Microbudget Films: Gunheavy
It’s pronounced DOSS-EE-YAY.
Gunheavy is, visually, the kind of movie that hasn’t been made since the 1990′s. Watching it brought to mind scifi trash greats like Screamers and the wonderfully gory anime M.D. Geist. Even the title evokes some sort of mistranslated Japanese movie, but it’s not, it’s just Gunheavy.
It’s useless to discuss the story of Gunheavy, it is incoherent even upon a fourth viewing (however, a story that barely makes sense is better than a predictable story [sometimes]). The real reason to watch this one is the visuals. It’s pretty obvious that the only reason that this movie was made was to show off their skill in special effects.
They show it all off so well, though. The CG is sparse, which is excellent, but the little things like the dilapidated structures in the backgrounds of wide shots complete the atmosphere. Miniature work such as the big black jet ascending into the clouds and the “Orbital Cannon” (seen above) are amazing. The locations that they chose all look like the ruins of some military-industrial future, and no set or place felt inappropriate for this movie.
Sadly, the sound is awful, the music, sometimes, drowns the dialogue out, and I found myself having to constantly adjust the volume during gunfights. Seriously, I’m not going to say it again, please refer to every review I have written for this site to see my opinion on poor sound quality.
Despite Gunheavy’s structural pockmarks, it’s hard not to love it for it’s visual ambition. It may seem hypocritical to excuse a movie for the same sins that I revile in bigger budget movies that sacrifice story for special effects, but there is something special in this movie. It finds a wonderful comprimise between computer generated and practical special effects that I last saw in (the excellent) Starship Troopers. Don’t miss this one.
I thoroughly enjoyed myself.
Interview with Angelo Lopes, writer/director of Gunheavy.
Angelo Lopes (AL) – Took just under 4 years. We had no idea of what we were doing with certain things so lots of it was trial and error. There were a few long hiatuses where we did nothing, so we probably could of finished it faster. We got some start up funds from a friend who owned restaurants, then the rest we spend out of pocket and incurred debt.
AL – I started shooting with VHS cameras when I was about 16 (1992), but none of that was serious. My first real film was finished in 2003, called Armas.45. I will continue to make films and try to market them, see where it takes me.
- Microwaveable Food Product?
- Type of transportation?
AL – Anything beats walking.
– Character, why?
AL – Solid Snake from Metal Gear Solid. He was around since I was a kid and now he’s Old Snake. Bad ass.
AL – I would of shot more scenes for Gunheavy. I would of helped the story make more sense.
AL – Just go out and make a film.The first film is where the filmmaker will make mistakes and learn from them, they cannot expect it to be perfect.
