Reviewing this box set when it is out in stores and in all probability snapped up by eager Star Wars fans seems a little unnecessary. The promise of a shiny high def transfer and the long awaited deleted scenes from the Original Trilogy conspire to tempt you to part with your cash once more, to enjoy the long time ago all over again.

But there’s a problem. A wave of negative reaction to some of the changes made by Lucas for this box set became clear a few weeks prior to the release as rumours of some important scenes ruined by needless additions and more handy work by the CG Replacement Bureau. Then video clips were uploaded to confirm the changes and boycotts were threatened and those unhappy with the Special Editions and 2004 DVD ‘improvements’ found new voice and dusted off their VHS copies and chided those who had their pre-orders booked.

So, who’s right? Are the changes too much for those who loved the originals, or is the HD transfer and wealth of extras enough to make the purchase worthwhile? As with many things, both are right, from a certain point of view.

We’ve already looked back over the films this past week in our Video Vault series, so if you’re looking to find out more about Episodes I to VI then click here to read them; there is an assumption that you’re not going in totally blind here. If you’ve never seen the films at all and can spare the cash then this box set is an instant recommendation – just make sure you watch them in the order they were made, don’t be tempted to start your journey to the dark side and out again with The Phantom Menace.

The more pertinent question is perhaps asked of those who already own the DVD set (and probably the VHS copies as well): Do I need to buy this set too?

The HD transfer is most obvious in Episodes IV to VI, and what I found strange were the additions for the 1997 Special Editions and how they showed their age. The advancement of computer technology is so rapid and is  noticeable when some of the visual effects which impressed in the late nineties now look very out of place. The additions to Mos Eisley are not as polished as the 1977 footage, with some very messy compositing of the newer elements over the old and some problems with the focus in certain shots. It surprised me as the original footage looks incredibly sharp for the most part, occasionally there is a very muddy shot in between the crystal clear original footage which itself isn’t completely free from problems.

Looking on the positive side there are moments when I saw things I had never seen before, and I’ve watched these films a lot. In truth I’ve never seen the sparks that fly off the colliding lightsabers in the duel between Vader and Kenobi. At first it looks a little like CGI sweat and it may have always been in there but this was new to me. Obi-Wan Kenobi’s new scream to scare off the Sandpeople is a strange addition to those of us who have known the original but isn’t a huge offence overall. It was a genuine thrill to see the detail and the dirt of the first film in particular, not least in contrast to the clinical green-screenery of the prequels; the forests on the moon of Endor look lush and verdant and the ice planet of Hoth is so sharp you could shave a Wookie with it. The occasional transfer quirks aside this is the most beautiful version of the films we’ve seen and when I first saw the discs at the Big Screen event I was sold.

The additions will irk some, and infuriate others. I’m sure a lot of people may not even notice the newly CGI Yoda in The Phantom Menace or question Vader’s new, and controversial, cry of ‘Noooooooo.’ just before he saves Luke from the Emperor’s final attack, but you’ll know which applies to you. In all honesty the films remain some of the most exciting science fiction films we have and they have never looked better. I’d question the need to buy this new set if you already have the DVDs and aren’t too fussed about the HD, but as we’ll see there is a reason to keep your old copies around even if you do.

The menu system on the main discs are simple and won’t blow your mind but they are a vast improvement over those found on the three discs of extras which invite you to select a film, then a location (Tattooine, Hoth, Bespin etc) and then to select a category (interviews, deleted scenes etc) and then a further click to play them. It’s not fun to navigate this menu every time you want to see a particular special feature. The interviews to introduce each film’s extras are short and drawn from cast and crew and are a nice addition. The deleted scenes are a lot of fun, with the early scenes of Luke and Biggs on Tattooine being the most substantial. The scene with Han and a female companion in the Cantina is here, as is an extended scene in the land speeder with Luke and C3PO searching for R2D2 and while most of these have been seen before on various multimedia releases it’s good to have them all in one place.

What I alluded to earlier about keeping the DVDs handy is one of the more puzzling elements of this collection as the deleted scenes for the Prequel Trilogy do not include those found on the DVD releases. This is a strange omission and a real shame, nice though it is to see a brief cameo by Dominic West as a Naboo guard pushing over a defeated Battle Droid there were some substantial scenes excised from the original cut that would have fitted alongside the new scenes perfectly. Maybe there’s a definitive box set coming our way – maybe when the 3D version are put out…

When I was a kid the only way you could have Star Wars in your own home was as part of the documentaries made and televised at the time of release of the Original Trilogy films. These are included on the final disc of extras and proved a highlight for me as I was hit by a wave of nostalgia. Also included, and perhaps the most intriguing extra, on the disc was The Masters – a discussion of the making of The Empire Strikes Back with the late Irvin Kershner proving a wonderful guide through the difficult second movie.

So in the end I was won over by the new transfer and the decent, if limited, set of extras. If you have the DVDs and are annoyed at the constant tinkering by Lucas then be warned – this won’t light your saber. If you’re a fan and want to see Star Wars in the best way possible then the choice is clear. The galaxy far, far away has never looked better.

Two weeks ago, we got to go to the Blu-ray trailer luanch of the brand new blu-ray box set for George Lucas’ Star Wars: The Complete Saga. Those present were Jeremy Bulloch (Boba Fett), Anthony Daniels (C-3P0) Producer Robert Watts,  and Nick Gillard and later in the day, ILM Digital Artist John Goodson and Visual Effects Supervisor Bill George.

During the panels, we asked about further changes to the Blu-ray and if we’d see any changes in the movie and never got a definitive answer. Well it turns out that there has already been one big change spotted by the chaps over at CBM who have found new footage from the Blu-ray which shoes a CGI Yoda where a puppet used to be in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. I just think it’s hilarious how Lucas can’t leave it alone!

I’ll let you watch the clips below so you can compare! Wonder if we’ll see any more when the box-set is released 12th September. You can pre-order your copy here and get your orders from Darth Vader here!

Original Edit

New CGI Edit

Somewhat of an adrenaline junkie in his youth, stuntman Kyle Woods holds multiple national championships, world titles and world records from his days in the motorcycle stunt industry.

With now almost a decade’s worth of work in Hollywood (including bringing his skills and talent to four films from the Fast & Furious series), HeyUGuys and a couple of fellow blogging petrol heads were fortunate enough to catch up with Woods for a candid and revealing chat during a recent stunt-filled day of gymkhana driving and stunt-teaching at Northamptonshire’s Santa Pod Raceway.

Our report from the stunt day will be up on HeyUGuys tomorrow, for now here’s our interview with Kyle Woods.

How did you get into the stunt game?

I was doing motorcycle stunts many years before I had an idea of getting into the movies. Obviously I’d seen them on screen before, but growing up, it wasn’t something you could easily get into. It always interested me but it seemed like that profession existed in a very different world to mine.

I decided to do motorcycle stunts just for fun and then I later started competing and I actually became six-time national champion as a rider, and through that I met more and more people who did lots of different things. At one point someone came up to me and said they would like to use me for a movie and I was like, cool. That’s how I fell into it. I didn’t chase it, they found me, but once I witnessed what it was like and meeting other stuntmen, that was all I wanted to do from then on.

Presumably the stunts you started with were geared more towards motorcycle scenes?

Yeah. I was definitely labelled the “bike guy”. That was my only specialty at the time. They would call me in for things that either they couldn’t do, or didn’t wanna do, because I was also a young guy and the old-timers were like “yeah, we’ll do the bike stuff, but when it comes to the crash, give it to the kid ” (laughs). I would never get the easy stuff, and would be called in for stunts like being lit on fire, or being shot and falling off the bike, and I would be fine with it. I thought every stuntman did stuff like that. Now I know they give it to the new kids (laughs).

Are you now giving tasks like those to the new kids in the industry?

Yeah, it’s funny because it switches now. Coming into the industry, motorcycle work was my only talent, but I realised within the first year that the guys who were always in employment were well-rounded. I learned rock-climbing, falls and fire burns, and all kinds of stuff because there’s no school to learn it – you just have to do it. Also, the old-timers don’t want to tell you anything, so unfortunately, you learn the hard way, or at least I did. I was ok with that though, because in the motorcycle world it’s up to you to learn new tricks and get everything right, and it was that mentality that I brought into the business.

How did you get involved with the Fast & Furious franchise?

2 Fast 2 Furious was filmed in South Florida, where I was living at the time. I was doing a stunt show in Miami and the stunt co-ordinator from the film saw me there and said they wanted to use us (Woods and fellow F&F teammate, Sli Lewis) for the sequel. There were some motorcycle stunts in the film and we worked for two weeks on those. Once they were completed they offered car work for the two of us.

Do you think the stunt work in the Fast & Furious series have got progressively out-there?

Every director wants to outdo the last. This depends if the producers can let stuff happen from a financial point of view, as it’s obviously not up to the director, but everybody wants to raise the bar. If you have a big-budget movie like this one, where they’re willing to throw hundreds of millions of dollars at the project, its gonna be the best.

When do you step into a project? Is it more the stunts themselves or about the co-ordination and creation of the action scenes?

I’m part of a team called 5150 Action – they’re a production company that gets involved in the early stages. How it works is, the company owner (Mike Gunther), will meet up with Justin Lin (Fast and Furious 5 director) and before anything is shot, they collaborate. Once they actually come to a decision about what to film, Mike will then speak to me and my job is to go out and organise what they want to see happen on screen, so I’ll help find the guys who will be assisting us, and figuring out the rigging for the scene, stuff like that.

When you don’t have tons of money thrown at a project you’re working on, do you need to be a little more imaginative with how you do things?

There are a lot of different scenarios in this business. You can do a big-budget feature and never get to do what you want, as you have to stick to what someone else is asking for. On the other hand, you can do the low-budget stuff which doesn’t pay particularly well, but they’re totally open to your ideas. That’s kinda cool, because if you’re into their project, you can do something you’ve always wanted to do. The only downside to the smaller film is they may want something big like a car flip, but they sometimes don’t want to play the stunt guy very much. That’s where you really need to explain to them that some guy’s life is on the line, so they must come up with the money because it can’t be done otherwise.

Outside of your own work, do you have any favourite stunts do like seeing in the movies?

I like boat work. I don’t think those stunts are done enough as a lot of people are afraid of doing them. I really like the new flying camera rigging which are being used to capture stuff (they’re evident during the favela chase scene in F&F 5). The action keeps getting better with every film, but the way to capture the action is the same, it never changes. Now we’re coming up with news ways and engineering new camera movements and devices to evolve and try and capture the action to make it look right.

The Fast & Furious films have become action trend-setters. How do you think you can top what you’ve done in 5, as that seems like is could be a real challenge?

It can definitely be done. There was some ideas which were kicked around and discussed doing for this one which they considered too big, so we still have plenty ideas in the vault ready to go.

I think why the Fast & Furious 5 works so well is, although the stunts themselves are really outlandish, a lot of it is still in-camera and you can still see the performers in there, which lends a reality to the situation.

Right. That’s a lot to do with Justin. If you notice, many directors will just CGI it all, and it doesn’t look right. There’s even parts of the forth film which they realised was too artificial and didn’t work, so they took a step back and decided to do things for real. GC will enhance things in post, but the stunts themselves will be real. Not to take anything away from GC, but things never look a hundred percent real, even when someone has done their best.

Being a stuntman, can you watch action scenes in movies on a purely enjoyment level, or are you always looking at the way they’ve been constructed?

Everything is work to me, so I can enjoy watching those movies because it’s like homework to me, but I can’t just sit back and let it wash over me, because I’m always critiquing everything.

Are there any stunts that you’ve yet to try out and really want to?

Oh yeah. We’ve come up with a bunch and they’ve all been written down and scripted. We’ve also designed action set pieces to correspond to a film’s budget. They are sequences which will cost x-amount of dollars to make, and we have those stockpiled away with a little presentation. We can offer them to production companies who may have scripts with great characters and dialogue, but not necessarily great actions scenes. It’s like a cool little action menu which can be tweaked to fit into their budget.

Do you still do bike stunt scenes for the films you’re working on?

I usually refer them to someone else as I’ve spent so many years holding onto handlebars, I don’t care if I ever touch one again (laughs). I’m always around to assist with any scenes involving bikes, but I never get jealous of seeing others doing the actual stunts.

Away from the screen, do you prefer to drive a car or ride a bike?

I prefer big diesel trucks. The reason why is because I’m an absolute maniac so I can’t drive a car because I’ll drift it, and I can’t get on a bike as I’ll wheelie it. I force myself to behave, so I drive something that’s slow and powerful and that’s it.

Fast & Furious 5 is out on DVD and Blu-Ray on 5th September.

Following its limited theatrical release so far, word of mouth on Terrence Malick’s latest has been mixed. Some have, predictably, greatly enjoyed it, others have dismissed it as a mess. As always, Malick’s work is infused with depictions of creation in all of its beauty and this time around F/X guru Douglas Trumbull (2001, Close Encounters, Blade Runner) was given an exacting but apparently enjoyable task – to create images of the cosmos without resorting to CGI.

Trumbull said of his work with Malick:-

“We worked with chemicals, paint, fluorescent dyes, smoke, liquids, CO2, flares, spin dishes, fluid dynamics, lighting and high speed photography to see how effective they might be. It was a free-wheeling opportunity to explore, something that I have found extraordinarily hard to get in the movie business. Terry didn’t have any preconceived ideas of what something should look like. We did things like pour milk through a funnel into a narrow trough and shoot it with a high-speed camera and folded lens, lighting it carefully and using a frame rate that would give the right kind of flow characteristics to look cosmic, galactic, huge and epic.”

I cannot urge you strongly enough to watch this clip, it is simply breath-taking in its beauty and majesty. Obviously the soaring operatic score helps a great deal, but the shots towards the end of what I assume are to be taken as the surface of the sun are astounding. If you want to catch up on the rest of our coverage of The Tree of Life, you can do so here.

Source: Wired.

With Darren Aronofsky’s “Black Swan” currently being showered with countless accolades and awards for the likes of Best Film, Best Actress and Best Director it’s perhaps fitting that we should take time out to appreciate the film’s stunning FX work. And in an age where CGI is overly abundant, overused and over obvious it’s even more applaudable that Aronofsky and the team at LOOK EFFECTS created such seamless FX work that watching the film it’s nigh on impossible to tell what’s CG and what’s not.

With that in mind Fox Searchlight have recently released this short video that highlights many of the major FX sequences within the film from such simple fare as removing crew members from the shot and cleaning up the set to compositing, green screen work, head replacement and Natalie Portman’s animated CG wings. With the film containing 240 visual effects shots it’s all highly impressive stuff and begs the question why did the Academy not see fit to nominate the film for Best Visual Effects alongside the likes of “Inception”, “Harry Potter” and, god forbid, the crass CGI overkill of “Alice in Wonderland”?

And should you be eager to learn more about LOOK EFFECTS stunning achievements then I highly recommend heading over to fxguide and reading their more extensive article here

Oh, and it goes without saying that if you’ve yet to watch the film I’d suggest you skip the video for now as it contains a hefty dosage of SPOILERS …

This is the third Mini Movies that Universal have made for Despicable Me and it’s just as good as the other two! We’ve already had Banana where we get to see just how much The Minions love fruit, then it was all about the Home Makeover where Gru’s mansion is turned into a child friendly home and today is Orientation.

In this video, we get to see how the Minions learn to work in Gru’s factory but also discover what hazards they may have to overcome!

If you missed it, last week’s Banana videos is here and Home Makeover and can watched here. You’ll love them!

Last week, Jon put up the first Mini Movie from Despicable Me and thousands of you out there came to the site to watch it. Now, Universal have released another called Home Makeover where we get to see what happens when the Orphanage send someone round to make sure that Gru’s house is fit for Children! Don’t worry, there are plenty of Minions to enjoy!

If you missed it, last week’s video was called Banana and is excellent Click here to check it out but only after you click play on the video below. We think you’ll like!

Keen to ride the wave of positive momentum from the release of their Steve Carell starring animation Despicable Me Universal have given us a sneak peek of a new Mini-Movie.

It all sounds like the Pixar shorts, and is set to be included on the forthcoming Blu-ray/DVD pack.

Titled Banana, this footage showcases the movie’s popular yellow tictac shaped minions, and in Gary’s review of the film he included a couple of clips Universal were keen to put out showing off their new creations. You can read the review and watch those clips here.

Here’s the clip,

Last night I managed to overcome the snow and the crowds in the West End of London to meet the people at Framestore. These are the people who provided Dobby and Kreacher for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 and who were coincidentally celebrating the forthcoming release of the latest Narnia film, Voyage of the Dawn Treader, which they also worked on.

I sat down with Christian Manz, the VFX Supervisor with credits including The Golden Compass, Nanny McPhee and previous Potter and Narnia films, and he explained how he and his team were tasked with bringing the Potter house-elves Dobby and Kreacher to life.

The visual effects company inherited Dobby from the earlier Potter films which had come from the famed Industrial Light and Magic in the US, Framestore won the work for the Deathly Hallows based on a demo that they created and that it had then taken 16 months of work by a team of 60 to complete the project. He also mentioned that they were also still working on some key scenes for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2  and were due to finish that sometime around March next year.

One behind-the-scenes fact he passed on was that for the final scene with Dobby on the beach Daniel Radcliffe was holding a midget, three times Dobby’s size, who then had to be digitally removed from the frames so that Dobby could be inserted. Another Framestore contribution to Part 1 of the Deathly Hallows was the storybook sequence from the film, a sequence which has been celebrated and venerated in critic’s reviews, which came from the department that normally handles commercials rather than films.

In that vein they showed us their latest piece of work, the new Coca-Cola advert, which is to be shown in 90 countries worldwide with music by the band “Train”. Filming for the live sequences took place on set in Bulgaria, to give the look of New York, and when you see it keep in mind that the whole sequence with the trucks is CGI and when Santa picks up the snow globe everything other than the wooden base is also CGI.

Oh, and for those in the UK who can put up with “I’m A Celebrity” then on Thursday evening there’s going to be a new Andrex puppy advert, but that one was definitely under wraps.

If you want to learn more about Framestore and their work on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows  then go here and I hope to be able to talk more with Christian sometime soon so stay tuned!

Steve Carell gets animated in Despicable Me, out in cinemas this week and we’re giving you the chance to win a prize pack and a family pass (2 adults, 3 children) to your local Apollo Cinema to enjoy the film.

We reviewed the film here, and to check out all the trailers and posters for the film to get you in the mood click here.

More details of Apollo Cinema’s nationwide locations are available here: http://www.apollocinemas.com/ and here’s what you could win.

All you have to do is answer the following question using the form below

Which US TV Sitcom does Steve Carell star in?

COMPETITION NOW CLOSED

The small print:

• This competition is open to the UK only
• Only one entry per household will be counted
• The competition will close on Thursday the 21st of October  at 23.59 GMT
• The winner will be picked at random from entries received

The usual T&Cs can be found here. Good Luck!

Despicable Me is the new animated movie from Universal Studios and the same producer who was behind the Ice age movies. It’s a film that has promised the same quality level set by Pixar and also to offer  some really interesting characters with the introduction of the ‘Minions’ that are no doubt going to be very popular with young and old.

In a happy suburban neighborhood surrounded by white picket fences and  flowering rose bushes, sits a black house with a dead lawn. Unbeknownst to the neighbors, hidden beneath this home is a vast secret hideout. Surrounded by a small army of Minions, we discover Gru (voiced by Steve Carell), planning the biggest heist in the history of the world. He is going to steal the moon (Yes, the moon!) in Universal’s new 3-D CGI feature, Despicable Me. Gru delights in all things wicked. Armed with his arsenal of shrink rays, freeze rays, and battle-ready vehicles for land and air, he vanquishes all who stand in his way. Until the day he encounters the immense will of three little orphaned girls who look at him and see something that no one else has ever seen: a potential Dad.The world’s greatest villain has just met his greatest challenge: three little girls named Margo, Edith and Agnes

Despicable Me is an excellent film for both children and adults. I was thoroughly entertained with the story, the characters, the animation, the 3D and the humour and it is by far the closest any studio has come to matching the quality of Pixar films and if it wasn’t for Toy Story 3, Despicable Me would be my choice for best animated movie in 2010 and it’s a film that probably put some of the biggest smiles on my face this year.

The humor of Despicable Me ranges from silly, very funny, subtle and darkly adult orientated. All are going to love the Minions humour with their slapstick and banter they have with each other, kids are going to enjoy the sillier jokes and fart gags and adults are going to enjoy the adult themed quips like one aimed at the Lehman bank or background jokes which are not obvious but are incredibly funny whn noticed, it adds a real sense of humour to the story and added to my enjoyment of it.

The vocal casting is spot on with the talents of Steve Carrell, Jason Segel, Russell Brand, Julie Andrews, Will Arnett, Kristen Wiig and Danny McBride. All deliver wonderful lines from an entertaining script and it never felt like the stars were hired for their name rather than their ability.

Despicable has got it so right. Steve Carrell’s Gru is delivered with almost effortless deadpan humor and villainy, the young girls are voiced without annoyance, Gru’s nemesis and younger upcoming villain called Vector, voiced by Jason Segel, is wonderfully energetic, Russel Brand lends his voice to Gru’s invention creating partner Dr. Nefario perfectly and the brilliant Will Arnett voices Mr. Perkins whose the President of The Bank of Evil that funds anything to do with evil plans in the world. All the characters work well together and I found them all highly entertaining which really benefits the movie.

At the films heart is the three young girls who are taken in by Gru and their story is important to give an emotional anchor to balance out the films zany events of Gru trying to conquer the world as the greatest ever villain. The girls anguish of living in a horrid orphanage and trying to find a family who will take them in and give them love is emotionally charged and with Gru being the latest to adopt them for his own benefit it adds an enjoyable relationship story to the proceedings. Despite being clueless at parenting and having numerous dangerous objects littered around his house (as well as his vast hidden lair under his home!), the bond that grows between the unlikely family is touching and is well handled as Gru slowly learns that the girls mean more to him than succeeding as a villain and the conclusion will no doubt bring a tear to some eyes.

The thing everyone will love from Despicable Me is the Minions, they are some of the greatest character creations i’ve enjoyed in many years and you could probably watch another 90 minutes of the little yellow guys in a film on their own. They are likely to get a bigger role in the planned sequel coming in 2013 or get their own spin off, it’s inevitable. Despite saying very little they have more personality than the new labour leader and provide more laughs than most comedy films I’ve seen this year.

The 3D is used to perfection, I would say it showed some of the best examples of 3D I’ve seen this year with notable scenes being a roller-coaster ride that Gru and the girls take during their bonding session. It’s shown in first person perspective so you get the feeling your riding it and with the added effect of 3D it elevates the scene into something beautifully crafted and enthralling as scenery flashes past you as you dive into the screen and twist around upside down and it really works well. The 3D is used effectively throughout giving layers of depth and to every scene and adds another plus to the quality of the film. A scene showing the size of Gru’s secret lair is a great example of the layers of depth as the camera pans downward showing the journey of Gru traveling down in his lift, its that shows all the activity taking place around him with minions working in different sections and its a real show off of the technology and skill of the animators.

Another exceptional use of 3D was during the closing credits so make sure you stick around for them. The glorious Minions get their own moment as they play a little game of “Who can come furthest out of the screen”, with the aid of a measuring tape they take turns in using a variety of items to leap off the screen in 3D coming further and further out at you, it’s so incredibly effective and hilarious and worth the entrance fee alone and if there are any 3D doubters who have yet to be convinced, I think Despicable Me may well be the film that converts you as to what 3D can offer.

Overall it’s not perfect but it’s an excellent example of adult/child friendly animation that works very very well. Funny, enjoyable and an utter success.

Despicable Me is out on 15th October.

THE MINIONS!

Screen Rant is today reporting two announcements made by 20th Century Fox regarding their planned continuation of the Fantastic Four franchise, the next instalment of which is tentatively titled Fantastic Four Reborn.

The first announcement informs us that The Thing will be rendered entirely in CGI, the practical effects suit worn by Michael Chiklis clearly The Thing of the past. While the suit might have jarred with the state-of-the-art special effects used elsewhere in the series – particularly in the second instalment, Rise Of The Silver Surfer – it was always an impressive piece of engineering.

The second tidbit of information centres on the plans for the films production, the reboot itself currently on hold pending the completion of X-Men: First Class. The fact that First Class doesn’t start filming until September 21st of this year, therefore, means that we will be light on news regarding Reborn for a while to come.

While the first two Fantastic Four movies are often derided, their lightness of tone served the source material well and provided a welcome break from the recent strive for darkness and realism. While by no mean perfect, the jury is still out as to whether or not a reboot was ever actually necessary; CGI Thing or no.

Reported by Steven Neish

20th Century Fox are hoping that their present day prequel to Planet of the Apes will rekindle the series after the Tim Burton Apes movie didn’t work out (though it is a far more interesting movie than people give it credit for), and Rise of the Apes has a star tonight in the form of James Franco.

Here’s Variety‘s take on the synopsis and Franco’s role within the film,

Described as an origin story, “Apes” is set in present day San Francisco and deals with the aftermath of man’s experiments with genetic engineering that lead to the development of intelligence in apes and the onset of a war for supremacy. Franco will play a driven scientist who becomes a crucial figure in the war between humans and apes.

Franco is a very likable presence and he’ll no doubt do director Rupert Wyatt’s instincts proud when he starts splicing genes and encountering CGI Apes.

The film will go before the cameras in July for a release scheduled for a year and a month’s time.

There’s finally official confirmation that 20th Century Fox are moving ahead with their prequel to the Planet of the Apes series with Rise of the Apes, due in cinemas on the 24th of June 2011.

The Escapist director Rupert Wyatt will take the reins of this one, and will direct the screenplay from Amanda Silver and Rick Jaffa.

Here’s the press release from Fox detailing what they can about the film so far,

RISE OF THE APES (tentative title) is an origin story in the truest sense of the term. Set in present day San Francisco, the film is a reality-based cautionary tale, a science fiction/science fact blend, where man’s own experiments with genetic engineering lead to the development of intelligence in apes and the onset of a war for supremacy.

Here’s the thing though,

Oscar®-winning visual effects house WETA Digital – employing certain of the groundbreaking technologies developed for AVATAR – will render, for the first time ever in the film series, photo-realistic apes rather than costumed actors.

I’m not so sure that’s a good thing, but WETA are capable of amazing things, and if Fox are so sure that CGI Apes are the way to go then WETA are surely the best team for the job.

The concept of present day genetic experiments has been around for a long time, and there was no guarantee it would find its way into the prequel, but it seems Fox are staking their claim to a new franchise right here.

After Tim Burton’s unfairly reviled attempt to strike lightning into the corpse of the franchise, are you excited for a new Apes film?

Let’s face it, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen wasn’t the greatest movie ever made, but one thing we can agree on its that the effects and the robots all looks phenomenal!

FilmSchoolRejects have gotten their hands on a cool little video that will feature on the new Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen DVD / Blu Ray which is released 30th November.

The video looks at Robot Art Director, Ben Proctor who talks us through how a robot is designed from the ground up.

I’ve placed the clip below… Hopefully we’ll see a few more of these before the DVD release.