xXx
A new breed of secret agent.
xXx (2002)
Production
Budget
$70 000 000
Revenue
$277 448 382
Director
Scenario
Composer
Producer
Actors
Vin Diesel
Xander Cage
Asia Argento
Yelena
Marton Csokas
Yorgi
Samuel L. Jackson
Agent Augustus Gibbons
Michael Roof
Agent Toby Lee Shavers
Richy Müller
Milan Sova
Werner Daehn
Kirill
Petr Jákl
Kolya
Short description
Xander Cage is an extreme-sports stuntman who funds his dangerous lifestyle by selling videos of his stunts. After repeated run-ins with the law, he is recruited by Augustus Gibbons, a veteran agent of the National Security Agency, who needs someone outside the conventional spy system. Xander is sent to Prague to infiltrate a criminal group calling itself Anarchy 99, led by a former Russian army commander named Yorgi, which is suspected of planning a large-scale attack. He insists on doing the job his own way, which brings him into direct contact with the group and with Yelena, a woman whose loyalties are unclear.
Rob Cohen directed the film, his seventh feature, arriving after The Fast and the Furious. Rich Wilkes wrote the screenplay, and Neal H. Moritz produced. Vin Diesel stars as Xander, with Asia Argento as Yelena, Marton Csokas as Yorgi, and Samuel L. Jackson as Gibbons. The production, a co-production between the United States and the Czech Republic, cost 70 million USD and earned 277 million USD worldwide.
Reception was mixed. The film critics' rating stands at 5.8/10 from 178 reviews, close to the audience scores of 5.9/10 on IMDb from 193,000 votes and 6/10 on TMDB from 5,030 votes. The large gap in vote counts reflects the film's wide popular reach compared with its more limited critical following.
What's left behind the scenes
- The making of the film was marred by tragedy when stuntman Harry Connor died during the filming of a scene while doubling for Vin Diesel. Descending on a cable after a parachute jump, he collided with one of the supports of Prague's Palacky Bridge, and death occurred almost instantly. His death was captured on film, and in memory of the deceased stuntman, several re-edited shots of his last stunt were included in the final version of the film.
- According to the film's director, Rob Cohen, the avalanche scene included more than 20,000 individual sound effects.
- To reinforce the connection between Vin Diesel's character and various extreme cultures, the film features several prominent figures from those communities in cameo roles. Famous skateboarder Tony Hawk appears in a scene with a Corvette, operating a Cadillac below the bridge, and can also be seen skateboarding near Xander's house in one of the later scenes. Another professional skateboarder, Mike Vallely, operated one of the cameras and appears in a small cameo, also skateboarding. Well-known extreme motorcycle racer Rick Thorne is in the passenger seat of Tony Hawk's Cadillac, and another famous extreme motorcycle racer, Matt Hoffman, exchanges a few words with Vin Diesel at a party.
- The scene of Xander's jump in the stolen Corvette was filmed simultaneously with 18 cameras on the Foresthill Bridge in Auburn, California. At 220 meters high, it is the highest bridge in California and the third highest in the United States.
- The motorcycle Xander rides after his jump in the Corvette is a 1999 MV Agusta Serie ORO (Gold Series). Only 300 of these motorcycles were produced, and the main characteristics of this model are a 750cc four-cylinder engine, 125 horsepower, and a top speed of approximately 280 km/h.
- As Xander enters Yorgy's nightclub, the musician outside plays a melody from the classic film "The Third Man" (1949) on his zither.
- The XXX vehicle is a 1967 Pontiac GTO. Its original color was faded green.
- The portable rocket launcher used by Xander was actually a slightly modified camcorder, painted green.
- Director Rob Cohen has a small cameo as a Colombian riding a horse at the beginning of the film. Later, it is also his voice heard on the phone when an informant tells Yorgy that XXX is an undercover agent.
- A significant portion of the stunts were performed by Vin Diesel himself without the use of stunt doubles.
- The Club Йорги in the film is actually an abandoned church in the vicinity of Prague.
- The main role was initially offered to Eric Bana, but the actor declined, preferring the Australian comedy 'The Nugget' (2002).
- All of Vin Diesel's character's tattoos in the film were fake.
- The set for the interiors of the National Security Agency was constructed in Prague and featured 120 surveillance monitors.
- According to the actor himself, Vin Diesel had never ridden a motorcycle before. During the three-month preparation for filming, he was trained by specially invited bikers who were among the best in the world in motocross.
- Filming period: November 26, 2001 – March 2002.
- The director's cut has a runtime of 132 minutes.
- The snowboard that Xander rides down the mountain has a red base with a yellow stripe. Immediately after Xander throws two grenades over his shoulder, he takes off on the board over the snow, and at that moment there are green stripes on the red base. A few frames later – another jump, the base is already black. In the following frames, the color is again red with a yellow stripe.
- In the snowboard scene, Xander unzips his jacket, throws two grenades over his shoulder, and immediately jumps off the cliff. In the next frame and throughout the rest of the descent, the jacket is zipped up.
- The Russian dub of the dialogue in the club between Xander Cage and Yorgi at the 52nd minute differs significantly from the original conversation. In the Russian-language version, not only was the name of the group changed from “Anarchy 99” to “Anarchy 16,” but the reason for the group’s formation was also heavily distorted: in the original dubbing, “Anarchy 99” appeared solely for political reasons, not for profit.
- The DJs at the futuristic nightclub were members of the British trance music group Orbital. They also composed the track titled "Technologicque Park," which plays in the background.
- At the 8th minute of the film, when Xander evades a police chase in a stolen Chevrolet Corvette, it can be noticed that Vin Diesel is replaced by a stunt double behind the wheel.
- At the 9th minute of the film, as Xander speeds across the bridge, it can be noticed that the camera mounted on the passenger door changes position between cuts.
- At the 14th minute of the film, when Xander hits a robber with a shotgun, it can be noticed that the barrel of the weapon does not even touch the criminal upon impact.
- At the 21st minute of the film, during the interrogation, El Jefe holds a machete in his right hand and strikes Xander with his left. Later, he delivers another blow with his right hand, but the machete disappears in one of the shots.
- At the 50th minute of the film, when Xander and Йорги get into the car and reverse out of the garage, the vehicle is completely clean. In the next scene, as Xander and Йорги chase the Owl, the sides of the car are noticeably dirty. However, later, when they make a U-turn and stop to fire, the car is completely clean once again.
- At the 50th minute of the film, Xander makes a sharp turn in the car and shoots the fleeing Sova in the back, causing him to fall face-first onto a glass panel and slide to the ground. In one of the following scenes, as Xander and Yorgi drive away, it can be noticed that the police officer is significantly further from the panel and is lying in a completely different pose.
- At the 65th minute of the film, when Elena and Xander stand up from the table, a crew member can be seen in the reflection of the glass from an exterior angle.
- At the 82nd minute of the film, when Elena shoots through the door and kills Sova, he nearly flies out of his chair; there is not a single drop of blood on his chest, and his tie remains in place. When she examines the dead officer's body in the next scene, these details change noticeably—his legs are on the seat, the tie is thrown back, and bloodstains appear on his chest near the gunshot wounds.
- At the 92nd minute of the film, Xander leaps and grabs onto an antenna mast, hanging from it. When he emerges from under the snow in one of the following scenes, the antenna's appearance changes slightly, and two cables appear on its crossbar.
- At the 96th minute of the film, Elena presses the eyes painted on a picture, after which they spring back into place. When the painting is lifted in the next shot, the buttons beneath the eyes remain pressed.
- At the 108th minute of the film, a parachute rips a harpoon out of the submarine's hull, leaving a hole in the vessel's plating. When Xander climbs the hull of the submarine in the next scene, the mark from the harpoon hit is already gone.
- At the 2nd minute of the film, Йорги approaches the railings and places his left foot on them. After a cut, he does this again.
- At the 99th minute of the film, Xander picks up a launcher with an infrared homing head. It can be noticed that this weapon is actually a repainted ordinary video camera with a few additional parts, such as a tube, added to it.
- At the 103rd minute of the film, Gibbons and Polk are driving in a car with Czech military personnel. In this scene, it can be seen that there is no trace of a broken nose on Polk's face, although at the 42nd minute, he had a bandage on his nose and bruises under his eyes. According to the plot, several days have passed between these scenes, and it is unlikely that the agent could have recovered so quickly.
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Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
