XXx

lowercaseInfobox Film
name = xXx


caption = "xXx" movie poster
writer = Rich Wilkes
starring = Vin Diesel
Asia Argento
Marton Csokas
Samuel L. Jackson
director = Rob Cohen
producer = Neal H. Moritz
music = Randy Edelman
distributor = Columbia Pictures
Revolution Studios
released = August 9 2002 (U.S.)
runtime = 124 min. 132 min. (director's cut)
country = United States
language = English
amg_id = 1:260394
imdb_id = 0295701
followed_by = ""
budget = $85,000,000 US (est.)

"XXX", also written xXx and pronounced "Triple X", is a 2002 action film starring Vin Diesel. "XXX" was marketed as a James Bond style film for the new millennium and featured similar gadgetry, international schemes and intrigues, villain-sponsored take-over-the-world schemes backed up by doomsday devices, a female co-star/love interest, and elaborate stunts (as Roger Ebert put it, "Why blow up two cars when you can blow up twenty?").

"XXX" was written by Rich Wilkes, directed by Rob Cohen (who also directed Diesel in 2001's "The Fast and the Furious"), and produced by Neal H. Moritz for Revolution Studios. It was distributed by Columbia Pictures. The novelization for the movie was written by Mel Odom.

A sequel was released in 2005, titled "" and starring rap artist/actor Ice Cube and Willem Dafoe.

Plot

Xander Cage, a.k.a. xXx, is a law-breaking extreme sports enthusiast, with a propensity for rebellious behavior. After crashing a senator's Corvette for banning extreme sports, Xander is given a choice by US Government agent Augustus Gibbons- work for him or serve a prison term for his misdeeds. He grudgingly chooses government employment. He is to go undercover in order to find out more about a rebellious underground group 'Anarchy 99' and in particular their leader 'Yorgi', a Russian ex-soldier who has a grudge against society and authority. Delving into the dark underworld inhabited by the group, Xander finds himself drawn to Yorgi's apparent girlfriend Yelena, who turns out to be an abandoned agent of a Russian intelligence agency, the FSB, and he negotiates an asylum deal with Gibbons to save, and secure her a new life in America. However, Anarchy 99 turns out to be a terrorist faction, planning a series of chemical weapons attacks on major world cities by utilizing a high speed automated sea-faring drone, named Ahab. Xander, with Yelena continuing to act as a double agent, learns that Ahab is equipped with a device designed to travel to highly populated areas where it can deploy its biological missiles and continue on its world-ending journey by submerging in the ocean. An agent-turned-criminal Milan Sova, finds Xander's methods so extreme that he defects in support of Yorgi, and Yelena is forced to kill him. Then, Xander arranges an operation to raid the remote castle which Yorgi and Anarchy 99 have been using as their base and laboratory. After Xander shoots and kills Yorgi, Xander speeds along winding roads, and parasails onto Ahab, as it speeds down a river towards Prague, finally destroying the drone and the chemicals onboard. The movie ends with Xander on vacation with Yelena in Bora Bora as agent Gibbons jokingly informs him that because of his actions during the movie, he has passed "The Test", the "Gibbons Test".

Cast

Movie themes

Various concepts and themes influenced the production of the film and are alluded to throughout the plot. These include extreme sport subcultures, anarchism, and a rejection of traditional spy-film clichés. The opening scene of the movie was referred to by Cohen as "The Death of The Tuxedo", in reference to styles of dress stereotypically worn in James Bond movies, though Cohen denied that this was meant to be a derogatory attack on such films. He also explained that the antagonist, Yorgi, was designed as a stereotypical anarchist, and was intended to act as a foil to Xander Cage's youthful rebelliousness, although he notes his personal disdain for, and displays certain misconceptions of, the political philosophy. [Director Rob Cohen makes various comments attesting to themes which played part within the film making process in an audio commentary track for the DVD release. In an attempt to describe Anarchism for the audience, he misclassifies it as a "Russian philosophy," and denounces it.]

Production

Filming of the movie took place at three locations. Most of the movie is set in Prague, Czech Republic. The Corvette jump was filmed at the Foresthill Bridge in Auburn State Recreation Area, Auburn, California. The final scenes were set in Bora Bora, Tahiti, and other areas in French Polynesia.

The first few minutes of the movie take place in a Rammstein concert in Prague. The same clip is available, but from the band's perspective (with only brief scenes from the movie) in their video compilation "Lichtspielhaus".

To imply Xander Cage's credibility within extreme sport subcultures, various personalities make cameo appearances. Tony Hawk makes a cameo appearance in the Corvette scene from the bottom of the bridge driving the getaway Cadillac, (near the beginning of the movie) and skating over a half-pipe at Xander's place later. Mike Vallely also makes a cameo as a cameraman and an extra. Pro BMX rider Rick Thorne is seen in the back seat of the Cadillac driven by Tony Hawk, and rider Matt Hoffman exchanges lines with Xander during the party scene.

Harry L. O'Connor, Diesel's stunt double, was killed in an accident during filming, in a scene in which he was supposed to rappel down a parasailing line and land on a submarine. When O'Connor failed to rappel down the line fast enough, he hit a bridge at high speed and was killed instantly. His death was caught on camera, but director Rob Cohen decided to include the footage of the scene — with the final moments edited out — out of respect for the stuntman's final act. [On the DVD's director's commentary track, Rob Cohen commented on his decision to include the edited footage of O'Connor's death in the final cut of the film.]

Xander's gadgets

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was released through Universal Records.
* Note: Some versions of the soundtrack do not contain track number 11 on either Disc 1 or Disc 2.
* "Down with the Sickness" from Disturbed was in the movie but not in the soundtrack.

Instead of this song, some versions contained the song "Me Vs. ME" by the band 4LYN.

Disc 1-The Heavy Metal Side

# "Feuer Frei!" – Rammstein
# "Bodies (Vrenna xXx Mix)" – Drowning Pool
# "I Will Be Heard" – Hatebreed
# "You Think I Ain't Worth a Dollar, But I Feel Like a Millionaire (Credited as "Millionaire" on the soundtrack)" – Queens of the Stone Age
# "Before I Die" – Mushroomhead
# "Get Up Again" – Flaw
# "Landing" – Moby
# "Adrenaline" – Gavin Rossdale from Bush
# "004" – Fermin IV
# "Technologicque Park" – Orbital
# "Juicy" – I Mother Earth

Disc 2-The Xander Zone

# "Stick Out Ya Wrist" – Nelly featuring Toya
# "Look At Me" – Lil' Wayne
# "Truth Or Dare" – N*E*R*D featuring Kelis & Pusha T
# "Are We Cuttin?" – Pastor Troy featuring Ms. Jade
# "Still Fly" – Big Tymers
# "Connected For Life" – Mack 10 featuring Ice Cube, WC & Butch Cassidy
# "Lights, Camera, Action! [Club mix] " – Mr.Cheeks featuring Missy Elliott & P.Diddy
# "I'ts Okay" – Postaboy featuring Rashad & 7A
# "Yo, Yo, Yo" – Dani Stevenson
# "Lick" – Joi
# "Ready For Action" - The Crystal Method

Director's cut

The Director's Cut of the DVD was released with about ten minutes of additional footage and sneak peeks at the sequel. There are additional scenes that foreshadowed Xander as a hero and a longer stripper-in-the-bedroom sequence. In addition to this material, the DVD contains a film short with Vin Diesel's voice dubbed in as an actor is seen from behind that shows how Xander died.

The Final Chapter: The Death of Xander Cage

This short film was a special feature on the Director's Cut of the DVD. It included Leila Arcieri, who had under thirty seconds of screentime in the film as "Jordan King", along with John G. Connolly as "Lt. Alabama 'Bama' Cobb", one of the henchmen from the sequel, "".

The short film ties up the loose ends from the first film and ties into the beginning of the sequel — albeit not very neatly. A special ops team, wearing identical uniforms to the special ops team in the sequel's opening scene, track down Xander Cage, who happens to be on a date with Jordan King. The team tricks Cage into entering a building they have rigged to explode. Cage, being the hero, enters the building in the hopes of rescuing his date. Cage meets his demise, after which Lt. Cobb arrives on the scene to verify Cage's death.

References

External links

*
*
*
*
*
* [http://www.enjoythedrive.com/content/?id=27664 Enjoy The Drive] All about the 1967 Pontiac GTO.