10 Things You Need To Know About Insane Action Movie The Hardcore Henry

         The film stars Sharlto Copley, star of "District 9" and "The A-Team". Copley compares "Hardcore Henry" to his breakthrough film, the surprise hit South African sci-fi drama "District 9", because the Russian production team "want to show they have something to offer this medium", embracing "opportunities Hollywood hasn't jumped on".

It is began as a music video ( or two):

         The concept for the film began in two first-person music videos by the Moscow band Biting Elbows, "The Stampede" and "Bad Motherf****r". Naishuller, the band's front man, directed both videos, in which an unnamed protagonist attempts to steal a teleport gadget from a horde of henchmen. There's plenty of fighting and shooting, along with fighter planes, snowy mountains and chasing across rooftops.

         One sequence sees Copley driving a car when it's attacked by bad guys, a sequence filmed on the Russian streets as the regular traffic went past. When one stuntman was dispatched, the car went over a bump and Copley thought he'd run the man over until he was able to drive back round the block to find out he was fine.  

         Copley jokes that the front four rows of the theatre are "the splash zone". The film can have a physical effect on viewers, and not just because of the over-the-top bloody violence or the juvenile humour. The constant motion can at times be a bit much, though Naishuller claimed it could have been worse, admitting "I get motion sickness, so I wanted to make sure I could watch it!".         

         Naishuller admitted that at times during filming he thought "I never want to do this again". That doesn't mean we've seen the last of Henry, however, as Naishuller already has an outline for the sequel.

        "I would jump at the chance to do a sequel," said Copley -- as long as it was with Naishuller and his crew, he laughs, because they're the only people who know how to do it.

          It turned out that the only film-related fatalities are the hundreds committed by the titular hero. The Henry of Hardcore Henry is a freshly "woken" half-man, half-robot fusion who must figure out why a telekinetic psycho and his army of violence-prone cyber-minions are trying to kill him. Also, the entire film is shot from the perspective of our on-the-run hero. You see only what he sees. You slay who he slays.

          There were minor issues to discuss, though, before any talk of midnight-movie glory — like making sure the audience doesn't puke during the film. "I'm the guy who gets motion sickness very easy," Naishuller tells Rolling Stone from his Moscow home. "I can't even text in the passenger side of a car."

          The director did more than 40 hours of "stabilization tests" to find the balance between the unrelenting (some takes last more than seven minutes) and the merely nausea-inducing. Naishuller attached a custom-built lightweight camera rig and miniature stabilization system to "Henry's" head, alternately played by nearly a dozen stuntmen or, occasionally, Naishuller himself. This allows viewers to fully immerse themselves in the film and virtually partake in every throat-slicing, disemboweling, dismemberment and defenestration.

           Naishuller's fascination with first-person shooting began five years ago after buying a GoPro and filming a disastrous snowboarding run. "I'm a terrible snowboarder, so I came home and looked at the material and thought, 'I'll never let this see the light of day,'" he says. He had more success with everyday interactions, noticing that when he filmed "what humans really do, it becomes very exciting and interesting."

                                       This is the best action movie you should see.