Hasta La Motion!

Before the pandemic movie night plans are used to be on weekends or during holidays, but now that everyone is at home every night can be a movie night. Grab your nibbles because you shouldn’t  starve while binge-watching these movies with family:

The Matrix series: Our first pick is this series  which  primarily consists of a trilogy of science fiction action films beginning with The Matrix (1999) and continuing with two sequels, The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions (both in 2003), all written and directed by the Wachowskis and produced by Joel Silver. The movie series might launch two decades back but the storyline and the VFX is quite futuristic. The series features a cyberpunk story of the technological fall of man, in which the creation of artificial intelligence led way to a race of self-aware machines that imprisoned mankind in a virtual reality system—the Matrix—to be farmed as a power source. Every now and then, some of the prisoners manage to break free from the system and, considered a threat, become pursued by the artificial intelligence both inside and outside of it. The films focus on the plight of Neo (Keanu Reeves), Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss), and Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) trying to free humanity from the system while pursued by its guardians, such as Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving). The story incorporates references to numerous philosophical, religious, or spiritual ideas, among others the dilemma of choice vs. control, the brain in a vat thought experiment, messianism, and the concepts of inter-dependency and love. The VFX and the action sequences of the series are still taken as reference by many creators even today. From crowd multiplication to environment creation the movie has squeezed through the VFX techniques possible in that era.

The Lord of the Rings series: For the one who has an eye for fantasy and folklore this movie will do the justice. This is a film series of three epic fantasy adventure films directed by Peter Jackson, based on the novel written 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). Set in the fictional world of Middle-earth, the films follow the hobbit Frodo Baggins as he and the Fellowship embark on a quest to destroy the One Ring, to ensure the destruction of its maker, the Dark Lord Sauron. The Fellowship eventually splits up and Frodo continues the quest with his loyal companion Sam and the treacherous Gollum. Meanwhile, Aragorn, heir in exile to the throne of Gondor, along with Legolas, Gimli, Boromir, Merry, Pippin and the wizard Gandalf, unite to rally the Free Peoples of Middle-earth in the War of the Ring in order to aid Frodo by weakening Sauron’s forces. The magic of visual effects work were jaw dropping and especially how Andy Serkis brought to life as Gollum which is till date most iconic grim CG character roles we can remember.

Harry Potter series: Potter heads it is time to fly to Hogwarts. This British-American film series based on the eponymous novels by author J. K. Rowling have been favourites for many. The series consists of eight fantasy films, beginning with Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (2001),  Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005), Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007), Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 (2010) and culminating with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 (2011). The series curtain raise with Harry Potter as an orphaned boy brought up by his unkind Muggle (non-magical) aunt and uncle. At the age of eleven, half-giant Rubeus Hagrid informs him that he is actually a wizard and that his parents were murdered by an evil wizard named Lord Voldemort. Voldemort also attempted to kill one-year-old Harry on the same night, but his killing curse mysteriously rebounded and reduced him to a weak and helpless form. Harry became extremely famous in the Wizarding  followed by round of incidents of courage and culminated with the rise of good over evil. The series was packed with  VFX  and CG works  which incorporated almost all VFX techniques possible like crowd multiplition , creature works, environment creation, fourth perspective, and so on.There have been many visual effects companies to work on the Harry Potter series Some of these include Rising Sun Pictures, Sony Pictures Imageworks, Double Negative, Cinesite, Framestore, and Industrial Light & Magic. The latter three have worked on all the films in the series, while Double Negative and Rising Sun Pictures began their commitments with Prisoner of Azkaban and Goblet of Fire, respectively. Framestore contributed by developing many memorable creatures and sequences to the series.[67] Cinesite was involved in producing both miniature and digital effects for the films.

Iron Man series: If you have already watched Avengers series  more than 100 times now it is time to binge watch how the Avengers actually gained there super powers. Starting off with Iron Man which comprises of three films  Iron Man (2008), Iron Man 2 (2010), Iron Man 3 (2013). Tony Stark, who has inherited the defense contractor Stark Industries from his father Howard Stark wounded by a missile used by the attackers: one of his company’s own, captured and imprisoned in a cave by a terrorist group called the Ten Rings. Stark and Yinsen secretly build a small, powerful electric generator called an arc reactor to power Stark’s electromagnet and a prototype suit of powered armor to aid in their escape. Since then the journey of iron man started.The movie series has amazing VFX works which resulted to made the series win various awards.

X Men series: X-Men is an American superhero film series based on the fictional superhero team of the same name, who originally appeared in a series of comic books created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and published by Marvel Comics. The film series has 12 movies XMen, X2, X-Men: The Last Stand, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, X-Men: First Class, The Wolverine, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Deadpool, X-Men: Apocalypse, Logan, Deadpool 2 and Dark Phoenix. X Men series starts with the children of the atom, homo superior, the next link in the chain of evolution. Each was born with a unique genetic mutation, which at puberty manifested itself in extraordinary powers. In a world filled with hate and prejudice, they are feared by those who cannot accept their differences. Led by Xavier the X-Men fight to protect the world from all unprecedented scenario a perfect blend of  tension, emotion which will help to bond your family. The movie series are packed with VFX scene with creature works, environment creation, CG graphics which will spellbound everyone.

The Terminator series: Terminator is an American  franchise created by James Cameron and Gale Anne Hurd. The franchise encompasses a series of science fiction action films, comics, novels, and additional media, concerning battles between Skynet’s synthetic intelligent machine network and John Connor’s Resistance forces with the rest of the human race. Skynet’s most famous products in its genocidal goals are the various terminator models, such as the T-800, who was portrayed by Arnold Schwarzenegger from the original Terminator film in 1984. The film series comprises of six movies The Terminator, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Terminator Salvation, Terminator Genisys, Terminator: Dark Fate. The film series has futuristic concept with deep inclination towards AI and robotics thus it has lot of VFX sequences.

A Nightmare on Elm Street:For those spookiest Saturday nights a horror series will be perfect. A Nightmare on Elm Street is an American horror franchise that consists of nine slasher films. The series revolves around the fictional character Freddy Krueger, a former child killer who after being burned alive by the vengeful parents of his victims, returns from the grave to terrorize and kill the teenage residents of Springwood, Ohio in their dreams. The nine movies are A Nightmare on Elm Street, A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master, A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child, Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare, Wes Craven’s New Nightmare, Freddy vs. Jason, A Nightmare on Elm Street. The movie had a lot of VFX incorporated death sequences .

Final Destination series: Final Destination is an American horror franchise composed of five films, two comic books, and nine novels. The film series is comprising of five films  named after the franchise name with numbers.All five films center around a small group of people who escape impending death when one individual (the protagonist of each film) has a sudden premonition and warns them that they will all die in a terrible mass-casualty accident. After avoiding their foretold deaths, the survivors are killed one by one in bizarre accidents caused by an unseen force creating complicated chains of cause and effect, resembling Rube Goldberg machines in their complexity, and then read omens sent by another unseen entity in order to again avert their deaths. The movie might not be  rich in VFX sequences but have enough to be in the list. The horrendous death sequences have a lot of VFX and CG elements which make it unique.

Transformer series: Transformers is a series of American science fiction action films based on the Transformers franchise which began in the 1980s. Michael Bay has directed the first five films: Transformers (2007), Revenge of the Fallen (2009), Dark of the Moon (2011), Age of Extinction (2014) and The Last Knight (2017). A spin-off film, Bumblebee, directed by Travis Knight and produced by Bay, was released on December 2018. The series has been distributed by Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks. The Transformers are made up of the heroic Autobots led by Optimus Prime and the evil Decepticons lead by the villainous Megatron. They lived on a metallic planet called Cybertron. Both groups would have to leave Cybertron to try and find new sources of energy to be able to revitalize their war efforts. All the movies from the series have various VFX sequences from the creation of Optimus Prime and other autobots.

Fast and furious series: Fast and Furious is a film franchise centered on a series of action films that are largely concerned with illegal street racing, heists and spies. Currently the series has nine movies, includes: The Fast and the Furious, 2 Fast 2 Furious, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, Fast & Furious, Fast Five, Fast & Furious 6, Furious 7, The Fate of the Furious, F9. The movie VFX is average commercial movies but one scene which it is known for where visual effects company Weta Digital was hired to re-create Paul William Walker IV Walker’s likeness after Walker died in a single-vehicle crash on 30November 2013, with filming only half-completed.

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