The Avengers

The Avengers is a live-action movie based on Marvel Comics superhero team of the same name. Featuring the team-up of iconic Marvel Comics Superheroes - Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr.), The Incredible Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Captain America (Chris Evans), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson).

Year Released: 2012

Summary:
When the Earth's security is threatened by an unexpected enemy with an intent of taking over the universe, Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), leader of a secret peace keeping agency known as Supreme Headquarters, International Espionage, Law-Enforcement Division or S.H.I.E.L.D., finds himself in need of a team to protect the Earth from the brink of destruction.He then later realizes that the part or assembling the team and making them work together is much complicated than he'd expected. Without much time left, they need to learn how to work things up as a team, despite their individual struggles and conflicts, to save the Earth.

Cast:
Robert Downey, Jr.
Chris Evans
Mark Ruffalo
Chris Hemsworth
Scarlett Johansson
Jeremy Renner
Tom Hiddleston
Chris Evans
Samuel L. Jackson

Director:
Joss Whedon

Reviews & Ratings:
"With a script that never forgets its heroes' humanity and no shortage of super powered set pieces, The Avengers lives up to its hype — and raises the bar for Marvel at the movies".
~ Rotten Tomatoes on The Avengers

"The Avengers is the best superhero film ever made."
~ Mark Hughes, Forbes.com

8.8/10- Ratings from IMDB
8/10 (93%) Tomatometer - Ratings from Rotten Tomatoes

Movie Trivia:

• "Group Hug" is the code name for the film in its early production.
• Edward Norton is originally set to reprise his role as The Incredible Hulk
• Jeremy Renner was trained by Olympic archers for his role as Hawkeye

Source: IMDb - The Avengers

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Set in the near-future, in time where humans have been replaced by robots in the sport of boxing, Charlie Kenton, a former boxer and a struggling promoter believes that he and his estranged son Max had built a "champion" robot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

Avatar

Avatar is a science fiction film written and directed by the top-caliber director, James Cameron (Aliens and Terminator). Avatar is a live action film with a new generation of special effects and revolutionary technology that made the film a cinematic masterpiece.

Summary:
Avatar is an epic adventure movie that will take us into a spectacular alien world beyond our imagination – that will surely take our breath away. “On the distant moon Pandora, a reluctant hero embarks on a journey of redemption, discovery and unexpected love -- as he leads a heroic battle to save a civilization.” - CinemaBlend

Set in the year 2154, a group of scientists and selected military personnel is on a mission to Pandora to find rare minerals, that is the key to solving Earth’s energy crisis.

To learn about Pandora’s biosphere and its inhabitants called Na’vi, scientists developed an Avatar Program. Avatars are genetically engineered hybrids of human DNA mixed with DNA of Na’vi that are operated via mental link of its avatar operator. Jake Sully, a paraplegic ex-Marine is recruited to be part of the mission and replaces his twin brother who was part of the program.

As Jake begins to appreciate the beauty and secrets of Pandora, he finds himself torn between the ruthless military-industrial forces of Earth, and the Na’vi - forcing him to choose sides and fight back in an epic battle for the fate of Pandora.

Year Released: 2009

Cast:
Sam Worthington
Zoe Saldana
Sigourney Weaver
Stephen Lang
Joel David Moore
Michelle Rodriguez

Director:
James Cameron

Reviews & Ratings:
"It might be more impressive on a technical level than as a piece of storytelling, but Avatar reaffirms James Cameron's singular gift for imaginative, absorbing filmmaking."
~ Rottentomatoes on Avatar

8.8/10 - Ratings from IMDB

8/10 (93%) Tomatometer - Ratings from Rotten Tomatoes

Movie Trivia:

• Avatar is one of the most expensive movies ever made (as of December 2009), with an estimated budget of US $280,000,000.
• It is also the first movie to reach more than US$ 2.5 billion mark worldwide, making it the highest grossing film in history.
• James Cameron was convinced that CGI effects had improved to make this film as what he had imagined when he saw Gollum in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002).

Source: IMDB - Avatar

Iron Man

Iron Man is an action-adventure movie based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. Robert Downey Jr. played the lead role as Tony Stark - a billionaire industrialist who designs and manufactures weapons and becomes the technologically advanced superhero, Iron Man.

Summary:
Tony Stark lived a good life having the everything man has dreamt of - money, fortune and gorgeous women. But during a business trip to Afghanistan to demonstrate Stark Industries' new weapon, his convoy was attacked and captured by a terrorist group. As he awakened, Stark discovers an electromagnet attached to his chest, powered by a car battery and designed to keep the shrapnel from piercing his heart and killing him. He was tortured by the group and forced to build a Jericho missile for them - which is his most powerful weapon. With the help of a captor named Yinsen (Shaun Toub), they created a special iron suit instead that can withstand almost anything shot at it and it is loaded with an arsenal of weapons to destroy the terrorist camp and its inhabitants. With this amazing weapon he had built, suddenly his destiny shifts into something he didn't expected it to be.

Year Released: 2008

Cast:
Robert Downey Jr.
Gwyneth Paltrow
Jeff Bridges
Terrence Howard

Director:
Jon Favreau

Reviews & Ratings:
"It’s also refreshing to see a superhero flick in which the hero isn’t some angsty teenager or a borderline underwear model. Tony Stark is a mature man, with deep rooted flaws."
~ Josh Tyler of CinemaBlend
7.9/10 - Ratings from IMDB

7.6/10 (93%) Tomatometer - Ratings from Rotten Tomatoes

Movie Trivia:

• Nicolas Cage and Tom Cruise were interested in playing Iron Man.
• Quentin Tarantino, Joss Whedon, and Nick Cassavetes were approached to direct the film.
• Robert Downey Jr. spent five days a week in weight and martial arts training to get into shape as a preparation for his role as Iron Man.
• It's the first film released in 2008 to pass the $300 million mark at the domestic box office.

Source: IMDB - Iron Man

Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope

Star Wars is an action sci-fi film created by George Lucas during the 1970's and was eventually expanded and became one of the most popular film franchises thru time. It features some elements that are related to the archetypes of the fantasy genre such as Jedi knights, princesses, robots, spaceships and other creatures, as well as the futuristic settings of the universe.

It was inspired and influenced by several known sci-fi films like Akira Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress, Yojimbo, John Ford's The Searchers, and the original Flash Gordon series.

Year Released: 1977 (Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope)

Cast:
Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher
Director:
George Lucas

Reviews & Ratings:
"A legendarily expansive and ambitious start to the sci-fi saga, George Lucas opened our eyes to the possiblites of blockbuster filmmaking and things have never been the same."
~ RottenTomatoes on Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope

8.8/10 - Ratings from IMDB

8.3/10 (93%) Tomatometer - Ratings from Rotten Tomatoes

Movie Trivia:

• Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope is the only movie of the Star Wars franchise to be nominated for a Best Picture Academy Award
• According to George Lucas, originally Luke was a girl, Han Solo was an Alien, the wookiees were called Jawas, and R2-D2 and C-3PO were called A-2 and C-3
• Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill performed the swing stunt themselves, shooting it in just one take.

Source: IMDB - Star Wars