Tag Archives: Movie

MANions

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Today’s post is a Minion-coloured MAN with a mobile banana lab. Because shut up, that’s why.

The highest grossing animated movie franchise of all time, the Minions certainly have the resources, if not the intellect, for a giant mobile banana research centre. But seeing as mankind has genuinely conducted studies to determine that ‘Electric Fans have a Beneficial Effect in Extreme Heat’, ‘All Mammals above 3kg in Weight Empty their Bladders in Between 8 and 34 Seconds’, and – our favourite – ‘People Would be Able to Run Across a Pond if it was on the Moon and They were Wearing Flippers’, who are we to argue with the Minions’ choice of research?

Flickr’s Stefan is the unseen supervillain in command of this arrangement, and there’s more of his MANion to see at his photostream. Click the link above take a look, or here to learn that, shockingly, ‘People Adjust their Clothing Choices Depending Upon the Temperature‘. Thanks Scientists.

Little Haulers

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After a few car-less days we have a trio of vehicular creations to showcase today. None are cars mind…

Still, they are excellent, hence their appearance here, and each proves you don’t need a million pieces or to know The Brothers Brick secret handshake to see your creation blogged.

First up is a vehicle from way back at the very beginning of the ‘Fast & Furious’ franchise, Brian’s Ford F-150 Lightning, complete with ‘The Racers Edge’ decals and a bed full of rather easily stolen car parts. Previous bloggee IBrickItUp is the builder and you can drive to Toretto’s to order a ‘tuna on white with no crust‘ via the link above.

Today’s second small-scale vehicle comes from Justus M., whose classic RV is quite magnificently beige. It also features some simply ingenious suspension, deploying your Mom’s recently blogged ‘golden handcuff’ pieces to brilliant effect. You can see how Justus has done it via the link to his photostream above, where you can also find a video of the springy ‘cuffs in action.

Today’s third and final creation is two really, with Thomas Gion‘s ace 1969 Dodge A100 van and BBQ smoker trailer in tow. As Thomas also goes by the moniker ‘HotDogSandwiches’ it’s a rather appropriate pairing, and you can grab a bun and tuck in to a perfectly smoked sausage via the link in the text above.

Build Small

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Sometimes you don’t need ten thousand pieces to build something blogworthily good. A few hundred might be all that’s required, and previous bloggee IBrickedItUp is proving that today with three top-quality small-scale creations.

Each combines clever techniques, an eye for detail, and excellent presentation to great effect, and all have building instructions available too.

IBrickedItUp’s Jeep Wangler crossroads (plus some neat street furniture), City Bus, and ‘Back to the Future’ DeLorean DMC-12 time-machine can all be found at their Flickr photostream, alongside a range of other real-world vehicles recreated in miniature from a small number of relatively available pieces.

Click the link above to take a closer look, and see what your pieces could create.

Duunan Duunan…

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One of Steven Spielberg’s most iconic movies – and his biggest cinematic regret – ‘Jaws’ was a triumph.

The highest grossing film ever upon its release, the 1975 blockbuster spawned several increasingly terrible sequels, taught an entire generation to (unfairly) fear sharks, and arguably led to the creation of the most-watched music video of all time. Which if anything Spielberg should be more regretful for than the whole shark-persecution thing.

Anyway, paying homage to one of the all-time film greats is Justus M., who has superbly recreated the ‘Orca’ fishing boat from the movie, along with an ominous fin in the water….

Join the hunt at Justus’ photostream via the link above, and cue the most famous two notes in film-score history…

It’s 106 miles to Chicago…

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…we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it’s dark… and we’re wearing sunglasses.

Delightfully over-the-top, loud, and perhaps lacking some substance, the 1974 Dodge Monaco ‘Bluesmobile’ and the 1980 musical comedy ‘The Blues Brothers’ in which it starred are the perfect mirror of one another.

This glorious Speed Champions version of the ‘Bluesmobile’ captures the film car beautifully, coming from TLCB regular Jonathan Elliott who has based his superbly-presented model on brickhead_07’s free building instructions available at Rebrickable. 

There’s more of the model to see at Jonathan’s photostream via the first link, the building instructions on which it is based can be found via the second, and you can watch every car crash from ‘The Blues Brothers’ by clicking here. The movie set a world record for the most…

LEGO 76252 Batcave – Shadow Box | Set Preview

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LEGO’s ‘Set for Adults’ just keep getting bigger. This is the brand new 76252 Batcave – Shadow Box, a £345/$399, near-4,000 piece tableau that recreates Batman’s secret lair from the 1992 blockbuster ‘Batman Returns’ in mini-figure scale. And yes, we had to look up what a ‘tableau’ is.

Measuring over half-a-metre in length, featuring seven mini-figures, the Batmobile, and 3,981 pieces, almost all of which are black (or very very dark grey), 76252 is one of the largest mini-figure scale sets that LEGO has ever produced.

Hinging along its right-hand edge, allowing the box – sorry tableau – to open , a variety of small play features are included, which can be controlled from the back via hidden mechanisms. These include a rotating chair, changing computer screen, opening toolbox, and an “illuminated Batsuit vault”. It’s safe to say a ‘tableau’ is more about the visuals than the functions…

Due for release exclusively at LEGO.com on June 8th, the LEGO 76252 Batcave – Shadow Box is – like many of the brand’s recent sets – aimed at ages 18+, although for once the black packaging is more than marketing gimmick. With nearly 4,000 black or very very dark grey pieces, we expect the age on said packaging is more than a marketing gimmick this time too, as we can only imagine how difficult to read the instructions will be.

So what do you think internet? A spectacular homage to the 1992 ‘Batman Returns’ movie, a source of all the black and very very dark grey parts you will ever need, or another unattainable LEGO set priced so far out of reach only Bruce Wayne could afford it? There’s at least a neat circularity to 76252 if it’s the latter.

Is it Real. Is it Recall.

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1990’s ‘Total Recall’ was a brilliant idea made not very well. But it did have Sharon Stone in it. Thus in 2012 Hollywood decided to release a remake, and it was a brilliant idea made not very well. But it did have Kate Beckinsale in it.

Perhaps the third time will be the charm, but the 2012 version wasn’t without merit, and it also included some cool police hover-cars not unlike those more famously featured in another Philip K. Dick book-turned-movie.

This recreation of the ‘Total Recall’ police hover-car comes from cixpack of Flickr, there’s more to see via the link above, plus you can watch the movie version (and Kate Beckinsale) in action by clicking here.

Prime Position

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We’re breaking a few of our own rules today…

This creation is virtual. It features a cartoonish caricature. Oh, and a big bald meathead, who may or may not have LEGO arms.

But seeing as the movies from which it’s inspired are also pretty much virtual (no, physics does not do the things it appears to in the ‘Fast & Furious’ franchise), feature cars that too are cartoonish caricatures, and that also include the aforementioned big, bald meathead, we’re going to let it pass. In the name of “Family…”, or something.

Built for the ‘Iron Builder’ contest, in which participants must use a usually-obscure LEGO piece (in this case a Spike Prime Colour Sensor), Ivan Martynov’s homage to the most profitable (and worst) movie franchise of all time includes several of the chosen part hidden throughout it, including the Dodge Charger’s supercharger, the floodlights, hidden within the cityscape, and most cunningly as a meathead torso.

There’s more to see at Ivan’s photostream, and you can ignore physics whilst muttering “Family…” for little-to-no-reason via the link in the text above!

Sub-Optimus Prime

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If the Michael Bay ‘Transformers’ movies were directed by the people that make ‘Bob the Builder’, the result might look a little something like this.

Replacing angry alien robots with, er… cute alien robots, Angus MacLane has optimised the adorability of the leader of the Autobots, and there’s more to see of his charming ‘Sub-Optimus Prime’ transforming truck on Flickr.

Click the link above for the cutest robot in disguise you’ll see today.

Prime Mover

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LEGO’s 1,500 piece, £150, fully transforming 10302 Transformers Optimus Prime set got TLCB Elves very excited when we revealed it here last year. In fact we thought they could only be more hyped if Megan Fox herself arrived at TLCB Towers, at which point a few of the staff would likely have matched their fanaticism. However previous bloggee Ralph Savelsberg has proved there is even more excitement to be had, with his fantastic Optimus Prime ‘Combat Deck’.

Based on the Transformers G1 toy, Ralph’s creation attaches to the official 10302 set brilliantly, before unfolding to reveal an array of equipment essential in the protection of Earth. The toy’s boom-mounted rotating missile thingumy, combat stations, and a spring-fired ‘Roller’ armoured 6×6 car are all accurately recreated in brick form, as are the stickers and livery, which Ralph has replicated superbly via some cunning brickwork.

There’s a whole lot more to see at Ralph’s ‘Lego Optimus Prime with Custom Combat Deck’ album on Flickr, and you can join a gaggle of ridiculously excited Elves there by clicking the link above.

Porco Rosso

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This ace looking aircraft is a Savoia S.21 racing floatplane, as featured in the Japanese animated movie ‘Porco Rosso’. Like most things from Japanese cartoons (fighting robots, ball-stored transforming creatures, giant lizards, and improbably-proportioned schoolgirls to name a few), the Savoia S.21 not real, but it is titled after (and vaguely inspired by) an actual 1910s Italian floatplane.

Flown by a cigarette smoking, wine drinking, moustachioed pig, the S.21 is used to hunt air pirates, who are like regular pirates, only in the air. Look, it doesn’t have to make any sense, the plane’s still cool, and there’s more to see of this Lego version courtesy of LEGO7 on Flickr via the link.

I Said a Ten Second Car

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Here it is. The car responsible for more hype, mis-understood physics, and ignorant YouTube comments than any other over the past two decades. Yup, this is Brian O’Conner’s modified Toyota Supra Mark IV from first film in the seemingly never-ending ‘The Fast and the Furious’ movie franchise.

Complete with retina-searing orange bodywork, the single worst decals ever applied to an automobile, and various unspecified modifications, the star movie car would became an icon. An icon that, despite LEGO having a license both with Universal Pictures and Toyota, is yet to become an official LEGO set.

Cue previous bloggee barneius, who has recreated that Toyota Supra from 2001’s ‘The Fast and the Furious’ brilliantly in Speed Champions scale. Retina-searing orange bodywork, the single worst decals ever applied to an automobile, and various unspecified modifications have all been faithfully replicated in brick form, and if you fancy your owning your very own ‘ten second car’ there are building instructions and purchasable stickers too.

More superbly presented images of barneus’ build are available to view at his ‘Toyota Supra MK4 The Fast and the Furious’ Flickr album, and you can live your life a quarter-mile at a time via the link in the text above, before starting a fight in the comments about how the Toyota Supra Mark IV is the best and most awesomest car ever.

Speed Champions 76917 ‘2 Fast 2 Furious’ Nissan Skyline GT-R (R34) | Set Preview

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Our sneaky Elves have unearthed another new-for-2023 LEGO set, and the names just keep getting longer. This is the brand new Speed Champions 76917 ‘2 Fast 2 Furious’ Nissan Skyline GT-R (R34).

As featured in the Oscar-winning 2003 ‘The Fast and the Furious’ sequel… wait, no that’s not right… Ah yes, the awful 2003 ‘The Fast and the Furious’ sequel, Brian O’Conner’s modified Nissan Skyline GT-R was as integral to the plot as street racing culture, something about drugs, and saying ‘bruh’ in every line of dialogue.

LEGO’s officially-licensed Speed Champions set recreates Brian’s whip really rather well to our eyes, with a decent balance between brick-built detail and decals, utilising plenty of ‘SNOT’ techniques.

Aimed at ages 9+, the Speed Champions 76917 ‘2 Fast 2 Furious’ Nissan Skyline GT-R (R34) set includes 319 pieces, a ‘Brian O’Conner’ mini-figure, and will reach stores in early 2023. Will that Supra be next?

Insert Out-of-Fuel DeLorean Here

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This steam locomotive might look familiar to you… Built by Rogers Locomotive and Machine works in the 1890s, locomotive ‘No.3’ was a coal and later oil-fired steam locomotive used for various steam locomotive things; hauling freight, transporting passengers, and constructing various railroads across California during the early 20th century.

After three decades of service Locomotive No.3’s owners, the Sierra Railway Company, went bankrupt during the Great Depression, and it was laid up for fifteen years in a siding. The locomotive somehow dodged being melted down for the war effort, and after the Second World War ended it was acquired for film use, whereupon ‘No.3’ began a career that saw it star in around forty movies and TV shows, including ‘High Noon’, TLCB favourite ‘The Great Race’, and – perhaps most famously – ‘Back to the Future, Part III‘.

Restored in the 2010s, Locomotive No.3 is still running today, and thus may yet add even more stardust to an already incredible legacy. This wonderful recreation by firefabric of Eurobricks captures probably the world’s most seen steam train beautifully, and it includes a LEGO Powered-Up motor and LED lights hidden inside.

There’s much to more of the model to see, including full build details, at the Eurobricks discussion forum, and you can step into one of almost forty movie sets via the link in the text above.