Film Idea, Need Help!

Abraxas Studios

Abraxas Studios

I have an idea for a feature film, but I need to run it past you guys, I think it's good, but then again, I would.

An escaped terrorist forms an army of insurgents and takes over a small English town (Maidstone) they deploy long range missiles in the town that are capable of hitting london. An SAS team is sent in to take them out but things start going wrong, too wrong to just be a coincidence. They must work with a keen radio communicator to try and figure out who in the government is sabotaging the mission all whilst escaping the over run town.

Please let me know what you think. I am aware that this would take a fairly hefty budget, but that aside, what do you think of the premise?

Many thanks in advance!
 
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Not a bad idea. Kinda reminds me of the Nic Cage/Sean Connery flick The Rock. But I'm sure you'd write a script better than that one.

If it's executed well I can totally see that being a pretty good movie.
 
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Thanks for the feedback guys, I will take it on board :)

I will make sure that it's different from The Rock, I want it to be a hard hitting film showing the terror of what it would be like to have British soil occupied by an enemy force, but also have an element of mystery/conspiracy to it.
 
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Reminds me a bit of the Ian Fleming book Moonraker. (The film version just used the name; not plot)

Might be worth a read, just for background? I dunno.

But yeah, sounds like a decent outline. And the terr'ists would only need one missle, btw. Much easier to arrange (and hide) just one, than an entire battery complete with launch vehicles.

Go for it! :cool:
 
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Zensteve said:
Reminds me a bit of the Ian Fleming book Moonraker. (The film version just used the name; not plot)

Might be worth a read, just for background? I dunno.

But yeah, sounds like a decent outline. And the terr'ists would only need one missle, btw. Much easier to arrange (and hide) just one, than an entire battery complete with launch vehicles.

Go for it! :cool:
Click to expand...

Thank you, I'll give it a look at some point :)

As for the missiles, I'm thinking 2, I'd really like to see one fired and actually hit london, I think it would really hit home on what a large terror attack on london would do. It would also show that anything can happen in the film, I don't want it to be a film where the audience feel "safe" that everything is going to be ok :)
 
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Im not sure your outline meets your goal of "I want it to be a hard hitting film showing the terror of what it would be like to have British soil occupied "

"An escaped terrorist forms an army of insurgents and takes over a small English town (Maidstone) they deploy long range missiles in the town that are capable of hitting london. An SAS team is sent in to take them out but things start going wrong, too wrong to just be a coincidence. They must work with a keen radio communicator to try and figure out who in the government is sabotaging the mission all whilst escaping the over run town."

is an interesting exciting idea, but is more of an intrigue \ inside view of two opposing forces. There is nothing there that says "terror" other the word "terrorist." If the terrorist openly "deploy" the missiles, its more like they are using them as a threat to extract some needful thing...

If you make all the the "setting" and focus on the "terrorizing" activities inside the small town, then you have a better chance of meeting your goal. In other words, bring the terrorism home to the viewer, make it very easy for them to imagine this happening to THEM as people, not as a collective abstract like "nation."

That's my view, worth every penny you paid for it.
 
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Wheatgrinder: i see what you mean, at the moment it's still in the idea stage, so I've still got loads of room to try new things with it. The last thing I want though is for it to be a mindless action film, so as long as I steer away from that I'll be happy. I think also I'd like to include some camera phone shot footage from inside the town, very much like what is happening in Syria at the moment.

Thanks for the insight!
 
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I think Im suggesting something more fundamental than adding a few found footage shots.

Your outline describes a plot, but I think it has the wrong POV for your stated goal.

Your outline suggests an "omniscient observer or GOD like" POV. The viewer observes activities in the army HQ, they see public official reactions, and behind the scenes goings on, they can see inside the terrorist camp at some of the internal conflicts there. The focus is not on any one persons view of events, rather the story is about the entire situation. Your comments about cell phone like Syria kinda suggest to me that this is the POV your thinking about..



The rest is just me rifing on your story idea, for illustrative purposes.

From the synopsis I see three key players.

SAS team member = HERO
Terrorist Leader = BAD GUY
Government Mole = ??? (mystery, maybe he has GOOD motives, but we dont know until the end!)

The story POV (not camera POV, heck no!) centers around those three.

We get personal with these guys.. maybe we see the terrorist leader doing horrible terrorists things..
The SAS teams member ex wife and kids are IN THE TOWN, maybe some of them are terrorized!
The mole sits in on high government meetings etc, influences decisions, passes on intel etc..

... this kinda of POV lets you get VERY personal terrorize the viewer showing what it would really be like at a personal level, not like watching a recap on the nightly news!

Doing this takes your synopsis and basically turns it into a "setting" for the REAL story about these three characters.. The story is no longer ABOUT a small town being overrun by terrorist, rather it becomes a story about three men, in conflict for their lives, the stakes are both LARGE (the missiles about to be launched) and small (the SAS guy saving his kids) Now you can get PERSONAL between the HERO and the BAD GUY and show the viewer what its REALLY like to be terrorized, as an individual..
 
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I see what you mean. I didn't mean to make it seem like that. I have some characters ready for it as the film will (loosely) carry on from the short film I am currently working on. I'm going to introduce some new characters, but I already have the bad guy and the hero (and his squad) planned out.

I have a fairly good idea of what I want planned out. Already got some very specific scenes planned out :)

I would like some news scenes etc. Still got to see how it would fi in first, maybe have them after big events but leave them out otherwise.

Thanks again for your help
 
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