Episode 240: Megaforce LIVE from Montreal!

[DannytheWall 196]

Paul mentioned the use of Introvision which was touted as an innovative filmmaking process at the time. He made it sound a bit like the old technique of front screen projection or its contemporary equivalent with what people are doing these days with The Mandalorian, where actors physically stand in front of unreal environments in real time and the camera captures everything at once. It's a bit different than that. Introvision was still a film composite process, where a separate background was filmed, the actors performed in a blank environment, and the two shots were then merged. What makes Intravision different than blue or green screen chroma key at the time was that this composite could happen in-camera, as opposed to requiring extra processing in a film lab. The FX people could create a matte painting (like the giant hanger in Megaforce headquarters) or model sets (like the power plant explosions in the beginning of the movie) and have that as footage inside the Intravision camera. When actors moved about a blank stage (black as opposed to blue or green screen) the director/DP could see the superimposed image when filming, and could also have a finished FX shot as a daily rather than having to wait for post production to see it.

It seems like the company really tried to push itself as a game-changer, but it never really caught on the way it hoped. They received a special plaque award from the Academy for Science and Technical Acheivement in 1988, but the company returned it with a terse "thanks but no thanks, come back when we can be considered for an actual statuette."  Things didn't improve in 1994, when the company's president Tom Naud quite publically derided the Academy for passing over Introvision for consideration of its contribution to The Fugitive's effects (particularly its famous train wreck.) Yelling about bias against your effects house is a strange way to lead into a pivot as a production company, producing its own slate of films, but that was its next step, although its films never went anywhere. Still, Introvision managed to be a little company that could until it couldn't. 1999 brought a combination of woes through union and guild strikes, a recession, and Naud's health issues that led the company to close and turn its facilities over to the somewhat prosaically named Quixote Studios.      

The demo reel from the beginnings of company popped up here:   

 

 

[DannytheWall 196]

Could someone with more math skills than I have talk about the physics of how much force a jet-propelled motorcycle would need to catch up to an airplane during its takeoff? Hypothesis: A lot. 

[muttnik 476]

So this is more of a personal revelation than a C&O.

I went into this movie pretty cold, I knew about the flying motorcycle scene but not much else. Much like with Fateful Findings, I spent the first fifteen minutes with major déjà vu before pausing to confirm my suspicions that this was indeed filmed in Southern Nevada. And then the end battle happened, and holy shit, this was filmed in my backyard (so to speak). No wonder we have trouble keeping a garden.

 

[theworstbuddhist 572]

11 hours ago, DannytheWall said:

Paul mentioned the use of Introvision which was touted as an innovative filmmaking process at the time. He made it sound a bit like the old technique of front screen projection or its contemporary equivalent with what people are doing these days with The Mandalorian, where actors physically stand in front of unreal environments in real time and the camera captures everything at once. It's a bit different than that. Introvision was still a film composite process, where a separate background was filmed, the actors performed in a blank environment, and the two shots were then merged. What makes Intravision different than blue or green screen chroma key at the time was that this composite could happen in-camera, as opposed to requiring extra processing in a film lab. The FX people could create a matte painting (like the giant hanger in Megaforce headquarters) or model sets (like the power plant explosions in the beginning of the movie) and have that as footage inside the Intravision camera. When actors moved about a blank stage (black as opposed to blue or green screen) the director/DP could see the superimposed image when filming, and could also have a finished FX shot as a daily rather than having to wait for post production to see it.

It seems like the company really tried to push itself as a game-changer, but it never really caught on the way it hoped. They received a special plaque award from the Academy for Science and Technical Acheivement in 1988, but the company returned it with a terse "thanks but no thanks, come back when we can be considered for an actual statuette."  Things didn't improve in 1994, when the company's president Tom Naud quite publically derided the Academy for passing over Introvision for consideration of its contribution to The Fugitive's effects (particularly its famous train wreck.) Yelling about bias against your effects house is a strange way to lead into a pivot as a production company, producing its own slate of films, but that was its next step, although its films never went anywhere. Still, Introvision managed to be a little company that could until it couldn't. 1999 brought a combination of woes through union and guild strikes, a recession, and Naud's health issues that led the company to close and turn its facilities over to the somewhat prosaically named Quixote Studios.      

The demo reel from the beginnings of company popped up here:   

 

 

How I wish I had posters for Megaforce and Outland like this guy!

[Quasar Sniffer 4174]

When we're talking flimsy, impractical vehicles ridden by handsome blonde heroes into a sci-fi battle, I will always go FLASH (aaahhhh-aahhhh)

[DrGuts1003 462]

Has anyone been able to come up with an explanation for why the tag line of this movie is “Deeds Not Words”?  Because as far as I can tell, that motto is not said in the movie.

[theworstbuddhist 572]

2 hours ago, DrGuts1003 said:

Has anyone been able to come up with an explanation for why the tag line of this movie is “Deeds Not Words”?  Because as far as I can tell, that motto is not said in the movie.

I'm guessing it's just a military motto as described in sites like this. Not unusual for a small military force to have its own slogan a la semper fidelis. Amused to see that the latin version of Deeds Not Words ("facta non verba") is used by Canada's own JTF2 elite strike force. Though "Balls of the Corps" (see #4 on the list) is pretty impressive too.

I think it actually makes sense for the movie thematically too, especially at the end, where I guess we are supposed to take away that Strong Men of Action like Ace and Duke are more honest and honourable than weaselly generals putting them in harm's way and then leaving them hanging.

[Keaton 4]

At first blush, I was reminded of Tom Clancy's novel and then video games Rainbow Six, a fictional multinational counter-terrorist organization named Rainbow.  I guess the "Six" comes from Seal Team Six.  Since the book came out in 1998 and this movie was in 1982, do you think Clancy may owe some credit to Megaforce?  And it even feels like Delta Force (1984) with Chuck Norris and Lee Marvin may have borrowed a bit, particularly the vehicles.

[Keaton 4]

About the Deeds Not Words, it sounds like a great special forces motto but a little googling shows that it was first used as a women's movement in 1903.  I also saw it as some medical fraternity's slogan.

On 5/25/2020 at 7:29 AM, DrGuts1003 said:

Has anyone been able to come up with an explanation for why the tag line of this movie is “Deeds Not Words”?  Because as far as I can tell, that motto is not said in the movie.

 

[Keaton 4]

About the vehicle's self-destruct, it was mentioned in the movie. After the first cargo plane gets hit and has to return (1:18), there some banter about calling someone's girlfriend and then they'll have to leave their toys behind.  Someone over the comms gives the command to set all equipment to self destruct.

On 5/23/2020 at 10:53 AM, RyanSz said:

So according to the wiki page for this movie, all of the vehicles have a self destruct ability that can be activated if it's clear that the rider needs to abandon it or they are killed. I can't remember if that was shown in this movie since it's a blur of total nonsense, but that's the given reason for why they so quickly leave their murder vehicles.

 

On 5/23/2020 at 5:43 PM, pscudese said:

I mean cool, but how do they not slip that in, in some quick ADR line. Also what a complete waste of money. Think of how many more brooms and mops they could afford if they didn't have to replenish their bike supply!  

 

[DannytheWall 196]

39 minutes ago, Keaton said:

About the Deeds Not Words, it sounds like a great special forces motto but a little googling shows that it was first used as a women's movement in 1903.  I also saw it as some medical fraternity's slogan.

 

It definitely sounds like a Bible verse. Matthew 7:20 says "By their fruits you shall know them," in which fruits is often translated/connotated as "deeds."  So "heroes are what heroes do." Doesn't answer how this shows up in the movie, unless you want to get really psychoanalytical. After all, the movie heroes try REALLY HARD to prove themselves as heroes. The line about "heroes in the 80s" is LITERALLY repeated twice. Like the actual footage is repeated. There's some kind of trauma the movie is working through, or to put another way, the movie is an attempt to answer some implicit question of their existential being, something that can only be answered by doing ACTIONS and by doing them in the most ACTION-Y way possible.  Of course, that doesn't answer the resulting tautology in that it's defining doing heroism because you're being a hero, rendering it essentially meaningless, but maybe that's why Ace Hunter wears a headband so his brain doesn't explode.