Videos: Living Life At 3,000 Feet AG (Bubbleship And Skytower From The Film 'Oblivion')
Wednesday, December 11, 2013 at 11:48AM Unused short scene for Oblivion showing the CGI Bubbleship flying by the camera
I live in a bit of a vacuum these days without any cable (or broadcast) TV at home. It started as a cost-cutting measure about a year ago, but even now, when money is not the problem that it was, I find I'm much happier without cable in the house. So, still no cable. This shift has brought about a new process for the relatively small amount of TV we consume: we watch completed TV series on DVD (just finished watching all 5 seasons of Fringe in about 3 months) and we watch some movies. So a few nights back we rented the recent Tom Cruise movie Oblivion. (I hadn't even heard of the movie, an interesting side-affect of life without cable TV.) It was actually a test of an upgrade to a Blu-ray DVD player, and it was the first live-action Blu-ray DVD I've ever seen. (Blu-ray looked fantastic... feel free to welcome me to the 21st century)
Video screenshot: The very cool Bubbleship VTOL from the Tom Cruise movie Oblivion
I'm somewhat surprised to say that I really liked Oblivion. It doesn't hurt that the living quarters are a fabulously modern house sitting at 3,000 feet above the ground on a thin spire, and there's a lot of flying in a very cool VTOL called a Bubbleship.
After I watched the movie, I watched it again with the special-feature commentary that replays the film with Tom Cruise and writer/director Joseph Kosinski making comments about the scenes and the production process. I love this stuff. After seeing the commentary, I find myself quite taken by the film. I have to say that I recommend checking it out if you haven't seen it yet.
The video above gives a great overview of the Bubbleship in Oblivion
There's a certain simplicity and open-ness to the film that I'm drawn to. As life here on Earth seems to increase in quantity and diminish in quality everyday, the uncongested landscape of Oblivion's post-alien-attack Earth seems oddly attractive to me. (maybe I just need to move to Wyoming)
Your mileage may vary on that.
This video gives an overview on the 3,000 foot high Skytower in Oblivion
Video screenshot of the Bubbleship on the landing platform of the Skytower in Oblivion
I really enjoyed these videos since they show how some of the effects in the film were made. The way that they created the background sky and cloud views for the lookout from the skytower is extremely cool. Fascinating stuff... and a movie I actually liked. Watch it, I think you might like it.
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Reader Comments (6)
I am glad you enjoyed the movie Martt. It's nice to know someone else enjoyed it as much as I did. Unfortunately it received less than favorable reviews from some critics but like you I found the visuals and aviation aspects overrode any story weakness. My mind keeps turning over the design aspects of the bubbleship and wondering if it would be a feasible design. If nothing else the design team for the movie deserve huge kudos for the striking and original concepts they created. Have dropped a few hints to my family that I would like to receive a copy for Christmas (on Blu-Ray of course) so here's hoping. :)
Gavin - I agree that the design team has done some great work with the Bubbleship, and it's really cool to see that they built a full scale version with a fair amount of functionality.
I actually saw a guy in Russia has built a small, flying electric RC model of it that's extremely well done. There's video on youtube : )
I noticed the reviews and boxoffice take were not so good for the film, but I sure found a lot to like, as you did. I can only imagine that the visuals on the big screen must have been fantastic!
I only saw it on Blu-Ray the same as you. I unfortunately listened to the critics with this one and thought it wouldn't appeal so did not make the effort to go out and catch it at the movies. Ended up seeing it with a friend who is as big an aviation geek as I am and am now kicking myself that I didn't see it on the big screen. Blu-Ray was great though as the extra's that go with the movie are awesome.
I LOVED Oblivion. I'm also a "cord cutter" who rents blu-rays from Redbox on occasion. The visual effects were stunning and felt natural.
Fringe is my wife and I's favorite series. The acting was superb.
Some other under-rated shows you might also enjoy: Falling Skies and Alphas.
Aaron - glad to hear you liked Oblivion as well! I'm actually planning to buy the Blu-ray now so I can watch it in great detail again before long (and as close to the new 60" screen as I can stand)
Fringe was a fantastic experience, especially going from 'never heard it' to watching every episode in order in a matter of months. We're considering starting Star Trek TNG before long... that's a pretty serious commitment! (we did Star Trek TOS last winter and into Spring)
And thanx for the addition series to check out... I haven't heard of either one but will take a look and see if they might fit the need.
The bubble ship obviously belongs to the Israeli IDF, the subtle head on shot explains why.