The Raid Trailer.... and that title

So a few days ago, this went up...

And then a few minutes later, I get about one or two hundred emails and tweets asking me with horror about the title change on The Raid. So now seems a good a time as any to address the situation and give a little more info on why we changed it.

Truthfully, none of us, the guys at SPC included, wanted to change the title from the original. But once we knew we were going to expand the film into a sequel - possibly a trilogy it opened our eyes up to maybe the need for an all encompassing title that could work for all three films.

At first it was just something we toyed around with as an idea to start using with part 2, but then it became an essential thing to do from the get go. The reason why: we found out "The Raid" itself was not available for us to use as a title in the US.

We couldn't get clearance on it and believe me we all tried but with that task becoming impossible and a release date looming - we chose to go with our idea to add a word that reflected one of the elements from the first film. Redemption was the one that fit, and it beat losing The Raid completely after all the work we'd done to establish awareness of the film.

As a film fan that only very recently found myself as part of the industry I do understand the backlash but as someone closely involved in the decision making progress alongside SPC, it was disheartening to see them being bashed for it.

So that's why I chose to give a little more insight into it.

This wasn't an "evil studio" thing, the decision had nothing at all to do with the proposed remake. This was a situation we were all forced into. You guys may not love the new addition to the title, and I'm not about to go and say Redemption is perfect, cos it's not - we all much prefer the simplicity of The Raid.

But the film, it is still the same film we screened at festivals and all I hope is that you all read whatever part of that 5 second titlecard you want to when it pops up on screen,  forget the rest and enjoy seeing my good friends beat the shit out of each other for 100mins.

The Raid Production Blog #2: Studio Sets and Effects

As seen exclusively at UGO.COM here's the 2nd Production Blog.

ENGLISH VERSION

INDONESIAN VERSION

No questions this week, so no answers :)

Check back again throughout this week though as we have some more content being released this week including a new trailer and poster. 

In the meantime please check out the following killer artwork by our Australian distributors at MADMAN FILMS

THE RAID - TEASER

THE RAID - OFFICIAL POSTER

 And also, the incredibly cool press kit they sent out...

 More to come later this week...

The Raid Production Blog #1: Bootcamp and Choreography

As premiered earlier on TwitchFilm here is the first of six production blogs detailing the making of THE RAID. We will release one each week every friday leading up to March 23rd.

THE RAID: PRODUCTION BLOG 1 - Bootcamp & Choreography

First episode covers me sending the guys to learn all they need to know about guns, knives, bombs and military strategy and a little showing the pre-vis storyboards used in pre-production during the fight scene design.

English Version

Indonesian Version

TWITTER COMPETITION

This week we began posting @THERAIDMOVIE and opened week 1 of a 5 week competition for fans to win tickets to see THE RAID at the GALA PREMIERE on March 21st. The contest is only open to Indonesian or Indonesian based entrants.

So after a week of posting captions, the winner is @.

Congrats, we look forward to seeing you at the premiere.

AND FINALLY THE Q&A....

Q. A-Bye - Apakah the Raid Cast and Crew ketika premiere di Amerika akan datang ke sana? 

A. We're unsure yet of who will be going to do any promo for the film, there's a lot of territories opening in a short space of time everything depends on demands from domestic and International promotion.

Q. kunderempFeb 11, 2012 05:12 PM
1. I wonder when Merantau DVD Special Edition will be released?
2. I believe most of Indonesians would love to hear Mike Shinoda and Joe Trapanese score. Is it possible to have it as alternative track when The Raid finally have the DVD version?
3. Is there any plan to add 'femme fatale' in BERANDAL? I can think at least four popular Indonesian actress which have Martial Art background:
- Julia Perez -> Merpati Putih
- Dinda Kanya Dewi -> Muay Thai Boxing
- Sherina Munaf -> Al-Azhar silat, Wushu
- Prisia Nasution -> Perisai Diri silat
4. Is there any plan to have Indonesian old icon of martial movie to be cameo in Berandal? I believe some people want to see 'Barry Prima', 'Rhoma Irama', 'Sandi Nayoan', etc for even 2 second in the movie. ;p
5. Is there any plan to have THE RAID as front cover for any Indonesian movie magazine (e.g. Cinemags, M2)? Being a front cover probably is more effective than having multiple TV Spot;
6. I was amazed by the sound effect when I watch THE RAID in INAFFF. Do you create your own sound effect or using the existing library of existing software? Is it possible to present the process in the Production Blog?

A. That's a lot of questions.
1. Merantau Special Edition DVD is almost finalized and will be released to coincide with THE RAID, most likely the same week.
2. Most likely we will feature both versions of the score on the DVD.
3. We have a femme fatale in Berandal, but not cast yet. I certainly hope to work with some of those on your list, but not naming names and not necessarily on Berandal. We'll see what happens further down the line.
4. Again, we'll see what happens. Too early to speculate.
5. Ideally we can get front cover AND multiple TV spots. Hopefully we'll have something out on the shelves next month.
6. It was a mix of library sounds and foley fx recorded at siam lab in bangkok. Some stuff we completely designed ourselves - the silenced gun fire for example - we hated the library sounds all "pings" and "pyuus" so we stripped it back and I asked the guys to use just the mechanics of the guns with a low deep bass thud giving the guns power but also detail.

Q. Gerardo MayukoFeb 14, 2012 08:05 AM
Hi Gareth,
I have questions regarding the crew of The Raid. On imdb page of The Raid I found these crew names mentioned :

- Gilbert Carreras (color timer)
- Bill Wohlken (post-production executive)

as far as I know, the difference between the US version and the Indonesian version is the music/score only. So how come there are 2 additional Hollywood crew making changes on the color timer and handling the post production? Does it mean the US version will have a new touch on the color and the finished editing compare to the Indonesian version?

I also found couple of names, Kier Lehman & Brian Richards, but both are working in music department. So I assume they were included because of the whole new music/score for the US release.

A. All these guys have worked their asses off in the lead up to the release, while the film and it's main content hasn't changed there are always some small fixes needed - adding more details to the end credits - the original was made before Mike and Joe worked on the score, and little shifts also like timing of the final title cards to stay in the rhythm and beat of the new score.

Q. Reny CamiraFeb 15, 2012 12:15 AM
Hi Gareth,
today I just watched a movie in XXI and you know what, there's no trailer for The Raid played yet. I mean come on, here we've got the trailer for the new Resident Evil movie which will come out in September! We also got a cool big advertising board for Battleship standing tall at Blitz Megaplex which will come out in May. The Raid? None. Nada. Not even a poster! It's less than 6 weeks to the big premiere mate. Do Merantau Films think they can just rely 100% to what Sony can pull up in terms of marketing in their territory to bring effects to our home? I can assure you mate, internet hype of The Raid haven't reached the general audience yet. Many Indonesian moviegoers who aren't really active in the internet are still blind to this movie.

Hope we will see all the marketing stuff - posters, ad board, and most importantly the trailer - showing up here soon.
A. Thanks for the spirited question. We're busy prepping materials as we speak for promo on The Raid. You'll start to see the trailer appearing in cinemas as of next week along with posters also. Other materials: radio ads, tv spots, tv bumpers, billboards, online, print - the rest of our campaign will all follow shortly after. We're not arrogant enough to believe there is an automatic audience for the film and we're working on all we can to maximize it's exposure. Buzz and hype is one thing, but the number of seats filled is what matters in order to give the film a good run in the cinema. We appreciate every single comment and link we see when enthusiastic followers of the film help us spread the word. We can't reach everyone, but hopefully come the release we'll have done enough to make the film a success.

And lastly, thanks to Phrygian, Rocky and Pamungkas 3 Kusumo for the kind words.

Fight Scenes and Promo

I'm not going to even try to encapsulate the last few months into a cohesive blog, way too much time has passed and I'm not a fan of "gloaty, look at me" writing - but I do want to take this opportunity to thank every festival programmer, blogger, reviewer, tweeter who has shown us nothing but support since Toronto til now. It's been an overwhelming experience to see the film play the way it has and I'm truly grateful every time I get to hear an audience freak out when one of our fighters...

[SPOILER] ...Rully Santoso (Machete Gang #2) snaps his back against the wall... [END]  

... it seriously makes my fucking night every time.

FIGHT SCENES...

 

So, I know I'm pretty late with these and they've been circulating for some time but here's some video updates in shiny HD. This film is reasonably violent, so please be warned before you view these clips.

HALLWAY FIGHT

FOLLOW ME

FOUR-ON-ONE

That's it for promo clips, coming up next week will be the first of many production blog videos covering the making of the film.

TWITTER

In a desperate bid to stop me from shamelessly advertising the film every 2mins on my own personal Twitter account, we've set up an official account @THERAIDMOVIE

If you should happen to tweet you can follow us and get links, images and info on any news items, reviews, press releases, tv / radio appearances that we make in the weeks leading up to the March 23rd release date. We'll also be running a competition as a giveaway for tickets to the Gala Premiere on March 21st in Jakarta (sorry Indonesian entrants only).

So please follow and spread the word.

AND FINALLY THE Q&A (Big one this time...)

Q. Sakuko Braca MontesNov 25, 2011 05:05 PM
I missed this movie at INAFFF but I saw The Raid trailer in INAFFF which is the Indonesian version. There are some additional scenes with different music plus big white block writing at the start of the trailer. I really love it! It's more hardcore than the Sony's version. Would you like to upload that one as well, so I can download it and loop it a whole day :D

Also may I know who is the music composer of that Indonesian version trailer? If possible I'd love to download it as well. The music is so badass!
A. The original composers are FAJAR YUSKEMAL and ARIA PRAYOGI, I've worked with them since Merantau. They are incredibly gifted and talented musicians who happen to have also been responsible for the sound design / mix alongside Bonar Abraham, Jack Arthur Sianjuntak and Sandika Widjaja. They did a fantastic job, this is a whole new level of sound design for an Indonesian film. They put in tireless hours and worked their bollocks off to get it done.

Q. DhietaNov 26, 2011 04:19 AM
AWESOME SIR. SIX THUMBS UP. Although I'm wondering will you put the scene of you as cameo on the movie trailer. :p
A. I was rewatching the film the other day and my cameo isn't actually there - I must have cut trimmed a few frames and not realized during the offline edit. Matt Flannery (DoP) is definitely in there tho. Keep your eyes peeled.

Q. atchaNov 27, 2011 06:25 AM
Why the release in Indonesia is postponed? I'm expecting to watch the original version before I'm leaving Indonesia for US. and if that happens, i guess I have simply have to watch Mike's scoring instead.. If it's released in US theaters.

We wanted to be able to be fair to all our distributors and have the option of going day and date the same in as many territories as possible. As the first film in Indonesian history to do this its a prestigious thing for us. It also helps us all work together to build a solid online campaign that will assist each others domestic promotion. And one last point, I'm a huge fan of Mike's work on this film. Both scores (original / US) are fantastic pieces that totally compliment the film. I'm beyond proud with the results.

Q. mixolydianDec 2, 2011 03:32 PM
Sometime I wondering how if gareth being once of the victum ikos punch in some scene,... but maybe the title problaby will be Rama vs Giant.....hahaha

A. True story, after Merantau I spoke with Iko about not holding back too much when it came to body hits. We were in a gym and I just told him to go for it and hit my in the stomach a couple of times and see how fast and hard he can hit but with a snap so that it doesn't "wind" the opponent. I figured we could do a practice session and he could use me as a punch bag. First attempt and three punches in that sneaky little fucker with his miserable aim lands a low blow straight to a delicate area. I doubled up almost coughing a ball.

So to answer your question, no I'll never fight in any of the films. Beyond my fear of scrotal bruising however, I'm also a terrible fighter - it takes skill, precision, rhythm and perfect timing to be a good screen fighter. I'm in my element sitting down, watching a tv monitor and telling those incredibly talented people you see on screen to "do it again!"

Q. Monik AsenDec 3, 2011 07:15 AM
I want to catch this movie at JAFF this December but I need to ask you first. The one which will be played there is the same version than the one played at INAFFF or will it be the much censored version?
A. Oops, sorry for the late reply on this one. As you probably already saw at JAFF, it was the same version we played at INAFFF.

Q. danDec 19, 2011 01:15 AM
all people ask how you meet iko at interview, but no one ask how you meet Yayan Ruhian, How actualy you meet Yayan and know his talent at choreography?

A. Thank you, finally! Yayan was actually part of the group assembled by Pak Edwel to handle choreography on MERANTAU. I had no intention at the time of casting him as Eric in that film. Not for a long time actually. We had allocated roles to all the choreography team (Pak Edwel, Sugeng and Berry) but hadn't found a part for Yayan yet. We knew Eric was a role that required a 50/50 split with dramatic performance and fighting skills and we searched high and low for someone to fill that spot. Thankfully Anne, my line-producer, suggested we give Yayan a try seeing as he had been the person training with Iko for that fight scene since pre-pro started.

We gave Yayan a ridiculously long 5 minute monologue to audition for the role, this monologue ended up being cut from the film (we didn't even shoot it) but Yayan's audition blew us away and we knew instantly he had a natural gift for performance as well as beating the shit out of people. Yayan truly is one of the nicest people I've worked with and is an incredibly smart, articulate man. His knowledge of Silat both in a technical and a philosophical level is astounding, and I'm so happy he is such a major part of the Merantau Films family.


Q. Andy in San Diego and ElsewhereJan 21, 2012 11:08 AM
Uh. Holy. Fuck. Hurry up and drop this in the US!
 

Alvina EFeb 2, 2012 08:18 PM
Mr. Gareth! When will it be released in the US? Been waiting for this awesome movie since forever--we're dying to see it!:)
 

mcNov 28, 2011 07:24 PM
please tell us that it's coming out before April, that seems so long to wait, the wait is already unbearable. this movie is on my mind all day, everyday!
A. I'm presuming you're all based in the US - thankfully the awesome guys at SONY PICTURES CLASSICS will be putting the film out in cinemas on March 23rd in the US! Day and date the same as our Indonesian release. Please go out and support it and prove there's a market for martial arts cinema!

Q. Hameerudin ZawawiJan 28, 2012 09:21 PM
Gareth, when can we see this in Malaysia? The movie's not listed as an upcoming film in local cinemas yet, unfortunately. I hope that's not the case. Please please please bring it here.
We have sold to Malaysia, but I'm not sure of their release plans yet. I'm hoping to put a list of territories and release dates up soon once I get confirmation.
 

Q. ZakamoFeb 4, 2012 12:58 AM
Great Trailer.... I am desperatly waiting till I can get to see this un the UK eiter at the cinema or on DVD. Also every friend I link to your trailers are too.
Cinema release for The Raid in UK is in May. But I'm going to be attending two festivals in 2 weeks time, the Jameson Dublin Film Festival and Glasgow FilmFour Frightfest both on the 25th February!

http://jdiff.ticketsolve.com/shows/126522679/events
http://www.frightfest.co.uk/Films/2012glasgow/frightfestglasgh.html

Q. Movebee TrailersFeb 7, 2012 06:48 PM
This is a great video nice work! I really appreciate the work you guys are doing keep it up!

If you like movie trailers you might as well like my blogspot check it :)
http://movebee-trailers.blogspot.com/
Thanks for the support!
 

Q. Afac3ristFeb 9, 2012 04:05 AM
Where can i buy/see this movie ...the action is amaizing.
I'm from romania...but if i can pay for it online or if the film will come to a film festival in romania..Please let me know
A. Again, for Romania I'm not sure of the release plan. I'll get back to you on it once I have any information.

And lastly, thanks to Zulfikar Akbar for your kind words. It means a lot.