Not only was The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior completely filmed in South Africa, all the special effects were also done right there by a little company called Condor Cape Town. Never before has a project of this size been undertaken in South Africa, do the computer wizards with Afrikaner names such as Van Der Merwe, Von Fintel and Legassick (okay that one sounds more it came from Middle-Earth) take pride in pointing out.
We take a look at several of the key sequences they worked on, like the creation of Sea port town, which was shot in two different locations: Kork bay (the boat) and Ottery (the set). Then they were merged together into one seamless shot by the Condor Cape Town effects people. The circular room that serves as a gateway to Hades had to be duplicated in 3D and then torn apart brick by brick. Little could they suspect that a very similar effect was being worked on by the people at ILM for Indy Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull which was in production at the same time.
Director Russell Mulcahy pops up to say he loves CG. Finally he is able to design outlandish things, then sit back and let computer nerds achieve what he wants to. Actor Andreas Wisniewski has to be a mime as well as an actor, before the effect maestro's turn him to stone. And for the giant scorpion that appears in the finale, the CCT group started off studying real scorpions in order to have the best reference possible. Unfortunately the monster scorpion they had to create was supposed to be only half visible, which automatically made the thing look incredibly fake. Oh, well, better luck next time, Jongens.
7 out of 10
We take a look at several of the key sequences they worked on, like the creation of Sea port town, which was shot in two different locations: Kork bay (the boat) and Ottery (the set). Then they were merged together into one seamless shot by the Condor Cape Town effects people. The circular room that serves as a gateway to Hades had to be duplicated in 3D and then torn apart brick by brick. Little could they suspect that a very similar effect was being worked on by the people at ILM for Indy Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull which was in production at the same time.
Director Russell Mulcahy pops up to say he loves CG. Finally he is able to design outlandish things, then sit back and let computer nerds achieve what he wants to. Actor Andreas Wisniewski has to be a mime as well as an actor, before the effect maestro's turn him to stone. And for the giant scorpion that appears in the finale, the CCT group started off studying real scorpions in order to have the best reference possible. Unfortunately the monster scorpion they had to create was supposed to be only half visible, which automatically made the thing look incredibly fake. Oh, well, better luck next time, Jongens.
7 out of 10