Brian De Palma is well known for movies like "Carrie," "Scarface," and "Mission: Impossible." His 1990 film "The Bonfire of the Vanities" was panned by critics and was also a box office bomb, but within it is one incredibly cool shot that took an unbelievable amount of planning and technique to pull off, and the result was well worth the effort. This awesome video will show you the scene as well as what went into making it.
Coming to you from Patrick (H) Willems, this excellent video will show you what went into the famous Concorde at JFK shot in Brian De Palma's "The Bonfire of the Vanities." Though the movie is otherwise mostly forgettable, it is filled with interesting visuals, but perhaps none is more arresting (especially when you know the story behind it) than the plane arrival, as it took $80,000 and an incredibly narrow window of time (just 30 seconds in an entire year) to pull off. It took an almost unfathomable amount of planning and coordination to create, but the end result was worth it, as it is such a unique and eye-catching shot that it almost demands that you rewind and watch it again. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Willems.
I had fun watching but mostly listening to this (while doing hours of clipping paths). Totally worth the $80k plus being a real shot of an actual Concord landing in NY makes it a nice totally unique piece of archive.
Having also seen a behind the scenes documentary on Barry Linden, I think this is my favourite Kubrick film. Shooting the exterior shots in natural daylight is extremely tricky plus the famous candlelight scenes are truly amazing.
If the movie was a box office failure, was that shot really well worth doing?
You have to think video rental, no internet or online stores back in 1990. If a movie was a flop, it would be hard to ever find it on tape, may be special order via a catalog. So I don't think it mattered if it was worth it or not. Everything was probably made to maximize success and if the movie was a flop, they would bet on something else. Then you had low budget movies that would be a total success and pay for the loss from the other ones. If the scene is unique, it's worth it.