There's a movie called Sanctum executive-produced by James Cameron, that promises to play your deepest fears. It's about getting trapped in the belly of the earth surrounded by suffocating cold water. Sanctum is a movie about explorers - cave divers to be exact - who go on an expedition into the deepest and most inaccessible cave system in the world (can't have it any less). The opening if this fictional cave is huge and goes straight down. Base divers jump off the edge and into the darkness below just for kicks. But there's more to this cave that goes deeper into the earth, where a labyrinth of tunnels and caverns awe the imagination and earn the respect of the most experienced explorers!
The story of Sanctum is pretty simple, and the usual group of people who end up forced to make life-saving decisions and sacrifices is used. Of course, some of the members of this group will die with the last few getting into a conflict that brings out the worst (or the best) in them. Usually in such movies, at least one of the characters will opt for self-preservation and abandon the group. But since this post is not about story spoilers, you better just watch the movie.
As a movie about extreme adventure, Sanctum is a must-see movie because it will take you to a place few people get to experience. It can be expected to be visually grand and breathtaking. It's being filmed in 3D is perhaps one good reason in itself to see this film. There's actually a real cave similar to the one shown in Sanctum. It's called the Cave of Swallows (left) and has the world's deepest cave shaft. It's so deep the whole of the Empire State Building can be slid inside easily. It's found in the middle of a rain forest in San Luis Potosi, Mexico. You'd think that the producers of Sanctum would shoot inside this cave, but they wanted it to be easy, so they made cave sets at Warner Roadshow Studios with one making use of Warner's $2.1 water tank.
Sanctum, set in Papua New Guinea, is actually based on a true-to-life story that involved the film's producer and writer Andrew Wight, who was trapped with fourteen other people after the exit to a submerged cave system in the Nullarboor Plain of Australia, collapsed during a storm. A documentary of that event was made and now that drama has become the basis for this feature film, Sanctum. Wight has worked with friend Cameron before in Ghosts of the Abyss.
Do you remember the first Prince of Persia video games? The first one (Prince of Persia) came out in 1989 and was developed by Broderbund for the Apple II. Prince of Persia 2: Shadow of the Flame came out in 1994, also by Broderbund.
In 2003, Ubisoft took over production and came up with Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and Prince of Persia: The Warrior Within. The pervious one is where the prince takes a new look. From the turban-wearing figure, he became a more real character rendered in 3D. The character-rendition for The Warrior Within took criticism for making the prince too heavy metal.
The original Prince of Persia was created by Jordan Mechner, who was inspired by scenes in George Lucas's Raiders of the Lost Ark. That's the reason why there are lots of caverns, traps, and jumping in the game. Instead of a whip, though, the prince uses a sword. Mechner used rotoscoping to match the actual movements of his younger brother who he asked to perform the actions the prince has to do in the game. That is why the prince's animation in the original game is so smooth and realistic.
Prince of Persia came out on many platforms, including DOS, Amiga, Atari, and SNES, among the early ones. The 3D versions work in the X-Box. With new motion-capture technology, the game may soon use the player's own body movements to make the prince jump, crawl, dangle, and do all manner of acrobatics in the game. The later versions of the franchise give a new look to the prince, who used to wear a turban, a vest, and loose "Sindbad" trousers. He didn't really have a face in the game. Now, he's done away with the turban, sports straight, cropped hair, and has a goatee. He's the epitome of the ancient Middle-Eastern swashbuckler.
There's a good future for the Prince of Persia franchise and now there's a movie based on the game using the character design of the 3D versions. The movie, The Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, stars Jake Gyllenhaal as Prince Dastan. He partners with a rival princess Tamina (played by Gemma Arterton) to stop an evil vizier from unleashing the power of the sands of time and dominate or destroy the world. The quest is a tough one and the prince also has to deal with the princess who's more than a handful.
If you've played Prince of Persia before, you definitely have to watch this movie. It's from Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer, so it has to be just as good, and maybe even bette,r than Pirates of the Caribbean.
Just look at this picture taken by director Steven Spielberg (left). It's Indiana Jones playing Harrison Ford at 60! Or is it the other way around? So this is how the famous archaeologist-character will look like in the latest Indiana Jones movie of creator, George Lucas. Do you think this will suck? Unlikely. It would be just like the way Spielberg took the picture of Ford... Perfect!
There's a movie called Sanctum executive-produced by James Cameron, that promises to play your deepest fears. It's about getting trapped in the belly of the earth surrounded by suffocating cold water. Sanctum is a movie about explorers - cave divers to be exact - who go on an expedition into the deepest and most inaccessible cave system in the world (can't have it any less). The opening if this fictional cave is huge and goes straight down. Base divers jump off the edge and into the darkness below just for kicks. But there's more to this cave that goes deeper into the earth, where a labyrinth of tunnels and caverns awe the imagination and earn the respect of the most experienced explorers!
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