeiffer).
Warner Bros. developed a script with writer Sam Hamm which had the Penguin and Catwoman going after hidden treasure. Burton agreed to return after they granted him more creative control and replaced Hamm with Daniel Waters. Wesley Strick did an uncredited rewrite, removing the characters of Harvey Dent and Robin and rewriting the climax.
Filming for Batman Returns started in June 1991 at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California.
Batman Returns was released on June 19, 1992. The film was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Visual Effects and Best Makeup, as well as two BAFTA awards.
Batman Returns's budget was $80 million and it grossed $266.8 million worldwide, making the film a financial success. The film received generally positive reviews from critics praising the action sequences, the acting, effects and the film's villains.
___________________________________________________________________________
Batman Forever (1995)
YouTube Video of Movie Trailer for Batman Forever (1995)
Batman Forever is a 1995 American superhero film directed by Joel Schumacher and produced by Tim Burton, based on the DC Comics character Batman.
It is the third installment of the initial Batman film series, with Val Kilmer replacing Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne / Batman. The film stars Chris O'Donnell, Nicole Kidman, Tommy Lee Jones and Jim Carrey.
The plot focuses on Batman trying to stop Two-Face (Jones) and the Riddler (Carrey) in their villainous scheme to extract confidential information from all the minds in Gotham City and use it to learn Batman's identity and bring the city under their control. He gains allegiance from a love interest—psychiatrist Dr. Chase Meridian (Kidman) and a young, orphaned circus acrobat named Dick Grayson (O'Donnell), who becomes his sidekick Robin.
Batman Forever's tone is significantly different from the previous installments, becoming more family-friendly since Warner Bros. believed that the previous Batman film, Batman Returns (1992), failed to out-gross its predecessor due to parent complaints about the film's violence and dark overtones.
Schumacher eschewed the dark, dystopian atmosphere of Burton's films by drawing inspiration from the Batman comic book of the Dick Sprang era, as well as the 1960s television series. Keaton chose not to reprise the role due to Burton stepping down as director.
The film was released on June 16, 1995, receiving mixed reviews, but was a financial success. Batman Forever grossed over $336 million worldwide and became the sixth-highest grossing film worldwide of 1995.
___________________________________________________________________________
It is the third installment of the initial Batman film series, with Val Kilmer replacing Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne / Batman. The film stars Chris O'Donnell, Nicole Kidman, Tommy Lee Jones and Jim Carrey.
The plot focuses on Batman trying to stop Two-Face (Jones) and the Riddler (Carrey) in their villainous scheme to extract confidential information from all the minds in Gotham City and use it to learn Batman's identity and bring the city under their control. He gains allegiance from a love interest—psychiatrist Dr. Chase Meridian (Kidman) and a young, orphaned circus acrobat named Dick Grayson (O'Donnell), who becomes his sidekick Robin.
Batman Forever's tone is significantly different from the previous installments, becoming more family-friendly since Warner Bros. believed that the previous Batman film, Batman Returns (1992), failed to out-gross its predecessor due to parent complaints about the film's violence and dark overtones.
Schumacher eschewed the dark, dystopian atmosphere of Burton's films by drawing inspiration from the Batman comic book of the Dick Sprang era, as well as the 1960s television series. Keaton chose not to reprise the role due to Burton stepping down as director.
The film was released on June 16, 1995, receiving mixed reviews, but was a financial success. Batman Forever grossed over $336 million worldwide and became the sixth-highest grossing film worldwide of 1995.
___________________________________________________________________________
Batman & Robin (1997)
YouTube Video of Movie Trailer for Batman and Robin (1997)
Batman & Robin is a 1997 American Superhero film based on the DC Comics characters Batman and Robin. It is the fourth and final installment of Warner Bros.' initial Batman film series.
The film was directed by Joel Schumacher and written by Akiva Goldsman. It stars George Clooney, Chris O'Donnell, Alicia Silverstone, Uma Thurman, and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Batman & Robin tells the story of Batman and Robin as they attempt to prevent Mr. Freeze and Poison Ivy from freezing all mankind to death and repopulating the earth with mutant plants, while at the same time struggling to keep their partnership together.
It is also to date the only film appearance of Batgirl, who helps the title characters fight the villains.
Warner Bros. fast-tracked development for Batman & Robin following the box office success of the previous film, Batman Forever.
Schumacher and Goldsman conceived the storyline during pre-production on A Time to Kill, while Val Kilmer decided not to reprise the role over scheduling conflicts with The Saint.
Principal photography began in September 1996 and finished in January 1997, two weeks ahead of the shooting schedule.
Batman & Robin was released on June 20, 1997. While it performed modestly at the box office, the film was a critical failure and has been called one of the worst films of all time. Reviewers heavily criticized the film for several aspects of the production, including its poor script, plot lines, acting and dialogue but some highly praised the action sequences and its visual style.
Schumacher and Warner Bros. originally envisioned that Batman Unchained would follow the film. However, the film's poor critical reception ended plans for a sequel and the film series was rebooted with Batman Begins in 2005.
One of the songs recorded for the film, "The End Is the Beginning Is the End" by The Smashing Pumpkins, won a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance at the 40th Grammy Awards.
___________________________________________________________________________
The film was directed by Joel Schumacher and written by Akiva Goldsman. It stars George Clooney, Chris O'Donnell, Alicia Silverstone, Uma Thurman, and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Batman & Robin tells the story of Batman and Robin as they attempt to prevent Mr. Freeze and Poison Ivy from freezing all mankind to death and repopulating the earth with mutant plants, while at the same time struggling to keep their partnership together.
It is also to date the only film appearance of Batgirl, who helps the title characters fight the villains.
Warner Bros. fast-tracked development for Batman & Robin following the box office success of the previous film, Batman Forever.
Schumacher and Goldsman conceived the storyline during pre-production on A Time to Kill, while Val Kilmer decided not to reprise the role over scheduling conflicts with The Saint.
Principal photography began in September 1996 and finished in January 1997, two weeks ahead of the shooting schedule.
Batman & Robin was released on June 20, 1997. While it performed modestly at the box office, the film was a critical failure and has been called one of the worst films of all time. Reviewers heavily criticized the film for several aspects of the production, including its poor script, plot lines, acting and dialogue but some highly praised the action sequences and its visual style.
Schumacher and Warner Bros. originally envisioned that Batman Unchained would follow the film. However, the film's poor critical reception ended plans for a sequel and the film series was rebooted with Batman Begins in 2005.
One of the songs recorded for the film, "The End Is the Beginning Is the End" by The Smashing Pumpkins, won a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance at the 40th Grammy Awards.
___________________________________________________________________________
Batman Begins (2005)
YouTube Video of Movie Trailer for Batman Begins (2005)
Batman Begins is a 2005 British-American epic superhero film based on the fictional DC Comics character Batman, co-written and directed by Christopher Nolan and starring:
The film reboots the Batman film series, telling the origin story of the title character (Bale), from his alter ego Bruce Wayne's initial fear of bats, the death of his parents, his journey to become Batman, and his fight to stop Ra's al Ghul (Neeson) and the Scarecrow (Murphy) from plunging Gotham City into chaos. It draws inspiration from classic comic book story lines such as The Man Who Falls, Batman: Year One, and Batman: The Long Halloween.
After a series of unsuccessful projects to resurrect Batman on screen following the critical failure and box office disappointment of Batman & Robin (1997), Nolan and David S. Goyer began to work on the film in early 2003 and aimed for a darker and more realistic tone, with humanity and realism being the basis of the film.
The goal was to get the audience to care for both Batman and Bruce Wayne. The film, which was primarily shot in Iceland and Chicago, relied on traditional stunts and miniatures, while computer-generated imagery was used minimally.
Batman Begins opened on June 15, 2005, in the United States and Canada in 3,858 theaters. It grossed over $48 million in its opening weekend in North America, eventually grossing over $374 million worldwide.
The film received positive reviews and is considered by many to be one of the best superhero films of the 2000s. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Cinematography and three BAFTA awards.
It is followed by The Dark Knight (2008) and The Dark Knight Rises (2012) in a continual story-arc, which has later been referred to as The Dark Knight Trilogy.
___________________________________________________________________________
- Christian Bale,
- Michael Caine,
- Gary Oldman,
- Liam Neeson,
- Katie Holmes,
- Cillian Murphy,
- Tom Wilkinson,
- Rutger Hauer,
- Ken Watanabe,
- and Morgan Freeman.
The film reboots the Batman film series, telling the origin story of the title character (Bale), from his alter ego Bruce Wayne's initial fear of bats, the death of his parents, his journey to become Batman, and his fight to stop Ra's al Ghul (Neeson) and the Scarecrow (Murphy) from plunging Gotham City into chaos. It draws inspiration from classic comic book story lines such as The Man Who Falls, Batman: Year One, and Batman: The Long Halloween.
After a series of unsuccessful projects to resurrect Batman on screen following the critical failure and box office disappointment of Batman & Robin (1997), Nolan and David S. Goyer began to work on the film in early 2003 and aimed for a darker and more realistic tone, with humanity and realism being the basis of the film.
The goal was to get the audience to care for both Batman and Bruce Wayne. The film, which was primarily shot in Iceland and Chicago, relied on traditional stunts and miniatures, while computer-generated imagery was used minimally.
Batman Begins opened on June 15, 2005, in the United States and Canada in 3,858 theaters. It grossed over $48 million in its opening weekend in North America, eventually grossing over $374 million worldwide.
The film received positive reviews and is considered by many to be one of the best superhero films of the 2000s. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Cinematography and three BAFTA awards.
It is followed by The Dark Knight (2008) and The Dark Knight Rises (2012) in a continual story-arc, which has later been referred to as The Dark Knight Trilogy.
___________________________________________________________________________
The Dark Knight (2008)
YouTube Video of Movie Trailer for the Dark Knight (2008)
The Dark Knight is a 2008 superhero thriller film directed, produced, and co-written by Christopher Nolan. Featuring the DC Comics character Batman, the film is the second part of Nolan's The Dark Knight Trilogy and a sequel to 2005's Batman Begins, starring an ensemble cast including:
In the film, Bruce Wayne/Batman (Bale), James Gordon (Oldman) and Harvey Dent (Eckhart) form an alliance to dismantle organized crime in Gotham City, but are menaced by a criminal mastermind known as the Joker (Ledger) who seeks to undermine Batman's influence and create chaos.
Nolan's inspiration for the film was the Joker's comic book debut in 1940, the 1988 graphic novel The Killing Joke, and the 1996 series The Long Halloween, which retold Two-Face's origin.
The Dark Knight was filmed primarily in Chicago, as well as in several other locations in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Hong Kong. Nolan used IMAX 70 mm film cameras to film some sequences, including the Joker's first appearance in the film.
The film is dedicated to Heath Ledger, who died on January 22, 2008, some months after the completed filming and six months before the film's release, from a toxic combination of prescription drugs, leading to intense attention from the press and movie-going public.
Warner Bros. initially created a viral marketing campaign for The Dark Knight, developing promotional websites and trailers highlighting screenshots of Ledger as the Joker.
A co-production of the United States and the United Kingdom, The Dark Knight was released on July 16, 2008 in Australia, on July 18, 2008 in North America, and on July 24, 2008 in the United Kingdom.
Considered by film critics to be one of the best films of the 2000s and one of the best superhero films ever, the film received highly positive reviews and set numerous records during its theatrical run.
The Dark Knight appeared on more critics' top ten lists (287) than any other film of 2008 with the exception of WALL-E, and more critics (77) named The Dark Knight the best film of 2008 than any other film released that year.
With over $1 billion in revenue worldwide, it is the 26th-highest-grossing film of all time, unadjusted for inflation.
The film received eight Academy Award nominations; it won the award for Best Sound Editing and Ledger was posthumously awarded Best Supporting Actor.
The Dark Knight Rises, the final film in the trilogy, was released on July 20, 2012.
___________________________________________________________________________
- Christian Bale,
- Michael Caine,
- Heath Ledger,
- Gary Oldman,
- Aaron Eckhart,
- Maggie Gyllenhaal
- and Morgan Freeman.
In the film, Bruce Wayne/Batman (Bale), James Gordon (Oldman) and Harvey Dent (Eckhart) form an alliance to dismantle organized crime in Gotham City, but are menaced by a criminal mastermind known as the Joker (Ledger) who seeks to undermine Batman's influence and create chaos.
Nolan's inspiration for the film was the Joker's comic book debut in 1940, the 1988 graphic novel The Killing Joke, and the 1996 series The Long Halloween, which retold Two-Face's origin.
The Dark Knight was filmed primarily in Chicago, as well as in several other locations in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Hong Kong. Nolan used IMAX 70 mm film cameras to film some sequences, including the Joker's first appearance in the film.
The film is dedicated to Heath Ledger, who died on January 22, 2008, some months after the completed filming and six months before the film's release, from a toxic combination of prescription drugs, leading to intense attention from the press and movie-going public.
Warner Bros. initially created a viral marketing campaign for The Dark Knight, developing promotional websites and trailers highlighting screenshots of Ledger as the Joker.
A co-production of the United States and the United Kingdom, The Dark Knight was released on July 16, 2008 in Australia, on July 18, 2008 in North America, and on July 24, 2008 in the United Kingdom.
Considered by film critics to be one of the best films of the 2000s and one of the best superhero films ever, the film received highly positive reviews and set numerous records during its theatrical run.
The Dark Knight appeared on more critics' top ten lists (287) than any other film of 2008 with the exception of WALL-E, and more critics (77) named The Dark Knight the best film of 2008 than any other film released that year.
With over $1 billion in revenue worldwide, it is the 26th-highest-grossing film of all time, unadjusted for inflation.
The film received eight Academy Award nominations; it won the award for Best Sound Editing and Ledger was posthumously awarded Best Supporting Actor.
The Dark Knight Rises, the final film in the trilogy, was released on July 20, 2012.
___________________________________________________________________________
The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
YouTube Video of Movie Trailer for The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
The Dark Knight Rises is a 2012 British-American superhero film directed by Christopher Nolan, who co-wrote the screenplay with his brother Jonathan Nolan, and the story with David S. Goyer. Featuring the DC Comics character Batman, the film is the final installment in Nolan's Batman film trilogy, and the sequel to Batman Begins (2005) and The Dark Knight (2008).
Christian Bale reprises the lead role of Bruce Wayne/Batman, with a returning cast of allies:
The film introduces Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway), and Bane (Tom Hardy). Eight years after the events of The Dark Knight, merciless revolutionary Bane forces an older Bruce Wayne to resume his role as Batman and save Gotham City from nuclear destruction.
Christopher Nolan was hesitant about returning to the series for a second time, but agreed after developing a story with his brother and Goyer that he felt would conclude the series on a satisfactory note. Nolan drew inspiration from Bane's comic book debut in the 1993 "Knightfall" storyline, the 1986 series The Dark Knight Returns, and the 1999 storyline "No Man's Land".
Filming took place in locations including Jodhpur, London, Nottingham, Glasgow, Los Angeles, New York City, Newark, and Pittsburgh.
Nolan used IMAX 70 mm film cameras for much of the filming, including the first six minutes of the film, to optimize the quality of the picture. A vehicle variation of the Batplane and Batcopter termed the "Bat", an underground prison set, and a new Batcave set were created specifically for the film.
As with The Dark Knight, viral marketing campaigns began early during production. When filming concluded, Warner Bros. refocused its campaign: developing promotional websites, releasing the first six minutes of the film, screening theatrical trailers, and sending out information regarding the film's plot.
The Dark Knight Rises premiered in New York City on July 16, 2012. The film was released in Australia and New Zealand on July 19, 2012, and in North America and the United Kingdom on July 20, 2012.
It received positive reviews from critics, many of whom named it one of the best films of 2012. Like its predecessor, the film grossed over $1 billion worldwide at the box office, making it the second film in the Batman film series to earn $1 billion. It is currently the 16th-highest-grossing film of all time, the third-highest-grossing film of 2012, and the fourth-highest-grossing superhero film of all time.
___________________________________________________________________________
Christian Bale reprises the lead role of Bruce Wayne/Batman, with a returning cast of allies:
- Michael Caine as Alfred Pennyworth,
- Gary Oldman as James Gordon,
- and Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox.
The film introduces Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway), and Bane (Tom Hardy). Eight years after the events of The Dark Knight, merciless revolutionary Bane forces an older Bruce Wayne to resume his role as Batman and save Gotham City from nuclear destruction.
Christopher Nolan was hesitant about returning to the series for a second time, but agreed after developing a story with his brother and Goyer that he felt would conclude the series on a satisfactory note. Nolan drew inspiration from Bane's comic book debut in the 1993 "Knightfall" storyline, the 1986 series The Dark Knight Returns, and the 1999 storyline "No Man's Land".
Filming took place in locations including Jodhpur, London, Nottingham, Glasgow, Los Angeles, New York City, Newark, and Pittsburgh.
Nolan used IMAX 70 mm film cameras for much of the filming, including the first six minutes of the film, to optimize the quality of the picture. A vehicle variation of the Batplane and Batcopter termed the "Bat", an underground prison set, and a new Batcave set were created specifically for the film.
As with The Dark Knight, viral marketing campaigns began early during production. When filming concluded, Warner Bros. refocused its campaign: developing promotional websites, releasing the first six minutes of the film, screening theatrical trailers, and sending out information regarding the film's plot.
The Dark Knight Rises premiered in New York City on July 16, 2012. The film was released in Australia and New Zealand on July 19, 2012, and in North America and the United Kingdom on July 20, 2012.
It received positive reviews from critics, many of whom named it one of the best films of 2012. Like its predecessor, the film grossed over $1 billion worldwide at the box office, making it the second film in the Batman film series to earn $1 billion. It is currently the 16th-highest-grossing film of all time, the third-highest-grossing film of 2012, and the fourth-highest-grossing superhero film of all time.
___________________________________________________________________________
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)
YouTube Video of Movie Trailer for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is a 2016 American superhero film featuring the DC Comics characters Batman and Superman.
Directed by Zack Snyder and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, the film is a follow-up to 2013's Man of Steel and is the second installment in the DC Extended Universe. It was written by Chris Terrio and David S. Goyer, and features an ensemble cast that includes:
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is the first live-action film to feature Batman and Superman together, as well as the first live-action cinematic portrayal of Wonder Woman, Aquaman, The Flash and Cyborg.
In the film, criminal mastermind Lex Luthor manipulates Batman into a preemptive battle with Superman, whom Luthor is obsessed with defeating.
The film was announced at the 2013 San Diego Comic-Con International, after the release of Man of Steel. Snyder stated that the film would take inspiration from the Batman comic book series The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller, but clarified that it would follow an original premise.
The incarnation of Batman in the film would also be different than the character's previous portrayal in The Dark Knight Trilogy, serving as a cinematic reboot of the character. The film is also inspired by narrative elements from the "Death of Superman" story arc.
Pre-production began at East Los Angeles College in October 2013, with principal photography starting in May 2014 in Detroit, Michigan. Additional filming also took place in Chicago.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice premiered at the Auditorio Nacional in Mexico City on March 19, 2016, and was released in the United States on March 25, 2016, in 2D, 3D, IMAX 3D, 4DX, premium large formats and 70 mm prints.
Following a strong debut that set new box office records, the film experienced a historic drop in its second weekend and never recovered.
Despite turning a profit, it was deemed a box office disappointment and received mostly negative reviews from critics.
A director's cut, dubbed the Ultimate Edition with 30 minutes of additional footage, was released digitally on June 28, 2016, and on Blu-ray and DVD on July 19, 2016.
Directed by Zack Snyder and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, the film is a follow-up to 2013's Man of Steel and is the second installment in the DC Extended Universe. It was written by Chris Terrio and David S. Goyer, and features an ensemble cast that includes:
- Ben Affleck,
- Henry Cavill,
- Amy Adams,
- Jesse Eisenberg,
- Diane Lane,
- Laurence Fishburne,
- Jeremy Irons,
- Holly Hunter
- and Gal Gadot.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is the first live-action film to feature Batman and Superman together, as well as the first live-action cinematic portrayal of Wonder Woman, Aquaman, The Flash and Cyborg.
In the film, criminal mastermind Lex Luthor manipulates Batman into a preemptive battle with Superman, whom Luthor is obsessed with defeating.
The film was announced at the 2013 San Diego Comic-Con International, after the release of Man of Steel. Snyder stated that the film would take inspiration from the Batman comic book series The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller, but clarified that it would follow an original premise.
The incarnation of Batman in the film would also be different than the character's previous portrayal in The Dark Knight Trilogy, serving as a cinematic reboot of the character. The film is also inspired by narrative elements from the "Death of Superman" story arc.
Pre-production began at East Los Angeles College in October 2013, with principal photography starting in May 2014 in Detroit, Michigan. Additional filming also took place in Chicago.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice premiered at the Auditorio Nacional in Mexico City on March 19, 2016, and was released in the United States on March 25, 2016, in 2D, 3D, IMAX 3D, 4DX, premium large formats and 70 mm prints.
Following a strong debut that set new box office records, the film experienced a historic drop in its second weekend and never recovered.
Despite turning a profit, it was deemed a box office disappointment and received mostly negative reviews from critics.
A director's cut, dubbed the Ultimate Edition with 30 minutes of additional footage, was released digitally on June 28, 2016, and on Blu-ray and DVD on July 19, 2016.
101 Dalmations Movie Franchise
YouTube Video of the Trailer for 101 Dalmations (1996)
Pictured: Clips from the 101 Dalmations Movie Franchise
One Hundred and One Dalmatians (also known as 101 Dalmatians) is a media franchise that commenced in 1961 with the release of the titular theatrical film. It is often associated with Disney, though not all media related to this property have been released by that company.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks to learn more about the 101 Dalmations Movie Franchise:
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks to learn more about the 101 Dalmations Movie Franchise:
- Books the series was based on
- Animated films
- Live action films
- TV series including 101 Dalmatians: The Series
- Video games
- Music including One Hundred and One Dalmatians soundtrack
The Fast and Furious Franchise
YouTube Video of the Top 10 Scenes from the Fast and Furious Franchise by WatchMojo
The Fast and the Furious (also known as Fast & Furious) is an American franchise based on a series of action film that is largely concerned with illegal street racing and heists, and includes material in various other media that depict characters and situations from the films.
Distributed by Universal Pictures, the series was established with the 2001 film titled The Fast and the Furious; this was followed by six sequels, two short films that tie into the series, and as of May 2015, it has become Universal's biggest franchise of all time.
Box office Receipts = $3.9 Billion for all movies.
Below you will find a breakdown of movies and short films under "The Fast and the Furious Movie franchise:
Distributed by Universal Pictures, the series was established with the 2001 film titled The Fast and the Furious; this was followed by six sequels, two short films that tie into the series, and as of May 2015, it has become Universal's biggest franchise of all time.
Box office Receipts = $3.9 Billion for all movies.
Below you will find a breakdown of movies and short films under "The Fast and the Furious Movie franchise:
The Fast and the Furious (2001 Movie)
YouTube Video of the Movie Trailer for The Fast and the Furious (2001)
The Fast and the Furious is a 2001 American action thriller film directed by Rob Cohen, produced by Neal H. Moritz and written by Gary Scott Thompson and David Ayer.
The film stars include
Filming locations include Los Angeles and parts of southern California. The Fast and the Furious was released on June 22, 2001 to financial success. The film's budget was an estimated $38 million, grossing $207,283,925 worldwide.
Despite its commercial success, the film received generally mixed reviews from film critics and according to review aggregators Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic, though both Diesel and Walker were praised in their roles and became household names both in the U.S. and internationally. Also, many critics praised the action sequences, storyline and the soundtrack but criticized the writing and the direction.
Box Office Receipts = $207.3 Million.
Plot:
The film is based on an article, titled "Racer X", about New York street clubs that race Japanese cars late at night, although the film is set primarily in Los Angeles. While elite street racer and ex-convict Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his crew: Jesse (Chad Lindberg), Leon (Johnny Strong), Vince (Matt Schulze) and Letty Ortiz (Michelle Rodriguez), are under suspicion of stealing expensive electronic equipment by hijacking moving trucks, Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker) is an undercover police officer who attempts to find out who exactly is stealing the equipment. He works for FBI agent Bilkins (Thom Barry) and LAPD Sgt. Tanner (Ted Levine).
Falling for Dominic's younger sister, Mia Toretto (Jordana Brewster), Brian later confesses to her his status as an undercover police officer and convinces her to come with him to save her brother and his friends from the truck drivers, who have now armed themselves to combat the robberies.
He tracks Dominic's location by triangulating his cell phone signal and they arrive at the hijacking in-progress to find Letty, badly injured at the car accident, and Vince critically wounded, having lacerated his arm and been shot by the truck driver. Brian and Mia work together with Dominic, Leon and Letty to rescue Vince. Brian then makes the difficult decision to blow his cover to the crew by phoning in for a medivac.
The revelation enrages Dominic, fleeing with Leon, Letty, and Mia as the medivac arrives for Vince.
Brian soon follows Dominic to his house and holds him at gunpoint to prevent him from fleeing further. Jesse arrives shortly afterwards, apologizing for his actions at Race Wars and pleading for Dominic's help with Johnny Tran (Rick Yune). Moments later, Tran and his cousin Lance Nguyen (Reggie Lee) perform a drive-by shooting, killing Jesse. Brian and Dominic chase them, with Dominic driving his late father's modified 1970 Dodge Charger.
Dominic forces Lance's motorcycle off the road, severely injuring him, while Brian shoots and kills Tran. Afterwards, Brian and Dominic engage in an impromptu street race, narrowly avoiding a passing train. However, Dominic collides with a semitruck and rolls his car twice, injuring himself, and rendering the Charger undrivable. Instead of arresting him, Brian hands over the keys to his Supra and lets Dominic escape, using the line "I owe you a ten-second car".
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about "The Fast and the Furious (2001) Movie:
___________________________________________________________________________
The film stars include
- Paul Walker,
- Vin Diesel,
- Michelle Rodriguez,
- Jordana Brewster,
- Rick Yune,
- Chad Lindberg,
- Johnny Strong,
- and Ted Levine.
Filming locations include Los Angeles and parts of southern California. The Fast and the Furious was released on June 22, 2001 to financial success. The film's budget was an estimated $38 million, grossing $207,283,925 worldwide.
Despite its commercial success, the film received generally mixed reviews from film critics and according to review aggregators Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic, though both Diesel and Walker were praised in their roles and became household names both in the U.S. and internationally. Also, many critics praised the action sequences, storyline and the soundtrack but criticized the writing and the direction.
Box Office Receipts = $207.3 Million.
Plot:
The film is based on an article, titled "Racer X", about New York street clubs that race Japanese cars late at night, although the film is set primarily in Los Angeles. While elite street racer and ex-convict Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his crew: Jesse (Chad Lindberg), Leon (Johnny Strong), Vince (Matt Schulze) and Letty Ortiz (Michelle Rodriguez), are under suspicion of stealing expensive electronic equipment by hijacking moving trucks, Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker) is an undercover police officer who attempts to find out who exactly is stealing the equipment. He works for FBI agent Bilkins (Thom Barry) and LAPD Sgt. Tanner (Ted Levine).
Falling for Dominic's younger sister, Mia Toretto (Jordana Brewster), Brian later confesses to her his status as an undercover police officer and convinces her to come with him to save her brother and his friends from the truck drivers, who have now armed themselves to combat the robberies.
He tracks Dominic's location by triangulating his cell phone signal and they arrive at the hijacking in-progress to find Letty, badly injured at the car accident, and Vince critically wounded, having lacerated his arm and been shot by the truck driver. Brian and Mia work together with Dominic, Leon and Letty to rescue Vince. Brian then makes the difficult decision to blow his cover to the crew by phoning in for a medivac.
The revelation enrages Dominic, fleeing with Leon, Letty, and Mia as the medivac arrives for Vince.
Brian soon follows Dominic to his house and holds him at gunpoint to prevent him from fleeing further. Jesse arrives shortly afterwards, apologizing for his actions at Race Wars and pleading for Dominic's help with Johnny Tran (Rick Yune). Moments later, Tran and his cousin Lance Nguyen (Reggie Lee) perform a drive-by shooting, killing Jesse. Brian and Dominic chase them, with Dominic driving his late father's modified 1970 Dodge Charger.
Dominic forces Lance's motorcycle off the road, severely injuring him, while Brian shoots and kills Tran. Afterwards, Brian and Dominic engage in an impromptu street race, narrowly avoiding a passing train. However, Dominic collides with a semitruck and rolls his car twice, injuring himself, and rendering the Charger undrivable. Instead of arresting him, Brian hands over the keys to his Supra and lets Dominic escape, using the line "I owe you a ten-second car".
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about "The Fast and the Furious (2001) Movie:
___________________________________________________________________________
2 Fast 2 Furious (2003)
YouTube of Movie Trailer for "2 Fast 2 Furious" (2003)
2 Fast 2 Furious (alternatively known as Fast & Furious 2) is a 2003 American action film directed by John Singleton. It is the sequel to the 2001 film The Fast and the Furious and the second installment of The Fast and the Furious franchise.
Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker) teams up with his ex-con friend Roman Pearce (Tyrese Gibson) and works with undercover U.S. Customs Service agent Monica Fuentes (Eva Mendes) to bring down Miami-based drug lord Carter Verone (Cole Hauser).
As of 2017, this is the only film in the series to not feature Vin Diesel.
Box Office Receipts: $236.3 Million
Plot:
Watched by undercover Customs Agent Monica Fuentes (Eva Mendes), Brian is caught by US Customs agents and given a deal by FBI Agent Bilkins and Customs Agent Markham (James Remar) to go undercover and try to bring down drug lord Carter Verone (Cole Hauser) in exchange for the erasure of his criminal record.
Brian agrees but only if he is given permission to choose his partner, refusing to partner with the agent assigned to watch him. Brian heads home to Barstow, California, where he recruits Roman Pearce (Tyrese Gibson), a childhood friend of Brian who had served jail time and is under house arrest, to help him.
Pearce agrees, but only for the same deal Brian was offered, and with the help of Monica, Brian and Roman work together to take down Verone. After acquiring confiscated vehicles and being hired by Verone as his drivers, the duo return to a Customs/FBI hideout, where Roman confronts Markham over the latter's interference with the mission.
After the situation is cooled down, Brian tells Bilkins and Markham that Verone plans to smuggle the money into his private jet and fly off, but also suspects something wrong with Monica's role in the mission.
Later, Brian and Roman race two of Verone's drivers for their cars and begin to devise a personal back up plan if the operation goes awry. Roman confronts Brian about his attraction to Monica and the constant threat of Verone's men.
On the day of the mission, Brian and Roman begin transporting duffel bags of Verone's money, with two of Verone's men Enrique (Mo Gallini) and Roberto (Roberto Sanchez) riding along to watch Brian and Roman. Before the 15-minute window is set, the detective in charge, Whitworth (Mark Boone, Jr.), decides to call in the police to move in for the arrest, resulting in a high-speed chase across the city.
The duo lead the police to a warehouse, where a scramble by dozens of street racers disorient the police. Following the scramble, police manage to pull over the Evo and the Eclipse, only to find out that they were driven by two members of Brian's new crew, friends, Tej Parker (Ludacris) and Suki (Devon Aoki).
As Brian approaches the destination point in a Yenko Camaro, Enrique tells him to make a detour away from the airfield. Meanwhile, Roman gets rid of Roberto by using an improvised ejector seat in his (orange) Dodge Challenger powered by nitrous oxide.
At the airfield, Customs Agents have Verone's plane and convoy surrounded, only to discover they are duped into a decoy maneuver while Verone is at a boatyard several miles away. As he knew Monica was an undercover agent, he gave her the wrong information on the destination point and plans to use her as leverage.
When Brian arrives at the intended drop-off point, Enrique prepares to kill him when Roman suddenly appears and the both of them dispatch Enrique. Verone makes his escape aboard his private yacht, but Brian and Roman use the Yenko Camaro and drive off a ramp, crashing on top of the yacht. The duo manage to apprehend Verone and save Monica.
With their crimes pardoned, Brian and Roman ponder on what to do next other than to settle in Miami when the former mentions starting a garage. Roman asks how they would afford that and Brian reveals that he took some of the money, as Roman also reveals that his pockets aren't empty, having taken money for himself.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about "2 Fast 2 Furious" 2003 Movie: ___________________________________________________________________________
Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker) teams up with his ex-con friend Roman Pearce (Tyrese Gibson) and works with undercover U.S. Customs Service agent Monica Fuentes (Eva Mendes) to bring down Miami-based drug lord Carter Verone (Cole Hauser).
As of 2017, this is the only film in the series to not feature Vin Diesel.
Box Office Receipts: $236.3 Million
Plot:
Watched by undercover Customs Agent Monica Fuentes (Eva Mendes), Brian is caught by US Customs agents and given a deal by FBI Agent Bilkins and Customs Agent Markham (James Remar) to go undercover and try to bring down drug lord Carter Verone (Cole Hauser) in exchange for the erasure of his criminal record.
Brian agrees but only if he is given permission to choose his partner, refusing to partner with the agent assigned to watch him. Brian heads home to Barstow, California, where he recruits Roman Pearce (Tyrese Gibson), a childhood friend of Brian who had served jail time and is under house arrest, to help him.
Pearce agrees, but only for the same deal Brian was offered, and with the help of Monica, Brian and Roman work together to take down Verone. After acquiring confiscated vehicles and being hired by Verone as his drivers, the duo return to a Customs/FBI hideout, where Roman confronts Markham over the latter's interference with the mission.
After the situation is cooled down, Brian tells Bilkins and Markham that Verone plans to smuggle the money into his private jet and fly off, but also suspects something wrong with Monica's role in the mission.
Later, Brian and Roman race two of Verone's drivers for their cars and begin to devise a personal back up plan if the operation goes awry. Roman confronts Brian about his attraction to Monica and the constant threat of Verone's men.
On the day of the mission, Brian and Roman begin transporting duffel bags of Verone's money, with two of Verone's men Enrique (Mo Gallini) and Roberto (Roberto Sanchez) riding along to watch Brian and Roman. Before the 15-minute window is set, the detective in charge, Whitworth (Mark Boone, Jr.), decides to call in the police to move in for the arrest, resulting in a high-speed chase across the city.
The duo lead the police to a warehouse, where a scramble by dozens of street racers disorient the police. Following the scramble, police manage to pull over the Evo and the Eclipse, only to find out that they were driven by two members of Brian's new crew, friends, Tej Parker (Ludacris) and Suki (Devon Aoki).
As Brian approaches the destination point in a Yenko Camaro, Enrique tells him to make a detour away from the airfield. Meanwhile, Roman gets rid of Roberto by using an improvised ejector seat in his (orange) Dodge Challenger powered by nitrous oxide.
At the airfield, Customs Agents have Verone's plane and convoy surrounded, only to discover they are duped into a decoy maneuver while Verone is at a boatyard several miles away. As he knew Monica was an undercover agent, he gave her the wrong information on the destination point and plans to use her as leverage.
When Brian arrives at the intended drop-off point, Enrique prepares to kill him when Roman suddenly appears and the both of them dispatch Enrique. Verone makes his escape aboard his private yacht, but Brian and Roman use the Yenko Camaro and drive off a ramp, crashing on top of the yacht. The duo manage to apprehend Verone and save Monica.
With their crimes pardoned, Brian and Roman ponder on what to do next other than to settle in Miami when the former mentions starting a garage. Roman asks how they would afford that and Brian reveals that he took some of the money, as Roman also reveals that his pockets aren't empty, having taken money for himself.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about "2 Fast 2 Furious" 2003 Movie: ___________________________________________________________________________
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006)
YouTube Video of the Movie Trailer for "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (alternatively known as Fast & Furious: Tokyo Drift) is a 2006 American action film directed by Justin Lin, produced by Neal H. Moritz and written by Chris Morgan.
The third installment of The Fast and the Furious franchise, it takes place chronologically between the events of sixth and seventh films. (This film's story occurs sometime after Fast & Furious 6 with a scene that was later made concurrent with events in Furious 7.)
The film stars Lucas Black, Nathalie Kelley, Sung Kang, Bow Wow and Brian Tee.
The film was shot in Tokyo and parts of Los Angeles, the latter often covered with props and lights to create the illusion of the Tokyo style.
Paul Walker is absent from the film, making it the first film in the series (and only film in his lifetime) not to feature him.
Box Office Receipts = $158.5 Million
Plot:
After totaling his car in an illegal street race, Sean Boswell (Lucas Black) is sent to live in Tokyo, Japan, with his father, a U.S. Navy officer, in order to avoid juvenile detention or even jail.
While in school, he befriends Twinkie (Bow Wow), a "military brat" who introduces him to the world of drift racing in Japan. Though forbidden to drive, he decides to race against Takashi (Brian Tee) aka D.K. (Drift King). He borrows a Nissan Silvia from Han Lue (Sung Kang), now a business partner to Takashi, and loses, totaling the car because of his lack of knowledge of drifting. To repay his debt for the car he destroyed, Sean works for Han. Later on, Han becomes friends with Sean and teaches him how to drift.
Takashi's uncle Kamata (Sonny Chiba) (the head of the Yakuza) reprimands Takashi for allowing Han to steal from him. Takashi confronts Han, Sean and Neela (Nathalie Kelley), and in doing so, they flee.
During the chase, Han is killed in a car accident as his car catches on fire. Takashi, Sean, and his father become involved in an armed standoff which is resolved by Neela agreeing to leave with Takashi. Twinkie gives his money to Sean to replace the money Han stole, which Sean then returns to Kamata.
Sean proposes a race against Takashi to determine who must leave Tokyo. Sean and Han's friends then build a 1967 Ford Mustang, with an inline-6 engine and other parts salvaged from Han's Silvia that Sean had destroyed. Sean wins the race and is later challenged by Dominic Toretto.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift":
___________________________________________________________________________
The third installment of The Fast and the Furious franchise, it takes place chronologically between the events of sixth and seventh films. (This film's story occurs sometime after Fast & Furious 6 with a scene that was later made concurrent with events in Furious 7.)
The film stars Lucas Black, Nathalie Kelley, Sung Kang, Bow Wow and Brian Tee.
The film was shot in Tokyo and parts of Los Angeles, the latter often covered with props and lights to create the illusion of the Tokyo style.
Paul Walker is absent from the film, making it the first film in the series (and only film in his lifetime) not to feature him.
Box Office Receipts = $158.5 Million
Plot:
After totaling his car in an illegal street race, Sean Boswell (Lucas Black) is sent to live in Tokyo, Japan, with his father, a U.S. Navy officer, in order to avoid juvenile detention or even jail.
While in school, he befriends Twinkie (Bow Wow), a "military brat" who introduces him to the world of drift racing in Japan. Though forbidden to drive, he decides to race against Takashi (Brian Tee) aka D.K. (Drift King). He borrows a Nissan Silvia from Han Lue (Sung Kang), now a business partner to Takashi, and loses, totaling the car because of his lack of knowledge of drifting. To repay his debt for the car he destroyed, Sean works for Han. Later on, Han becomes friends with Sean and teaches him how to drift.
Takashi's uncle Kamata (Sonny Chiba) (the head of the Yakuza) reprimands Takashi for allowing Han to steal from him. Takashi confronts Han, Sean and Neela (Nathalie Kelley), and in doing so, they flee.
During the chase, Han is killed in a car accident as his car catches on fire. Takashi, Sean, and his father become involved in an armed standoff which is resolved by Neela agreeing to leave with Takashi. Twinkie gives his money to Sean to replace the money Han stole, which Sean then returns to Kamata.
Sean proposes a race against Takashi to determine who must leave Tokyo. Sean and Han's friends then build a 1967 Ford Mustang, with an inline-6 engine and other parts salvaged from Han's Silvia that Sean had destroyed. Sean wins the race and is later challenged by Dominic Toretto.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift":
___________________________________________________________________________
Fast and Furious (2009)
YouTube Video of the Movie Trailer for Fast and Furious (2009)
Fast & Furious (alternatively known as Fast & Furious 4) is a 2009 American action film directed by Justin Lin and written by Chris Morgan. It is the fourth installment of The Fast and the Furious franchise.
The film stars Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster. The film serves as a connection from the first film into a present-day setting, with main members of the original cast reprising their roles.
The film is chronologically set after the second installment and set before the third installment. Originally released on April 3, 2009, the film received negative reviews upon release, but was a box office success grossing $363 million worldwide.
Plot:
About five years after the events of the first film, Dominic and his new crew (Letty, Han, Leo, Santos and Cara) have been hijacking fuel tankers in the Dominican Republic. When their trail gets too hot, Dominic disbands the crew. However, he is later informed that Letty has been murdered.
Dominic returns to Los Angeles where he finds traces of nitro-methane at the crash site, and tracks the buyer of the gas to David Park. Meanwhile, Brian O'Conner, who has been working as an FBI agent, is tracking down a drug trafficker named Arturo Braga.
When Brian and Dominic cross paths at David Park's apartment, Dominic is about to drop David out the window. But Brian intervenes, and works a scheme where he enters a street race where the winner would join Braga's team of drivers. Although Dominic wins the four-car race by bumping Brian's car, Brian later joins the team by replacing one of Braga's other drivers.
The team meets Fenix Calderon (Laz Alonso) who directs them to drive the heroin across the border using underground tunnels to avoid detection. Brian realizes that the drivers are to be killed following the mission, and when Fenix reveals to Dominic that he killed Letty, Dominic detonates the nitrous in his car, blowing up a bunch of vehicles.
In the chaos, Brian hijacks the Hummer that is carrying the heroin. Dominic and Brian drive back to Los Angeles, hiding the heroin in an impound lot. When Dominic learns Brian was the last person to contact Letty, he attacks him until Brian reveals that Letty was working undercover for Brian, tracking down Braga in exchange for clearing Dominic's name.
Brian negotiates with the agency to free Dominic if they can lure Braga into personally coming to exchange the heroin for cash. However, at the drop site, it is revealed that the Braga they arrested was a decoy, and that the real Braga (John Ortiz) has escaped, fleeing to Mexico.
Suspended from duty, Brian joins Dominic to go to Mexico and in hopes of catching Braga. Although Braga agreeably surrenders, they are pursued by Braga's men through town and then the tunnels. Fenix T-bones Brian's car right outside the tunnel exit, but before he can kill Brian, Dominic drives into Fenix.
As the police arrive, Dominic refuses to escape, saying he is tired of running. Despite Brian's request for clemency, the judge sentences Dominic to 25 years to life. During the prison bus ride to Lompoc penitentiary, Brian and Mia, along with Leo and Santos, arrive in their cars and intercept the bus.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about "The Fast and the Furious": ___________________________________________________________________________
The film stars Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster. The film serves as a connection from the first film into a present-day setting, with main members of the original cast reprising their roles.
The film is chronologically set after the second installment and set before the third installment. Originally released on April 3, 2009, the film received negative reviews upon release, but was a box office success grossing $363 million worldwide.
Plot:
About five years after the events of the first film, Dominic and his new crew (Letty, Han, Leo, Santos and Cara) have been hijacking fuel tankers in the Dominican Republic. When their trail gets too hot, Dominic disbands the crew. However, he is later informed that Letty has been murdered.
Dominic returns to Los Angeles where he finds traces of nitro-methane at the crash site, and tracks the buyer of the gas to David Park. Meanwhile, Brian O'Conner, who has been working as an FBI agent, is tracking down a drug trafficker named Arturo Braga.
When Brian and Dominic cross paths at David Park's apartment, Dominic is about to drop David out the window. But Brian intervenes, and works a scheme where he enters a street race where the winner would join Braga's team of drivers. Although Dominic wins the four-car race by bumping Brian's car, Brian later joins the team by replacing one of Braga's other drivers.
The team meets Fenix Calderon (Laz Alonso) who directs them to drive the heroin across the border using underground tunnels to avoid detection. Brian realizes that the drivers are to be killed following the mission, and when Fenix reveals to Dominic that he killed Letty, Dominic detonates the nitrous in his car, blowing up a bunch of vehicles.
In the chaos, Brian hijacks the Hummer that is carrying the heroin. Dominic and Brian drive back to Los Angeles, hiding the heroin in an impound lot. When Dominic learns Brian was the last person to contact Letty, he attacks him until Brian reveals that Letty was working undercover for Brian, tracking down Braga in exchange for clearing Dominic's name.
Brian negotiates with the agency to free Dominic if they can lure Braga into personally coming to exchange the heroin for cash. However, at the drop site, it is revealed that the Braga they arrested was a decoy, and that the real Braga (John Ortiz) has escaped, fleeing to Mexico.
Suspended from duty, Brian joins Dominic to go to Mexico and in hopes of catching Braga. Although Braga agreeably surrenders, they are pursued by Braga's men through town and then the tunnels. Fenix T-bones Brian's car right outside the tunnel exit, but before he can kill Brian, Dominic drives into Fenix.
As the police arrive, Dominic refuses to escape, saying he is tired of running. Despite Brian's request for clemency, the judge sentences Dominic to 25 years to life. During the prison bus ride to Lompoc penitentiary, Brian and Mia, along with Leo and Santos, arrive in their cars and intercept the bus.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about "The Fast and the Furious": ___________________________________________________________________________
Fast Five (2011)
YouTube Video of Movie Trailer for Fast Five (2011)
Fast Five (alternatively known as Fast & Furious 5 or Fast & Furious 5: Rio Heist) is a 2011 American action film directed by Justin Lin and written by Chris Morgan. It is the fifth installment in The Fast and the Furious franchise.
It was released first in Australia on April 20, 2011, and then in the United States on April 29, 2011. Fast Five follows Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel), Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker), and Mia Toretto (Jordana Brewster) as they plan a heist to steal $100 million from corrupt businessman Hernan Reyes (Joaquim de Almeida) while being pursued for arrest by U.S. Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) agent Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson).
When developing Fast Five, Universal Studios deliberately departed from the street racing theme prevalent in previous films in the series, to transform the franchise into a heist action series involving cars.
By doing so, they hoped to attract wider audiences that might otherwise be put off by a heavy emphasis on cars and car culture. Fast Five is considered the transitional film in the series, featuring only one car race and giving more attention to action set pieces such as gun fights, brawls, and the heist of $100 million. The production mounted a comprehensive marketing campaign, marketing the film through social media, virtual games, cinema chains, automobile manufacturers, and at NASCAR races.
Fast Five achieved financial success, breaking box office records for the highest-grossing April opening weekend and the second-highest spring opening weekend, and surpassing Fast & Furious (2009) to become the highest-grossing film in the franchise.
Fast Five has grossed over $625 million worldwide, making it number 66 on the all-time worldwide list of highest-grossing films, in unadjusted dollars, and the seventh-highest-grossing film of 2011.
Fast Five received mostly positive reviews, with critics praising the combination of comedy and "action sequences that toy idly with the laws of physics"; some labeled it the best film in the series. Johnson was singled out for praise in numerous reviews for his performance, with critics calling him "the best thing, by far, in Fast Five" and remarking that scenes shared by Johnson and Diesel were often the "best moments".
Despite the positive response, many were critical of the film's running time, considering it too long, and others criticized the treatment of women, stating "[Females] cameo strikingly in buttock form. Others actually have first names."South American reviewers were critical of the film's portrayal of Rio de Janeiro as a haven for drug trafficking and corruption, labeling it a "stereotype".
A sequel, Fast & Furious 6, was released in May 2013 to box office success, surpassing Fast Five as the highest-grossing film in the franchise. Another sequel, Furious 7, released in April 2015, soon surpassed Fast & Furious 6, grossing over $1.5 billion worldwide.
Plot:
When Dominic "Dom" Toretto is being transported to Lompoc Prison by bus, his sister Mia Toretto and friend Brian O'Conner lead an assault on the bus, causing it to crash and freeing Dom. While the authorities search for them, the trio escapes to Rio de Janeiro.
Awaiting Dom's arrival, Mia and Brian join their friend Vince and other participants on a job to steal three cars from a train. Brian and Mia discover that agents from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) are also on the train and that the cars are seized property.
When Dom arrives with the rest of the participants, he realizes that one of them, Zizi, is only interested in stealing one car, a Ford GT40. Dom has Mia steal the car herself before he and Brian fight Zizi and his henchmen, during which Zizi kills the DEA agents assigned to the vehicles. Dom and Brian are captured and brought to crime lord Hernan Reyes, the owner of the cars and Zizi's boss. Reyes orders the pair be interrogated to discover the location of the car, but they manage to escape and retreat to their safehouse.
While Brian, Dom, and Mia examine the car to discover its importance, Vince arrives and is caught trying to remove a computer chip from it. He admits he was planning to sell the chip to Reyes on his own, and Dom forces him to leave. Brian investigates the chip and discovers it contains details of Reyes' criminal empire, including the locations of US$100 million in cash.
Diplomatic Security Service agent Luke Hobbs and his team arrive in Rio to arrest Dom and Brian. With the help of local officer Elena Neves, they travel to Dom's safehouse, but find it under assault by Reyes' men. Brian, Dom and Mia escape; Dom suggests they split up and leave Rio, but Mia announces she is pregnant with Brian's child. Dom agrees to stick together and suggests they steal the money from Reyes to start a new life. They organize a team to perform the heist: Han, Roman, Tej, Gisele, Leo, and Santos. Vince later joins the team after saving Mia from being captured by Reyes' men.
Hobbs and his team eventually find and arrest Dom, Mia, Brian, and Vince. While transporting them to the airport for extradition to the United States, the convoy is attacked by Reyes' men, who kill Hobbs' team.
Hobbs and Elena are saved by Dom, Brian, Mia, and Vince as they fight back and escape, but Vince is shot in the process and dies. Wanting to avenge his murdered team, Hobbs and Elena agree to help with the heist. The gang breaks into the police station and tear the vault holding Reyes' money from the building using their cars, dragging it through the city.
After an extensive police chase, Dom makes Brian continue without him while he attacks the police and the pursuing Reyes, using the vault attached to his car to smash their vehicles. Brian returns and kills Zizi while Reyes is badly injured by Dom's assault. Hobbs arrives on the scene and executes Reyes to avenge his team. Though Hobbs refuses to let Dom and Brian go free, he gives them a 24-hour head start to escape on the condition they leave the vault as it is.
However, the vault is empty as it had been switched during the chase. After splitting the cash (Vince's share is given to his family), they go their separate ways.
On a tropical beach, Brian and a visibly pregnant Mia relax. They are met by Dom and Elena. Brian challenges Dom to a final, no-stakes race to prove who is the better driver.
In a mid-credits scene, Hobbs is given a file by Monica Fuentes concerning the hijack of a military convoy in Berlin, where he discovers a recent photo of Dom's former girlfriend Letty, who had been presumed dead.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about the movie Fast Five:
___________________________________________________________________________
It was released first in Australia on April 20, 2011, and then in the United States on April 29, 2011. Fast Five follows Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel), Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker), and Mia Toretto (Jordana Brewster) as they plan a heist to steal $100 million from corrupt businessman Hernan Reyes (Joaquim de Almeida) while being pursued for arrest by U.S. Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) agent Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson).
When developing Fast Five, Universal Studios deliberately departed from the street racing theme prevalent in previous films in the series, to transform the franchise into a heist action series involving cars.
By doing so, they hoped to attract wider audiences that might otherwise be put off by a heavy emphasis on cars and car culture. Fast Five is considered the transitional film in the series, featuring only one car race and giving more attention to action set pieces such as gun fights, brawls, and the heist of $100 million. The production mounted a comprehensive marketing campaign, marketing the film through social media, virtual games, cinema chains, automobile manufacturers, and at NASCAR races.
Fast Five achieved financial success, breaking box office records for the highest-grossing April opening weekend and the second-highest spring opening weekend, and surpassing Fast & Furious (2009) to become the highest-grossing film in the franchise.
Fast Five has grossed over $625 million worldwide, making it number 66 on the all-time worldwide list of highest-grossing films, in unadjusted dollars, and the seventh-highest-grossing film of 2011.
Fast Five received mostly positive reviews, with critics praising the combination of comedy and "action sequences that toy idly with the laws of physics"; some labeled it the best film in the series. Johnson was singled out for praise in numerous reviews for his performance, with critics calling him "the best thing, by far, in Fast Five" and remarking that scenes shared by Johnson and Diesel were often the "best moments".
Despite the positive response, many were critical of the film's running time, considering it too long, and others criticized the treatment of women, stating "[Females] cameo strikingly in buttock form. Others actually have first names."South American reviewers were critical of the film's portrayal of Rio de Janeiro as a haven for drug trafficking and corruption, labeling it a "stereotype".
A sequel, Fast & Furious 6, was released in May 2013 to box office success, surpassing Fast Five as the highest-grossing film in the franchise. Another sequel, Furious 7, released in April 2015, soon surpassed Fast & Furious 6, grossing over $1.5 billion worldwide.
Plot:
When Dominic "Dom" Toretto is being transported to Lompoc Prison by bus, his sister Mia Toretto and friend Brian O'Conner lead an assault on the bus, causing it to crash and freeing Dom. While the authorities search for them, the trio escapes to Rio de Janeiro.
Awaiting Dom's arrival, Mia and Brian join their friend Vince and other participants on a job to steal three cars from a train. Brian and Mia discover that agents from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) are also on the train and that the cars are seized property.
When Dom arrives with the rest of the participants, he realizes that one of them, Zizi, is only interested in stealing one car, a Ford GT40. Dom has Mia steal the car herself before he and Brian fight Zizi and his henchmen, during which Zizi kills the DEA agents assigned to the vehicles. Dom and Brian are captured and brought to crime lord Hernan Reyes, the owner of the cars and Zizi's boss. Reyes orders the pair be interrogated to discover the location of the car, but they manage to escape and retreat to their safehouse.
While Brian, Dom, and Mia examine the car to discover its importance, Vince arrives and is caught trying to remove a computer chip from it. He admits he was planning to sell the chip to Reyes on his own, and Dom forces him to leave. Brian investigates the chip and discovers it contains details of Reyes' criminal empire, including the locations of US$100 million in cash.
Diplomatic Security Service agent Luke Hobbs and his team arrive in Rio to arrest Dom and Brian. With the help of local officer Elena Neves, they travel to Dom's safehouse, but find it under assault by Reyes' men. Brian, Dom and Mia escape; Dom suggests they split up and leave Rio, but Mia announces she is pregnant with Brian's child. Dom agrees to stick together and suggests they steal the money from Reyes to start a new life. They organize a team to perform the heist: Han, Roman, Tej, Gisele, Leo, and Santos. Vince later joins the team after saving Mia from being captured by Reyes' men.
Hobbs and his team eventually find and arrest Dom, Mia, Brian, and Vince. While transporting them to the airport for extradition to the United States, the convoy is attacked by Reyes' men, who kill Hobbs' team.
Hobbs and Elena are saved by Dom, Brian, Mia, and Vince as they fight back and escape, but Vince is shot in the process and dies. Wanting to avenge his murdered team, Hobbs and Elena agree to help with the heist. The gang breaks into the police station and tear the vault holding Reyes' money from the building using their cars, dragging it through the city.
After an extensive police chase, Dom makes Brian continue without him while he attacks the police and the pursuing Reyes, using the vault attached to his car to smash their vehicles. Brian returns and kills Zizi while Reyes is badly injured by Dom's assault. Hobbs arrives on the scene and executes Reyes to avenge his team. Though Hobbs refuses to let Dom and Brian go free, he gives them a 24-hour head start to escape on the condition they leave the vault as it is.
However, the vault is empty as it had been switched during the chase. After splitting the cash (Vince's share is given to his family), they go their separate ways.
On a tropical beach, Brian and a visibly pregnant Mia relax. They are met by Dom and Elena. Brian challenges Dom to a final, no-stakes race to prove who is the better driver.
In a mid-credits scene, Hobbs is given a file by Monica Fuentes concerning the hijack of a military convoy in Berlin, where he discovers a recent photo of Dom's former girlfriend Letty, who had been presumed dead.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about the movie Fast Five:
___________________________________________________________________________
Fast & Furious 6 (2013)
YouTube Video of the Movie Trailer for "Fast & Furious 6"
Fast & Furious 6 (alternatively known as Furious 6 or Fast Six) is a 2013 American action film directed by Justin Lin and written by Chris Morgan. It is the sixth installment in The Fast and the Furious franchise.
The film stars include;
Fast & Furious 6 follows a professional criminal gang led by Dominic Toretto (Diesel) who have retired following their successful heist in Fast Five (2011), but remain wanted fugitives.
U.S. Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) agent Luke Hobbs (Johnson) offers to clear the group's criminal records and allow them to return home in exchange for helping him to take down a skilled mercenary organization led by Owen Shaw (Evans), one member of which is Toretto's presumed-dead lover Letty Ortiz (Rodriguez).
Fast & Furious 6 was in development by February 2010 as the first film in the series to move away from the underground car-racing theme of the series' previous films which was considered to have placed a barrier on audience numbers.
Pre-production had begun by April 2011, and principal photography began in London, England in July 2012. Filming locations also included the Canary Islands, Glasgow, and Los Angeles. The film was first released in the United Kingdom, on May 17, 2013, followed by an international release on May 24, 2013. A sequel was released on April 3, 2015.
Plot:
Following their successful Rio heist, Dom Toretto and his professional criminal crew have fled around the world: Dom lives with Elena; his sister Mia lives with Brian O'Conner and their son, Jack; Gisele and Han live together; and Roman and Tej live in luxury.
DSS agents Luke Hobbs and Riley Hicks investigate the destruction of a Russian military convoy by a crew led by former British SAS Major and special ops soldier Owen Shaw. Hobbs persuades Dom to help capture Shaw by showing him a photo of the supposedly long-dead Letty Ortiz, Dom's former lover. Dom and his crew accept the mission in exchange for amnesty, allowing them to return to the United States.
In London, Shaw's hideout is found, but this is revealed to be a trap, distracting them and the police while Shaw's crew performs a heist at an Interpol building. Shaw flees by car, detonating his hideout and disabling most of the police, leaving Dom, Brian, Tej, Han, Gisele, Hobbs, and Riley to pursue him.
Letty arrives to help Shaw, shooting Dom without hesitation before escaping. Back at their headquarters, Hobbs tells Dom's crew that Shaw is stealing components to create a deadly device, intending to sell it to the highest bidder. Meanwhile, Shaw's investigation into the opposing crew reveals Letty's relationship with Dom, but she is revealed to be suffering from amnesia.
Dominic's crew learns that Shaw is connected to a drug lord imprisoned by Brian, Arturo Braga. Brian returns to Los Angeles as a prisoner to question Braga, who says Letty survived the explosion that seemingly killed her; Shaw took her in after discovering her amnesia. With FBI help, Brian is released from prison, regrouping with the team in London.
Dom challenges Letty in a street racing competition; afterwards, he returns her cross necklace he had kept. After Letty leaves, Shaw offers Dom a chance to walk away, threatening to otherwise hurt his family, but Dom refuses. Tej tracks Shaw's next attack to a Spanish NATO base. Shaw's crew assaults a highway military convoy carrying a computer chip to complete his deadly device. Dom's crew interferes while Shaw, accompanied by Letty, commandeers a tank, destroying cars en route.
Brian and Roman manage to flip the tank before it causes further damage, resulting in Letty being thrown from the vehicle and Dom risking his life to save her. Shaw and his crew are captured, but reveal Mia has been kidnapped by Shaw.
Hobbs is forced to release Shaw, and Riley, Shaw's covert accomplice, leaves with him; Letty chooses to remain with Dom.
Shaw's group board a large moving aircraft on a runway as Dom's crew gives chase. Dom, Letty, and Brian board the craft; Brian rescues Mia, escaping in an onboard car. The plane attempts take-off, but is held down by excess weight as the rest of the team tether the plane to their vehicles.
Gisele sacrifices herself to save Han from a henchman; Letty kills Riley and escapes to safety, but Dom pursues Shaw and the computer chip. As the plane crashes into the ground, Shaw is thrown from it, seriously injuring him, and Dom drives a car out of the exploding plane. Dom reunites with his crew, and gives the chip to Hobbs to secure their pardons. Dom and the others return to his old family home in Los Angeles.
Hobbs and Elena, now working together, arrive to confirm the crew’s freedom; Elena accepts that Dom loves Letty. As Roman says grace over the crew’s meal, Dom asks Letty if the gathering feels familiar; she answers "no, but it feels like home."
In a mid-credits scene, which takes place in Tokyo, Han is involved in a car chase when he is suddenly broadsided by an oncoming car. The driver walks away from the scene after leaving Letty's cross necklace by the crash, and calls Dom as Han's car fatally explodes, saying, "You don't know me. You're about to."
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks about Fast and Furious 6:___________________________________________________________________________
The film stars include;
- Vin Diesel,
- Paul Walker,
- Dwayne Johnson,
- Michelle Rodriguez,
- Jordana Brewster,
- Tyrese Gibson,
- Chris Bridges,
- Sung Kang,
- Luke Evans,
- Gina Carano,
- and John Ortiz.
Fast & Furious 6 follows a professional criminal gang led by Dominic Toretto (Diesel) who have retired following their successful heist in Fast Five (2011), but remain wanted fugitives.
U.S. Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) agent Luke Hobbs (Johnson) offers to clear the group's criminal records and allow them to return home in exchange for helping him to take down a skilled mercenary organization led by Owen Shaw (Evans), one member of which is Toretto's presumed-dead lover Letty Ortiz (Rodriguez).
Fast & Furious 6 was in development by February 2010 as the first film in the series to move away from the underground car-racing theme of the series' previous films which was considered to have placed a barrier on audience numbers.
Pre-production had begun by April 2011, and principal photography began in London, England in July 2012. Filming locations also included the Canary Islands, Glasgow, and Los Angeles. The film was first released in the United Kingdom, on May 17, 2013, followed by an international release on May 24, 2013. A sequel was released on April 3, 2015.
Plot:
Following their successful Rio heist, Dom Toretto and his professional criminal crew have fled around the world: Dom lives with Elena; his sister Mia lives with Brian O'Conner and their son, Jack; Gisele and Han live together; and Roman and Tej live in luxury.
DSS agents Luke Hobbs and Riley Hicks investigate the destruction of a Russian military convoy by a crew led by former British SAS Major and special ops soldier Owen Shaw. Hobbs persuades Dom to help capture Shaw by showing him a photo of the supposedly long-dead Letty Ortiz, Dom's former lover. Dom and his crew accept the mission in exchange for amnesty, allowing them to return to the United States.
In London, Shaw's hideout is found, but this is revealed to be a trap, distracting them and the police while Shaw's crew performs a heist at an Interpol building. Shaw flees by car, detonating his hideout and disabling most of the police, leaving Dom, Brian, Tej, Han, Gisele, Hobbs, and Riley to pursue him.
Letty arrives to help Shaw, shooting Dom without hesitation before escaping. Back at their headquarters, Hobbs tells Dom's crew that Shaw is stealing components to create a deadly device, intending to sell it to the highest bidder. Meanwhile, Shaw's investigation into the opposing crew reveals Letty's relationship with Dom, but she is revealed to be suffering from amnesia.
Dominic's crew learns that Shaw is connected to a drug lord imprisoned by Brian, Arturo Braga. Brian returns to Los Angeles as a prisoner to question Braga, who says Letty survived the explosion that seemingly killed her; Shaw took her in after discovering her amnesia. With FBI help, Brian is released from prison, regrouping with the team in London.
Dom challenges Letty in a street racing competition; afterwards, he returns her cross necklace he had kept. After Letty leaves, Shaw offers Dom a chance to walk away, threatening to otherwise hurt his family, but Dom refuses. Tej tracks Shaw's next attack to a Spanish NATO base. Shaw's crew assaults a highway military convoy carrying a computer chip to complete his deadly device. Dom's crew interferes while Shaw, accompanied by Letty, commandeers a tank, destroying cars en route.
Brian and Roman manage to flip the tank before it causes further damage, resulting in Letty being thrown from the vehicle and Dom risking his life to save her. Shaw and his crew are captured, but reveal Mia has been kidnapped by Shaw.
Hobbs is forced to release Shaw, and Riley, Shaw's covert accomplice, leaves with him; Letty chooses to remain with Dom.
Shaw's group board a large moving aircraft on a runway as Dom's crew gives chase. Dom, Letty, and Brian board the craft; Brian rescues Mia, escaping in an onboard car. The plane attempts take-off, but is held down by excess weight as the rest of the team tether the plane to their vehicles.
Gisele sacrifices herself to save Han from a henchman; Letty kills Riley and escapes to safety, but Dom pursues Shaw and the computer chip. As the plane crashes into the ground, Shaw is thrown from it, seriously injuring him, and Dom drives a car out of the exploding plane. Dom reunites with his crew, and gives the chip to Hobbs to secure their pardons. Dom and the others return to his old family home in Los Angeles.
Hobbs and Elena, now working together, arrive to confirm the crew’s freedom; Elena accepts that Dom loves Letty. As Roman says grace over the crew’s meal, Dom asks Letty if the gathering feels familiar; she answers "no, but it feels like home."
In a mid-credits scene, which takes place in Tokyo, Han is involved in a car chase when he is suddenly broadsided by an oncoming car. The driver walks away from the scene after leaving Letty's cross necklace by the crash, and calls Dom as Han's car fatally explodes, saying, "You don't know me. You're about to."
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks about Fast and Furious 6:___________________________________________________________________________
Furious 7 (2015)
YouTube Video of the Movie Trailer for Furious 7
Furious 7 (often stylized as Furious Seven and alternatively known as Fast 7 and Fast & Furious 7) is a 2015 American action film directed by James Wan and written by Chris Morgan. It is the seventh installment in The Fast and the Furious franchise.
The film stars include:
Furious 7 follows Dominic Toretto (Diesel), Brian O'Conner (Walker) and the rest of their team, who have returned to the United States to live normal lives after securing amnesty in Fast & Furious 6 (2013) for their past crimes, until Deckard Shaw (Statham), a rogue special forces assassin seeking to avenge his comatose younger brother, puts the team in danger once again.
With the previous three installments set between 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003) and The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006), Furious 7 is the first installment in the franchise to take place after Tokyo Drift.
The film also marks the final film appearance of Walker, who died in a single-vehicle crash on November 30, 2013, with filming only half-completed. Following Walker's death, filming was delayed for script rewrites, and his brothers, Caleb and Cody, were used as stand-ins to complete his remaining scenes.
Plans for a seventh installment were first announced in February 2012 when Johnson stated that production on the film would begin after the completion of Fast & Furious 6. In April 2013, Wan, predominantly known for horror films, was announced to direct the film in place of Justin Lin, who left the franchise after directing the previous four installments.
Casting began in the same month with the re-signing of Diesel and Walker, and an initial release date was set. Principal photography began in Atlanta, Georgia, in September 2013, resumed in April 2014 and ended in July 2014, with other filming locations including Los Angeles, Colorado, Abu Dhabi, and Tokyo.
Furious 7 premiered in Los Angeles on April 1, 2015, and was first released in Australia on April 2, 2015, and then in the United States on April 3, 2015. The film was also released in 3D, IMAX 3D, and 4DX internationally.
Upon release, the film became a critical and commercial success, with praise being aimed at the film's action sequences and its tribute to Walker.
The film grossed $397.6 million worldwide in its first five days of release, which is the fifth highest-grossing opening of all time. The film has grossed over $1.5 billion worldwide, making it the highest-grossing film in the franchise after just twelve days, the third highest-grossing film of 2015 and the sixth highest-grossing film of all time. A sequel, The Fate of the Furious, is scheduled to be released on April 14, 2017.
Plot:
After defeating Owen Shaw and his crew and securing amnesty for their past crimes, Dominic "Dom" Toretto, Brian O'Conner and the rest of their team have returned to the United States to live normal lives again. Brian begins to accustom himself to life as a father, while Dom tries to help Letty Ortiz regain her memory.
Meanwhile, Owen's older brother, Deckard Shaw, breaks into the secure hospital the comatose Owen is being held in and swears vengeance against Dom, before breaking into Luke Hobbs' DSS office to extract profiles of Dom's crew. After revealing his identity, Shaw engages Hobbs in a fight, and escapes when he detonates a bomb that severely injures Hobbs.
Dom later learns from his sister Mia that she is pregnant again and convinces her to tell Brian. However, a bomb, disguised in a package sent from Tokyo, explodes and destroys the Toretto house just seconds after Han, a member of Dom's team, is killed by Shaw in Tokyo.
Dom later visits Hobbs in a hospital, where he learns that Shaw is a rogue special forces assassin seeking to avenge his brother. Dom then travels to Tokyo to claim Han's body, and meets and races Sean Boswell, a friend of Han's who gives him personal items found at Han's crash site.
Back at Han's funeral in Los Angeles, Dom notices a car observing them, and after a chase, confronts its driver, who is revealed to be Shaw. Both prepare to fight, but Shaw flees when a covert ops team arrives and opens fire.
The team is led by a man who calls himself Mr. Nobody, who says that he will assist Dom in stopping Shaw if he helps him obtain the God's Eye, a computer program that uses digital devices to track down a person, and save its creator, a hacker named Ramsey, from a mercenary named Mose Jakande.
Dom, Brian, Letty, Roman Pearce, and Tej Parker then airdrop their cars over the Caucasus Mountains in Azerbaijan, ambush Jakande's convoy, and rescue Ramsey. The team then heads to Abu Dhabi, where a billionaire has acquired the flash drive containing the God's Eye, and manages to steal it from the owner.
With the God's Eye near telecommunications repeaters, the team tracks down Shaw, who is waiting at a remote factory. Dom, Brian, Mr. Nobody and his team attempt to capture Shaw, but are ambushed by Jakande and his men, and are forced to flee while Jakande obtains the God's Eye.
At his own request, the injured Mr. Nobody is then left behind to be evacuated by helicopter while Brian and Dom continue without him. Left with no other choice, the crew returns to Los Angeles to fight Shaw, Jakande, and his men. Meanwhile, Brian promises Mia that once they deal with Shaw, he will dedicate himself entirely to their family.
While Jakande pursues Brian and the rest of the team with a stealth helicopter and an aerial drone, Ramsey attempts to hack into the God's Eye. Hobbs, seeing the team in trouble, leaves the hospital and destroys the drone with an ambulance. Ramsey then regains control of the God's Eye and shuts it down.
Meanwhile, Dom and Shaw engage in a one-on-one brawl on a parking garage, before Jakande intervenes and attacks them both. Shaw is defeated when part of the parking garage collapses beneath him. Dom then launches his vehicle at Jakande's helicopter, tossing Shaw's bag of grenades onto its skids, before injuring himself when his car lands and crashes. Hobbs then shoots the bag of grenades from ground level, destroying the helicopter and killing Jakande.
Dom is pulled from the wreckage of his car, believed dead. As Letty cradles Dom's body in her arms, she reveals that she has regained her memories, and that she remembers their wedding. Dom regains consciousness soon after, remarking, "It's about time".
Shaw is taken into custody by Hobbs and locked away in a secret, high-security prison, 32 meters underground. At a beach, Brian and Mia play with their son while Dom, Letty, Roman, Tej and Ramsey observe, acknowledging that Brian is better off retired with his family. Dom silently leaves, but Brian catches up with him at a crossroad. As Dom remembers the times that he had with Brian, they bid each other farewell and drive off in separate directions.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about the Fast and the Furious 7:
[End of Fast and Furious Franchise]
The film stars include:
- Vin Diesel,
- Paul Walker,
- Dwayne Johnson,
- Michelle Rodriguez,
- Tyrese Gibson,
- Chris Bridges,
- Jordana Brewster,
- Djimon Hounsou,
- Kurt Russell,
- and Jason Statham.
Furious 7 follows Dominic Toretto (Diesel), Brian O'Conner (Walker) and the rest of their team, who have returned to the United States to live normal lives after securing amnesty in Fast & Furious 6 (2013) for their past crimes, until Deckard Shaw (Statham), a rogue special forces assassin seeking to avenge his comatose younger brother, puts the team in danger once again.
With the previous three installments set between 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003) and The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006), Furious 7 is the first installment in the franchise to take place after Tokyo Drift.
The film also marks the final film appearance of Walker, who died in a single-vehicle crash on November 30, 2013, with filming only half-completed. Following Walker's death, filming was delayed for script rewrites, and his brothers, Caleb and Cody, were used as stand-ins to complete his remaining scenes.
Plans for a seventh installment were first announced in February 2012 when Johnson stated that production on the film would begin after the completion of Fast & Furious 6. In April 2013, Wan, predominantly known for horror films, was announced to direct the film in place of Justin Lin, who left the franchise after directing the previous four installments.
Casting began in the same month with the re-signing of Diesel and Walker, and an initial release date was set. Principal photography began in Atlanta, Georgia, in September 2013, resumed in April 2014 and ended in July 2014, with other filming locations including Los Angeles, Colorado, Abu Dhabi, and Tokyo.
Furious 7 premiered in Los Angeles on April 1, 2015, and was first released in Australia on April 2, 2015, and then in the United States on April 3, 2015. The film was also released in 3D, IMAX 3D, and 4DX internationally.
Upon release, the film became a critical and commercial success, with praise being aimed at the film's action sequences and its tribute to Walker.
The film grossed $397.6 million worldwide in its first five days of release, which is the fifth highest-grossing opening of all time. The film has grossed over $1.5 billion worldwide, making it the highest-grossing film in the franchise after just twelve days, the third highest-grossing film of 2015 and the sixth highest-grossing film of all time. A sequel, The Fate of the Furious, is scheduled to be released on April 14, 2017.
Plot:
After defeating Owen Shaw and his crew and securing amnesty for their past crimes, Dominic "Dom" Toretto, Brian O'Conner and the rest of their team have returned to the United States to live normal lives again. Brian begins to accustom himself to life as a father, while Dom tries to help Letty Ortiz regain her memory.
Meanwhile, Owen's older brother, Deckard Shaw, breaks into the secure hospital the comatose Owen is being held in and swears vengeance against Dom, before breaking into Luke Hobbs' DSS office to extract profiles of Dom's crew. After revealing his identity, Shaw engages Hobbs in a fight, and escapes when he detonates a bomb that severely injures Hobbs.
Dom later learns from his sister Mia that she is pregnant again and convinces her to tell Brian. However, a bomb, disguised in a package sent from Tokyo, explodes and destroys the Toretto house just seconds after Han, a member of Dom's team, is killed by Shaw in Tokyo.
Dom later visits Hobbs in a hospital, where he learns that Shaw is a rogue special forces assassin seeking to avenge his brother. Dom then travels to Tokyo to claim Han's body, and meets and races Sean Boswell, a friend of Han's who gives him personal items found at Han's crash site.
Back at Han's funeral in Los Angeles, Dom notices a car observing them, and after a chase, confronts its driver, who is revealed to be Shaw. Both prepare to fight, but Shaw flees when a covert ops team arrives and opens fire.
The team is led by a man who calls himself Mr. Nobody, who says that he will assist Dom in stopping Shaw if he helps him obtain the God's Eye, a computer program that uses digital devices to track down a person, and save its creator, a hacker named Ramsey, from a mercenary named Mose Jakande.
Dom, Brian, Letty, Roman Pearce, and Tej Parker then airdrop their cars over the Caucasus Mountains in Azerbaijan, ambush Jakande's convoy, and rescue Ramsey. The team then heads to Abu Dhabi, where a billionaire has acquired the flash drive containing the God's Eye, and manages to steal it from the owner.
With the God's Eye near telecommunications repeaters, the team tracks down Shaw, who is waiting at a remote factory. Dom, Brian, Mr. Nobody and his team attempt to capture Shaw, but are ambushed by Jakande and his men, and are forced to flee while Jakande obtains the God's Eye.
At his own request, the injured Mr. Nobody is then left behind to be evacuated by helicopter while Brian and Dom continue without him. Left with no other choice, the crew returns to Los Angeles to fight Shaw, Jakande, and his men. Meanwhile, Brian promises Mia that once they deal with Shaw, he will dedicate himself entirely to their family.
While Jakande pursues Brian and the rest of the team with a stealth helicopter and an aerial drone, Ramsey attempts to hack into the God's Eye. Hobbs, seeing the team in trouble, leaves the hospital and destroys the drone with an ambulance. Ramsey then regains control of the God's Eye and shuts it down.
Meanwhile, Dom and Shaw engage in a one-on-one brawl on a parking garage, before Jakande intervenes and attacks them both. Shaw is defeated when part of the parking garage collapses beneath him. Dom then launches his vehicle at Jakande's helicopter, tossing Shaw's bag of grenades onto its skids, before injuring himself when his car lands and crashes. Hobbs then shoots the bag of grenades from ground level, destroying the helicopter and killing Jakande.
Dom is pulled from the wreckage of his car, believed dead. As Letty cradles Dom's body in her arms, she reveals that she has regained her memories, and that she remembers their wedding. Dom regains consciousness soon after, remarking, "It's about time".
Shaw is taken into custody by Hobbs and locked away in a secret, high-security prison, 32 meters underground. At a beach, Brian and Mia play with their son while Dom, Letty, Roman, Tej and Ramsey observe, acknowledging that Brian is better off retired with his family. Dom silently leaves, but Brian catches up with him at a crossroad. As Dom remembers the times that he had with Brian, they bid each other farewell and drive off in separate directions.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about the Fast and the Furious 7:
[End of Fast and Furious Franchise]
Star Trek: Movie Franchise
YouTube Video: Top 10 Star Trek Movies by WatchMojo
Pictured: The Best Star Trek Movies
The Star Trek film series is the cinematic branch of the Star Trek media franchise, which began in 1966 as a weekly television series on NBC, running for three seasons until it was canceled in 1969 because of poor ratings. Reruns of the series proved to be wildly successful in syndication during the 1970s, which persuaded the series' then-owner, Paramount Pictures, to expand the franchise.
Paramount originally began work on a Star Trek feature film in 1975 after lobbying by the creator of the franchise, Gene Roddenberry. The studio scrapped the project two years later in favor of creating a television series, Star Trek: Phase II, with the original cast.
However, following the huge success of Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind in 1977, Paramount changed its mind again, halting production on the television series and adapting its pilot episode into a Star Trek feature film, Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979). Five more Star Trek feature films featuring the entire original cast followed.
The cast of the 1987–1994 Star Trek spin-off series Star Trek: The Next Generation starred in an additional four films.
After a 6-year hiatus following the release of Star Trek: Nemesis (2002), a new film was released on May 16, 2009, simply titled Star Trek, serving as a reboot to the franchise with a new cast portraying younger versions of the original series' characters.
A sequel to Star Trek (2009), Star Trek Into Darkness, was released in theaters on May 16, 2013. A second sequel, Star Trek Beyond, was released on July 22, 2016, on the franchise's 50th anniversary.
The Star Trek films have received 15 Academy Award nominations. Star Trek (2009) won
for Best Makeup in 2010, and four of the previous films were nominated mainly in the areas of makeup, music, set design and sound design.
The early Star Trek films, the first to tenth film, were originally released on VHS; competitive pricing of The Wrath of Khan's videocassette helped bolster the adoption of VHS players in households. Later films were also released on LaserDisc as well. For those films that did not receive an initial DVD release, Paramount released simple one-disc versions with no special features.
Later, the first ten films were released in two-disc collector's versions, with The Motion Picture and The Wrath of Khan branded as "director's cuts", followed by later box set releases. All of the films are now available on Blu-ray, digital download, streaming media and video on demand.
Total Box Office Receipts for All Movies of the Star Trek Franchise: $2.3 billion
The Individual Movies of the Star Trek Franchise follow below in the order of release date.
___________________________________________________________________________
Paramount originally began work on a Star Trek feature film in 1975 after lobbying by the creator of the franchise, Gene Roddenberry. The studio scrapped the project two years later in favor of creating a television series, Star Trek: Phase II, with the original cast.
However, following the huge success of Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind in 1977, Paramount changed its mind again, halting production on the television series and adapting its pilot episode into a Star Trek feature film, Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979). Five more Star Trek feature films featuring the entire original cast followed.
The cast of the 1987–1994 Star Trek spin-off series Star Trek: The Next Generation starred in an additional four films.
After a 6-year hiatus following the release of Star Trek: Nemesis (2002), a new film was released on May 16, 2009, simply titled Star Trek, serving as a reboot to the franchise with a new cast portraying younger versions of the original series' characters.
A sequel to Star Trek (2009), Star Trek Into Darkness, was released in theaters on May 16, 2013. A second sequel, Star Trek Beyond, was released on July 22, 2016, on the franchise's 50th anniversary.
The Star Trek films have received 15 Academy Award nominations. Star Trek (2009) won
for Best Makeup in 2010, and four of the previous films were nominated mainly in the areas of makeup, music, set design and sound design.
The early Star Trek films, the first to tenth film, were originally released on VHS; competitive pricing of The Wrath of Khan's videocassette helped bolster the adoption of VHS players in households. Later films were also released on LaserDisc as well. For those films that did not receive an initial DVD release, Paramount released simple one-disc versions with no special features.
Later, the first ten films were released in two-disc collector's versions, with The Motion Picture and The Wrath of Khan branded as "director's cuts", followed by later box set releases. All of the films are now available on Blu-ray, digital download, streaming media and video on demand.
Total Box Office Receipts for All Movies of the Star Trek Franchise: $2.3 billion
The Individual Movies of the Star Trek Franchise follow below in the order of release date.
___________________________________________________________________________
Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)
YouTube Video of the movie trailer for "Star Trek: The Motion Picture"
Pictured (L-R): Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner, DeForest Kelley, and James Doohan
Star Trek: The Motion Picture is a 1979 American science fiction film directed by Robert Wise and based on the television series of the same name created by Gene Roddenberry, who also served as its producer. It is the first installment in the Star Trek film series, and stars the cast of the original television series.
The film is set in the twenty-third century, when a mysterious and immensely powerful alien cloud known as V'Ger approaches Earth, destroying everything in its path. Admiral James T. Kirk (William Shatner) resumes command of his previous starship, the recently refitted USS Enterprise, to lead it on a mission to save the planet and determine V'Ger's origins.
In 1978, Paramount assembled the largest press conference held at the studio since the 1950s, to announce that two-time Academy Award–winning director Robert Wise would direct a $15 million budget film adaptation of the original television series. With the cancellation of Phase II, writers rushed to adapt its planned pilot episode, "In Thy Image", into a film script.
Released in North America on December 7, 1979, Star Trek: The Motion Picture received mixed reviews from critics, many of whom faulted the film for its lack of action scenes and over-reliance on special effects. Its final production cost ballooned to approximately $46 million, and earned $139 million at the worldwide box office, falling short of studio expectations, but enough for Paramount to propose a cheaper costing sequel. Roddenberry was forced out of creative control for production of the film's 1982 sequel,
Plot:
In 2273, a Starfleet monitoring station, Epsilon Nine, detects an alien force, hidden in a massive cloud of energy, moving through space towards Earth. The cloud destroys three of the Klingon Empire's new K't'inga-class warships and the monitoring station en route.
On Earth, the starship Enterprise is undergoing a major refit; her former commanding officer, James T. Kirk, has been promoted to Admiral and works in San Francisco as Chief of Starfleet Operations.
Starfleet dispatches Enterprise to investigate the cloud entity as the ship is the only one in intercept range, requiring her new systems to be tested in transit.
Kirk takes command of the ship citing his experience, angering Captain Willard Decker, who had been overseeing the refit as its new commanding officer. Testing of Enterprise's new systems goes poorly; two officers, including the science officer, are killed by a malfunctioning transporter, and improperly calibrated engines almost destroy the ship. Kirk's unfamiliarity with the new systems of the Enterprise increases the tension between him and first officer Decker.
Commander Spock arrives as a replacement science officer, explaining that while on his home world undergoing a ritual to purge all emotion, he felt a consciousness that he believes emanates from the cloud.
Enterprise intercepts the energy cloud and is attacked by an alien vessel within. A probe appears on the bridge, attacks Spock and abducts the navigator, Ilia. She is replaced by a robotic replica, another probe sent by "V'Ger" to study the crew.
Decker is distraught over the loss of Ilia, with whom he had a romantic history. He becomes troubled as he attempts to extract information from the doppelgänger, which has Ilia's memories and feelings buried within. Spock takes a spacewalk to the alien vessel's interior and attempts a telepathic mind meld with it. In doing so, he learns that the vessel is V'Ger itself, a living machine.
At the center of the massive ship, V'Ger is revealed to be Voyager 6, a 20th-century Earth space probe believed lost. The damaged probe was found by an alien race of living machines that interpreted its programming as instructions to learn all that can be learned, and return that information to its creator.
The machines upgraded the probe to fulfill its mission, and on its journey the probe gathered so much knowledge that it achieved consciousness. Spock realizes that V'Ger lacks the ability to give itself a focus other than its original mission; having learned what it could on its journey home, it finds its existence empty and without purpose.
Before transmitting all its information, V'Ger insists that the Creator come in person to finish the sequence. Realizing that the machine wants to merge with its creator, Decker offers himself to V'Ger; he merges with the Ilia probe and V'Ger, creating a new form of life that disappears into another dimension. With Earth saved, Kirk directs Enterprise out to space for future missions.
Box Office Receipts: $139 Million.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about "Star Tre: The Motion Picture":
___________________________________________________________________________
The film is set in the twenty-third century, when a mysterious and immensely powerful alien cloud known as V'Ger approaches Earth, destroying everything in its path. Admiral James T. Kirk (William Shatner) resumes command of his previous starship, the recently refitted USS Enterprise, to lead it on a mission to save the planet and determine V'Ger's origins.
In 1978, Paramount assembled the largest press conference held at the studio since the 1950s, to announce that two-time Academy Award–winning director Robert Wise would direct a $15 million budget film adaptation of the original television series. With the cancellation of Phase II, writers rushed to adapt its planned pilot episode, "In Thy Image", into a film script.
Released in North America on December 7, 1979, Star Trek: The Motion Picture received mixed reviews from critics, many of whom faulted the film for its lack of action scenes and over-reliance on special effects. Its final production cost ballooned to approximately $46 million, and earned $139 million at the worldwide box office, falling short of studio expectations, but enough for Paramount to propose a cheaper costing sequel. Roddenberry was forced out of creative control for production of the film's 1982 sequel,
Plot:
In 2273, a Starfleet monitoring station, Epsilon Nine, detects an alien force, hidden in a massive cloud of energy, moving through space towards Earth. The cloud destroys three of the Klingon Empire's new K't'inga-class warships and the monitoring station en route.
On Earth, the starship Enterprise is undergoing a major refit; her former commanding officer, James T. Kirk, has been promoted to Admiral and works in San Francisco as Chief of Starfleet Operations.
Starfleet dispatches Enterprise to investigate the cloud entity as the ship is the only one in intercept range, requiring her new systems to be tested in transit.
Kirk takes command of the ship citing his experience, angering Captain Willard Decker, who had been overseeing the refit as its new commanding officer. Testing of Enterprise's new systems goes poorly; two officers, including the science officer, are killed by a malfunctioning transporter, and improperly calibrated engines almost destroy the ship. Kirk's unfamiliarity with the new systems of the Enterprise increases the tension between him and first officer Decker.
Commander Spock arrives as a replacement science officer, explaining that while on his home world undergoing a ritual to purge all emotion, he felt a consciousness that he believes emanates from the cloud.
Enterprise intercepts the energy cloud and is attacked by an alien vessel within. A probe appears on the bridge, attacks Spock and abducts the navigator, Ilia. She is replaced by a robotic replica, another probe sent by "V'Ger" to study the crew.
Decker is distraught over the loss of Ilia, with whom he had a romantic history. He becomes troubled as he attempts to extract information from the doppelgänger, which has Ilia's memories and feelings buried within. Spock takes a spacewalk to the alien vessel's interior and attempts a telepathic mind meld with it. In doing so, he learns that the vessel is V'Ger itself, a living machine.
At the center of the massive ship, V'Ger is revealed to be Voyager 6, a 20th-century Earth space probe believed lost. The damaged probe was found by an alien race of living machines that interpreted its programming as instructions to learn all that can be learned, and return that information to its creator.
The machines upgraded the probe to fulfill its mission, and on its journey the probe gathered so much knowledge that it achieved consciousness. Spock realizes that V'Ger lacks the ability to give itself a focus other than its original mission; having learned what it could on its journey home, it finds its existence empty and without purpose.
Before transmitting all its information, V'Ger insists that the Creator come in person to finish the sequence. Realizing that the machine wants to merge with its creator, Decker offers himself to V'Ger; he merges with the Ilia probe and V'Ger, creating a new form of life that disappears into another dimension. With Earth saved, Kirk directs Enterprise out to space for future missions.
Box Office Receipts: $139 Million.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about "Star Tre: The Motion Picture":
___________________________________________________________________________
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
YouTube Video of the Movie Trailer for Star Trek II: "The Wrath of Khan"
Pictured (L-R): Paul Winfield, DeForest Kelley, Kirstie Alley, Walter Koenig, and William Shatner
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is a 1982 American science fiction film directed by Nicholas Meyer and based on the television series of the same name created by Gene Roddenberrry.
This is the second film in the Star Trek film series and is a stand-alone sequel to Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979). The plot features Admiral James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and the crew of the starship USS Enterprise facing off against the genetically engineered tyrant Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalbán), a character who first appeared in the 1967 Star Trek episode "Space Seed".
When Khan escapes from a 15-year exile to exact revenge on Kirk, the crew of the Enterprise must stop him from acquiring a powerful terraforming device named Genesis.
The film is the beginning of a story arc that continues with the 1984 film Star Trek III: The Search for Spock and concludes with the 1986 film Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.
After the lackluster critical and commercial response to the first film, series creator Gene Roddenberry was forced out of the sequel's production.
Executive producer Harve Bennett wrote the film's original outline, which Jack B. Sowards developed into a full script. Director Nicholas Meyer completed its final script in 12 days, without accepting a writing credit. Meyer's approach evoked the swashbuckling atmosphere of the original series, and this theme was reinforced by James Horner's musical score.
Nimoy had not intended to have a role in the sequel, but was enticed back on the promise that his character would be given a dramatic death scene. Negative test audience reaction to Spock's death led to significant revisions of the ending over Meyer's objections. The production team used various cost-cutting techniques to keep within budget, including utilizing miniature models from past projects and reusing sets, effects footage, and costumes from the first film.
Among the film's technical achievements is being the first feature film to contain a sequence created entirely with computer-generated graphics.
The Wrath of Khan was released in North America on June 4, 1982 by Paramount Pictures. It was a box office success, earning $97 million worldwide and setting a world record for its first-day box office gross. Critical reaction to the film was positive; reviewers highlighted Khan's character, the film's pacing, and the character interactions as strong elements. Negative reactions, however, focused on weak special effects and some of the acting. The Wrath of Khan is considered by some to be the best film in the Star Trek series, and is often credited with renewing substantial interest in the franchise.
Plot:
In the year 2285, Admiral James T. Kirk oversees a simulator session of Captain Spock's trainees. In the simulation, Lieutenant Saavik commands the starship USS Enterprise on a rescue mission to save the crew of the damaged ship Kobayashi Maru.
When the Enterprise enters the Klingon Neutral Zone to reach the ship it is attacked by Klingon cruisers and critically damaged. The simulation is a no-win scenario designed to test the character of Starfleet officers. Later, Dr. McCoy joins Kirk on his birthday; seeing Kirk in low spirits, the doctor advises Kirk to get a new command and not grow old behind a desk.
Meanwhile, the USS Reliant is on a mission to search for a lifeless planet for testing of the Genesis Device, a technology designed to reorganize matter to create habitable worlds for colonization. Reliant officers Commander Pavel Chekov and Captain Clark Terrell beam down to the surface of a possible candidate planet, which they believe to be Ceti Alpha VI; once there, they are captured by genetically engineered tyrant Khan Noonien Singh. 15 years prior (see "Space Seed"), the Enterprise discovered Khan's ship adrift in space; Kirk exiled Khan and his fellow supermen to Ceti Alpha V after they attempted to take over the Enterprise. After they were marooned, Ceti Alpha VI exploded, shifting the orbit of Ceti Alpha V and destroying its ecosystem.
Khan blames Kirk for the death of his wife and plans revenge. He implants Chekov and Terrell with indigenous creatures that enter the ears of their victims and render them susceptible to mind control, and uses the officers to capture the Reliant. Learning of Genesis, Khan attacks space station Regula I where the device is being developed by Kirk's former lover, Dr. Carol Marcus, and their son, David.
The Enterprise embarks on a three-week training voyage. Kirk assumes command after the ship receives a distress call from Regula I. En route, the Enterprise is ambushed and crippled by the Reliant, leading to the deaths and injuries of many trainees.
Khan hails the Enterprise and offers to spare Kirk's crew if they relinquish all material related to Genesis. Kirk stalls for time and uses the Reliant's prefix code to remotely lower its shields, allowing the Enterprise to counter-attack.
Khan is forced to retreat and effect repairs, while the Enterprise limps to Regula I. Kirk, McCoy, and Saavik beam to the station and find Terrell and Chekov alive, along with slaughtered members of Marcus's team.
They soon find Carol and David hiding deep inside the planetoid of Regula. Khan, having used Terrell and Chekov as spies, orders them to kill Kirk; Terrell resists the eel's influence and kills himself while Chekov collapses as the eel leaves his body.
Khan then transports Genesis aboard the Reliant. Though Khan believes his foe stranded on Regula I, Kirk and Spock use a coded message to arrange a rendezvous. Kirk directs the Enterprise into the nearby Mutara Nebula; static discharges inside the nebula render shields useless and compromise targeting systems, making the Enterprise and the Reliant evenly matched. Spock notes however that Khan's tactics are two-dimensional, indicating inexperience in space combat, which Kirk then exploits to critically disable the Reliant.
Mortally wounded, Khan activates Genesis, which will reorganize all matter in the nebula, including the Enterprise. Though Kirk's crew detects the activation of Genesis and attempts to move out of range, they will not be able to escape the nebula in time due to the ship's damaged warp drive. Spock goes to the engine room to restore the warp drive. When McCoy tries to prevent Spock's entry, as exposure to the high levels of radiation would be fatal, Spock incapacitates the doctor with a Vulcan nerve pinch and performs a mind meld, telling him to "remember".
Spock successfully restores power to the warp drive and the Enterprise escapes the explosion, though at the cost of Spock's life. The explosion of Genesis causes the gas in the nebula to reform into a new planet, capable of sustaining life.
After being alerted by McCoy, Kirk arrives in the engine room and discovers Spock dying of radiation poisoning. The two share a meaningful exchange in which Spock urges Kirk not to grieve, as his decision to sacrifice his own life to save those of the ship's crew is a logical one, before succumbing to his injuries.
A space burial is held in the Enterprise's torpedo room and Spock's coffin is shot into orbit around the new planet. The crew leaves to pick up the Reliant's marooned crew from Ceti Alpha V. Spock's coffin, having soft-landed, rests on the Genesis planet's surface.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan: ___________________________________________________________________________
This is the second film in the Star Trek film series and is a stand-alone sequel to Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979). The plot features Admiral James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and the crew of the starship USS Enterprise facing off against the genetically engineered tyrant Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalbán), a character who first appeared in the 1967 Star Trek episode "Space Seed".
When Khan escapes from a 15-year exile to exact revenge on Kirk, the crew of the Enterprise must stop him from acquiring a powerful terraforming device named Genesis.
The film is the beginning of a story arc that continues with the 1984 film Star Trek III: The Search for Spock and concludes with the 1986 film Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.
After the lackluster critical and commercial response to the first film, series creator Gene Roddenberry was forced out of the sequel's production.
Executive producer Harve Bennett wrote the film's original outline, which Jack B. Sowards developed into a full script. Director Nicholas Meyer completed its final script in 12 days, without accepting a writing credit. Meyer's approach evoked the swashbuckling atmosphere of the original series, and this theme was reinforced by James Horner's musical score.
Nimoy had not intended to have a role in the sequel, but was enticed back on the promise that his character would be given a dramatic death scene. Negative test audience reaction to Spock's death led to significant revisions of the ending over Meyer's objections. The production team used various cost-cutting techniques to keep within budget, including utilizing miniature models from past projects and reusing sets, effects footage, and costumes from the first film.
Among the film's technical achievements is being the first feature film to contain a sequence created entirely with computer-generated graphics.
The Wrath of Khan was released in North America on June 4, 1982 by Paramount Pictures. It was a box office success, earning $97 million worldwide and setting a world record for its first-day box office gross. Critical reaction to the film was positive; reviewers highlighted Khan's character, the film's pacing, and the character interactions as strong elements. Negative reactions, however, focused on weak special effects and some of the acting. The Wrath of Khan is considered by some to be the best film in the Star Trek series, and is often credited with renewing substantial interest in the franchise.
Plot:
In the year 2285, Admiral James T. Kirk oversees a simulator session of Captain Spock's trainees. In the simulation, Lieutenant Saavik commands the starship USS Enterprise on a rescue mission to save the crew of the damaged ship Kobayashi Maru.
When the Enterprise enters the Klingon Neutral Zone to reach the ship it is attacked by Klingon cruisers and critically damaged. The simulation is a no-win scenario designed to test the character of Starfleet officers. Later, Dr. McCoy joins Kirk on his birthday; seeing Kirk in low spirits, the doctor advises Kirk to get a new command and not grow old behind a desk.
Meanwhile, the USS Reliant is on a mission to search for a lifeless planet for testing of the Genesis Device, a technology designed to reorganize matter to create habitable worlds for colonization. Reliant officers Commander Pavel Chekov and Captain Clark Terrell beam down to the surface of a possible candidate planet, which they believe to be Ceti Alpha VI; once there, they are captured by genetically engineered tyrant Khan Noonien Singh. 15 years prior (see "Space Seed"), the Enterprise discovered Khan's ship adrift in space; Kirk exiled Khan and his fellow supermen to Ceti Alpha V after they attempted to take over the Enterprise. After they were marooned, Ceti Alpha VI exploded, shifting the orbit of Ceti Alpha V and destroying its ecosystem.
Khan blames Kirk for the death of his wife and plans revenge. He implants Chekov and Terrell with indigenous creatures that enter the ears of their victims and render them susceptible to mind control, and uses the officers to capture the Reliant. Learning of Genesis, Khan attacks space station Regula I where the device is being developed by Kirk's former lover, Dr. Carol Marcus, and their son, David.
The Enterprise embarks on a three-week training voyage. Kirk assumes command after the ship receives a distress call from Regula I. En route, the Enterprise is ambushed and crippled by the Reliant, leading to the deaths and injuries of many trainees.
Khan hails the Enterprise and offers to spare Kirk's crew if they relinquish all material related to Genesis. Kirk stalls for time and uses the Reliant's prefix code to remotely lower its shields, allowing the Enterprise to counter-attack.
Khan is forced to retreat and effect repairs, while the Enterprise limps to Regula I. Kirk, McCoy, and Saavik beam to the station and find Terrell and Chekov alive, along with slaughtered members of Marcus's team.
They soon find Carol and David hiding deep inside the planetoid of Regula. Khan, having used Terrell and Chekov as spies, orders them to kill Kirk; Terrell resists the eel's influence and kills himself while Chekov collapses as the eel leaves his body.
Khan then transports Genesis aboard the Reliant. Though Khan believes his foe stranded on Regula I, Kirk and Spock use a coded message to arrange a rendezvous. Kirk directs the Enterprise into the nearby Mutara Nebula; static discharges inside the nebula render shields useless and compromise targeting systems, making the Enterprise and the Reliant evenly matched. Spock notes however that Khan's tactics are two-dimensional, indicating inexperience in space combat, which Kirk then exploits to critically disable the Reliant.
Mortally wounded, Khan activates Genesis, which will reorganize all matter in the nebula, including the Enterprise. Though Kirk's crew detects the activation of Genesis and attempts to move out of range, they will not be able to escape the nebula in time due to the ship's damaged warp drive. Spock goes to the engine room to restore the warp drive. When McCoy tries to prevent Spock's entry, as exposure to the high levels of radiation would be fatal, Spock incapacitates the doctor with a Vulcan nerve pinch and performs a mind meld, telling him to "remember".
Spock successfully restores power to the warp drive and the Enterprise escapes the explosion, though at the cost of Spock's life. The explosion of Genesis causes the gas in the nebula to reform into a new planet, capable of sustaining life.
After being alerted by McCoy, Kirk arrives in the engine room and discovers Spock dying of radiation poisoning. The two share a meaningful exchange in which Spock urges Kirk not to grieve, as his decision to sacrifice his own life to save those of the ship's crew is a logical one, before succumbing to his injuries.
A space burial is held in the Enterprise's torpedo room and Spock's coffin is shot into orbit around the new planet. The crew leaves to pick up the Reliant's marooned crew from Ceti Alpha V. Spock's coffin, having soft-landed, rests on the Genesis planet's surface.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan: ___________________________________________________________________________
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)
YouTube Video of the Movie Trailer for "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock"
Pictured (L-R): DeForest Kelley, Walter Koenig, William Shatner, James Doohan and George Takei
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock is a 1984 American science fiction film directed by Leonard Nimoy and based on the television series of the same name created by Gene Roddenberry. It is the third film in the Star Trek film series, and is the second part of a three-film story arc that begins with Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) and concludes with Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986).
After the death of Spock (Nimoy), the crew of the USS Enterprise returns to Earth. When James T. Kirk (William Shatner) learns that Spock's spirit, or katra, is held in the mind of Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy (DeForest Kelley), Kirk and company steal the Enterprise to return Spock's body to his home planet. The crew must also contend with hostile Klingons led by Kruge (Christopher Lloyd) who are bent on stealing the secrets of a powerful terraforming device.
Paramount Pictures commissioned the film after the positive critical and commercial reaction to The Wrath of Khan. Nimoy directed the film, becoming the first Star Trek cast member to do so. Producer Harve Bennett wrote the script starting from the end and working back, and intended the destruction of the Enterprise to be a shocking development. Bennett and Nimoy collaborated with effects house Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) to develop storyboards and new ship designs; ILM also handled the film's many special effects sequences. Aside from a single day of location shooting, all of the film's scenes were shot on Paramount and ILM soundstages. Composer James Horner returned to expand his themes from the previous film.
The Search for Spock opened on June 1, 1984. In its first week of release, the film grossed over $16 million from almost 2,000 theaters across North America. It went on to gross $76 million at the domestic box office, with a total of $87 million worldwide.
Critical reaction to The Search for Spock was positive, but notably less so than the previous film. Reviewers generally praised the cast and characters, while criticism tended to focus on the plot; the special effects were conflictingly received. Roger Ebert called the film a compromise between the tones of the first and second Star Trek films.
The Search for Spock has since been released on multiple home video formats, including VHS, DVD, and Blu-ray high definition discs. Nimoy went on to direct The Search for Spock's sequel, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.
Box Office Receipts: $87 Million.
Plot:
The Federation Starship Enterprise returns to Earth following a battle with the superhuman Khan Noonien Singh, who tried to destroy the Enterprise by detonating an experimental terraforming device known as Genesis. The casualties of the fight include Admiral James T. Kirk's Vulcan friend, Spock, whose casket was launched into space and eventually landed on the planet created by the Genesis Device.
On arriving at Earth Spacedock, Doctor Leonard McCoy begins to act strangely and is detained. Commander-Starfleet, Admiral Morrow visits the Enterprise and informs the crew the ship is to be decommissioned; the crew is ordered not to speak about Genesis due to political fallout over the device.
David Marcus (Merritt Butrick)—Kirk's son, a key scientist in Genesis's development—and Lieutenant Saavik (Robin Curtis) are investigating the Genesis planet on board the science vessel Grissom. Discovering an unexpected life form on the surface, Marcus and Saavik transport to the planet.
They find that the Genesis Device has resurrected Spock in the form of a child, although his mind is not present. Marcus admits that he used unstable "protomatter" in the development of the Genesis Device, causing Spock to age rapidly and meaning the planet will be destroyed within hours. Meanwhile, Kruge (Christopher Lloyd), the commander of a Klingon vessel, intercepts information about Genesis. Believing the device to be potentially useful as a weapon, he takes his cloaked ship to the Genesis planet, destroys the Grissom, and searches the planet for the survivors.
Spock's father, Sarek (Mark Lenard), confronts Kirk about his son's death. The pair learn that before he died, Spock transferred his katra, or living spirit, to McCoy. Spock's katra and body are needed to lay him to rest on his homeworld, Vulcan, and without help, McCoy will die from carrying the katra. Disobeying orders, Kirk and his officers spring McCoy from detention, disable the USS Excelsior, and steal the Enterprise from Spacedock to return to the Genesis planet to retrieve Spock's body.
On Genesis, the Klingons capture Marcus, Saavik and Spock and before Kruge can interrogate them their ship signals that the Enterprise has arrived and Kruge immediately beams back to the Bird of Prey.
In orbit, the undermanned Enterprise is attacked and disabled by Kruge. In the standoff that follows, Kruge orders that one of the hostages on the surface be executed. Marcus is killed defending Saavik and Spock. Kirk and company feign surrender and activate the Enterprise's self-destruct sequence, killing the Klingon boarding party while the Enterprise crew transports to the planet's surface.
Promising the secret of Genesis, Kirk lures Kruge to the planet and has him beam his crew to the Klingon vessel. As the Genesis planet disintegrates, Kirk and Kruge engage in a fistfight; Kirk emerges victorious after kicking Kruge off a cliff into a lava flow. Kirk and his officers take control of the Klingon ship and head to Vulcan.
There, Spock's katra is reunited with his body in a dangerous procedure called fal-tor-pan. The ceremony is successful and Spock is resurrected, alive and well, though his memories are fragmented. At Kirk's prompting, Spock remembers he called Kirk "Jim" and recognizes the crew.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock": ___________________________________________________________________________
After the death of Spock (Nimoy), the crew of the USS Enterprise returns to Earth. When James T. Kirk (William Shatner) learns that Spock's spirit, or katra, is held in the mind of Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy (DeForest Kelley), Kirk and company steal the Enterprise to return Spock's body to his home planet. The crew must also contend with hostile Klingons led by Kruge (Christopher Lloyd) who are bent on stealing the secrets of a powerful terraforming device.
Paramount Pictures commissioned the film after the positive critical and commercial reaction to The Wrath of Khan. Nimoy directed the film, becoming the first Star Trek cast member to do so. Producer Harve Bennett wrote the script starting from the end and working back, and intended the destruction of the Enterprise to be a shocking development. Bennett and Nimoy collaborated with effects house Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) to develop storyboards and new ship designs; ILM also handled the film's many special effects sequences. Aside from a single day of location shooting, all of the film's scenes were shot on Paramount and ILM soundstages. Composer James Horner returned to expand his themes from the previous film.
The Search for Spock opened on June 1, 1984. In its first week of release, the film grossed over $16 million from almost 2,000 theaters across North America. It went on to gross $76 million at the domestic box office, with a total of $87 million worldwide.
Critical reaction to The Search for Spock was positive, but notably less so than the previous film. Reviewers generally praised the cast and characters, while criticism tended to focus on the plot; the special effects were conflictingly received. Roger Ebert called the film a compromise between the tones of the first and second Star Trek films.
The Search for Spock has since been released on multiple home video formats, including VHS, DVD, and Blu-ray high definition discs. Nimoy went on to direct The Search for Spock's sequel, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.
Box Office Receipts: $87 Million.
Plot:
The Federation Starship Enterprise returns to Earth following a battle with the superhuman Khan Noonien Singh, who tried to destroy the Enterprise by detonating an experimental terraforming device known as Genesis. The casualties of the fight include Admiral James T. Kirk's Vulcan friend, Spock, whose casket was launched into space and eventually landed on the planet created by the Genesis Device.
On arriving at Earth Spacedock, Doctor Leonard McCoy begins to act strangely and is detained. Commander-Starfleet, Admiral Morrow visits the Enterprise and informs the crew the ship is to be decommissioned; the crew is ordered not to speak about Genesis due to political fallout over the device.
David Marcus (Merritt Butrick)—Kirk's son, a key scientist in Genesis's development—and Lieutenant Saavik (Robin Curtis) are investigating the Genesis planet on board the science vessel Grissom. Discovering an unexpected life form on the surface, Marcus and Saavik transport to the planet.
They find that the Genesis Device has resurrected Spock in the form of a child, although his mind is not present. Marcus admits that he used unstable "protomatter" in the development of the Genesis Device, causing Spock to age rapidly and meaning the planet will be destroyed within hours. Meanwhile, Kruge (Christopher Lloyd), the commander of a Klingon vessel, intercepts information about Genesis. Believing the device to be potentially useful as a weapon, he takes his cloaked ship to the Genesis planet, destroys the Grissom, and searches the planet for the survivors.
Spock's father, Sarek (Mark Lenard), confronts Kirk about his son's death. The pair learn that before he died, Spock transferred his katra, or living spirit, to McCoy. Spock's katra and body are needed to lay him to rest on his homeworld, Vulcan, and without help, McCoy will die from carrying the katra. Disobeying orders, Kirk and his officers spring McCoy from detention, disable the USS Excelsior, and steal the Enterprise from Spacedock to return to the Genesis planet to retrieve Spock's body.
On Genesis, the Klingons capture Marcus, Saavik and Spock and before Kruge can interrogate them their ship signals that the Enterprise has arrived and Kruge immediately beams back to the Bird of Prey.
In orbit, the undermanned Enterprise is attacked and disabled by Kruge. In the standoff that follows, Kruge orders that one of the hostages on the surface be executed. Marcus is killed defending Saavik and Spock. Kirk and company feign surrender and activate the Enterprise's self-destruct sequence, killing the Klingon boarding party while the Enterprise crew transports to the planet's surface.
Promising the secret of Genesis, Kirk lures Kruge to the planet and has him beam his crew to the Klingon vessel. As the Genesis planet disintegrates, Kirk and Kruge engage in a fistfight; Kirk emerges victorious after kicking Kruge off a cliff into a lava flow. Kirk and his officers take control of the Klingon ship and head to Vulcan.
There, Spock's katra is reunited with his body in a dangerous procedure called fal-tor-pan. The ceremony is successful and Spock is resurrected, alive and well, though his memories are fragmented. At Kirk's prompting, Spock remembers he called Kirk "Jim" and recognizes the crew.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock": ___________________________________________________________________________
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)
YouTube Video of the Trailer for Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home is a 1986 American science fiction film released by Paramount Pictures. It is the fourth feature film based on Star Trek, and is a sequel to Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984). It completes the story arc begun in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) and continued in The Search for Spock.
Intent on returning home to Earth to face trial for their actions in the previous film, the former crew of the USS Enterprise finds the planet in grave danger from an alien probe attempting to contact now-extinct humpback whales. The crew travel to Earth's past to find whales who can answer the probe's call.
After directing The Search for Spock, cast member Leonard Nimoy was asked to direct the next feature, and given greater freedom regarding the film's content. Nimoy and producer Harve Bennett conceived a story with an environmental message and no clear-cut villain.
Dissatisfied with the first screenplay produced by Steve Meerson and Peter Krikes, Paramount hired The Wrath of Khan writer and director Nicholas Meyer. Meyer and Bennett divided the story between them and wrote different parts of the script, requiring approval from Nimoy, lead actor William Shatner, and Paramount. Principal photography commenced on February 24, 1986.
Unlike previous Star Trek films, The Voyage Home was shot extensively on location; many real settings and buildings were used as stand-ins for scenes set around and in the city of San Francisco. Special effects firm Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) assisted in post-production and the film's special effects. Few of the humpback whales in the film were real: ILM devised full-size animatronics and small motorized models to stand in for the real creatures.
The Voyage Home was released on November 26, 1986 in North America, and became the top-grossing film at the weekend box office. The film's humor and unconventional story were well received by critics, fans of the series and the general audience. It was financially successful, earning $133 million worldwide. The film earned several awards and four Academy Award nominations for its cinematography and audio.
The movie was dedicated to the crew of the Space Shuttle Challenger, which broke up 73 seconds after takeoff on the morning of January 28, 1986. Principal photography for The Voyage Home began four weeks after Challenger and its crew were lost.
Plot:
In 2286, an enormous cylindrical probe moves through space, sending out an indecipherable signal and disabling the power of ships it passes. As it takes up orbit around Earth, its signal disables the global power grid and generates planetary storms, creating catastrophic, sun-blocking cloud cover. Starfleet Command sends out a planetary distress call and warns starships not to approach Earth.
On the planet Vulcan, the former officers of the USS Enterprise are living in exile (after the events of Star Trek III: The Search for Spock). Accompanied by the Vulcan Spock, still recovering from his resurrection, the crew — except for Saavik, who remains on Vulcan — take their captured Klingon Bird of Prey vessel (renamed the Bounty, after the Royal Navy ship) and return to Earth to face trial for their actions.
Hearing Starfleet's warning, Spock determines that the probe's signal matches the song of extinct humpback whales, and that the object will continue to wreak havoc until its call is answered. The crew uses their ship to travel back in time via a slingshot maneuver around the Sun, planning to return with a whale to answer the alien signal.
Arriving in 1986, the crew finds their ship's power drained. Hiding their ship in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park using its cloaking device, the crew split up to accomplish several tasks: Admiral James T. Kirk and Spock attempt to locate humpback whales, while Montgomery Scott, Leonard McCoy, and Hikaru Sulu construct a tank to hold the whales they need for a return to the 23rd century.
Uhura and Pavel Chekov are tasked to find a nuclear reactor, whose energy leakage will enable their ship's power to be restored.
Kirk and Spock discover a pair of whales in the care of Dr. Gillian Taylor at a Sausalito aquarium, and learn they will soon be released into the wild. Kirk tells her of his mission and asks for the tracking frequency for the whales, but she refuses to cooperate.
Meanwhile, Scott, McCoy, and Sulu trade the formula of transparent aluminum for the materials needed for the whale tank. Uhura and Chekov locate a nuclear powered ship, the aircraft carrier Enterprise. They collect the power they need, but are discovered on board.
Uhura is beamed back but Chekov is captured and severely injured in an escape attempt.
Taylor learns the whales have been released early, and goes to Kirk for assistance. Taylor, Kirk, and McCoy rescue Chekov and return to the now recharged Bird of Prey.
After transporting the whales aboard the ship, the crew returns with Taylor to their own time. On approaching Earth, the ship loses power and comes down in San Francisco Bay. Once released, the whales respond to the probe's signal, causing the object to reverse its effects on Earth and return to the depths of space.
All charges against the Enterprise crew are dropped, save one for insubordination: for disobeying a superior officer, Kirk is demoted from Admiral back to the rank of Captain where he is returned to command of a starship. The crew departs on their ship, the newly christened USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-A), and leaves on a new mission.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home: ___________________________________________________________________________
Intent on returning home to Earth to face trial for their actions in the previous film, the former crew of the USS Enterprise finds the planet in grave danger from an alien probe attempting to contact now-extinct humpback whales. The crew travel to Earth's past to find whales who can answer the probe's call.
After directing The Search for Spock, cast member Leonard Nimoy was asked to direct the next feature, and given greater freedom regarding the film's content. Nimoy and producer Harve Bennett conceived a story with an environmental message and no clear-cut villain.
Dissatisfied with the first screenplay produced by Steve Meerson and Peter Krikes, Paramount hired The Wrath of Khan writer and director Nicholas Meyer. Meyer and Bennett divided the story between them and wrote different parts of the script, requiring approval from Nimoy, lead actor William Shatner, and Paramount. Principal photography commenced on February 24, 1986.
Unlike previous Star Trek films, The Voyage Home was shot extensively on location; many real settings and buildings were used as stand-ins for scenes set around and in the city of San Francisco. Special effects firm Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) assisted in post-production and the film's special effects. Few of the humpback whales in the film were real: ILM devised full-size animatronics and small motorized models to stand in for the real creatures.
The Voyage Home was released on November 26, 1986 in North America, and became the top-grossing film at the weekend box office. The film's humor and unconventional story were well received by critics, fans of the series and the general audience. It was financially successful, earning $133 million worldwide. The film earned several awards and four Academy Award nominations for its cinematography and audio.
The movie was dedicated to the crew of the Space Shuttle Challenger, which broke up 73 seconds after takeoff on the morning of January 28, 1986. Principal photography for The Voyage Home began four weeks after Challenger and its crew were lost.
Plot:
In 2286, an enormous cylindrical probe moves through space, sending out an indecipherable signal and disabling the power of ships it passes. As it takes up orbit around Earth, its signal disables the global power grid and generates planetary storms, creating catastrophic, sun-blocking cloud cover. Starfleet Command sends out a planetary distress call and warns starships not to approach Earth.
On the planet Vulcan, the former officers of the USS Enterprise are living in exile (after the events of Star Trek III: The Search for Spock). Accompanied by the Vulcan Spock, still recovering from his resurrection, the crew — except for Saavik, who remains on Vulcan — take their captured Klingon Bird of Prey vessel (renamed the Bounty, after the Royal Navy ship) and return to Earth to face trial for their actions.
Hearing Starfleet's warning, Spock determines that the probe's signal matches the song of extinct humpback whales, and that the object will continue to wreak havoc until its call is answered. The crew uses their ship to travel back in time via a slingshot maneuver around the Sun, planning to return with a whale to answer the alien signal.
Arriving in 1986, the crew finds their ship's power drained. Hiding their ship in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park using its cloaking device, the crew split up to accomplish several tasks: Admiral James T. Kirk and Spock attempt to locate humpback whales, while Montgomery Scott, Leonard McCoy, and Hikaru Sulu construct a tank to hold the whales they need for a return to the 23rd century.
Uhura and Pavel Chekov are tasked to find a nuclear reactor, whose energy leakage will enable their ship's power to be restored.
Kirk and Spock discover a pair of whales in the care of Dr. Gillian Taylor at a Sausalito aquarium, and learn they will soon be released into the wild. Kirk tells her of his mission and asks for the tracking frequency for the whales, but she refuses to cooperate.
Meanwhile, Scott, McCoy, and Sulu trade the formula of transparent aluminum for the materials needed for the whale tank. Uhura and Chekov locate a nuclear powered ship, the aircraft carrier Enterprise. They collect the power they need, but are discovered on board.
Uhura is beamed back but Chekov is captured and severely injured in an escape attempt.
Taylor learns the whales have been released early, and goes to Kirk for assistance. Taylor, Kirk, and McCoy rescue Chekov and return to the now recharged Bird of Prey.
After transporting the whales aboard the ship, the crew returns with Taylor to their own time. On approaching Earth, the ship loses power and comes down in San Francisco Bay. Once released, the whales respond to the probe's signal, causing the object to reverse its effects on Earth and return to the depths of space.
All charges against the Enterprise crew are dropped, save one for insubordination: for disobeying a superior officer, Kirk is demoted from Admiral back to the rank of Captain where he is returned to command of a starship. The crew departs on their ship, the newly christened USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-A), and leaves on a new mission.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home: ___________________________________________________________________________
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)
YouTube Video of the Movie Trailer for Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier is a 1989 American science fiction film directed by William Shatner and based on the television series of the same name created by Gene Roddenberry. It is the fifth installment in the Star Trek film series. Taking place shortly after the events of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986), its plot follows the crew of the USS Enterprise-A as they confront a renegade Vulcan, Sybok, who is searching for God at the center of the galaxy.
The film was directed by cast member William Shatner, following two films being directed by his co-star Leonard Nimoy. Shatner also developed the initial storyline, in which Sybok searches for God, but instead finds an alien being. Series creator Gene Roddenberry disliked the original script, while Nimoy and DeForest Kelley objected to the premise that their characters, Spock and Leonard McCoy, would betray Shatner's James T. Kirk.
The script went through multiple revisions to please the cast and Paramount Pictures, including cuts in the effects-laden climax of the film. Despite a writers'-guild strike cutting into the film's pre-production, Paramount commenced filming in October 1988.
Many Star Trek veterans assisted in the film's production; art director Nilo Rodis developed the designs for many of the film's locales, shots, and characters, while Herman Zimmerman served as its production designer. Production problems plagued the film on set and during location shooting in Yosemite National Park and the Mojave Desert.
As effects house Industrial Light & Magic's best crews were busy and would be too expensive, the production used Bran Ferren's company for the film's effects, which had to be revised several times in order to lower production costs. The film's ending was reworked because of poor test-audience reaction, and the failure of planned special effects. Jerry Goldsmith, composer for Star Trek: The Motion Picture, returned to score The Final Frontier.
The Final Frontier was released in North America on June 9, 1989, by Paramount Pictures. It had the highest opening gross of any Star Trek film in at that point and was number one in its first week at the box office, but its grosses quickly dropped in subsequent weeks. The film received generally mixed to poor reviews by critics on release, and according to its producer, "nearly killed the franchise". The next entry in the series, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991), received a more positive reception.
Plot:
The crew of the newly commissioned USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-A) are enjoying shore leave after the starship's shakedown cruise goes poorly. At Yosemite National Park James T. Kirk, recently demoted back to Captain after the events of the previous two films, is camping with Spock and Dr. Leonard McCoy. Their leave is interrupted when the Enterprise is ordered by Starfleet Command to rescue human, Klingon, and Romulan hostages on the planet Nimbus III. Learning of the Enterprise's mission, the Klingon Captain Klaa decides to pursue Kirk for personal glory.
On Nimbus III, the Enterprise crew discovers that renegade Vulcan Sybok, Spock's half-brother, is behind the hostage crisis. Sybok reveals the hostage situation was a ruse to lure a starship to Nimbus III. Sybok wants to use a ship to reach the mythical planet Sha Ka Ree, the place where creation began; the planet lies behind a seemingly impenetrable barrier near the center of the galaxy.
Sybok uses his unique ability to reveal and heal the innermost pain of a person through the mind meld to subvert the wills of the hostages and crew members. Only Spock and Kirk prove resistant to Sybok; Spock is unmoved by the experience and Kirk refuses the Vulcan's offer, telling him that his pain is what makes him human. Sybok reluctantly declares a truce with Kirk, realizing he needs his leadership experience to navigate the Enterprise to Sha Ka Ree.
The Enterprise successfully breaches the barrier, pursued by Klaa's vessel, and discovers a lone blue planet. Sybok, Kirk, Spock, and McCoy journey to the surface, where Sybok calls out to his perceived vision of God. An entity appears, and when told of how Sybok breached the barrier, demands that the starship be brought closer to the planet. When a skeptical Kirk inquires, "What does God need with a starship?", the entity attacks him in retribution. The others doubt a god who would inflict harm on people for pleasure.
Realizing his foolishness, Sybok sacrifices himself in an effort to combat the creature and allow the others to escape. Intent on stopping the being, Kirk orders the Enterprise to fire a photon torpedo at their location, to little effect. Spock and McCoy are beamed back to the ship, but Klaa's vessel attacks the Enterprise before Kirk can be transported aboard.
The vengeful entity reappears and tries to kill Kirk when Klaa's vessel destroys it in a hail of fire. Kirk is beamed aboard the Klingon ship, where Spock and the Klingon General Korrd force Klaa to stand down. The Enterprise and Klingon crews celebrate a new détente, and Kirk, Spock, and McCoy resume their vacation at Yosemite.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier": ___________________________________________________________________________
The film was directed by cast member William Shatner, following two films being directed by his co-star Leonard Nimoy. Shatner also developed the initial storyline, in which Sybok searches for God, but instead finds an alien being. Series creator Gene Roddenberry disliked the original script, while Nimoy and DeForest Kelley objected to the premise that their characters, Spock and Leonard McCoy, would betray Shatner's James T. Kirk.
The script went through multiple revisions to please the cast and Paramount Pictures, including cuts in the effects-laden climax of the film. Despite a writers'-guild strike cutting into the film's pre-production, Paramount commenced filming in October 1988.
Many Star Trek veterans assisted in the film's production; art director Nilo Rodis developed the designs for many of the film's locales, shots, and characters, while Herman Zimmerman served as its production designer. Production problems plagued the film on set and during location shooting in Yosemite National Park and the Mojave Desert.
As effects house Industrial Light & Magic's best crews were busy and would be too expensive, the production used Bran Ferren's company for the film's effects, which had to be revised several times in order to lower production costs. The film's ending was reworked because of poor test-audience reaction, and the failure of planned special effects. Jerry Goldsmith, composer for Star Trek: The Motion Picture, returned to score The Final Frontier.
The Final Frontier was released in North America on June 9, 1989, by Paramount Pictures. It had the highest opening gross of any Star Trek film in at that point and was number one in its first week at the box office, but its grosses quickly dropped in subsequent weeks. The film received generally mixed to poor reviews by critics on release, and according to its producer, "nearly killed the franchise". The next entry in the series, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991), received a more positive reception.
Plot:
The crew of the newly commissioned USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-A) are enjoying shore leave after the starship's shakedown cruise goes poorly. At Yosemite National Park James T. Kirk, recently demoted back to Captain after the events of the previous two films, is camping with Spock and Dr. Leonard McCoy. Their leave is interrupted when the Enterprise is ordered by Starfleet Command to rescue human, Klingon, and Romulan hostages on the planet Nimbus III. Learning of the Enterprise's mission, the Klingon Captain Klaa decides to pursue Kirk for personal glory.
On Nimbus III, the Enterprise crew discovers that renegade Vulcan Sybok, Spock's half-brother, is behind the hostage crisis. Sybok reveals the hostage situation was a ruse to lure a starship to Nimbus III. Sybok wants to use a ship to reach the mythical planet Sha Ka Ree, the place where creation began; the planet lies behind a seemingly impenetrable barrier near the center of the galaxy.
Sybok uses his unique ability to reveal and heal the innermost pain of a person through the mind meld to subvert the wills of the hostages and crew members. Only Spock and Kirk prove resistant to Sybok; Spock is unmoved by the experience and Kirk refuses the Vulcan's offer, telling him that his pain is what makes him human. Sybok reluctantly declares a truce with Kirk, realizing he needs his leadership experience to navigate the Enterprise to Sha Ka Ree.
The Enterprise successfully breaches the barrier, pursued by Klaa's vessel, and discovers a lone blue planet. Sybok, Kirk, Spock, and McCoy journey to the surface, where Sybok calls out to his perceived vision of God. An entity appears, and when told of how Sybok breached the barrier, demands that the starship be brought closer to the planet. When a skeptical Kirk inquires, "What does God need with a starship?", the entity attacks him in retribution. The others doubt a god who would inflict harm on people for pleasure.
Realizing his foolishness, Sybok sacrifices himself in an effort to combat the creature and allow the others to escape. Intent on stopping the being, Kirk orders the Enterprise to fire a photon torpedo at their location, to little effect. Spock and McCoy are beamed back to the ship, but Klaa's vessel attacks the Enterprise before Kirk can be transported aboard.
The vengeful entity reappears and tries to kill Kirk when Klaa's vessel destroys it in a hail of fire. Kirk is beamed aboard the Klingon ship, where Spock and the Klingon General Korrd force Klaa to stand down. The Enterprise and Klingon crews celebrate a new détente, and Kirk, Spock, and McCoy resume their vacation at Yosemite.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier": ___________________________________________________________________________
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)
YouTube Video of the Trailer for the Movie "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country"
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country is a 1991 American science fiction film released by Paramount Pictures. It is the sixth feature film based on Star Trek, and a sequel to the 1966–1969 Star Trek television series.
Taking place after the events of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, it is the last film featuring the entire cast of the original series. After the destruction of the Klingon moon Praxis leads the Klingon Empire to pursue peace with their long-time adversary the Federation, the crew of the USS Enterprise must race against unseen conspirators with a militaristic agenda.
The sixth film in the series was initially planned as a prequel to the original series, with younger actors portraying the crew of the Enterprise while attending Starfleet Academy, but the idea was discarded because of negative reaction from the original cast and the fans.
Faced with producing a new film in time for Star Trek's 25th anniversary, Nicholas Meyer, the director of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, and Denny Martin Flinn wrote a script based on a suggestion from Leonard Nimoy about what would happen if "the Wall came down in space", touching on the contemporary events of the Cold War.
Principal photography took place between April and September 1991. The production budget was smaller than anticipated because of the critical and commercial disappointment of The Final Frontier. Because of a lack of sound stage space on the Paramount lot, many scenes were filmed around Hollywood. Meyer and cinematographer Hiro Narita aimed for a darker and more dramatic mood, subtly altering sets originally used for the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Producer Steven-Charles Jaffe led a second unit that filmed on an Alaskan glacier that stood in for a Klingon gulag. Cliff Eidelman produced the film's score, which is intentionally darker than previous Star Trek offerings.
The film was released in North America on December 6, 1991. The Undiscovered Country garnered positive reviews, with publications praising the lighthearted acting and facetious references. The film performed strongly at the box office. It posted the largest opening weekend gross of the series before going on to earn $96,888,996 worldwide.
The film earned two Academy Award nominations, for Best Makeup and Best Sound Effects, and is the only Star Trek movie to win the Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film. A special collectors' edition DVD version of the film was released in 2004, to which Meyer had made minor alterations. Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry died shortly before the movie's premiere, just days after viewing the film. The film marked the final appearance together of the original series' cast.
Plot:
As a Klingon moon, Praxis, explodes without warning, the starship USS Excelsior, commanded by Captain Hikaru Sulu, is struck by the shock wave and its crew discovers that much of the moon has been obliterated. The loss of their key energy production facility and the destruction of the Klingon homeworld's ozone layer throws the Klingon Empire into turmoil. No longer able to maintain a hostile footing, the Klingons sue for peace with their longstanding enemy, the United Federation of Planets.
Accepting the proposal before the Klingons revert to a more belligerent approach, Starfleet sends the USS Enterprise-A to meet with the Klingon Chancellor, Gorkon, and escort him to negotiations on Earth. Enterprise's captain, James T. Kirk, whose son David was murdered by Klingons years earlier, opposes the negotiations and resents his assignment.
After a rendezvous between Enterprise and Gorkon's battlecruiser they continue towards Earth, with the crews sharing a tense meal aboard Enterprise. Later that night, Enterprise appears to fire on the Klingon ship with a pair of photon torpedoes, disabling the artificial gravity aboard the Klingon vessel. During the confusion, two figures wearing Starfleet suits and gravity boots beam aboard the Klingon ship and grievously wound Gorkon before beaming away.
Kirk surrenders to avoid a fight, and beams aboard the Klingon ship with Doctor Leonard McCoy to attempt to save Gorkon's life. The chancellor dies, and Gorkon's chief of staff, General Chang, puts Kirk and McCoy on trial for his assassination. The pair are found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment on the frozen asteroid Rura Penthe.
Gorkon's daughter, Azetbur, becomes the new chancellor, and continues diplomatic negotiations; for reasons of security, the conference is relocated and the new location is kept secret. While several senior Starfleet officers want to rescue Kirk and McCoy, the Federation president refuses to risk full-scale war. Azetbur likewise refuses to invade Federation space, stating that only Kirk and McCoy will pay for her father's death.
Kirk and McCoy arrive at the Rura Penthe mines and are befriended by a shapeshifter named Martia, who offers them an escape route; in reality, it is a ruse to make their arranged deaths appear accidental. Once her betrayal is revealed, Martia transforms into Kirk's double and fights him, but she is killed by the prison guards to silence any witnesses.
Just before the prison warden reveals who set them up, Kirk and McCoy are beamed aboard Enterprise by Captain Spock, who had assumed command and undertaken an investigation in Kirk's absence. Determining that Enterprise did not fire the torpedoes but that the assassins are still aboard, the crew begins looking for them. The two assassins are found dead, but Kirk and Spock trick their accomplice into believing they are still alive.
When the culprit arrives in Sickbay to finish off the assassins, Kirk and Spock discover that the killer is Spock's protégé, Valeris. To discover the identity of the conspirators, Spock initiates a forced mind-meld, and learns that a group of Federation, Klingon, and Romulan officers plotted to sabotage the peace talks, fearing the changes their success might bring the titular "undiscovered country", and Chang is one of the conspirators.
The torpedoes that struck Gorkon's cruiser came from a prototype Bird of Prey that can fire while cloaked, and hovered just below Enterprise at the time of the assassination.
The crew contacts Sulu, who informs them the conference is being held at Camp Khitomer. Both ships head for the talks as fast as they can. As Enterprise nears the planet, Chang's cloaked Bird of Prey moves to intercept. With Enterprise unable to track his ship's position, Chang inflicts severe damage on Enterprise and then Excelsior. At the suggestion of Uhura, the Enterprise's communication officer, Spock and McCoy modify a photon torpedo to home in on the exhaust emissions of Chang's vessel, using equipment originally intended to study gaseous anomalies.
The torpedo impact reveals Chang's location, and Enterprise and Excelsior destroy the Bird of Prey with a volley of torpedoes. Crew from both ships beam to the conference and halt an attempt on the Federation president's life. Kirk pleads for those present to continue the peace process. Having saved the peace talks, Enterprise is ordered back to Earth by Starfleet Command to be decommissioned, but the crew decide to take their time on the return voyage. As Enterprise cruises towards a nearby star, Kirk proclaims that though this mission is the final cruise of Enterprise under his command, others will continue their voyages.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country": ___________________________________________________________________________
Taking place after the events of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, it is the last film featuring the entire cast of the original series. After the destruction of the Klingon moon Praxis leads the Klingon Empire to pursue peace with their long-time adversary the Federation, the crew of the USS Enterprise must race against unseen conspirators with a militaristic agenda.
The sixth film in the series was initially planned as a prequel to the original series, with younger actors portraying the crew of the Enterprise while attending Starfleet Academy, but the idea was discarded because of negative reaction from the original cast and the fans.
Faced with producing a new film in time for Star Trek's 25th anniversary, Nicholas Meyer, the director of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, and Denny Martin Flinn wrote a script based on a suggestion from Leonard Nimoy about what would happen if "the Wall came down in space", touching on the contemporary events of the Cold War.
Principal photography took place between April and September 1991. The production budget was smaller than anticipated because of the critical and commercial disappointment of The Final Frontier. Because of a lack of sound stage space on the Paramount lot, many scenes were filmed around Hollywood. Meyer and cinematographer Hiro Narita aimed for a darker and more dramatic mood, subtly altering sets originally used for the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Producer Steven-Charles Jaffe led a second unit that filmed on an Alaskan glacier that stood in for a Klingon gulag. Cliff Eidelman produced the film's score, which is intentionally darker than previous Star Trek offerings.
The film was released in North America on December 6, 1991. The Undiscovered Country garnered positive reviews, with publications praising the lighthearted acting and facetious references. The film performed strongly at the box office. It posted the largest opening weekend gross of the series before going on to earn $96,888,996 worldwide.
The film earned two Academy Award nominations, for Best Makeup and Best Sound Effects, and is the only Star Trek movie to win the Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film. A special collectors' edition DVD version of the film was released in 2004, to which Meyer had made minor alterations. Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry died shortly before the movie's premiere, just days after viewing the film. The film marked the final appearance together of the original series' cast.
Plot:
As a Klingon moon, Praxis, explodes without warning, the starship USS Excelsior, commanded by Captain Hikaru Sulu, is struck by the shock wave and its crew discovers that much of the moon has been obliterated. The loss of their key energy production facility and the destruction of the Klingon homeworld's ozone layer throws the Klingon Empire into turmoil. No longer able to maintain a hostile footing, the Klingons sue for peace with their longstanding enemy, the United Federation of Planets.
Accepting the proposal before the Klingons revert to a more belligerent approach, Starfleet sends the USS Enterprise-A to meet with the Klingon Chancellor, Gorkon, and escort him to negotiations on Earth. Enterprise's captain, James T. Kirk, whose son David was murdered by Klingons years earlier, opposes the negotiations and resents his assignment.
After a rendezvous between Enterprise and Gorkon's battlecruiser they continue towards Earth, with the crews sharing a tense meal aboard Enterprise. Later that night, Enterprise appears to fire on the Klingon ship with a pair of photon torpedoes, disabling the artificial gravity aboard the Klingon vessel. During the confusion, two figures wearing Starfleet suits and gravity boots beam aboard the Klingon ship and grievously wound Gorkon before beaming away.
Kirk surrenders to avoid a fight, and beams aboard the Klingon ship with Doctor Leonard McCoy to attempt to save Gorkon's life. The chancellor dies, and Gorkon's chief of staff, General Chang, puts Kirk and McCoy on trial for his assassination. The pair are found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment on the frozen asteroid Rura Penthe.
Gorkon's daughter, Azetbur, becomes the new chancellor, and continues diplomatic negotiations; for reasons of security, the conference is relocated and the new location is kept secret. While several senior Starfleet officers want to rescue Kirk and McCoy, the Federation president refuses to risk full-scale war. Azetbur likewise refuses to invade Federation space, stating that only Kirk and McCoy will pay for her father's death.
Kirk and McCoy arrive at the Rura Penthe mines and are befriended by a shapeshifter named Martia, who offers them an escape route; in reality, it is a ruse to make their arranged deaths appear accidental. Once her betrayal is revealed, Martia transforms into Kirk's double and fights him, but she is killed by the prison guards to silence any witnesses.
Just before the prison warden reveals who set them up, Kirk and McCoy are beamed aboard Enterprise by Captain Spock, who had assumed command and undertaken an investigation in Kirk's absence. Determining that Enterprise did not fire the torpedoes but that the assassins are still aboard, the crew begins looking for them. The two assassins are found dead, but Kirk and Spock trick their accomplice into believing they are still alive.
When the culprit arrives in Sickbay to finish off the assassins, Kirk and Spock discover that the killer is Spock's protégé, Valeris. To discover the identity of the conspirators, Spock initiates a forced mind-meld, and learns that a group of Federation, Klingon, and Romulan officers plotted to sabotage the peace talks, fearing the changes their success might bring the titular "undiscovered country", and Chang is one of the conspirators.
The torpedoes that struck Gorkon's cruiser came from a prototype Bird of Prey that can fire while cloaked, and hovered just below Enterprise at the time of the assassination.
The crew contacts Sulu, who informs them the conference is being held at Camp Khitomer. Both ships head for the talks as fast as they can. As Enterprise nears the planet, Chang's cloaked Bird of Prey moves to intercept. With Enterprise unable to track his ship's position, Chang inflicts severe damage on Enterprise and then Excelsior. At the suggestion of Uhura, the Enterprise's communication officer, Spock and McCoy modify a photon torpedo to home in on the exhaust emissions of Chang's vessel, using equipment originally intended to study gaseous anomalies.
The torpedo impact reveals Chang's location, and Enterprise and Excelsior destroy the Bird of Prey with a volley of torpedoes. Crew from both ships beam to the conference and halt an attempt on the Federation president's life. Kirk pleads for those present to continue the peace process. Having saved the peace talks, Enterprise is ordered back to Earth by Starfleet Command to be decommissioned, but the crew decide to take their time on the return voyage. As Enterprise cruises towards a nearby star, Kirk proclaims that though this mission is the final cruise of Enterprise under his command, others will continue their voyages.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country": ___________________________________________________________________________
Star Trek Generations (1994)
YouTube Video of the Movie Trailer for "Star Trek Generations"
Star Trek Generations is a 1994 American science fiction film directed by David Carson and based on the franchise of the same name created by Gene Roddenberry. It is the seventh film in the Star Trek film series, as well as the first to star the cast of the series Star Trek: The Next Generation. In the film, Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the USS Enterprise-D teams up with his predecessor, Captain James T. Kirk, to stop a villain from destroying a planet.
Parts of the film were shot at the Valley of Fire State Park near Overton, Nevada, Paramount Studios, and Lone Pine, California. While the film received mixed reviews from critics, it performed well at the box office.
Plot:
In the year 2293, retired Captain James T. Kirk, Montgomery Scott, and Pavel Chekov attend the maiden voyage of the Federation starship USS Enterprise-B, under the command of the unseasoned Capt. John Harriman. During the voyage, Enterprise is pressed into a rescue mission to save two El-Aurian ships from a strange energy ribbon. Enterprise is able to save some of the refugees before their ships are destroyed, but the starship becomes trapped in the ribbon. Kirk goes to deflector control to alter the deflector dish, allowing Enterprise to escape, but the trailing end of the ribbon rakes across Enterprise's hull, exposing the section Kirk is in to space; he is presumed dead.
In 2371, the crew of the USS Enterprise-D celebrate the promotion of Worf to Lieutenant Commander. Captain Jean-Luc Picard receives a message that his brother and nephew were killed in a fire, meaning the storied Picard family line will end with him. Enterprise receives a distress call from an observatory in orbit of the star Amargosa, where they rescue the El-Aurian Dr. Tolian Soran.
The android Data and engineer Geordi La Forge discover a compound called trilithium in a hidden room of the observatory. Soran appears, knocks La Forge unconscious, and launches a trilithium solar probe at Amargosa. The probe causes the star to implode, sending a shock wave toward the observatory. Soran and La Forge are transported away by a Klingon Bird of Prey belonging to the treacherous Duras sisters, who had stolen the trilithium for Soran in exchange for the designs for a trilithium weapon. Data is rescued just before the station is destroyed by the shock wave.
Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg), Enterprise's bartender, tells Captain Jean-Luc Picard more about Soran; they were among the El-Aurians rescued by the Enterprise-B in 2293. Guinan explains that Soran is obsessed with reentering the "Nexus", an extra-dimensional realm where time has no meaning and anyone can experience whatever they desire.
Picard and Data determine that Soran, unable to fly a ship into the ribbon due to the uncertainty that the ship will survive long enough to ensure his success, is instead altering the path of the ribbon by destroying stars, and that he will attempt to re-enter the Nexus on Veridian III by destroying its sun—and, by extension, a heavily populated planet in the system.
Upon entering the Veridian system, Enterprise makes contact with the Duras Bird of Prey. Picard offers himself to the sisters in exchange for La Forge, but insists that he be transported to Soran's location first. La Forge is returned to Enterprise, but he inadvertently reveals Enterprise's shield frequency, allowing the Duras sisters to inflict crippling damage on Enterprise. Enterprise destroys the Bird of Prey, but has sustained irreversible damage to its warp core.
Commander William Riker orders an evacuation to the forward saucer section of the ship which separates from the star drive. The shock wave from the star drive's destruction sends the saucer crashing to the surface of Veridian III.
Picard fails to talk Soran out of his plan and is too late to stop him from launching his missile. The collapse of the Veridian star alters the course of the Nexus ribbon as predicted, and it sweeps Picard and Soran away while the shock wave from the star obliterates everything in the system.
In the Nexus, Picard finds himself surrounded by the family he never had, including a wife and children, but realizes it is an illusion. He is confronted by an "echo" of Guinan. After being told that he may leave whenever he chooses and go wherever and whenever he wishes, Guinan sends him to meet Kirk, also safe in the Nexus.
Though Kirk is at first reluctant to leave, Picard convinces Kirk to return to Picard's present and stop Soran by assuring him that it will fulfill his desire to make a difference.
Leaving the Nexus, the two arrive on Veridian III minutes before Soran launches the missile. Kirk distracts Soran long enough for Picard to lock the missile in place, causing it to explode on the launchpad and kill Soran. Kirk is fatally injured by a fall during the encounter; as he dies, Picard assures him that he made a difference. Picard buries Kirk before a shuttle arrives to transport him to the wreckage of the Enterprise saucer. Three Federation starships enter orbit to retrieve Enterprise's survivors.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about the movie "Star Trek Generations": ___________________________________________________________________________
Parts of the film were shot at the Valley of Fire State Park near Overton, Nevada, Paramount Studios, and Lone Pine, California. While the film received mixed reviews from critics, it performed well at the box office.
Plot:
In the year 2293, retired Captain James T. Kirk, Montgomery Scott, and Pavel Chekov attend the maiden voyage of the Federation starship USS Enterprise-B, under the command of the unseasoned Capt. John Harriman. During the voyage, Enterprise is pressed into a rescue mission to save two El-Aurian ships from a strange energy ribbon. Enterprise is able to save some of the refugees before their ships are destroyed, but the starship becomes trapped in the ribbon. Kirk goes to deflector control to alter the deflector dish, allowing Enterprise to escape, but the trailing end of the ribbon rakes across Enterprise's hull, exposing the section Kirk is in to space; he is presumed dead.
In 2371, the crew of the USS Enterprise-D celebrate the promotion of Worf to Lieutenant Commander. Captain Jean-Luc Picard receives a message that his brother and nephew were killed in a fire, meaning the storied Picard family line will end with him. Enterprise receives a distress call from an observatory in orbit of the star Amargosa, where they rescue the El-Aurian Dr. Tolian Soran.
The android Data and engineer Geordi La Forge discover a compound called trilithium in a hidden room of the observatory. Soran appears, knocks La Forge unconscious, and launches a trilithium solar probe at Amargosa. The probe causes the star to implode, sending a shock wave toward the observatory. Soran and La Forge are transported away by a Klingon Bird of Prey belonging to the treacherous Duras sisters, who had stolen the trilithium for Soran in exchange for the designs for a trilithium weapon. Data is rescued just before the station is destroyed by the shock wave.
Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg), Enterprise's bartender, tells Captain Jean-Luc Picard more about Soran; they were among the El-Aurians rescued by the Enterprise-B in 2293. Guinan explains that Soran is obsessed with reentering the "Nexus", an extra-dimensional realm where time has no meaning and anyone can experience whatever they desire.
Picard and Data determine that Soran, unable to fly a ship into the ribbon due to the uncertainty that the ship will survive long enough to ensure his success, is instead altering the path of the ribbon by destroying stars, and that he will attempt to re-enter the Nexus on Veridian III by destroying its sun—and, by extension, a heavily populated planet in the system.
Upon entering the Veridian system, Enterprise makes contact with the Duras Bird of Prey. Picard offers himself to the sisters in exchange for La Forge, but insists that he be transported to Soran's location first. La Forge is returned to Enterprise, but he inadvertently reveals Enterprise's shield frequency, allowing the Duras sisters to inflict crippling damage on Enterprise. Enterprise destroys the Bird of Prey, but has sustained irreversible damage to its warp core.
Commander William Riker orders an evacuation to the forward saucer section of the ship which separates from the star drive. The shock wave from the star drive's destruction sends the saucer crashing to the surface of Veridian III.
Picard fails to talk Soran out of his plan and is too late to stop him from launching his missile. The collapse of the Veridian star alters the course of the Nexus ribbon as predicted, and it sweeps Picard and Soran away while the shock wave from the star obliterates everything in the system.
In the Nexus, Picard finds himself surrounded by the family he never had, including a wife and children, but realizes it is an illusion. He is confronted by an "echo" of Guinan. After being told that he may leave whenever he chooses and go wherever and whenever he wishes, Guinan sends him to meet Kirk, also safe in the Nexus.
Though Kirk is at first reluctant to leave, Picard convinces Kirk to return to Picard's present and stop Soran by assuring him that it will fulfill his desire to make a difference.
Leaving the Nexus, the two arrive on Veridian III minutes before Soran launches the missile. Kirk distracts Soran long enough for Picard to lock the missile in place, causing it to explode on the launchpad and kill Soran. Kirk is fatally injured by a fall during the encounter; as he dies, Picard assures him that he made a difference. Picard buries Kirk before a shuttle arrives to transport him to the wreckage of the Enterprise saucer. Three Federation starships enter orbit to retrieve Enterprise's survivors.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about the movie "Star Trek Generations": ___________________________________________________________________________
Star Trek: First Contact (1996)
YouTube Video of the Movie Trailer for Star Trek VIII: First Contact
Star Trek: First Contact is a 1996 American science fiction film directed by Jonathan Frakes in his directorial debut, and based on the franchise of the same name created by Gene Roddenberry. It is the eighth film in the Star Trek film series, as well as the second to star the cast of the series Star Trek: The Next Generation.
In the film, the crew of USS Enterprise-E travel back in time to the mid 21st-century in order to stop the cybernetic Borg from conquering Earth by changing the past.
After the release of the seventh film, Star Trek Generations (1994), Paramount Pictures tasked writers Brannon Braga and Ronald D. Moore with developing the next film in the series. Braga and Moore wanted to feature the Borg in the plot, while producer Rick Berman wanted a story involving time travel.
The writers combined the two ideas; they initially set the film during the European Renaissance, but changed the time period that the Borg corrupted to the mid-21st century, after fearing the Renaissance idea would be "too kitsch". After two better-known directors turned down the job, cast member Jonathan Frakes was chosen to direct to make sure the task fell to someone who understood Star Trek. The film's script required the creation of new starship designs, including a new USS Enterprise.
Production designer Herman Zimmerman and illustrator John Eaves collaborated to make a sleeker ship than its predecessor. Principal photography began with weeks of location shooting in Arizona and California, before production moved to new sets for the ship-based scenes.
The Borg were redesigned to appear as though they were converted into machine beings from the inside-out; the new makeup sessions took four times as long as their appearances on the television series. Effects company Industrial Light & Magic rushed to complete the film's special effects in less than five months. Traditional optical effects techniques were supplemented with computer-generated imagery. Jerry Goldsmith and his son Joel Goldsmith collaborated to produce the film's score.
First Contact was the highest-grossing film on its opening weekend, making $92 million in the United States and Canada with an additional $54 million in other territories, combining a worldwide total of $146 million. Critical reception was mostly positive; critics including Roger Ebert considered it to be one of the best Star Trek films.
The Borg and the special effects were lauded, while characterization was less evenly received. Scholarly analysis of the film has focused on Captain Jean-Luc Picard's parallels to Herman Melville's Ahab and the nature of the Borg. First Contact was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Makeup and won three Saturn Awards.
Plot:
In a nightmare, Captain Jean-Luc Picard relives his assimilation six years earlier by the cybernetic Borg. When he wakes, Starfleet informs him of a new Borg attack against the Federation; but as he is believed to be a liability, the USS Enterprise-E is ordered to patrol the Romulan Neutral Zone.
Intercepting the overwhelmed fleet's audio communications, Picard disobeys orders and heads the Enterprise for Earth, where a single, damaged Borg cube is destroying opposing Starfleet vessels. The Enterprise arrives in time to save the crew of the USS Defiant, commanded by Worf.
Picard takes command of the fleet and, after hearing Borg communications in his mind, orders it to concentrate its firepower on a seemingly non-vital section of the Borg ship. The cube is destroyed, but manages to launch a smaller sphere ship towards the planet before disintegrating.
The Borg sphere generates a temporal vortex, and enters it, and suddenly the Earth is populated entirely by Borg. Picard realizes that the Borg have used time travel to change history, and orders the Enterprise to follow the sphere. The Enterprise arrives in the past on April 4, 2063, a time when the Earth is recovering from World War III—and the day before Zefram Cochrane's historic warp flight and humanity's first encounter with alien life.
The Borg sphere fires on the planet; the Enterprise destroys the sphere. Realizing that the Borg were trying to prevent first contact, Picard sends an away team to look for survivors at the missile complex in Montana where Cochrane is building his ship, the Phoenix. Cochrane's assistant, Lily Sloane, opens fire on them but then is overcome with radiation poisoning and taken to the Enterprise by Dr. Crusher.
After hearing Borg voices in his head, Picard rushes back to the Enterprise with Data, leaving Commander William Riker and Chief Engineer Geordi La Forge on Earth to make sure the Phoenix's flight proceeds as planned. They see Cochrane as a legendary hero, but the real man is reluctant to assume his historical role.
When Picard returns to the Enterprise, he discovers that survivors from the Borg sphere have invaded it and are beginning to assimilate its crew. Clearly they will also assimilate the ship and use it to attack and conquer Earth. Picard and a team attempt to reach engineering to disable the Borg with corrosive coolant used in the warp core.
The assault fails and Data is captured; he meets the queen of the Borg Collective, who attempts to turn him to her side. A frightened Sloane seizes the captain, but he gains her trust and they escape the Borg-infested area of the ship by using the holodeck to create a weapon.
Picard, Worf, and the ship's navigator, Lieutenant Hawk, stop the Borg from using the deflector dish to call reinforcements, but Hawk is assimilated. As the Borg continue to assimilate, Worf suggests destroying the ship, but Picard angrily calls him a coward and vows to continue the fight.
Sloane confronts the captain and, reminding him of Moby-Dick's Captain Ahab, makes him realize his own irrational behavior. Picard activates the ship's self-destruct mechanism, orders the crew to abandon ship, and then apologizes to Worf. While the crew heads to escape pods, Picard remains aboard to rescue Data.
As Cochrane, Riker, and La Forge prepare to activate the warp drive on the Phoenix, Picard confronts the Borg Queen and discovers she has grafted human skin onto Data, giving him an array of new sensations. She has presented this modification as a gift to the android, hoping to obtain his encryption codes to the Enterprise computer.
Although Picard offers himself in Data's place, the android refuses to leave. He deactivates the self-destruct sequence and fires torpedoes at the Phoenix, but they miss and the Queen realizes Data has betrayed her. Data ruptures a coolant tank, and the corrosive substance fatally dissolves the Borg Queen's biological components.
Cochrane completes his warp flight in the Phoenix, and that night, April 5, the crew watches as Vulcans, attracted by the warp flight, land and greet him. Having repaired history, the Enterprise crew returns to the 24th century.
For more about "Star Trek: First Contact", click on any of the following blue hyperlinks:___________________________________________________________________________
In the film, the crew of USS Enterprise-E travel back in time to the mid 21st-century in order to stop the cybernetic Borg from conquering Earth by changing the past.
After the release of the seventh film, Star Trek Generations (1994), Paramount Pictures tasked writers Brannon Braga and Ronald D. Moore with developing the next film in the series. Braga and Moore wanted to feature the Borg in the plot, while producer Rick Berman wanted a story involving time travel.
The writers combined the two ideas; they initially set the film during the European Renaissance, but changed the time period that the Borg corrupted to the mid-21st century, after fearing the Renaissance idea would be "too kitsch". After two better-known directors turned down the job, cast member Jonathan Frakes was chosen to direct to make sure the task fell to someone who understood Star Trek. The film's script required the creation of new starship designs, including a new USS Enterprise.
Production designer Herman Zimmerman and illustrator John Eaves collaborated to make a sleeker ship than its predecessor. Principal photography began with weeks of location shooting in Arizona and California, before production moved to new sets for the ship-based scenes.
The Borg were redesigned to appear as though they were converted into machine beings from the inside-out; the new makeup sessions took four times as long as their appearances on the television series. Effects company Industrial Light & Magic rushed to complete the film's special effects in less than five months. Traditional optical effects techniques were supplemented with computer-generated imagery. Jerry Goldsmith and his son Joel Goldsmith collaborated to produce the film's score.
First Contact was the highest-grossing film on its opening weekend, making $92 million in the United States and Canada with an additional $54 million in other territories, combining a worldwide total of $146 million. Critical reception was mostly positive; critics including Roger Ebert considered it to be one of the best Star Trek films.
The Borg and the special effects were lauded, while characterization was less evenly received. Scholarly analysis of the film has focused on Captain Jean-Luc Picard's parallels to Herman Melville's Ahab and the nature of the Borg. First Contact was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Makeup and won three Saturn Awards.
Plot:
In a nightmare, Captain Jean-Luc Picard relives his assimilation six years earlier by the cybernetic Borg. When he wakes, Starfleet informs him of a new Borg attack against the Federation; but as he is believed to be a liability, the USS Enterprise-E is ordered to patrol the Romulan Neutral Zone.
Intercepting the overwhelmed fleet's audio communications, Picard disobeys orders and heads the Enterprise for Earth, where a single, damaged Borg cube is destroying opposing Starfleet vessels. The Enterprise arrives in time to save the crew of the USS Defiant, commanded by Worf.
Picard takes command of the fleet and, after hearing Borg communications in his mind, orders it to concentrate its firepower on a seemingly non-vital section of the Borg ship. The cube is destroyed, but manages to launch a smaller sphere ship towards the planet before disintegrating.
The Borg sphere generates a temporal vortex, and enters it, and suddenly the Earth is populated entirely by Borg. Picard realizes that the Borg have used time travel to change history, and orders the Enterprise to follow the sphere. The Enterprise arrives in the past on April 4, 2063, a time when the Earth is recovering from World War III—and the day before Zefram Cochrane's historic warp flight and humanity's first encounter with alien life.
The Borg sphere fires on the planet; the Enterprise destroys the sphere. Realizing that the Borg were trying to prevent first contact, Picard sends an away team to look for survivors at the missile complex in Montana where Cochrane is building his ship, the Phoenix. Cochrane's assistant, Lily Sloane, opens fire on them but then is overcome with radiation poisoning and taken to the Enterprise by Dr. Crusher.
After hearing Borg voices in his head, Picard rushes back to the Enterprise with Data, leaving Commander William Riker and Chief Engineer Geordi La Forge on Earth to make sure the Phoenix's flight proceeds as planned. They see Cochrane as a legendary hero, but the real man is reluctant to assume his historical role.
When Picard returns to the Enterprise, he discovers that survivors from the Borg sphere have invaded it and are beginning to assimilate its crew. Clearly they will also assimilate the ship and use it to attack and conquer Earth. Picard and a team attempt to reach engineering to disable the Borg with corrosive coolant used in the warp core.
The assault fails and Data is captured; he meets the queen of the Borg Collective, who attempts to turn him to her side. A frightened Sloane seizes the captain, but he gains her trust and they escape the Borg-infested area of the ship by using the holodeck to create a weapon.
Picard, Worf, and the ship's navigator, Lieutenant Hawk, stop the Borg from using the deflector dish to call reinforcements, but Hawk is assimilated. As the Borg continue to assimilate, Worf suggests destroying the ship, but Picard angrily calls him a coward and vows to continue the fight.
Sloane confronts the captain and, reminding him of Moby-Dick's Captain Ahab, makes him realize his own irrational behavior. Picard activates the ship's self-destruct mechanism, orders the crew to abandon ship, and then apologizes to Worf. While the crew heads to escape pods, Picard remains aboard to rescue Data.
As Cochrane, Riker, and La Forge prepare to activate the warp drive on the Phoenix, Picard confronts the Borg Queen and discovers she has grafted human skin onto Data, giving him an array of new sensations. She has presented this modification as a gift to the android, hoping to obtain his encryption codes to the Enterprise computer.
Although Picard offers himself in Data's place, the android refuses to leave. He deactivates the self-destruct sequence and fires torpedoes at the Phoenix, but they miss and the Queen realizes Data has betrayed her. Data ruptures a coolant tank, and the corrosive substance fatally dissolves the Borg Queen's biological components.
Cochrane completes his warp flight in the Phoenix, and that night, April 5, the crew watches as Vulcans, attracted by the warp flight, land and greet him. Having repaired history, the Enterprise crew returns to the 24th century.
For more about "Star Trek: First Contact", click on any of the following blue hyperlinks:___________________________________________________________________________
Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)
YouTube Video of the Movie Trailer for "Star Trek: Insurrection"
Star Trek: Insurrection is a 1998 American science fiction film directed by Jonathan Frakes and based on the franchise of the same name created by Gene Roddenberry. It is the ninth film in the Star Trek film series, as well as the third to star the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation, with F. Murray Abraham, Donna Murphy and Anthony Zerbe appearing in main roles.
In the film, the crew of the USS Enterprise-E rebels against Starfleet, after they discover a conspiracy with a species known as the Son'a to steal the peaceful Ba'ku's planet for its rejuvenating properties.
Paramount Pictures sought a change in pace after the previous film in the series, Star Trek: First Contact (1996). Michael Piller was asked to write its script, which was created from story ideas by Piller and executive producer Rick Berman.
The story's first drafts featured the Romulans, and the Son'a and Ba'ku were introduced in its third draft. After Ira Steven Behr reviewed the script, Piller revised it and added a subplot involving a romantic interest for Jean-Luc Picard. The film's ending was further revised after test screenings.
The special effects depicting outer space were completely computer generated, a first for a Star Trek film. The Ba'ku village was fully built on location at Lake Sherwood, California, but suffered weather damage. Sets from the television series Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine were reused and redressed. Michael Westmore created the make-up for the new alien races, and Robert Blackman revised the Starfleet dress uniform designs. Sanja Milkovic Hayes created costumes for the Ba'ku from cellulose fibers, which were baked and glued together. Jerry Goldsmith produced the film's score; his fourth for the franchise.
Insurrection was the highest-grossing film on its opening weekend, making $70.1 million in the United States and Canada and an additional $42.4 million in other territories, for a theatrical run of about $112.5 million worldwide.
Critical responses to the film were mixed; the performance of Patrick Stewart and the directing of Jonathan Frakes were praised, while other critics compared it to an extended episode of the television series. Insurrection was nominated for both a Saturn Award and a Hugo Award, but the only award it received was a Youth in Film Award for Michael Welch.
Plot:
Lieutenant Commander Data (Brent Spiner) is temporarily transferred to an undercover mission observing the peaceful Ba'ku people. While on their planet, he malfunctions and reveals the presence of the joint Federation–Son'a task force observing the Ba'ku. Admiral Matthew Dougherty (Anthony Zerbe) contacts the USS Enterprise-E to obtain Data's schematics but adamantly states the presence of the Enterprise is not needed.
Captain Picard decides to ignore these orders and takes the Enterprise to capture Data. After stopping Data, Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) becomes suspicious of Dougherty's insistence that the Enterprise is no longer needed. His crew investigates the cause of Data's malfunction.
They discover that the Ba'ku have advanced technology, but have rejected its use to live simpler lives. Due to unique radiation or "metaphasic particles" emanating from their planet's rings, they are effectively immortal. Dougherty's allies, the Son'a, are a decrepit race who use medical techniques to prevent death; their excessive use of cosmetic surgery gives them a mummified appearance.
The Enterprise crew also begin to experience the rejuvenation effects of the planet: Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) finds his eyes have regenerated and he no longer requires ocular implants; Commander William Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and Counselor Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) rekindle their long-abandoned relationship; and Picard develops a romantic relationship with the Ba'ku woman Anij (Donna Murphy).
Data and Picard discover a submerged and cloaked Federation ship containing a gigantic holodeck set up to recreate the Ba'ku village. Data's malfunction stems from a Son'a attack, received when he discovered the vessel. Picard confronts Dougherty and learns that top Federation officers and the Son'a secretly planned to deceptively move the Ba'ku to the ship and forcibly relocate them to another planet, allowing the Son'a to collect the rejuvenating radiation (but poisoning the planet in the process).
Dougherty orders the Enterprise to leave. Picard states the rejuvenation benefit of the radiation does not justify Dougherty's plans for the Ba'ku and violates the Prime Directive. He plans to alert the Federation of the forced relocation.
Picard is joined by some of his crew to help the Ba'ku escape from being abducted while Riker takes the Enterprise to a transmission range and communicate the violation to Star Fleet. The Son'a send robotic probes to locate and capture the fleeing Ba'ku. The Son'a leader, Ahdar Ru'afo (F. Murray Abraham), convinces Dougherty to allow two Son'a ships to attack the Enterprise.
Riker defeats the attacking ships and the Enterprise escapes. Their plan exposed, Ru'afo insists upon harvesting the radiation source immediately. Picard, Anij, and several Ba'ku are transported as prisoners onto the Son'a ship. Picard reveals to Dougherty that the Son'a and the Ba'ku are the same race and involving the Federation in a blood feud. The Son'a are a splinter faction of Ba'ku who gave up their bucolic existence a century earlier to embrace the use of technology.
They attempted to seize power but failed, and the Ba'ku elders exiled them from the planet, denying them the rejuvenating effects of the rings. The Son'a developed an artificial and imperfect means to extend their lives at the cost of disfigurement. Ru'afo kills Admiral Dougherty when he backs out of the plan and Ru'afo proceeds with his plan.
While Picard is escorted to be executed, he convinces the Son'a Gallatin (Gregg Henry) to help him stop Ru'afo. Picard masterminds a ruse to transport Ru'afo and his bridge crew to the holoship and shutdown the harvester. Ru'afo discovers the deception and transports to the radiation harvester ship to manually restart the process.
Picard follows and sets the harvester to self-destruct, which kills Ru'afo while Picard is rescued by the Enterprise. The remaining Son'a are forgiven and welcomed back by the Ba'ku. Picard arranges a meeting between Gallatin and his Ba'ku mother. The Enterprise crew take a moment to enjoy their rejuvenated selves before returning to their previous mission.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about "Star Trek: Insurrection": ___________________________________________________________________________
In the film, the crew of the USS Enterprise-E rebels against Starfleet, after they discover a conspiracy with a species known as the Son'a to steal the peaceful Ba'ku's planet for its rejuvenating properties.
Paramount Pictures sought a change in pace after the previous film in the series, Star Trek: First Contact (1996). Michael Piller was asked to write its script, which was created from story ideas by Piller and executive producer Rick Berman.
The story's first drafts featured the Romulans, and the Son'a and Ba'ku were introduced in its third draft. After Ira Steven Behr reviewed the script, Piller revised it and added a subplot involving a romantic interest for Jean-Luc Picard. The film's ending was further revised after test screenings.
The special effects depicting outer space were completely computer generated, a first for a Star Trek film. The Ba'ku village was fully built on location at Lake Sherwood, California, but suffered weather damage. Sets from the television series Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine were reused and redressed. Michael Westmore created the make-up for the new alien races, and Robert Blackman revised the Starfleet dress uniform designs. Sanja Milkovic Hayes created costumes for the Ba'ku from cellulose fibers, which were baked and glued together. Jerry Goldsmith produced the film's score; his fourth for the franchise.
Insurrection was the highest-grossing film on its opening weekend, making $70.1 million in the United States and Canada and an additional $42.4 million in other territories, for a theatrical run of about $112.5 million worldwide.
Critical responses to the film were mixed; the performance of Patrick Stewart and the directing of Jonathan Frakes were praised, while other critics compared it to an extended episode of the television series. Insurrection was nominated for both a Saturn Award and a Hugo Award, but the only award it received was a Youth in Film Award for Michael Welch.
Plot:
Lieutenant Commander Data (Brent Spiner) is temporarily transferred to an undercover mission observing the peaceful Ba'ku people. While on their planet, he malfunctions and reveals the presence of the joint Federation–Son'a task force observing the Ba'ku. Admiral Matthew Dougherty (Anthony Zerbe) contacts the USS Enterprise-E to obtain Data's schematics but adamantly states the presence of the Enterprise is not needed.
Captain Picard decides to ignore these orders and takes the Enterprise to capture Data. After stopping Data, Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) becomes suspicious of Dougherty's insistence that the Enterprise is no longer needed. His crew investigates the cause of Data's malfunction.
They discover that the Ba'ku have advanced technology, but have rejected its use to live simpler lives. Due to unique radiation or "metaphasic particles" emanating from their planet's rings, they are effectively immortal. Dougherty's allies, the Son'a, are a decrepit race who use medical techniques to prevent death; their excessive use of cosmetic surgery gives them a mummified appearance.
The Enterprise crew also begin to experience the rejuvenation effects of the planet: Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) finds his eyes have regenerated and he no longer requires ocular implants; Commander William Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and Counselor Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) rekindle their long-abandoned relationship; and Picard develops a romantic relationship with the Ba'ku woman Anij (Donna Murphy).
Data and Picard discover a submerged and cloaked Federation ship containing a gigantic holodeck set up to recreate the Ba'ku village. Data's malfunction stems from a Son'a attack, received when he discovered the vessel. Picard confronts Dougherty and learns that top Federation officers and the Son'a secretly planned to deceptively move the Ba'ku to the ship and forcibly relocate them to another planet, allowing the Son'a to collect the rejuvenating radiation (but poisoning the planet in the process).
Dougherty orders the Enterprise to leave. Picard states the rejuvenation benefit of the radiation does not justify Dougherty's plans for the Ba'ku and violates the Prime Directive. He plans to alert the Federation of the forced relocation.
Picard is joined by some of his crew to help the Ba'ku escape from being abducted while Riker takes the Enterprise to a transmission range and communicate the violation to Star Fleet. The Son'a send robotic probes to locate and capture the fleeing Ba'ku. The Son'a leader, Ahdar Ru'afo (F. Murray Abraham), convinces Dougherty to allow two Son'a ships to attack the Enterprise.
Riker defeats the attacking ships and the Enterprise escapes. Their plan exposed, Ru'afo insists upon harvesting the radiation source immediately. Picard, Anij, and several Ba'ku are transported as prisoners onto the Son'a ship. Picard reveals to Dougherty that the Son'a and the Ba'ku are the same race and involving the Federation in a blood feud. The Son'a are a splinter faction of Ba'ku who gave up their bucolic existence a century earlier to embrace the use of technology.
They attempted to seize power but failed, and the Ba'ku elders exiled them from the planet, denying them the rejuvenating effects of the rings. The Son'a developed an artificial and imperfect means to extend their lives at the cost of disfigurement. Ru'afo kills Admiral Dougherty when he backs out of the plan and Ru'afo proceeds with his plan.
While Picard is escorted to be executed, he convinces the Son'a Gallatin (Gregg Henry) to help him stop Ru'afo. Picard masterminds a ruse to transport Ru'afo and his bridge crew to the holoship and shutdown the harvester. Ru'afo discovers the deception and transports to the radiation harvester ship to manually restart the process.
Picard follows and sets the harvester to self-destruct, which kills Ru'afo while Picard is rescued by the Enterprise. The remaining Son'a are forgiven and welcomed back by the Ba'ku. Picard arranges a meeting between Gallatin and his Ba'ku mother. The Enterprise crew take a moment to enjoy their rejuvenated selves before returning to their previous mission.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about "Star Trek: Insurrection": ___________________________________________________________________________
Star Trek: Nemesis (2002)
YouTube Video of the Movie Trailer for Star Trek: Nemesis
Star Trek: Nemesis is a 2002 American science fiction film directed by Stuart Baird and based on the franchise of the same name created by Gene Roddenberry. It is the tenth film in the Star Trek film series, as well as the fourth and last to star the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
It was written by John Logan from a story developed by Logan, Brent Spiner, and producer Rick Berman.
In the film, the crew of the USS Enterprise-E are forced to deal with a threat to the United Federation of Planets from a Reman clone of Captain Picard named Shinzon, who has taken control of the Romulan Star Empire in a coup d'état.
Principal photography for the film took place from November 2001 to March 2002. Jerry Goldsmith composed the film's score. The film was released in North America on December 13, 2002, by Paramount Pictures, and received generally mixed reviews, with publications criticizing it for being the least successful in the Star Trek franchise.
The film went on to earn $67 million worldwide, making it a box office disappointment. Following the failure of the film and the cancellation of Star Trek: Enterprise, Berman and Erik Jendresen began development on the unproduced Star Trek: The Beginning. Three years later, Viacom split from CBS Corporation, and Paramount eventually rebooted the film series in 2009 with Star Trek, directed by J. J. Abrams.
Plot:
On Romulus members of the Romulan Imperial Senate debate whether to accept the terms of peace and alliance with the Reman rebel leader Shinzon. The Remans are a slave race of the Romulan Empire, used as miners and as cannon fodder. A faction of the military is in support of Shinzon, but the Praetor and senate are opposed to an alliance. After rejecting the motion, the Praetor and remaining senators are disintegrated by a device left in the room by a military-aligned senator.
Meanwhile, the crew of the USS Enterprise-E prepare to bid farewell to first officer Commander William Riker and Counselor Deanna Troi, who are being married on Betazed. En route, they discover a positronic energy reading on a planet in the Kolaran system near the Romulan Neutral Zone. Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Lieutenant Commander Worf, and Lieutenant Commander Data land on Kolarus III and discover the remnants of an android resembling Data. When the android is reassembled it introduces itself as B-4. The crew deduce it to be a less-advanced, earlier version of Data.
Picard is contacted by Vice-Admiral Kathryn Janeway and orders the ship on a diplomatic mission to nearby Romulus. Janeway explains that the Romulan Empire has been taken over in a military coup by Shinzon, who says he wants peace with the Federation and to bring freedom to Remus.
On arrival, they learn Shinzon is a clone of Picard, secretly created by Romulans to plant a high-ranking spy into the Federation. The project was abandoned when he was still a child and he was left on Remus to die as a slave. After many years, Shinzon became a leader of the Remans, and constructed his heavily armed flagship, the Scimitar.
Initially, diplomatic efforts go well, but the Enterprise crew discover that the Scimitar is producing low levels of thalaron radiation, which had been used to kill the Imperial Senate and is deadly to nearly all life forms. There are also unexpected attempts to communicate with the Enterprise computers, and Shinzon himself violates Troi's mind through the telepathy of his Reman viceroy.
Dr. Crusher discovers that Shinzon is aging rapidly because of the process used to clone him, and the only possible means to stop the aging is a transfusion of Picard's own blood. Shinzon kidnaps Picard from the Enterprise, as well as B-4, having planted the android on the nearby planet to lure Picard.
However, Data reveals he has swapped places with B-4, rescues Picard, and returns with Picard to the Enterprise. They have now seen enough of the Scimitar to know that Shinzon plans to use the warship to invade the Federation using its thalaron-radiation generator as a weapon, with the eradication of all life on Earth being his first priority.
The Enterprise races back to Federation space but is ambushed by the Scimitar in the Bassen Rift, a region that prevents any subspace communications. Two Romulan Warbirds come to the aid of the Enterprise, as they do not want to be complicit in Shinzon's genocidal plans, but Shinzon destroys one and disables the other. Recognizing the need to stop the Scimitar at all costs, Picard orders the Enterprise to ram the other ship.
The collision leaves both ships heavily damaged and destroys the Scimitar's primary weapons. To assure their mutual destruction, Shinzon activates the thalaron weapon. Picard boards the Scimitar to face Shinzon alone, and eventually kills him by impaling him on a metal strut.
Data jumps the distance between the two ships with a personal transporter to beam Picard back to the Enterprise, and then fires his phaser on the thalaron generator, which destroys the Scimitar, and Data, while saving the Enterprise. The crew mourn Data, and the surviving Romulan commander offers them her gratitude for saving the Empire.
The Enterprise returns to Earth for repairs. Picard bids farewell to newly promoted Captain Riker, who is off to command the USS Titan and begin a possible peace-negotiation mission with the Romulans. Picard meets with B-4, discovering that Data had copied the engrams of his neural net into B-4's positronic matrix before he "died". Though B-4 does not yet act as Data, Picard is assured that he will become like his friend in time.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about "Star Trek: Nemesis": ___________________________________________________________________________
It was written by John Logan from a story developed by Logan, Brent Spiner, and producer Rick Berman.
In the film, the crew of the USS Enterprise-E are forced to deal with a threat to the United Federation of Planets from a Reman clone of Captain Picard named Shinzon, who has taken control of the Romulan Star Empire in a coup d'état.
Principal photography for the film took place from November 2001 to March 2002. Jerry Goldsmith composed the film's score. The film was released in North America on December 13, 2002, by Paramount Pictures, and received generally mixed reviews, with publications criticizing it for being the least successful in the Star Trek franchise.
The film went on to earn $67 million worldwide, making it a box office disappointment. Following the failure of the film and the cancellation of Star Trek: Enterprise, Berman and Erik Jendresen began development on the unproduced Star Trek: The Beginning. Three years later, Viacom split from CBS Corporation, and Paramount eventually rebooted the film series in 2009 with Star Trek, directed by J. J. Abrams.
Plot:
On Romulus members of the Romulan Imperial Senate debate whether to accept the terms of peace and alliance with the Reman rebel leader Shinzon. The Remans are a slave race of the Romulan Empire, used as miners and as cannon fodder. A faction of the military is in support of Shinzon, but the Praetor and senate are opposed to an alliance. After rejecting the motion, the Praetor and remaining senators are disintegrated by a device left in the room by a military-aligned senator.
Meanwhile, the crew of the USS Enterprise-E prepare to bid farewell to first officer Commander William Riker and Counselor Deanna Troi, who are being married on Betazed. En route, they discover a positronic energy reading on a planet in the Kolaran system near the Romulan Neutral Zone. Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Lieutenant Commander Worf, and Lieutenant Commander Data land on Kolarus III and discover the remnants of an android resembling Data. When the android is reassembled it introduces itself as B-4. The crew deduce it to be a less-advanced, earlier version of Data.
Picard is contacted by Vice-Admiral Kathryn Janeway and orders the ship on a diplomatic mission to nearby Romulus. Janeway explains that the Romulan Empire has been taken over in a military coup by Shinzon, who says he wants peace with the Federation and to bring freedom to Remus.
On arrival, they learn Shinzon is a clone of Picard, secretly created by Romulans to plant a high-ranking spy into the Federation. The project was abandoned when he was still a child and he was left on Remus to die as a slave. After many years, Shinzon became a leader of the Remans, and constructed his heavily armed flagship, the Scimitar.
Initially, diplomatic efforts go well, but the Enterprise crew discover that the Scimitar is producing low levels of thalaron radiation, which had been used to kill the Imperial Senate and is deadly to nearly all life forms. There are also unexpected attempts to communicate with the Enterprise computers, and Shinzon himself violates Troi's mind through the telepathy of his Reman viceroy.
Dr. Crusher discovers that Shinzon is aging rapidly because of the process used to clone him, and the only possible means to stop the aging is a transfusion of Picard's own blood. Shinzon kidnaps Picard from the Enterprise, as well as B-4, having planted the android on the nearby planet to lure Picard.
However, Data reveals he has swapped places with B-4, rescues Picard, and returns with Picard to the Enterprise. They have now seen enough of the Scimitar to know that Shinzon plans to use the warship to invade the Federation using its thalaron-radiation generator as a weapon, with the eradication of all life on Earth being his first priority.
The Enterprise races back to Federation space but is ambushed by the Scimitar in the Bassen Rift, a region that prevents any subspace communications. Two Romulan Warbirds come to the aid of the Enterprise, as they do not want to be complicit in Shinzon's genocidal plans, but Shinzon destroys one and disables the other. Recognizing the need to stop the Scimitar at all costs, Picard orders the Enterprise to ram the other ship.
The collision leaves both ships heavily damaged and destroys the Scimitar's primary weapons. To assure their mutual destruction, Shinzon activates the thalaron weapon. Picard boards the Scimitar to face Shinzon alone, and eventually kills him by impaling him on a metal strut.
Data jumps the distance between the two ships with a personal transporter to beam Picard back to the Enterprise, and then fires his phaser on the thalaron generator, which destroys the Scimitar, and Data, while saving the Enterprise. The crew mourn Data, and the surviving Romulan commander offers them her gratitude for saving the Empire.
The Enterprise returns to Earth for repairs. Picard bids farewell to newly promoted Captain Riker, who is off to command the USS Titan and begin a possible peace-negotiation mission with the Romulans. Picard meets with B-4, discovering that Data had copied the engrams of his neural net into B-4's positronic matrix before he "died". Though B-4 does not yet act as Data, Picard is assured that he will become like his friend in time.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about "Star Trek: Nemesis": ___________________________________________________________________________
Star Trek Movie (2009)
YouTube Video of the Movie Trailer for "Star Trek Movie"
Star Trek is a 2009 American science fiction adventure film directed by J. J. Abrams and written by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. It is the eleventh film in the Star Trek film franchise, and is also a reboot that features the main characters of the original Star Trek television series portrayed by a new cast, as the first in the rebooted film series.
The film follows James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) and Spock (Zachary Quinto) aboard USS Enterprise as they combat Nero (Eric Bana), a Romulan from their future who threatens the United Federation of Planets.
The story takes place in an alternate reality because of time travel by both Nero and the original Spock (Leonard Nimoy). The alternate timeline was created in an attempt to free the film and the franchise from established continuity constraints while simultaneously preserving original story elements.
The idea for a prequel film which would follow the Star Trek characters during their time in Starfleet Academy was discussed by series creator Gene Roddenberry in 1968. The concept resurfaced in the late 1980s, when it was postulated by Harve Bennett as a possible plotline for what would become Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, but was rejected in lieu of other projects by Roddenberry.
Following the critical and commercial failure of Star Trek: Nemesis and the cancellation of the television series Star Trek: Enterprise, the franchise's executive producer Rick Berman and screenwriter Erik Jendresen wrote an unproduced film titled Star Trek: The Beginning, which would take place after Enterprise.
After the separation of Viacom and CBS Corporation in 2005, former Paramount Pictures president Gail Berman convinced CBS to allow Paramount to produce a new film in the franchise. Orci and Kurtzman, both fans of Star Trek, were approached to write the film, and J. J. Abrams was approached to direct it.
Kurtzman and Orci used inspiration from novels and graduate school dissertations, as well as the series itself. Principal photography commenced on November 7, 2007 and ended on March 27, 2008. The film was shot in various locations around California and Utah.
Abrams wanted to avoid using bluescreen and greenscreen, opting to use sets and locations instead. Heavy secrecy surrounded the film's production and was under the fake working title Corporate Headquarters. Industrial Light & Magic used digital ships for the film, as opposed to the previous films in the franchise. Production for the film concluded by the end of 2008.
Star Trek was heavily promoted in the months preceding its release; pre-release screenings for the film premiered in select cities around the world, including Austin, Texas, Sydney, Australia, and Calgary, Alberta.
It was released in the United States and Canada on May 8, 2009, to critical acclaim; critics praised its character development, as well as its storyline, effects, stunts, action sequences, direction, and its score by Michael Giacchino.
Star Trek was a box office success, grossing over $385.7 million worldwide against its $150 million production budget. It was nominated for several awards, including four Academy Awards at the 82nd Academy Awards, ultimately winning Best Makeup, making it the first Star Trek film to win an Academy Award.
It was followed by two sequels, Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) and Star Trek Beyond (2016), with a fourth having been announced.
Plot:
In the 23rd century, the Federation starship USS Kelvin is investigating a "lightning storm" in space. A Romulan ship, Narada, emerges from the storm and attacks Kelvin. Narada's first officer, Ayel, demands that Kelvin's Captain Robau come aboard to negotiate a truce. Robau is questioned about the current stardate and an "Ambassador Spock", whom he does not recognize. Narada's commander, Nero, kills him, and resumes attacking Kelvin. George Kirk, Kelvin's first officer, orders the ship's personnel, including his pregnant wife Winona, to abandon ship while he pilots Kelvin on a collision course with Narada. Kirk sacrifices his life to ensure Winona's survival as she gives birth to James T. Kirk.
Seventeen years later on the planet Vulcan, a young Spock is accepted to join the Vulcan Science Academy. Realizing that the Academy views his human mother Amanda as a "disadvantage", he joins Starfleet instead.
On Earth, Kirk becomes a reckless but intelligent young adult. Following a bar fight with Starfleet cadets accompanying Nyota Uhura, Kirk meets Captain Christopher Pike, who encourages him to enlist in Starfleet Academy, where Kirk meets and befriends doctor Leonard McCoy.
Three years later, Commander Spock accuses Kirk of cheating during the Kobayashi Maru simulation. Kirk argues that cheating was acceptable because the simulation was designed to be unbeatable. The disciplinary hearing is interrupted by a distress signal from Vulcan. With the primary fleet out of range, the cadets are mobilized. McCoy and Kirk board Pike's ship, the Enterprise. Realizing that the "lightning storm" observed near Vulcan is similar to the one that occurred when he was born, Kirk breaks protocol to convince Pike that the distress signal is a trap.
Enterprise arrives to find the fleet destroyed and Narada drilling into Vulcan's core. Narada attacks Enterprise and Pike surrenders, delegating command of the ship to Spock and promoting Kirk to first officer. Kirk, Hikaru Sulu and Chief Engineer Olson perform a space jump onto the drilling platform. Olson is killed but Kirk and Sulu disable the drill. Despite their efforts, Nero launches "red matter" into Vulcan's core, forming an artificial black hole that destroys Vulcan. Spock rescues the high council and his father Sarek, but Amanda dies.
As Narada moves toward Earth, Nero tortures Pike to gain access to Earth's defense codes. Spock maroons Kirk on Delta Vega after Kirk attempts mutiny. Kirk encounters an older Spock, who explains that he and Nero are from 129 years in the future. In that future, Romulus was threatened by a supernova.
Spock's attempt to use "red matter" to create an artificial black hole and consume the supernova failed, and Nero's family perished along with Romulus. Narada and Spock's vessel were caught in the black hole, sending them back in time. Nero stranded Spock on Delta Vega to watch Vulcan's destruction.
Reaching a Starfleet outpost on Delta Vega, Kirk and the elder Spock meet Montgomery Scott. With the elder Spock's help, Kirk and Scott beam onto Enterprise. Following the elder Spock's advice, Kirk provokes younger Spock into attacking him, forcing Spock to recognize himself as emotionally compromised and relinquish command to Kirk.
After talking with Sarek, Spock decides to help Kirk. While Enterprise hides itself within the gas clouds of Titan, Kirk and Spock beam aboard Narada. Kirk fights with Nero and Ayel, killing the latter and rescuing Pike, while Spock uses the elder Spock's ship to destroy the drill.
Spock leads Narada away from Earth and sets his ship to collide with Nero's ship. Enterprise beams Kirk, Pike, and Spock aboard. The older Spock's ship and Narada collide, igniting the "red matter". Kirk offers Nero help to escape, but Nero refuses, prompting Kirk to give the order to fire, dooming Narada to be consumed in a black hole.
Kirk is promoted to Captain and given command of Enterprise while Pike is promoted to Rear Admiral. Spock encounters his older self, who persuades his younger self to continue serving in Starfleet, encouraging him to do, for once, what feels right instead of what is logical. Spock remains in Starfleet, becoming first officer under Kirk's command. Enterprise goes to warp as the elder Spock speaks the "where no one has gone before" monologue.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about "Star Trek, the Movie" (2009): ___________________________________________________________________________
The film follows James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) and Spock (Zachary Quinto) aboard USS Enterprise as they combat Nero (Eric Bana), a Romulan from their future who threatens the United Federation of Planets.
The story takes place in an alternate reality because of time travel by both Nero and the original Spock (Leonard Nimoy). The alternate timeline was created in an attempt to free the film and the franchise from established continuity constraints while simultaneously preserving original story elements.
The idea for a prequel film which would follow the Star Trek characters during their time in Starfleet Academy was discussed by series creator Gene Roddenberry in 1968. The concept resurfaced in the late 1980s, when it was postulated by Harve Bennett as a possible plotline for what would become Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, but was rejected in lieu of other projects by Roddenberry.
Following the critical and commercial failure of Star Trek: Nemesis and the cancellation of the television series Star Trek: Enterprise, the franchise's executive producer Rick Berman and screenwriter Erik Jendresen wrote an unproduced film titled Star Trek: The Beginning, which would take place after Enterprise.
After the separation of Viacom and CBS Corporation in 2005, former Paramount Pictures president Gail Berman convinced CBS to allow Paramount to produce a new film in the franchise. Orci and Kurtzman, both fans of Star Trek, were approached to write the film, and J. J. Abrams was approached to direct it.
Kurtzman and Orci used inspiration from novels and graduate school dissertations, as well as the series itself. Principal photography commenced on November 7, 2007 and ended on March 27, 2008. The film was shot in various locations around California and Utah.
Abrams wanted to avoid using bluescreen and greenscreen, opting to use sets and locations instead. Heavy secrecy surrounded the film's production and was under the fake working title Corporate Headquarters. Industrial Light & Magic used digital ships for the film, as opposed to the previous films in the franchise. Production for the film concluded by the end of 2008.
Star Trek was heavily promoted in the months preceding its release; pre-release screenings for the film premiered in select cities around the world, including Austin, Texas, Sydney, Australia, and Calgary, Alberta.
It was released in the United States and Canada on May 8, 2009, to critical acclaim; critics praised its character development, as well as its storyline, effects, stunts, action sequences, direction, and its score by Michael Giacchino.
Star Trek was a box office success, grossing over $385.7 million worldwide against its $150 million production budget. It was nominated for several awards, including four Academy Awards at the 82nd Academy Awards, ultimately winning Best Makeup, making it the first Star Trek film to win an Academy Award.
It was followed by two sequels, Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) and Star Trek Beyond (2016), with a fourth having been announced.
Plot:
In the 23rd century, the Federation starship USS Kelvin is investigating a "lightning storm" in space. A Romulan ship, Narada, emerges from the storm and attacks Kelvin. Narada's first officer, Ayel, demands that Kelvin's Captain Robau come aboard to negotiate a truce. Robau is questioned about the current stardate and an "Ambassador Spock", whom he does not recognize. Narada's commander, Nero, kills him, and resumes attacking Kelvin. George Kirk, Kelvin's first officer, orders the ship's personnel, including his pregnant wife Winona, to abandon ship while he pilots Kelvin on a collision course with Narada. Kirk sacrifices his life to ensure Winona's survival as she gives birth to James T. Kirk.
Seventeen years later on the planet Vulcan, a young Spock is accepted to join the Vulcan Science Academy. Realizing that the Academy views his human mother Amanda as a "disadvantage", he joins Starfleet instead.
On Earth, Kirk becomes a reckless but intelligent young adult. Following a bar fight with Starfleet cadets accompanying Nyota Uhura, Kirk meets Captain Christopher Pike, who encourages him to enlist in Starfleet Academy, where Kirk meets and befriends doctor Leonard McCoy.
Three years later, Commander Spock accuses Kirk of cheating during the Kobayashi Maru simulation. Kirk argues that cheating was acceptable because the simulation was designed to be unbeatable. The disciplinary hearing is interrupted by a distress signal from Vulcan. With the primary fleet out of range, the cadets are mobilized. McCoy and Kirk board Pike's ship, the Enterprise. Realizing that the "lightning storm" observed near Vulcan is similar to the one that occurred when he was born, Kirk breaks protocol to convince Pike that the distress signal is a trap.
Enterprise arrives to find the fleet destroyed and Narada drilling into Vulcan's core. Narada attacks Enterprise and Pike surrenders, delegating command of the ship to Spock and promoting Kirk to first officer. Kirk, Hikaru Sulu and Chief Engineer Olson perform a space jump onto the drilling platform. Olson is killed but Kirk and Sulu disable the drill. Despite their efforts, Nero launches "red matter" into Vulcan's core, forming an artificial black hole that destroys Vulcan. Spock rescues the high council and his father Sarek, but Amanda dies.
As Narada moves toward Earth, Nero tortures Pike to gain access to Earth's defense codes. Spock maroons Kirk on Delta Vega after Kirk attempts mutiny. Kirk encounters an older Spock, who explains that he and Nero are from 129 years in the future. In that future, Romulus was threatened by a supernova.
Spock's attempt to use "red matter" to create an artificial black hole and consume the supernova failed, and Nero's family perished along with Romulus. Narada and Spock's vessel were caught in the black hole, sending them back in time. Nero stranded Spock on Delta Vega to watch Vulcan's destruction.
Reaching a Starfleet outpost on Delta Vega, Kirk and the elder Spock meet Montgomery Scott. With the elder Spock's help, Kirk and Scott beam onto Enterprise. Following the elder Spock's advice, Kirk provokes younger Spock into attacking him, forcing Spock to recognize himself as emotionally compromised and relinquish command to Kirk.
After talking with Sarek, Spock decides to help Kirk. While Enterprise hides itself within the gas clouds of Titan, Kirk and Spock beam aboard Narada. Kirk fights with Nero and Ayel, killing the latter and rescuing Pike, while Spock uses the elder Spock's ship to destroy the drill.
Spock leads Narada away from Earth and sets his ship to collide with Nero's ship. Enterprise beams Kirk, Pike, and Spock aboard. The older Spock's ship and Narada collide, igniting the "red matter". Kirk offers Nero help to escape, but Nero refuses, prompting Kirk to give the order to fire, dooming Narada to be consumed in a black hole.
Kirk is promoted to Captain and given command of Enterprise while Pike is promoted to Rear Admiral. Spock encounters his older self, who persuades his younger self to continue serving in Starfleet, encouraging him to do, for once, what feels right instead of what is logical. Spock remains in Starfleet, becoming first officer under Kirk's command. Enterprise goes to warp as the elder Spock speaks the "where no one has gone before" monologue.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about "Star Trek, the Movie" (2009): ___________________________________________________________________________
Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)
YouTube Video of the Movie Trailer for "Star Trek Into Darkness"
Star Trek Into Darkness is a 2013 American science fiction action film directed by J. J. Abrams and written by Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, and Damon Lindelof. It is the twelfth installment in the Star Trek film franchise and the sequel to the 2009 film Star Trek, as the second in a rebooted film series.
The film features Chris Pine reprising his role as Captain James T. Kirk, with Zachary Quinto, Simon Pegg, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, John Cho, Anton Yelchin, Bruce Greenwood, and Leonard Nimoy reprising their roles from the previous film.
Benedict Cumberbatch, Alice Eve and Peter Weller are also credited in the film's principal cast. It was the last time Nimoy would portray the character of Spock before his death in 2015. Set in the 23rd century, Kirk and the crew of USS Enterprise are sent to the Klingon homeworld seeking former Starfleet member-turned terrorist John Harrison.
After the release of Star Trek, Abrams, Burk, Lindelof, Kurtzman, and Orci agreed to produce its sequel. Filming began in January 2012. Into Darkness's visual effects were primarily created by Industrial Light & Magic. The film was converted to 3D during its post-production stage.
Star Trek Into Darkness premiered at Event Cinemas in Sydney, Australia, on April 23, 2013, and was released on May 9 in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Europe, and Peru, with other countries following. The film was released on May 17 in the United States and Canada, opening at IMAX cinemas a day earlier.
Into Darkness was a financial success and received positive reviews from critics. Its gross earnings of over $467 million worldwide have made it the highest-grossing entry in the Star Trek franchise. At the 86th Academy Awards, the film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects.
It was followed by Star Trek Beyond in 2016.
Plot:
In 2259, Captain James T. Kirk is removed from command of the starship USS Enterprise for violating the Prime Directive: he exposed the ship to the primitive inhabitants of the planet Nibiru in order to save them, and Spock, from a cataclysmic volcanic eruption.
Admiral Christopher Pike is reinstated as commanding officer with Kirk demoted to the rank of Commander and first officer. Commander Spock is transferred to another ship. Shortly after, the Section 31 installation in London is bombed, perpetrated by the renegade Starfleet operative John Harrison. Harrison then attacks Starfleet Headquarters in a jumpship during the emergency meeting about the situation, killing Pike and other senior officers. Kirk disables the jumpship by throwing a rifle into one of its engines, but Harrison escapes by transporting to Kronos, the homeworld of the hostile Klingons.
Admiral Alexander Marcus reinstates Kirk and Spock to Enterprise with orders to kill Harrison by using a new Long Range Stealth Photon torpedo. Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott strongly objects to allowing untested torpedoes on board the ship without knowing any specifications but when he is overruled he resigns from his post.
Kirk assigns Pavel Chekov to replace Scotty. En route to Kronos, Enterprise's warp capabilities mysteriously become disabled. Kirk leads a team with Spock and Uhura onto the planet in a small landing craft, where they are ambushed by Klingon patrols who order them to land. Uhura leaves the landing craft to talk to the Klingons, but they don't care that Harrison is on their planet. They instead decide to kill Uhura, but Harrison, with a little help from Kirk and the landing party, manage to kill the Klingons. After the battle, Harrison comes up to Kirk demanding to know the number of torpedoes on board the Enterprise and surrenders when Spock tells him.
Dr. Leonard McCoy and Marcus's daughter, Dr. Carol Marcus, open a torpedo at Harrison's behest. Inside is a man in cryogenic stasis. Every torpedo aboard Enterprise contains a human in stasis. Harrison is taken to the ship's brig, where reveals his true identity as Khan, a genetically engineered superhuman awakened by Admiral Marcus from centuries of suspended animation to develop advanced weapons of war against the Klingon Empire.
Khan reveals that Marcus had sabotaged Enterprise's warp drive, intending for the Klingons to destroy the ship after it fired on Kronos, creating an act of war by the Klingon Empire. Khan also gives Kirk a set of coordinates. Kirk contacts Scotty on Earth and asks him to investigate. Scotty discovers they lead to a covert Starfleet facility near Jupiter.
Enterprise is intercepted by a Starfleet designed but much larger warship, USS Vengeance, commanded by Admiral Marcus. Marcus demands that Kirk deliver Khan, but Enterprise, with a hastily repaired warp drive, flees to Earth to expose Marcus.
After Vengeance intercepts and disables Enterprise near the Moon, Kirk reveals Carol's presence aboard the ship. Marcus forcibly transports Carol to Vengeance before ordering Enterprise's destruction, Kirk offers Khan and himself for the lives of his crew, but Marcus rejects Kirk's offer and orders Vengeance to attack. However, Vengeance suddenly loses power, sabotaged by Scotty, who infiltrated the ship.
With transporters down, Kirk and Khan, with the latter's knowledge of the warship's design, space-jump to Vengeance. Spock contacts his older self, who warns that Khan is ruthless and untrustworthy, and, in another reality, was only defeated at a terrible cost. Meanwhile, after capturing the bridge, Khan overpowers Kirk, Scott, and Carol, kills Marcus, and takes control of Vengeance.
Khan demands that Spock return his crew sealed in the cryogenic tubes in exchange for Enterprise officers. Spock complies but surreptitiously removes Khan's frozen crew and arms the warheads. Khan beams Kirk, Scott, and Carol back aboard Enterprise, but betrays their agreement by critically damaging Enterprise; however, Vengeance is disabled when the torpedoes detonate.
With both starships caught in Earth's gravity, they plummet toward the surface. Kirk enters the radioactive reactor chamber to realign the warp core where he sacrifices himself in the process to save the ship.
Khan crashes the Vengeance into downtown San Francisco in an attempt to destroy Starfleet headquarters, destroying some of the city. Khan survives and escapes the wreckage so Spock transports down in pursuit. McCoy discovers that Khan's blood has
The film features Chris Pine reprising his role as Captain James T. Kirk, with Zachary Quinto, Simon Pegg, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, John Cho, Anton Yelchin, Bruce Greenwood, and Leonard Nimoy reprising their roles from the previous film.
Benedict Cumberbatch, Alice Eve and Peter Weller are also credited in the film's principal cast. It was the last time Nimoy would portray the character of Spock before his death in 2015. Set in the 23rd century, Kirk and the crew of USS Enterprise are sent to the Klingon homeworld seeking former Starfleet member-turned terrorist John Harrison.
After the release of Star Trek, Abrams, Burk, Lindelof, Kurtzman, and Orci agreed to produce its sequel. Filming began in January 2012. Into Darkness's visual effects were primarily created by Industrial Light & Magic. The film was converted to 3D during its post-production stage.
Star Trek Into Darkness premiered at Event Cinemas in Sydney, Australia, on April 23, 2013, and was released on May 9 in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Europe, and Peru, with other countries following. The film was released on May 17 in the United States and Canada, opening at IMAX cinemas a day earlier.
Into Darkness was a financial success and received positive reviews from critics. Its gross earnings of over $467 million worldwide have made it the highest-grossing entry in the Star Trek franchise. At the 86th Academy Awards, the film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects.
It was followed by Star Trek Beyond in 2016.
Plot:
In 2259, Captain James T. Kirk is removed from command of the starship USS Enterprise for violating the Prime Directive: he exposed the ship to the primitive inhabitants of the planet Nibiru in order to save them, and Spock, from a cataclysmic volcanic eruption.
Admiral Christopher Pike is reinstated as commanding officer with Kirk demoted to the rank of Commander and first officer. Commander Spock is transferred to another ship. Shortly after, the Section 31 installation in London is bombed, perpetrated by the renegade Starfleet operative John Harrison. Harrison then attacks Starfleet Headquarters in a jumpship during the emergency meeting about the situation, killing Pike and other senior officers. Kirk disables the jumpship by throwing a rifle into one of its engines, but Harrison escapes by transporting to Kronos, the homeworld of the hostile Klingons.
Admiral Alexander Marcus reinstates Kirk and Spock to Enterprise with orders to kill Harrison by using a new Long Range Stealth Photon torpedo. Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott strongly objects to allowing untested torpedoes on board the ship without knowing any specifications but when he is overruled he resigns from his post.
Kirk assigns Pavel Chekov to replace Scotty. En route to Kronos, Enterprise's warp capabilities mysteriously become disabled. Kirk leads a team with Spock and Uhura onto the planet in a small landing craft, where they are ambushed by Klingon patrols who order them to land. Uhura leaves the landing craft to talk to the Klingons, but they don't care that Harrison is on their planet. They instead decide to kill Uhura, but Harrison, with a little help from Kirk and the landing party, manage to kill the Klingons. After the battle, Harrison comes up to Kirk demanding to know the number of torpedoes on board the Enterprise and surrenders when Spock tells him.
Dr. Leonard McCoy and Marcus's daughter, Dr. Carol Marcus, open a torpedo at Harrison's behest. Inside is a man in cryogenic stasis. Every torpedo aboard Enterprise contains a human in stasis. Harrison is taken to the ship's brig, where reveals his true identity as Khan, a genetically engineered superhuman awakened by Admiral Marcus from centuries of suspended animation to develop advanced weapons of war against the Klingon Empire.
Khan reveals that Marcus had sabotaged Enterprise's warp drive, intending for the Klingons to destroy the ship after it fired on Kronos, creating an act of war by the Klingon Empire. Khan also gives Kirk a set of coordinates. Kirk contacts Scotty on Earth and asks him to investigate. Scotty discovers they lead to a covert Starfleet facility near Jupiter.
Enterprise is intercepted by a Starfleet designed but much larger warship, USS Vengeance, commanded by Admiral Marcus. Marcus demands that Kirk deliver Khan, but Enterprise, with a hastily repaired warp drive, flees to Earth to expose Marcus.
After Vengeance intercepts and disables Enterprise near the Moon, Kirk reveals Carol's presence aboard the ship. Marcus forcibly transports Carol to Vengeance before ordering Enterprise's destruction, Kirk offers Khan and himself for the lives of his crew, but Marcus rejects Kirk's offer and orders Vengeance to attack. However, Vengeance suddenly loses power, sabotaged by Scotty, who infiltrated the ship.
With transporters down, Kirk and Khan, with the latter's knowledge of the warship's design, space-jump to Vengeance. Spock contacts his older self, who warns that Khan is ruthless and untrustworthy, and, in another reality, was only defeated at a terrible cost. Meanwhile, after capturing the bridge, Khan overpowers Kirk, Scott, and Carol, kills Marcus, and takes control of Vengeance.
Khan demands that Spock return his crew sealed in the cryogenic tubes in exchange for Enterprise officers. Spock complies but surreptitiously removes Khan's frozen crew and arms the warheads. Khan beams Kirk, Scott, and Carol back aboard Enterprise, but betrays their agreement by critically damaging Enterprise; however, Vengeance is disabled when the torpedoes detonate.
With both starships caught in Earth's gravity, they plummet toward the surface. Kirk enters the radioactive reactor chamber to realign the warp core where he sacrifices himself in the process to save the ship.
Khan crashes the Vengeance into downtown San Francisco in an attempt to destroy Starfleet headquarters, destroying some of the city. Khan survives and escapes the wreckage so Spock transports down in pursuit. McCoy discovers that Khan's blood has