Mission Impossible : Ghost Protocol

Mission Impossible : Ghost Protocolis the 4th offering of the popular action movie series Mission: Impossible. Starring Tom Cruise, who reprises his role as the main protagonist - Agent Ethan Hunt.

Year Released: 2011

Summary:
In this 4th installment of the popular Mission: Impossible franchise, Ethan Hunt and his team is assigned to discover the secret Moscow Kremlin archives to gather vital information about a person code-named "Cobalt". Half-way thru their mission, the team is unprepared for the counter attack of a dangerous terrorist named Hendricks, who has an access to Russian nuclear codes and is planning to strike United States.

When things turned horribly wrong and without any back-up, Ethan and his team are forced to continue the mission to find Hendricks and to stop him from starting a nuclear war.

Cast:
Tom Cruise
Jeremy Renner
Simon Pegg
Paula Patton
Michael Nyqvist

Director:
Brad Bird

Reviews & Ratings:
"Stylish, fast-paced, and loaded with gripping set pieces, the fourth Mission: Impossible is big-budget popcorn entertainment that really works."
~ Rotten Tomatoes on Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

7.9/10 - Ratings from IMDB

7.7/10 (93%) Tomatometer - Ratings from Rotten Tomatoes

With great movie reviews, it is indeed a must see action movie of the year.

Movie Trivia:

• Tom Cruise himself performed the sequence outside of the Burj Khalifa tower - without the use of a stunt double. The Burj Khalifa tower in Dubai is currenlty the tallest building in the world
• Kristin Kreuk was considered for the role of Jane Carter
• Chris Pine and Tom Hardy were considered for the role of Brandt
• Tom Cruise and Ving Rhames are the only actors to be part in all Mission: Impossible movies

Source: IMDB - Mission Impossible : Ghost Protocol

Real Steel

 

"Courage is stronger than steel"

Real Steel is a live action - adventure movie based on a 1956 short story "Steel" by Richard Matheson. The film stars Hugh Jackman (Wolverine , X-Men movie series), Dakota Goyo, Evangeline Lilly, Anthony Mackie , and Kevin Durand.


Summary:
Set in the near-future, in time where humans have been replaced by robots in the sport of boxing, Charlie Kenton, a former boxer and a struggling promoter believes that he and his estranged son Max had built a "champion" robot out of scrap metals. Now that the stakes are raised, Charlie and Max, equipped with courage and determination, is about to face the no-holds-barred arena of underground robot boxing  to get the second chance of his life on a sport that he once loved.

Year Released: 2011

Cast:
Hugh Jackman
Dakota Goyo
Evangeline Lilly
Anthony Mackie
Kevin Durand

Director:
Shawn Levy

Reviews & Ratings:
"Silly premise notwithstanding, this is a well-made Hollywood movie: Thrilling and exciting action with just enough characterization."
~ Rotten Tomatoes on Real Steel

5.9/10 (60%) Tomatometer - Ratings from Rotten Tomatoes

7.1/10 - Ratings from IMDB

Movie Trivia:

• Real Steel movie is based on a short story by Richard Matheson named "Steel". It was also made into an episode of The Twilight Zone called Steel
• Sugar Ray Leonard, a retired professional boxer, supervised the robot boxing fight scenes, using motion-capture technology

Source: IMDB - Real Steel

Inception

"Your mind is the scene of the crime"

Inception is one of best mind-bending action movies from the best cinematic mind-bender in the industry, Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight).

The film features an all-star cast starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Ken Watanabe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, Dileep Rao, Tom Berenger, and Michael Caine.

Summary:
The film is set in future, in a time when technology and substance experts are able to create levels of deep sleep and invade the dreams of others.

Leonardo DiCaprio plays as Dom Cobb, a dream thief and a specialized corporate spy who goes into people's dreams and steals their secrets. However, stealing secrets isn't enough for Mr. Saito (Ken Watanabe) - a business magnate that wants to go one step further into this high-level espionage. This time, he wants a new process of planting a false memory into his competitions heads; which is called Inception. Everyone says that this "inception" can't be done and that it's impossible, however Cobb’s character knows that it can possibly be done – but no certainty that it will be successful.

TIP:
Watching this action movie requires the ability to concentrate and focus in order to follow the plot. :)

Year Released: 2010
 
Cast:
Leonardo DiCaprio
Ken Watanabe
Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Marion Cotillard
Ellen Page
Cillian Murphy
Tom Hardy
Tom Berenger
Michael Caine

Director:
Christopher Nolan

Reviews & Ratings:
"Smart, innovative, and thrilling, Inception is that rare summer blockbuster that succeeds viscerally as well as intellectually."
~ Rotten Tomatoes on Inception

8/10 (86%) Tomatometer - Ratings from Rotten Tomatoes

8.8/10 - Ratings from IMDB

Movie Trivia:

• James Franco was a choice by Christopher Nolan to play Arthur, but was unavailable due to scheduling conflicts.
• "Yusuf" is the Arabic form of "Joseph", the Biblical figure from Genesis 37-50, who had the gift of interpreting dreams.
• The first letter of each of the main character's first names - Dom, Robert, Eames, Arthur/Ariadne, Mal, and Sato - spell the word DREAMS.
• The "Penrose stairs" that Arthur shows to Ariadne is a reference to a lithograph print by the Dutch graphic artist M.C. Escher. The print is usually called "Ascending and Descending" or "The Infinite Staircase", and was first printed in March 1960; Escher is well-known for his drawings exploring optical illusions and real architectural, mathematical, and philosophical principles rendered in fantastical ways
• Mal's totem, a spinning top, is (probably) a reference to the Clifford D. Simak's story 'Ring Around the Sun' where the spinning top is used as a way to skip from one parallel Earth to another (by way of helping characters to concentrate).

Source: IMDB - Inception