WATCH: This Trailer for the First P.O.V. Action Film Is Insane
Props to the same director who created the frenetic “Bad Motherf**ker” rock video.
In 2013 Russian indie rockers Biting Elbows produced a video for their song “Bad Motherfucker.” The video went viral, and with good reason—it’s nearly 5 minutes of breathtaking, ass-kicking action, seen entirely from the protagonist’s point of view. Now the “Bad Motherfucker” video—below—has a sequel of sorts. A full-length film, shot in the same style: Hardcore.
Ilya Naishuller, who directed both video and movie, had the film mostly complete when he realized he needed help putting the finishing touches on
Hardcore.
On the
which successfully raised the last quarter-million bucks needed to polish the film, Naishuller writes that Kazakh action helmer Timur Bekmambetov suggested he aim to make the first p.o.v. action flick. He rejected the idea at first, thinking it was too “gimmicky.”
Bekmambetov, who had great success with the 2008
thriller,
Wanted
, persisted, and Naishuller writes that “within a week, the concept for what was to become the world’s first action adventure film was born.”
Hardcore
, writes Naishuller, “is a modern, action Sci-Fi story about HENRY, a newly resurrected cyborg who must save his wife/creator ESTELLE (Haley Bennet) from the clutches of a psychotic tyrant with telekinetic powers, AKAN (Danila Kozlovsky), and his army of mercenaries.”
The audience is watches views the story through Henry’s eyes as he and his partner Jimmy—
District 9
star Sharlto Copley—battle over the course of a day across Moscow, in their efforts to rescue Henry’s wife.
Naishuller writes that
Hardcore
is “first feature film shot almost entirely on a
.” Stuntmen wore special headgear holding two cameras. The rigs and cameras were later offered as perks for Indiegogo supporters.
Hardcore
premieres at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) as part of the “
” slate. TIFF runs Sept. 10-20.
If the trailer for the first full-length p.o.v. actioner below is a true indication of what the rest of the flick is like, we are totally down. Though we wonder if theaters should consider passing out anti-anxiety meds at the door.