Sometimes all you want on a Sunday evening is something stupid and fun.
Back in 2004, with the financial backing of RTE and the Irish Film Board, two Irish directors by the names of James Mather and Stephen Saint Ledger worked together on short action sci-fi thriller Prey Alone.
They used it as Hollywood calling card, and it was one that ultimately paid off for them.
If you’ve got 15 minutes free, we recommend you check it out below:
Clip via SAINTandMATHER
The short film caught the attention of one Luc Besson, the director of Lucy and The Fifth Element, as well as the producer of hit series like The Transporter and Taken.
Besson had a script about a former soldier who has been wrongly convicted of a crime he didn’t commit being offered a way out, if he can save the daughter of the President, who had been kidnapped during a prison break.
Oh, and by the way, the prison happens to be set in space.
It was, essentially, Escape From New York, except it was all kicking off in orbit.
Guy Pearce, who we’re normally used to seeing in serious roles in serious movies like L.A. Confidential, The Hurt Locker and Animal Kingdom, is clearly having a blast in the smart-mouth action-guy role, and Maggie Grace holds her own as the “damsel-in-distress”, who proves she is anything but that.
The bad guys are also having a lot of fun being pure evil, and the action scenes are tense and well handled.
Unfortunately, Lockout was a bit of a bust at the box office, but thankfully the two directors went on to good things, with Saint Ledger becoming a regular director on hit TV series Vikings, and Mather becoming a much sought after cinematographer, working on the likes of Frank and Ripper Street.
Lockout is on E4 tonight at 9pm.
Clip via Screen Junkies
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