Laurent Bouzereau sure has a great job, producing nothing but behind the scenes documentaries with an emphasis on Steven Spielberg productions. Of the plethora of short subjects on the two disc edition of A.I. Arificial Intelligence, this one is basically an interview with special effects supervisor Michael Lantiere who talks to us from his bedroom. Oh wait, it's a set from the film.
Lantiere singles some of the special effects out for special mention. First there is the stunt robot voiced by Chris Rock that was fired from a cannon as part of the so-called Flesh Fair. This stunts was done live action on set, with a little help from cables and flammable clothes. Michael L. talks about working with the art department on Rouge City and how he incorporated the tracks for a complete, working 6000 pound 'amphibicopter' into the impressive set. Another unusual trick was that they used about 8 tons of real ice a day for the Ice excavation scene, which was added to the set three hours before shooting so that it would melt realistically.
Whenever I see one of these focuses on a lesser known member of the production crew, I am usually reminded of something Kermit the Frog said during the opening credits of The Great Muppet Caper: "They all have families, Fozzie". I suppose the Lantiere family must be pretty pleased with these eight minutes of fame for Michael, but really, wouldn't it have been just as interesting as part of a longer, more ambitious documentary? After all, most people would choose to watch that over a bunch of short subjects you have to click on every 5 to 10 minutes.
6 out of 10
Lantiere singles some of the special effects out for special mention. First there is the stunt robot voiced by Chris Rock that was fired from a cannon as part of the so-called Flesh Fair. This stunts was done live action on set, with a little help from cables and flammable clothes. Michael L. talks about working with the art department on Rouge City and how he incorporated the tracks for a complete, working 6000 pound 'amphibicopter' into the impressive set. Another unusual trick was that they used about 8 tons of real ice a day for the Ice excavation scene, which was added to the set three hours before shooting so that it would melt realistically.
Whenever I see one of these focuses on a lesser known member of the production crew, I am usually reminded of something Kermit the Frog said during the opening credits of The Great Muppet Caper: "They all have families, Fozzie". I suppose the Lantiere family must be pretty pleased with these eight minutes of fame for Michael, but really, wouldn't it have been just as interesting as part of a longer, more ambitious documentary? After all, most people would choose to watch that over a bunch of short subjects you have to click on every 5 to 10 minutes.
6 out of 10