I know that ST-TMP had an extended look at the new Enterprise, and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea had some good shots of the Seaview, but others like Alien had very few good shots of the Nostromo. So what movies/TV shows do YOU think had the best "beauty shots" of YOUR favorite model.

1. ST-TMP Enterprise
2. LIS - Derelict Jupiter 2
3. Star Wars - Empire Strikes Back - AT-AT & Falcon
4. Batman - Season 2 - Batmobile
5. Munsters - 2nd season - Dragsters & Coaches
6. Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea - 3rd season - Seaview

Not all necessarily my "favorite models", tho some great model-work was involved in them.

"2001: A Space Odyssey" had some great model shots in it, as I recall.

"Star Wars" (no stinkin' "Episode IV: A New Hope"!) had a great opening scene w/the Star Destroyer and the Rebel Blockade Runner. Especially that loooooong pass at the underside of the SD that gives at least a basic idea of scale!

"SpaceBalls" had some pretty darned nice model shots in it, too.

That's all I can think of off the top of my head.

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Jeffrey Griffin
Griffworks Shipyards (http://members.aol.com/Griffworks/shipyards.html)

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Star Trek Scale Modeling WebRing (http://q.webring.com/hub?ring=startrekscalemod)

Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct :)

Travis

ROTFLMAO-PIMP! :roll:

Good one! Totally out of left field! :lol:

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Jeffrey Griffin
Griffworks Shipyards (http://members.aol.com/Griffworks/shipyards.html)

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Star Trek Scale Modeling WebRing (http://q.webring.com/hub?ring=startrekscalemod)

The David Soul/Lance Kerwin version of Salem's Lot.

Kerwin's room is filled with monster stuff and you can see plenty of Aurora and Aurora-style kits.

My favorite model shots out of order are...
Die Hard - Nakatomi towers explosions, elevator shaft
Bladerunner - what a city..... and spinners too!
ALIEN, ALIENS - do i have to tell you
Star Wars Episodes 1,2,3,4,5,6 - EVERYTHING
Lord of the Rings - Everything
2001 A Space Odyssey - Everything
Indiana Jones 1,2,3 - Everything, especially the mine car chase!

Silent Running! That model was 20 feet long and had skin patches of several techies superglued to it. :)

The sunken sub in The Abyss, and the minisubs surveying her.

The 40-foot Benthic Explorer model in the Abyss.

The various giant Titanic models in the Cameron version.

The life-sized section of the Discovery nose section used for the space pod exit in 2001.

All the city "bigatures" in LotR.

History of the World part 1 - "Jews in Space" star of David space ship. Not that there were a lot of great shots of it, but it was a nice surprise in a comedy. Pretty decently done too.

The ships of the 50's and 60's.

War of the Worlds
When Worlds Collide
Conquest of Space
Destination Moon
Forbidden Planet
When the Earth Stood Still

But did the films SHOW YOU A BUNCH OF "BEAUTY SHOTS" ???

Some didn't!

Raise the Titanic! :p

Silent Running! That model was 20 feet long and had skin patches of several techies superglued to it. :)


I love that shot of Bruce Dern in the galley fixing his fruit, then the camera pulls back from the window to finally reveal where he has been for the first ten minutes of the movie.

To expand on that skin-and-superglue comment I made: I read it in Cinefex, I think. One of the junior model-makers was working on the Valley Forge late one night, alone in the studio. Natrually, he accidentally superglued his hand to the model. The model weighed several hundred pounds, and the phone was on the other side of the room. Supposedly it took him a couple of hours to drag the spaceship across the room so he could call for help. :lol:

I don't think any movie, in of itself, provides enough information to make an accurate replica.
Providing reference material for the greeblie fetishists (myself included) and good story telling would seem to be at cross purposes.

But did the films SHOW YOU A BUNCH OF "BEAUTY SHOTS" ???

Some didn't!
How long of a beauty shot do you need? The films I posted gave us many close ups and shots of the ships. Much more so than the quick fly-bys of Star Wars.

This threads title threw me off a bit, but my favorite view of a model in a movie is the Enterprise heading into V'ger (as it first encounters V'ger and just after Kirk says: "Tactical plot on viewer.") as the blue of V'ger reflects off the hull. The movie has many great views to choose from, but that one is my favorite.

My favourite model shot from any movie are the K'tinga battle cruisers from the opening sequence of ST-TMP. I had already seen Star Wars and for my ten-year old self seeing THREE super detailed Klingon Cruisers on a big screen was an epiphany, as I was (and still am!) a big Star Trek fan. Nothing sci-fi related has touched me in quite the same way and someday I WILL finish those blasted AMT K'tingas!!! :tongue:

^ Agreed.

Plan-9

Star Trek V actually has some great shots of the Klingon BoP, if what you want is a view of how the model looks in normal light -- especially the shot near the climax where the BoP zooms stright in toward the camera. Use your DVD player's still frame feature and go frame-by-frame.

Qapla'

SSB

The scene where Clint first sees the Firefox in person, I think Roger Ebert pointed out it was definately a love scene!

My favourite model shot from any movie are the K'tinga battle cruisers from the opening sequence of ST-TMP...Nothing sci-fi related has touched me in quite the same way...completely concur

That is so weird, when we saw it, we looked right past the ships at the matte lines! The music was great, the IDEA of the shot was great, but the execution just didn't work at all for us. Then again, except for the E in and leaving dock, that first day nothing in the movie worked for me. Took me years to appreciate it, and even so, it is as a 'failed experiment' rather than a good movie. I think seeing 2001 at age 7-1/2 (after two years of waiting for it after reading early hype) ruined me for space pics!

Still, have seen it more times than just about any other movie except KHAN and 2001 and DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL and THE WILD BUNCH and ACTION JACKSON.

You're kidding, "Action Jackson"?!

Hey, don't YOU have guilty pleasure faves? I have even watched and enjoyed IRON EAGLE a bunch of times as well (the last half, anyway, the aerial part.)

Top Gun! Many of those flight shots are of RC Tomcats. You can't tell the difference... That's the sign of good model work.

Travis

The Alien ships over the cities in Independence Day. Now that was a beauty shot. The poster gave you even more to drool over.

But I think the best shot of a ship for pure detail enjoyment has to be the Nostromo from Alien. Ridley Scott really wanted you to believe the scale of that ship.

Oh, and don't forget the new CG shot from the beginning of the director's cut of Alien Ressurection. From the gaping jaws of the bug on the guys hand, all the way out to the rear of the ship. That was a loooong shot.

Camelot in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
"It's only a model."

<< Many of those flight shots are of RC Tomcats. You can't tell the difference... >>

Actually you can IF you've ever flown RC ducted fan "jets".

Top Gun! Many of those flight shots are of RC Tomcats. You can't tell the difference... That's the sign of good model work.

Travis

Where'd you get that info? I know about a lot of R/C work in FLIGHT OF THE INTRUDER and IRON EAGLE and how they tried to go that route in ALWAYS, but the ONLY model info I've ever seen on TOP GUN relates to the spinouts and the pyro shots, which were done by Colossal Pictures in the style of their earlier RIGHT STUFF work -- on wires. Colossal didn't do any R/C work, do you know who did the TOP GUN R/C? Never saw anything in AMERICAN CINEMATOGRAPHER or CINEFEX about this.

I watched something on TV about it a while back... Can't remember where but it was interesting... Stuff I didn't know.

T.

Where'd you get that info? I know about a lot of R/C work in FLIGHT OF THE INTRUDER and IRON EAGLE and how they tried to go that route in ALWAYS, but the ONLY model info I've ever seen on TOP GUN relates to the spinouts and the pyro shots, which were done by Colossal Pictures in the style of their earlier RIGHT STUFF work -- on wires. Colossal didn't do any R/C work, do you know who did the TOP GUN R/C? Never saw anything in AMERICAN CINEMATOGRAPHER or CINEFEX about this.

I saw a segment on the "Topgun" SFX on the ol' Discovery channel "Movie Magic" show, though it's been many years, they were showing off some very nicely detailed F-14 models that were used in explosions and the flat spin scene, but I don't remember any mention of RC planes. Doesn't mean they weren't used, but it does seem odd they wouldn't mention them. And I do remember them saying the Navy was very co-operative with pilots and planes for the shots they needed, they also showed the special plane-mounted camera rig that was used in most of the dogfight sequences.

My favorite story about the TOP GUN effects was that for a shot of a plane spinning out of control, they went outside, handed a grip a model, put him up in a cherry picker, and told him they'd pay him $20 if he could hit the camera lens.

My favorite story about the TOP GUN effects was that for a shot of a plane spinning out of control, they went outside, handed a grip a model, put him up in a cherry picker, and told him they'd pay him $20 if he could hit the camera lens.

I've read that same story, but it was about RIGHT STUFF.

Similar story - RAMBO III, there was a bet about how close STallone could come to shooting the camera lens with his crossbow ... supposedly he hit the damn thing and ruined a 20 grand lens with his marksmanship.

3 pages and no one has put up a picture of a female 'model'. You guys do think like geeks.

I think Larry Jolly did the flying, and some of his buddies made about 7-10 RC ducted fan models.

Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct :)

Travis

Hey Terryr, If you look back to page 1, post #3, I took care of that joke... No need to beat the dead horse.

Travis

I missed that one.

George Laezenby in James Bond.

OK, y'all knew this was coming...

Best view of a model in a movie:

Elle Macpherson and Portia de Rossi in Sirens :devil:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111201/

Hey terryr, I apologize... I just read my post a couple back and realized that I probably sounded very rude to you... I forgot to post the :) in the post so you knew I was joking in a sarcastic way. Again I am sorry...

As for MangoMan well you are just too damn late with that one although you are right... Elle has one of the most amazing "natural" body I have ever seen. WOW!

Travis

Well,... I guess I'll have to take you off my revenge list now. (insert smiley face here.)