Rockstar Newswire

We recently highlighted John Woo’s “The Killer” as a particularly inspirational gem from the world of Hong Kong action cinema – today, we present the yang to that yin, some of our favorite guilty pleasures from the realm of ‘Bruceploitation’.
In 1973 when the legendary Bruce Lee passed, an entire industry of martial arts filmmaking coalesced around the void left by his untimely death, attempting to capitalize on the style and substance of the great artist - invariably failing miserably but producing a very surreal genre of opportunistic cult films and helping to reinforce that there was truly only one Bruce.
Check out this selection of trailers from just a few of the unbelievable imposter films that confused and often infuriated a generation of Bruce fans.

Bruce Li and Larry Lee in "Bruce Li in New Guinea" (1978)

Note they even intentionally misspelled his name as "Lee" in the title screen towards the end. Awesome unexpected usage of "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" in this.

Bruce Le in "Enter the Game of Death" (1978)

Gunning for the distinction of most shameless amidst a genre predicated on shamelessness - distributors of this one morphed the titles of two of (the real) Bruce Lee's most famous films "Enter the Dragon" and "Game of Death". Check out Le's replica Bruce Lee yellow-and-black tracksuit and the jacked-up-Michael-Winslow-looking villain he fights here.

Dragon Lee, Bruce Le, Bruce Thai and Bruce Lai (!) in "The Clones of Bruce Lee" (1981)

A self-aware holy grail of the genre, regarded as 'The Mount Rushmore of Bruceploitation Films.'
"These identical specimens of the late Bruce Lee are trained in all the martial arts through scientific technique."

Sammo Hung in "Enter the Fat Dragon" (1978)

Really. One of the few that at least attempts to present itself as parody.
 

Arigato to Japanese artist SHOHEI aka @hakuchitare - one of the cast members selected in our worldwide #MaxPayne3 multiplayer gang casting event held on Twitter recently - for whipping up this nice sketch to celebrate the occasion. In it, SHOHEI appears as a marked man desperately trying to get away from a pistol-toting Max Payne while exclaiming "HELP HELP!!!". Of course in his in-game multiplayer gang member appearance, SHOHEI's likeness will be just as likely to be the one wielding the weaponry and inflicting fear in would-be online assailants.

Stay tuned as we will be revealing what the #MaxPayne3 gang looks like in-game sometime this March.

Related: http://www.famitsu.com/blog/rockstargames/2012/01/mp3-congrats-shohei.html  

Presenting our final four multiplayer gang member faces; click here to see the first 4 which were revealed previously.

We’d like to thank EVERYONE out there who participated in the #MaxPayne3 casting event we’ve been holding on Twitter over the past month – the casting call turnout activity surpassed our expectations with #MaxPayne3 usage spiking to the top of the worldwide Trending Topics moments after the event was first announced in December. Suffice it to say, it’s been pretty difficult settling on only 8 people in total who will get to have their likeness as the face of a playable Max Payne 3 multiplayer gang character member.

In the end, the gang looks to be a pretty rad multiplayer hit squad of internationally-assembled killers – recruited from Germany, London, NYC, Los Angeles, Canada, Brazil, Australia and Japan. Certainly looking forward to seeing all of your grills online.

Without further ado, a bit more on the final four faces:

Shohei (first from left in picture above) aka @hakuchitare is a huge Rockstar fan who works as an acclaimed illustrator in his native Japan. His distinctive look, with hair shaved on the sides and slicked back on top, will look right in place amidst the gang’s rogues gallery and do well to represent Max Payne 3’s setting of Sao Paulo which has the largest Japanese community in the world outside of Japan.

Hamish (2nd from left) aka @silenthamish had been amongst the most prolific tweeters during the event and went super hard in the final weeks – a massive fan proudly from Melbourne, Australia who’s promised to portray an inherently tough road warrior online.

@RockstarGames Australia has a harsh climate. While young we have to get use to scorching hot days and nights. Perfect training. #maxpayne3

— Silent-Hamish (@SilentHamish) January 13, 2012

Jaclyn (3rd from left) aka @jaclynejimenez is a PC gamer from our own homebase of NYC. Her dream of getting her face in the game has come to pass, and looks like she’s ready to celebrate with some Social Club multiplayer event action later this spring as well. 

Social Club! yes @cranmerwill: @jaclynejimenez I like this Idea a lot! Maybe they can be featured in the first Social club match. #MaxPayne3

— Jaclyn E. Jiménez (@jaclynejimenez) January 14, 2012

Finally, Nick (4th from left above; and right) aka @TwisBeats works in the underground rap scene of London and is someone we spotted back in the 2nd week of the event and contacted for photos.

Nick was just about losing hope of being chosen, but c’mon – how could we say no to this guy?

Congratulations again, all. We’re in the midst of getting everyone’s final production reference photographs to get them all into the game now. Stay tuned to see what their final in-game characters look like, which is something we’ll be posting here at the Rockstar Newswire before the game comes out.

Previously:
First Four Multiplayer Faces Have Been Selected in the #MaxPayne3 Casting Event
 

We would like to congratulate The Small Faces on their forthcoming induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, happening this April – and formally express our gratitude for lending us “Ogden’s Nut Gone Flake” recently as the score to the first GTAV Trailer.

A truly well-deserved recognition for one of the music world’s most underappreciated and influential bands.

Congratulations to all the other inductees for 2012 as well including Grand Theft Auto soundtrack veterans Axl Rose and Guns N’ Roses.
 

Congrats to our first four #MaxPayne3 multiplayer gang members, (from left) @HaraldFraenkel, @Alexisssx3, @Wheelerj28, @ElvisMarques. We still have another four to pick, so keep using the hashtag for your chance to be noticed and selected.

Today we’re proud to announce that the first 4 people have been cast (of a total eventual 8) in our special #MaxPayne3 casting event via Twitter.

For the week ending December 23rd, @HaraldFraenkel of Germany and @Alexisssx3 of California, US are our first pair of Max Payne 3 multiplayer gang faces. And for the week ending December 30th, @Wheelerj28 of Canada and @ElvisMarques of Brazil are our pair. Congratulations, lady and gents.

Harald won us over with his incredible look – with the classic shaved head Mohawk and aggressive demeanor, looks totally like someone who’d be believable facing off in an online deathmatch.

Alexis "Lou" caught our eye with her gauntlet-throw below in our direction and quite true claim that every multiplayer gang needs a bad ass female assassin.

@RockstarGames you need a real gamer for the chick! guarantee I could smash you in the multiplayer! #MaxPayne3

 

— Lou (@Alexisssx3) December 23, 2011

Dave Wheeler is known up in Winnipeg, Canada as morning show mouthpiece of local rock radio station Power 97 and caught our eye with his campaign to proudly let his listeners virtually shoot him in the mug should he be cast.
 
And Elvis Marques is a devoted fan hailing from Max Payne 3's locale of Brazil - it's only right that this unit have at least one Brasileiro verdadeiro, and who better than a member of the troop who call themselves the #MaxPayne3 Family (shout to scareface1970, keep it up and good luck!).

This is the last week to be chosen so keep using the #MaxPayne3 hashtag everyone to make sure we notice you! Also make sure you're following us on Twitter, and checking your DMs regularly.

Hit the official event page at http://www.rockstargames.com/maxpayne3/casting for all the details and for official rules. We’ll be casting through this Friday, January 13th.
 

Escaping the traumatic events of Max Payne 2 and all of the corruption, betrayal, peril and pain of his existence as an NYPD detective, Max Payne breaks south – way south, to São Paulo, Brazil where he takes up a new gig working private security for a wealthy local family in Max Payne 3. As one might imagine, amidst the volatile disparity of towering wealth and profound, desperate poverty in São Paulo, this new job turns out to be not quite as cushy as hoped…

In addition to all of the intense technical development and meticulous game design being poured into Max Payne 3 to create an advanced and cutting-edge action-shooter gameplay experience - as always, painstaking effort has also been made by our development teams and internal Rockstar Research department to ensure that the vibe and presentation of São Paulo - touchstones like Paulistano culture, police, weaponry and other elements that will not only contribute to the game’s single-player narrative, but also the single and multiplayer environments and characters - are as authentic as possible. 

Over the coming weeks and months, we'll be offering a glimpse into just some of the behind-the-scenes research and production design done over the course of Max Payne 3's development, from information and asset-gathering trips down to São Paulo, to local casting for pedestrian types in all the game's levels, to extensive study of municipal law-enforcement wings, weaponry and much more.
 

(Left: São Paulo's own 'elite squad' of special forces, the GATE [Grupo de Acões Táticas Especiais] in action. [Photo via Wikimedia Commons]; Right: One of Max Payne 3's fictionalized special force commandos from the UFE [Unidade de Forças Especiais].)

Fighting against the criminals, thugs and kidnappers in Max Payne 3’s São Paulo are the Unidade de Forças Especiais (UFE), a fictional special forces police unit much like similar counterparts featured in the documentaries Favela Rising and Bus 174, and feature films like Carandiru, Elite Squad (Tropa de Elite) and its wildly successful sequel Elite Squad: The Enemy Within (Tropa de Elite 2). Real-life Brazilian teams include the GATE (Grupo de Ações Táticas Especiais, or Special Actions and Tactics), GARRA (Grupo Armado de Repressão a Roubos e Assaltos, or Robbery and Assault Repression) and GOE (Grupamento de Operações Especiais, or Special Operations Group) teams in São Paulo, and the feared BOPE (Batalhão de Operações Policiais Especiais) squad of Rio de Janeiro. Great care was taken to obtain research on the uniforms, equipment and weaponry favored by these Brazilian police—including domestically-manufactured assault rifles and a wide array of exotic firepower imported from the US, Germany, Italy and other gun-manufacturing countries.

Facing off against the city's elite police squads are well-armed and highly organized gangs who rule São Paulo's favelas. Even though Brazil has very strict laws on civilian gun ownership, the gangs benefit from a stream of illegal weapons traffic flowing across the country's massive, almost unpoliceable shared borders with ten other South American countries. With access facilitated to some of the most powerful assault rifles dirty money can buy, the favela gangs boast intimidating firepower to wage war against rival drug gangs, special police forces, or anyone else brave or foolhardy enough to provoke them.   

(Left: Rockstar developers tour the favelas of São Paulo to gather level design inspiration; Right: Max Payne descends into the game world's re-creation.)

Gathering assets to help accurately inform and create faithful game level environments set in São Paulo, Rockstar game developers and designers took several trips to the area to extensively document everything from the glamour and exclusivity of posh spots like Avenida Morumbi, Avenida Paulista and the Jardins district, to harsh high-crime locales like Favela Japiaçu (Favela do Nove) and the infamous Edificio São Vito (aka Treme Treme or the Vertical Favela). Thousands of pictures were taken for mood and texture, local fashions and outfits were scanned for reference, and a diverse array of Paulistanos from all walks of life — from bossa nova singers to jujitsu champions to favela gang members — were consulted and interviewed to provide thorough background on the dazzling and dangerous world in which the game is set.

Look for this continuing series on the research behind Max Payne 3 in the weeks and months leading up to the game’s release including a look at the casting of São Paulo's residents, what inspired some of the unique levels you'll find yourself shooting your way out of and much more...
 

The Killer (1989; Dir. John Woo)



"He looks determined without being ruthless. Something heroic in his manner. There's a courage about him, doesn't look like a killer. Comes across so calm..."

So describes Hong Kong detective Li to a police sketch artist the mysterious lone assassin he finds himself fascinated with...

While Film Noir and particularly NYC-set detective films are often pointed to as being a key influence on the heritage of the Max Payne franchise, many forget that the touchstones that inspired the series are a bit more international than that – especially the canon of over-the-top Hong Kong shoot-em-ups as pioneered in the 1980s by directors like John Woo and Ringo Lam. Of those, “The Killer” is perhaps the best – with its stylized, over-the-top, slow-motion sequences of balletic gunplay; its melodramatic touches that underscore the action (white doves, mystic sounding vibraphones, candle-lit churches); and the role of the talented yet conscienced killer, played by Chow Yun-fat in one of his many collaborations with Mr. Woo before they both became Hollywood names.

“The Killer” tells the tale of professional assassin, Ah Jong – with no super powers, no sixth senses – but just an almost preternatural ability to sense, react and respond to impending danger in a split-second with razor sharp reflexes and deadly accuracy with a gun of any kind. Just as quick to dispatch a hit with cold-blooded precision as he is to risk his own life and limb to protect an innocent caught in a crossfire - the brooding and conflicted Ah Jong struggles with his own conscience and with issues of guilt and loyalty in his relationships with the detective who hunts him, the longtime friend and business associate who contracts him, and the sweet lounge singer he cares for. All that said, action film aficionados will probably delight most in those insane slo-mo bullet-riddled shootouts from start to finish.

NB – Rap fans will get an extra kick of out of this one, recognizing many scenes (from the English-dubbed version) as being sampled liberally on the 1995 classic album, Only Built for Cuban Linx... by Raekwon the Chef of the Wu-Tang Clan.
 

The good folks at the Gourmet Gaming blog - where videogame-based culinary creations come to life with nicely detailed recipes provided - were recently inspired by the GTAV Trailer enough to whip up one of Grand Theft Auto's most cherished fast food treats: the Cluckin' Bell Fowl Burger.

Very nicely done - although we have to admit the real life version does look like a much more tasty and wholesome meal than what we imagine you'd get served up on a tray in a Cluckin' Big Meal - and it probably won't give you mammary gland swelling, erectile dysfunction, hair loss, heart disease, brain shrinkage, obesity, stomach ulcers, blindness or teenage acne.

Check out their recipe here: http://www.gourmetgaming.co.uk/post/12243540822/grand-theft-auto-iv-cluckin-bell-fowl-burger-to

And also have a look back while you're there at their equally impressive Burger Shot Bleeder recipe from earlier this year (enjoyed with an ice cold Piswasser): http://www.gourmetgaming.co.uk/post/6316656555/grand-theft-auto-iv-the-bleeder-recipe-like.