The Raid

THE COLLISION: Episode 4 – Talkin’ Viral Campaigns, ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT: Season 4, Cannes Film Festival Line-Up, THE RAID, and More

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: April 22nd, 2012 at 10:32 pm

Last week, we re-arranged our episode to avoid The Cabin in the Woods spoilers.  This week, we’re back to the good old format (“old”: the one we used for our first two episodes) of news, reviews, and recommendations.  On Episode 4 of The Collision, Adam Chitwood and I were joined by the lovely and talented Jason Barr (Dave was unavailable this week, but he’ll be back next week).  The three of us talked about viral campaigns, and how much they provide as a prologue to the movie and how well they work as a marketing tool.  We also discussed the fourth season of Arrested Development airing all at once, and we looked at the line-up for this year’s Cannes Film Festival.  On the review front, we decided to skip this week’s new release (oddly, no one wanted to see The Lucky One) and instead talked about The Raid: Redemption.

Click here to listen to our latest episode, click here to listen to our previous episode, and click here to add The Collision to your RSS feed.  Hopefully, all of our episodes will be available and easy to find on iTunes this week.  Finally, hit the jump to check out the trailers for our recommendations.

THE RAID: REDEMPTION Review

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: March 22nd, 2012 at 11:59 am

[This is a reprint of my review of the 2012 Sundance Film Festival.  The movie, now entitled The Raid: Redemption, opens tomorrow in limited release.]

A good action movie is not simply throwing every single bullet, punch, slice, and explosion into a blender and dumping it onto a screen so it can punch you in the adrenaline gland. It has to be finessed. There has to be tension—the wind-up to the hit, the pull of the hammer. The Raid: Redemption writer-director Gareth Evans knows how to deliver some of the most magnificent action scenes in years, but more importantly, he knows how to build to those scenes. Working off a bare-bones, serviceable plot and characters built more for their fists than their personalities, The Raid is an action feast that keeps finding new ways to dish out inventive kills and fights, and keeps its blood-thirsty audience cheering.

Composers Mike Shinoda and Joe Trapanese THE RAID: REDEMPTION Interview

by Christina Radish    Posted: March 20th, 2012 at 8:40 am

Mike Shinoda is a songwriter, performer, record producer and visual artist, best known for his vocal and musical endeavors with the two-time Grammy Award-winning, multi-platinum band Linkin Park. Joe Trapanese is a composer, arranger, orchestrator and producer of music for film, television, multi-media, theater and concerts. Together, they co-composed and re-scored the insanely high-octane action film The Raid: Redemption – about a covert mission involving the extraction of a brutal crime lord from a rundown 15-story apartment block – for its North American release.

At the film’s press day, Collider sat down with both Mike Shinoda and Joe Trapanese (who also partnered with Daft Punk on the awesome score for Tron: Legacy) for this exclusive interview about their initial response when they first saw the film, whether this is the type of movie they would typically go see, what drew them each to composing music, how their collaboration came about, putting different musical themes and sounds together for different characters, and maintaining your creative freedom as an artist. Trapanese also talked about what he learned from his collaboration with Daft Punk, while Shinoda talked about how this experience has changed the way he approaches things with Linkin Park, who have a record set to come out later this year. Check out what they had to say after the jump:

Director Gareth Evans and Star Iwo Uwais Confirmed to Return for THE RAID Sequel BERANDAL

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: March 12th, 2012 at 10:08 am

Though we’ve known for quite a while, director Gareth Evans is now officially set to direct Berandal (tentative title), the sequel to his much buzzed about action pic The Raid. I haven’t stopped hearing great things about The Raid since it screened at TIFF, and our own Matt Goldberg recommends it without hesitation. The martial arts-heavy film centers on 20 elite SWAT team members must make their way up the treacherous floors of a criminal-infested highrise in order to get to the gang’s leader. It’s a simple premise, but after watching the trailer you begin to see how Evans has crafted a pretty insane actioner.

The film opens in the U.S. on March 23rd under the title The Raid: Redemption, but Evans previously told Steve that The Raid is the first in a planned trilogy. He talked extensively about the follow-up and said he hopes to bring car chase elements to the sequel, Berandal. THR confirms that both Evans and star Iwo Uwais are officially set to return for the next installment, and Evans told Steve that the budget for Berandal will be “significantly larger” than the first film, with an eye towards close to $3 million. Production on the sequel will apparently last around 100 days.

Watch a 13-Minute Making-of Featurette for THE RAID: REDEMPTION

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: February 25th, 2012 at 11:09 am

We’ve been covering director Gareth Evans’s insane Indonesian action movie The Raid (retitled The Raid: Redemption for US audiences) for quite a while now. The film comes with a ton of buzz, and Matt caught it at Sundance and recommends it without hesitation. The martial arts-heavy pic centers on 20 elite SWAT team members must make their way up the treacherous floors of a criminal-infested highrise in order to get to the gang’s leader. We brought you the first US trailer a few days ago, the final poster yesterday, and now an extensive 13 minute “Making-of” featurette for the film has gone online. It highlights how Evans brought the film to life, choreographing the crazy fight scenes, how they sent the cast to boot camp, the mixture of practical and CG effects, and so much more.

Hit the jump to watch.  If you missed it, be sure to check out Steve’s interview with Evans where he talks about the planned The Raid trilogy. The Raid: Redemption opens on March 23rd.

Exclusive: Final Poster for THE RAID: REDEMPTION

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: February 24th, 2012 at 8:23 am

We’re proud to premiere the final poster for The Raid: Redemption.  It’s the only movie I saw at Sundance that I recommend without hesitation.  Everyone who loves action movies should see this.  The martial arts on display are mind-boggling, and director Gareth Evans knew how to shoot the hell out of every punch thrown and bullet fired.  As for the new subtitle, I imagine it’s because The Raid is the first movie in a planned franchise.  I don’t think it’s necessary, and it doesn’t really have much to do with the plot, which is about a SWAT team enduring a hellish fight through an apartment building in order to capture a crime boss.  If the movie absolutely had to have a subtitle, I think “Good Times with Machetes” would be more fitting.

All of this is beside the point.  The Raid comes out March 23rd and you’re going to see it.  No arguing.  Hit the jump to check out the poster, and click here to watch the latest trailer.

U.S. Trailer for Actioner THE RAID: REDEMPTION

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: February 23rd, 2012 at 11:10 am

A U.S. trailer for Gareth Evans’s insane actioner The Raid has gone online. The film is apparently being billed as The Raid: Redemption here in the US, but it’s the same crazy action movie that’s had people buzzing for the last few months. Our own Matt Goldberg hailed it as “one of the best action movies in years” and Screen Gems is already hard at work on an English-language remake. The Indonesian pic boasts a simple premise: 20 elite SWAT team members must make their way up the treacherous floors of a criminal-infested highrise in order to get to the gang’s leader. As you can surmise, some ridiculous action sequences ensue and many of them are on full display in this US trailer. The film is the first in a planned trilogy from Evans, and he recently spoke to Steve at the Sundance Film Festival a bit about his plans for the follow-ups.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer. The Raid: Redemption opens on March 23rd.

New Red-Band Clip from THE RAID

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: February 10th, 2012 at 8:35 am

The Raid is awesome and you should see it.  I’ve already explained why in my review, but simply put, it’s one of the best action movies in years.  A new two-minute clip has gone online and it’s only a piece of the full four-on-one fight scene.  If you’re a director and you’re wondering, “How do I competently shoot a melee combat scene without shaking the camera around like a spaz?” director Gareth Evans has the answer.   The clip doesn’t include a lot of bloodshed, but it does contain a brutal blow so it’s on the edge of NSFW unless your workplace digs the majesty of masterful fight choreography.

Hit the jump to check out the clip. [Update: We've included the new Australian poster after the jump]

Sony Acquires Sequel Rights to Gareth Evans’ THE RAID; Screen Gems Taps Scribe for the Remake

by Dave Trumbore    Posted: February 3rd, 2012 at 5:16 pm

In the past, you might have read a few posts by us about director Gareth Evans’ The Raid, an Indonesian action movie featuring a small but elite SWAT team raiding a criminal-infested highrise. It all started with this ridiculous trailer followed by the news that Screen Gems was interested in picking up the remake rights. On that front, Deadline is reporting that Screen Gems has tapped Brad Ingelsby (Run All Night) to script the remake. Ingelsby has recently made waves with the script “The Low Dweller” which brought him onto Screen Gems’ radar. Before the theatrical release of the original film (via Sony) on March 23^rd, Sony Pictures Worldwide has announced their purchase of the sequel rights. Hit the jump for much more on that project.

Mike Shinoda and Joe Trapanese Talk About Doing the Music for THE RAID at Sundance; Plus a Linkin Park Update

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: February 2nd, 2012 at 3:30 pm

Let me be very clear: director Gareth Evans’ The Raid, an Indonesian martial arts epic that tracks a SWAT team sweeping through a highrise infested with drug dealers, is a phenomenal action movie that demands to be seen.  Thankfully, Sony Pictures Classics will be releasing it on March 23, so everyone needs to circle their calendars right now.  Trust me, once you see this, you’ll understand why every critic at TIFF and last week’s Sundance Film Festival was raving.  It also explains why Screen Gems acquired the remake rights.  It’s really that good.

While at Sundance I was able to speak with with composers Mike Shinoda of “Linkin Park” and Joe Trapanese, collaborator with Daft Punk and M83, about the soundtrack. They talked about how they got involved in the project, the origin of their collaboration, Sundance, working with Gareth Evans, the programs they used (Pro Tools, Logic and Maschine), how they used “vintage toys” and external hardware for a more organic sound, and a lot more.  In addition, for fans of Linkin Park, I asked Shinoda what’s up with the band.  Hit the jump to watch.

South By Southwest 2012 Lineup Includes 21 JUMP STREET, CASA DE MI PADRE, THE RAID, and More

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: February 1st, 2012 at 12:28 pm

The full lineup for South By Southwest 2012 has been announced and for those of you not attending the festival, prepare to seethe with jealousy. The Austin, Texas festival will host screenings of the Will Ferrell Spanish-language comedy Casa de mi Padre, festival favorite The Raid, Bobcat Goldthwait’s God Bless America, and the world premiere of 21 Jump Street, which recently screened to press to overwhelmingly positive praise. Add these films to the previously announced festival opener Cabin in the Woods (from Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard), and I’m sufficiently envious of those making the trek to Austin.

Other highlights from the full lineup include the documentary The Imposter, Killer Joe, The Hunter, Lena Dunham’s Girls, and Kevin Macdonald’s doc Marley. Hit the jump to see the full list, but keep in mind that the midnight selections have yet to be announced. Collider’s own Matt Goldberg will be covering all the shenanigans from the festival, so keep an eye out for our coverage on the site. South by Southwest 2012 takes place March 9 – 17.

Director Gareth Evans Talks THE RAID, the Sequel (BERANDAL), and Plans/Hopes for a RAID Trilogy at Sundance 2012

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: January 31st, 2012 at 7:43 pm

Let me be very clear: director Gareth Evans’ The Raid, an Indonesian martial arts epic that tracks a SWAT team sweeping through a highrise infested with drug dealers, is a phenomenal action movie that demands to be seen.  Thankfully, Sony Pictures Classics will be releasing it on March 23, so everyone needs to circle their calendars right now.  Trust me, once you see this, you’ll understand why every critic at TIFF and last week’s Sundance Film Festival was raving.  It also explains why Screen Gems acquired the remake rights.  It’s really that good.

While at Sundance I was able to sit down with Evans for an extended interview.  We talked about getting The Raid into both TIFF and Sundance, getting the project financed, how they pulled off the action scenes, film vs. digital, and the American remake.  Evans is currently doing pre-production on the sequel, so he revealed the working title (Berandal, which means Thug), the budget, how he wants to shoot in anamorphic widescreen, the expectations, and how he wants to incorporate a car chase.  He says, “I want to bring car chase elements to it as well. So we have like a cool fight scene where you go inside a car, fighting against four people as it’s speeding along a one-way.”  Hit the jump for more.

Sundance 2012: Matt’s Review Scorecard and Wrap-Up

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: January 31st, 2012 at 12:39 pm

Like I did last year, I had a great time at the Sundance Film Festival.  It’s tough to complain about weather conditions or getting around when you have the privilege to watch and discover new movies all day.  Even better, plenty of Sundance 2012 films turned out to be pretty damn good.  For me, there weren’t any quite as excellent as Martha Marcy May Marlene or Project Nim from last year, but those movies set an incredibly high bar.  Many of my peers felt they saw something truly special with Beasts of the Southern Wild and I can understand the love even if it didn’t hit me with as much emotional impact.  Most of my peers also loved Liberal Arts and Sleepwalk With Me, and I’m sorry I missed those.  But all in all, the festival ran as smoothly as last year, the volunteers (especially those in the press tent) were awesome, and it’s always a joy to hang out with people from other movie websites.

Hit the jump for my festival scorecard where you can see an organized list of my ratings for the movies I saw (although I highly encourage you to read the full review rather than just glance at a letter).  While this is my wrap-up, Steve will be posting his Sundance interviews throughout the week so keep an eye out for those.

Sundance 2012: THE RAID Review

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: January 22nd, 2012 at 9:35 pm

A good action movie is not simply throwing every single bullet, punch, slice, and explosion into a blender and dumping it onto a screen so it can punch you in the adrenaline gland.  It has to be finessed.  There has to be tension—the wind-up to the hit, the pull of the hammer.  The Raid writer-director Gareth Evans knows how to deliver some of the most magnificent action scenes in years, but more importantly, he knows how to build to those scenes.  Working off a bare-bones, serviceable plot and characters built more for their fists than their personalities, The Raid is an action feast that keeps finding new ways to dish out inventive kills and fights, and keeps its blood-thirsty audience cheering.

Sundance 2012: Line-Ups for SPOTLIGHT, PARK CITY AT MIDNIGHT, NEXT <=>, and NEW FRONTIER Announced

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: December 1st, 2011 at 2:16 pm

Yesterday, Sundance announced the line-ups for the in-competition categories.  Today, we’re moving into the out-of-competition films and just because they’re not competing for an award, doesn’t mean they won’t be great.  Sundance has announced their line-ups for the Spotlight, Park City at Midnight, Next <=>, and New Frontier categories.  There are a lot of exciting films in these categories, but I’m over the moon that Sundance will be getting The Raid.  The movie got massive love coming out of TIFF this year, Sony Pictures Classics picked up the distribution rights, and I’m going to make sure there’s a spot for it in my Sundance schedule.  Other noteworthy movies include Monsieur Lazhar, Wuthering Heights, and Black Rock (a horror film from The Freebie director Katie Aselton and her husband/Cyrus co-writer-director Mark Duplass).

Hit the jump for the line-ups.  The 2012 Sundance Film Festival runs from January 19 – 29th.

Copyright ©2005 - 2012. All Rights Reserved. California web design