My first experience of the IMAX Bristol was to watch Michael Flately’s Blackbird via Bristol’s Bad Film Club. Having closed when I was 11, I’d been blissfully unaware that the South-West’s biggest screen is just above an aquarium. Emerging from the stairs, I was awed by the size of this 350-seater unit. Surprises kept coming too, as BBFC founder Ti Singh introduced several Irish Dancers to perform before the film. A raucous audience in hysterics at protagonist Victor Blackley switching from casual to driving hat attire elevated this vanity project into becoming one of my favourite cinema trips of 2022.
Hence, as soon as the line-up for the 2nd Forbidden Worlds Film Festival was released, I eagerly anticipated my IMAX return. Seventeen films ranging from martial arts action to revolutionary science fiction, carefully curated by a crack team of Bristol-based cinephiles. Alongside Ti Singh, the festival organisers include 20th Century Flicks’ Dave Taylor, Writer/Programmer Tessa Williams and Indicator’s Anthony Nield. Completing the package, Facebook sensation Jim’ll Paint It’s poster and Matt Harris Freeth’s trailer perfectly encapsulated what was in store. Truly they are people with impeccable taste in movies, just like it says on your ticket confirmation email.
I wasn’t the only excited filmgoer either, arriving to find the opening-night screening of The Terminator sold out and jam-packed. Before Schwarzenegger destroys the 80s, we were joined by author Ian Nathan via potentially the largest Zoom call ever. Having written books on Terminator, Aliens and, most recently, a James Cameron retrospective, he’s definitely an expert on the director. However, today’s focus would be on the man who brought the T-800 to life: Stan Winston.
Alongside directing Pumpkinhead (the second of the evening’s double bill), Winston designed for some of Hollywood’s most influential directors. His filmography features The Thing, Edward Scissorhands, Predator, Jason Voorhees, plus winning Best Visual effects for Jurassic Park. James Cameron himself even popped by from New Zealand to celebrate his friend – found here if you don’t believe me. Seeing the transition from early models to the final product is astounding, especially without the assistance of today’s CGI. Factor in tributes from Lance Henrikson and son Matt Winston too, Stan’s impact on cinema is incalculable.
Within an evening, I had already been introduced to a new film and its lesser-known hero behind the scenes. These little touches, cameos and passionate speakers are what makes Forbidden Worlds Film Festival so special. Anybody can spend a sunny weekend indoors watching movies all day – I know because I often do. If they want to watch with an audience, there’s plenty of cinemas to cater those needs as well. However, there was only one place I could watch a Key & Peele sketch followed by an introduction from Joe Dante for Gremlins 2: The New Batch.
It’s rare you can hear the director’s creative process prior to a showing without searching through endless repetitive press junkets. In his cameo, Dante provided concise insights regarding studio interference and his honest approach to the sequel. Therefore, I was at least marginally more prepared for the 100+ minutes of corporate media satirising ahead of me. Without exaggeration, my face hurt from laughing so much. Drastically different from the original, here the focus was on cramming in as many self-aware jokes as possible. A box office flop, I’d argue Gremlins 2 was thirty years ahead of its time, self-awarely shitposting in defiant rebellion.
Speaking of funny directors, Renny Harlin’s video discussing the production of Cliffhanger was a personal highlight. Compared to the brief three minute format I’d grown accustomed to, Harlin spent twice that ‘trying not to keep us too long’. Whilst he may have built the introduction up to insurmountable levels, Cliffhanger features plenty of exhilarating action moments – murder by stalactite being the peak. I was engrossed by the tension, the setting, Lithgow’s English accent; Die Hard on a mountain did not disappoint.
What Renny Harlin also hailed in his speech was a pillar of the Forbidden Worlds Film Festival: stunts. With no official Oscars category, stunt-people have been unfairly unrecognised across cinema’s history. Thankfully, they were celebrated here on the big screen, my favourite being the motorbike jump onto a moving train. This is just one of the amazing, death-defying moves performed by Michelle Yeoh in Police Story 3: Supercop. Acting alongside Jackie Chan, the pair treated this movie as a stunt competition, constantly trying to outdo the other. Inclusion of a blooper reel at the end shows they really are risking their health performing, no matter how safe the cast and crew are.
To make Police Story 3 more astonishing, this is Michelle Yeoh’s first film back from retirement after dissolving her marriage. Winning Miss Malaysia at 20, she could have chosen an easier life than riding a coffin surrounded by explosions. Yet, whether it’s this stunt in Royal Warriors or her portrayal as Invisible Girl in The Heroic Trio, it’s clear she’s chosen the right path. Everything Everywhere All at Once won Michelle Yeoh the Oscar, but these three films won her the FWFF plaque. This still needs picking up by the way, please get in touch with Tessa if you have Michelle’s contact details.
From one martial artist expert to another, the festival paid their respects to Bruce Lee with the 4K restoration premiere of The Way of The Dragon. Despite being consistent with his daughter Shannon’s foreword, I was shocked by the amount of comedy featured throughout the movie. Starting your action film via a 10-minute skit in an airport is a fascinating creative choice that certainly paid off. His fight versus Chuck Norris makes me hate the Once Upon a Time in Hollywood scene even more. Fifty years since Bruce Lee’s passing, and The Way of The Dragon still holds its own today.
This was not the only anniversary at Forbidden Worlds either, we also celebrated ninety years of King Kong. Seeing the restoration of cinema’s grandest gorilla, it’s hard to fathom how people of the 1930’s felt watching it back then. However, we were shown how profound an effect it had on Ray Harryhausen, the animator behind The 7th Voyage of Sinbad and many more. Recounting these stories was his daughter Vanessa and collections manager of The Ray & Diana Harryhausen Foundation Connor Heaney. Similarly to Stan Winston, Harryhausen revolutionised special effects, acting as a one-man department compared to hundreds required for the MCU. Collecting and restoring his work means these important pieces won’t be lost to history.
Ultimately, this is why Forbidden Worlds Film Festival will continue its great success. The first article I wrote for Rife Magazine highlighted the beauty of watching old films at the cinema. Showing my family King Kong and watching Assault on Precinct 13 with my friend is more special in IMAX. Connecting with all of the passionate attendees makes even the worst film great. Who knows which surprise cameos from Hollywood’s biggest directors will appear next year? What I do know is that I will be sitting in the back row eagerly anticipating them.
