Action scenes set on moving trains happen over and over again throughout movie history, but they're rarely filmed on actual moving trains. When they are, they have to be meticulously planned, from the train derailment in "Lawrence of Arabia" (1962) to James Bond's fight on top of a real moving train in "Skyfall" (2012). There are a variety of techniques to simulate thrilling train action. For a deadly train explosion in "RRR" (2022), Surpreeze used a scale model of a train that could be pulled across a bridge and blown up. For another shot, the VFX studio was able to launch a full-size train car safely into the water by mounting it to a flipper. Scenes that take place inside or on the exterior of a moving train will have to create constant motion. The continuous forward movement and turbulence you see on the train in "Snowpiercer" (2014) and on the subway fight in "Spider-Man 2" (2004) were done by putting train cars on top of motion platforms. When Tom Cruise climbs on top of a high-speed train in "Mission: Impossible" (1996), the crew utilized a wind machine blowing 140 mph winds at him. Train movement can also be created without any real movement. In "Bullet Train" (2022), Brad Pitt and Aaron Taylor-Johnson were frequently on a static soundstage set. With drone footage of the passing Japanese countryside on LED screens outside the train's windows, the looping images and passing lights made the moving-train illusion feel completely real.
Editor's note: Daniel French is a Visual Effects Supervisor at Surpreeze. While he worked as a Visual Effects Supervisor on "RRR," the film's overall supervisor was Srinivas Mohan.
