The Hunger Games Peacekeeper Vehicles

At Cinema Vehicles, our team was prepared to meet the epic challenge of bringing The Hunger Games Peacekeepers, futuristic armored Humvees, to the big screen.

The Hunger Games is a trilogy of novels by Suzanne Collins. The Hunger Games series follows the adventures of Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark: two teenagers who live in Panem, a future nation split into Districts and deprived of resources; each of these Districts puts forth a pair of tributes every year to fight to the death with one another for necessary supplies in the contest homonymous to the franchise.

The popular accompanying film series, which has grossed nearly three billion dollars across four films, showcases the creative and imaginative work of the set designers who brought this fictional world into reality.

At Cinema Vehicles, our team was prepared to meet the epic challenge of bringing The Hunger Games Peacekeepers, futuristic armored Humvees, to the big screen.

The SJ-7 Peacekeeper Assault Transport

In the films, Panem’s Peacekeepers play the antagonists to Katniss and her rebellion. Their main mode of ground transport is the SJ-7 Peacekeeper Assault Humvee, a menacing vehicle built for off-road use and tactical operations. The Hunger Games car was built with strength and power in mind; the vehicle’s specifications in the movies included 70mm bulletproof glass, a V-Hull design to withstand explosions, and a Granthom 12 liquid-cooled engine with a powertrain that could generate 827 horsepower.

Challenges with the SJ-7 Peacekeeper Build

The Hunger Games Peacekeeper Humvees were a large build to undertake and therefore were quite a challenge to complete. For example, the SJ-7 build needed raised frames and suspensions to fit in a Ford L8000 chassis. Our team worked around this issue by adding additional frame rails and using stock suspension components to lift the SJ-7’s suspension.

Another challenge with the build centered on the axles. Our team changed the axles and tires from dually axle/double tire to single axle/single tire, widening the axle and axle housing, and replacing the skin and framing of the vehicle.

Finally, time was a critical factor for the build, especially when we had to adhere to a different specification for the stunt vehicles. Our custom build team resolved this issue through larger economies of scale and additional manpower.

Where Does the SJ-7 Peacekeeper Appear in the Movie?

In the second, third, and final movies of the film series, The Hunger Games Peacekeeper Humvees appear in many of the scenes where Katniss and company skirmish against the Panem Peacekeepers in Districts 11 and 12. In one scene from The Hunger Games: Mockingjay: Part 1, the SJ-7 appears prominently entering into a Peacekeeper base in District 6.

For the films’ productions, our team had to build 10 of The Hunger Games Peacekeeper Humvees for different shots in the three films. Half of these production vehicles were open bed-style Humvees and the other half were enclosed, SUV-style Humvees. Both of The Hunger Games car styles were designed to fit into the various environments that are present throughout the Hunger Games universe.

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The Hunger Games series was a success with both fans and critics worldwide, due in part to the high quality production design, including vehicles like the SJ-7 Peacekeeper Humvee. Cinema Vehicles is proud to have been a part of what has become one of the most popular film franchises in history.

If your TV, film, or commercial production is looking to include a custom built vehicle, please contact our custom build team at (818) 780-6272 or through our contact page.

The Divergent Series Allegiant Movie Spaceship

Based on a trilogy of novels by Veronica Roth, The Divergent Series takes place in a post-apocalyptic version of Chicago, wherein the Bureau has divided citizens into one of five possible personality-related factions. This segregation of society stems from a utopic vision of the future in which neutralizing independence will form a safer, obedient world.

In the third installment of the related film series, Allegiant, the main characters in Tris and Four must escape from the walled-off city in order to reveal new truths to the world inside Chicago about the insidious plans of the Bureau. The Divergent Series: Allegiant movie grossed 179 million dollars in the box office.

At Cinema Vehicles, our team designed the spacecraft used during the film’s escape scenes. The spacecraft added to the film’s big budget production and made those scenes more believable to the film’s sci-fi audience.

Specifications for the Escape Spaceship

Our team designed the spaceship to be a futuristic spacecraft in order to fit the Divergent series’ post-apocalyptic world. We integrated automation into the windows of the escape ship and added moveable hand controls and foot pedals for the cast to interact with.

We included rear wings and engines into the back end of the ship for the fly away shots of the ship. And we also engineered automated sliding cockpit doors for the entering and exiting shots of the spacecraft.

The specifications for The Divergent Series: Allegiant movie spaceship were very critical to its design from an engineering perspective, since the build called for an internal structure that could be raised or lowered on a linear slide. We made this design to give the visualization of the seats and internal structure rotating mid-flight, which was important for action scenes when the craft pitches forward or backwards.

Challenges with the Escape Spaceship Build

Our team had to overcome many challenges over the course of creating this original design for The Divergent Series: Allegiant movie spaceship. First, we had to build the ships from basic drawings and no actual dimensions.

Next, although the spaceship did not fly, we had to engineer some level of functionality into the build to make the ship appear more realistic. We accomplished this through constructing a frame jig from printing life-size drawings of the spacecraft.

Another challenge that we had with creating the ship was building a tubular frame and fiberglass body only from a 2D drawing. Our team had to make these parts all fit together flawlessly with a minimum amount of space.

Finally, we had to modify the spaceship’s shipping crate with an internal tubular frame and mounting structure to travel to the studio, so the spacecraft could be kept in suspension and not be damaged.

Where Does the Escape Spaceship Appear in the Movie?

Our spacecraft can be seen throughout Allegiant, but the ship is most prominently shown in the latter half of the movie during the escape scenes with Tris, Four, and Christina. The scene begins as Tris hijacks David’s ship and the trio escapes from the Bureau.

David, the antagonist of the movie, played by Jeff Daniels, uses The Divergent Series: Allegiant movie spaceship as his personal vehicle throughout the film. David’s ship highlights not only the sci-fi landscape of Chicago, but also the main modes of travel in the Divergent universe.

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Our team at Cinema Vehicles brought the Divergent series’ futuristic setting and action-packed plot to life through the escape spaceship build. We were proud to have our work included into the film adaptations of one of the most successful young adult book franchises in history.

If your TV, film, or commercial production would like to have a custom made vehicle, like the one shown in the Divergent Allegiant movie, please contact our custom build team at (818) 780-6272 or through our site’s contact page.

G.I. Joe Movie Vehicles

The G.I. Joe movie vehicles represent the militaristic world that first brought us the term “action figure.” Our team at Cinema Vehicles set out to bring these G.I. Joe Humvees to life for the big screen.

G.I. Joe, the iconic toy, comic, and media franchise from Hasbro was adapted into a live-action film franchise in 2009 by Paramount Pictures. G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, the first film in the series, grossed a staggering 302 million dollars worldwide. A key component in the franchise’s international success was the set design and effects in the movies.

At Cinema Vehicles, our team developed the G.I. Joe Humvees that were used in the film, and after we go how we made those vehicles, it will be clear how we added significant value to film’s production.

The G.I. Joe Armored Humvees

We designed the Humvees to be futuristic, tactical trucks for the G.I. Joes to ride off to wherever the Joes’ missions took them. The vehicles appear in several spectacular scenes where the Joes fire back at Cobra members to disable their plot of world domination.

For the production of G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, we had to customize many vehicles for the films many action and crash scenes. In total, we built 7 of these trucks, and we formatted each Humvee to look like they would withstand any Cobra gunfire or bombs.

Challenges with the G.I. Joe Build

While the vehicles were not complex in their design, the Humvees took a while to customize for the movie. So similar to the Humvees we built for The Hunger Games movies, we had very little time to complete these builds.

We also had to customize these G.I. Joe movie vehicles for action scenes in the movie, which meant designing the vehicles to be safe and secure for the actors and stunt personnel who rode or drove the vehicles, since some of the shots of the Humvees were made for crash and inside the cabin scenes.

Where Do the G.I. Joe Humvees Appear in the Movie?

The G.I. Joe Humvees are included in some of the main action sequences in the film. The Humvees appear in the opening scene of the movie where a Cobra squadron attacks the Joes from the air. In one scene, some of the Humvees are destroyed in the ensuing skirmish and the rest fire back at the Cobra air offensive.

In the following scene, G.I. Joes Duke and Ripcord, the protagonists of the film, share a moment of panic as they realize the Baroness, one of the film’s antagonists, has killed some of their comrades. Finally, the Humvees also show up is in the Joes’ base when Cobra fighters help the Baroness escape the Joes’ capture.

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G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra has inspired a new generation of movies and toys that have revitalized the brand in past few years. Our team at Cinema Vehicles was happy to produce the G.I. Joe movie vehicles, and we were proud to bring the story of the G.I. Joes to life once again.

If your TV, film, or commercial production requires a custom built vehicle, please be sure to contact our custom build team at (818) 780-6272 or through our contact page.

Gangster Squad Movie Cars

Cinema Vehicles was called to create custom Gangster Squad movie cars. These old gangster cars needed the look and feel of 1940’s authenticity, and Cinema Vehicles was up to the challenge.

Gangster Squad is a 2013 crime thriller based in post-World War II Los Angeles. The film follows the exploits of Chief Bill Parker (Nick Nolte) and Sgt. Jerry Wooters (Ryan Gosling), to stop gangster Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn) by forming the ‘gangster squad’.

Our team at Cinema Vehicles enjoyed working with the production crew to recreate some of these vehicles from the 1940’s. For the film, we created many of the sedans used during the film, and we built a replica trolley for the 1940’s Los Angeles backdrop scenes.

Old Gangster Cars Build

Our team was tasked with recreating the Gangster Squad movie cars. We love old cars, and this project really allowed us to build some amazing classics. The cars in the movie were restored 1930’s sedans, which added to the noir and gritty look that one associates with a gangster film.

We also had to make a custom built trolley for the film’s downtown Los Angeles scenes. The trolley that we built was a labor of love for our creative department, as the build required some historical authentication and particular attention to detail in order to match the requirements for the production team.

Challenges with the Old Gangster Cars Build

Our team had to overcome two overall obstacles in the Gangster Squad movie cars build. First, we had to produce many vehicles for the Gangster Squad’s large action scenes. We made approximately 25-30 vehicles for this movie, since many of the larger scenes often had 10 or more cars in each shot.

Second, we also had to recreate all of the vehicles and the trolley from photos of the 1930’s and 40’s style. This recreation process was difficult, because replicas and photos from the 1930’s and 40’s are hard to find now, and we had to match each vehicle to the time period.

Where Do the Gangster Squad Movie Cars Appear in the Movie?

The cars that we did for this film were included throughout most of the movie. There are two particular scenes that highlight the cars and trolley. The first scene is the squad’s first mission wherein the gangster squad chases down criminals who are escaping from a club. The squad stops all but one gangster who escapes in one of the replica cars. The second scene is where gangsters shoot out into the streets of downtown Los Angeles with tommy guns. The gangsters’ getaway vehicles and the trolley are prominently shown in this dark scene.

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Gangster Squad took viewers back in time to a world in which the criminal underworld and the police forces clashed, with old gangster cars and police vehicles equally matched in power and speed. Historical accuracy and authenticity were crucial in this build, and our team delivered some truly amazing — and authentic —cars for the film.

If your TV, film, or commercial production is looking for a custom built vehicle, please contact our custom build team at (818) 780-6272 or through our contact page.

The Avengers Movie Cars Custom Build

The development of The Avengers movie cars was one of the largest projects for our team. Cinema Vehicles built almost every vehicle for The Avengers movie production. Each vehicle required a lot of custom building to match the needs of the Agents of Shield.

Based on the Marvel comic book series of the same name, 2012’s The Avengers is the centerpiece of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The story follows six superheroes, including Iron Man, Captain America, and The Hulk, who band together in order to defeat Loki, the brother of Thor.

The 2012 megahit achieved a record 1.5 billion dollars at the box office, and the series of movies based on the alliance of these superheroes has dominated theaters ever since, with multiple franchises following the individual Avengers taking the box office by storm in recent years.

In The Avengers, the Agents of Shield organization is the governing body of these superheroes and helps to assemble them when Loki attempts to take over the Earth. Our team at Cinema Vehicles created the Agents Of Shield cars used throughout the film.

Development of the Shield SUV

We began most of the cars shown on film from a stock Acura SUV and turned each of them into mean looking tactical vehicles. We customized the suspension for each car for off-road travel and front bumpers for their tactical, police cruiser look. We also customized the paint job on each vehicle to show the iconic eagle symbol of the Agents of Shield.

Challenges with the Agents Of Shield Cars

Obviously, with one of largest builds, we also had many challenges to overcome. We had to build and customize The Avengers movie cars in a very limited time. We had to emboss most of the vehicles with the Shield insignia, Shield logo, and I.D. tag. We also had to fit each SUV with custom 1-piece cast wheels, front bumpers, push bars, and lights.

These features were designed to emulate modern police and tactical vehicles, yet exceed those requirements with extra gear in order to mimic Shield’s extra-governmental status in the canon.

Where Does the Agents Of Shield Car Appear in the Movie?

The Agents Of Shield cars are found throughout the movie in scenes where Agents of Shield are engaging with the Avengers’ efforts to defeat Loki. In the beginning of the film, the vehicles are used to track down Loki after his escape with Shield’s tesseract, and at the end of the film, the vehicles are shown in the movie’s major fight scene. Many of the production vehicles were either crashed or used in lead character driving shots.

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Our team at Cinema Vehicles worked tirelessly to bring The Avengers movie and the Agents of Shield from the comic books to the silver screen. We’re proud to be a part of one of the most successful franchises in film history.

If your TV, film, or commercial production is looking for a custom vehicle, like the Agents Of Shield car, contact our custom build team at (818) 780-6272 or through our contact page.

The Fast and Furious Dodge Charger

The Fast and Furious Dodge Charger is an iconic part of a franchise representing the epitome of high-octane action films. Cinema Vehicles of Los Angeles, California customized the Charger and supplied many of the movie’s vehicles.

Beginning with the original 2001 movie, The Fast and the Furious, the movie stars Vin Diesel as Dom Toretto who is a street racing champion in Los Angeles. Dom befriends an undercover cop Brian O’Connor, played by Paul Walker, and the two go on an adventure uncovering the seedy underground world of street racing.

Our team at Cinema Vehicles built the iconic 1970 Dodge Charger R/T, which was used by Dom in the movie. We also built some of the Fast and Furious trucks seen in the movie.

The Build for the Dodge Charger

The Dodge Charger used throughout the movie’s racing scenes was a 1970 R/T with some modifications. For the movie’s street racing genre, we had to add a fake blower and bug catcher to give the vehicle visual appeal. With these features, the vehicle looked more ostensive and like what a street racing custom car would be. Due to budget restraints, it was not feasible at the time to install a real blower. This added feature helped to make the Dom’s background more believable since his day job is a mechanic.

However, we supercharged the Fast and Furious Charger in a restoration project after the movie, which we restored and eventually sold. This vehicle pulled a menacing 950 bhp on pump gas and 1250 @ nitrous. A serious mean, street machine!

Challenges with the Fast and Furious Build

The main challenge with this build was constructing multiple copies of the same vehicles without any noticeable differences amongst them. The Fast and Furious Dodge Charger had modifications that required careful tuning and adjustments, which made making multiple copies hard. This challenge was particularly difficult with the semi-trucks that we customized for the first big action scene. Not to mention the fact that the Chargers of that era are not the easiest or most cost-effective vehicles to locate.

We built three semi-trucks, which had to have all of the same sleepers and other accessories available for the production. These Fast And Furious trucks had to be spot on, since the film’s many car-loving fans would have noticed the changes.

Where Do the Dodge Charger and Trucks Appear in the Movie?

The entire film is a fantastic, adrenaline-charged spectacle for custom car builds, and our team’s work can be seen in most of the movie. The semi-trucks were featured in the film’s first action scene, and the Dodge Charger was used throughout the film as Dom’s main vehicle.

The Fast and Furious Dodge Charger first shows up in the scene where Dom and his family are introduced. The Charger’s prominent appearance comes during the final drag race between Dom’s Charger and Brian’s 1994 Toyota Supra. In this scene, Dom and Brian race to beat an oncoming train, which ultimately ends with Dom losing control of the vehicle after hitting a truck.

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The Fast & The Furious series is one of the most successful and long lasting movie franchises in recent history. With an action-packed racing and drifting and fast cars, it is no wonder why fans love the series. Cinema Vehicles is proud to have built a vehicle for the franchise’s debut movie, and to be involved in several of the franchise’s installments since.

If your TV, film, or commercial production wants to include a custom built vehicle, please contact our custom build team at (818) 780-6272 or through our contact page.

The Sorcerer's Apprentice Car Custom Build

The Sorcerer's Apprentice car was a custom Rolls Royce built from the ground up by Cinema Vehicles of Los Angeles. A demanding chase scene required The Sorcerer's Apprentice Rolls Royce to be built for performance, as well as apparent authenticity.

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice is a 2010 film, which follows the journey of Balthazar Blake, played by Nicolas Cage. Blake was once one of the supreme sorcerer Merlin’s apprentices, until Maxim Horvath and Morgana Le Fay kill Merlin. In order to avenge his teacher, Blake imprisons Horvath and Le Fay until they return in modern times to fight a new version of Merlin in Dave Stutler, played by Jay Baruchel.

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice Rolls Royce Build

We built the Rolls Royce for the production crew who wanted to showcase the film’s anachronistic style with medieval sorcerers facing off in modern day New York. We built the classic-style Rolls Royce upon a standard 2003 Silverado chassis frame to give it more mobility in the action scenes where The Sorcerer's Apprentice car weaves in and out of traffic.

We also had to modify the Rolls Royce cab and sheet metal exterior with a custom built cab in order to make the feel of the vehicle seem magical. Last, our team added some authentic Rolls Royce lettering and accessories to keep with the classic Rolls Royce style.

Challenges with the Rolls Royce Build

Our team had to build a classic car with some flair in order to fit the production team’s requests. We had to create an authentic looking Rolls Royce from the bottom up, so it would appear old yet have the necessary look and engineering for the film. We also had to overcome building the vehicle on a tight budget, which was difficult considering how expensive authentic Rolls Royce vehicle parts.

Then, we had to toe a careful line between restoring a well-known classic car and adding the magical component into the vehicle for the film. And last, The Sorcerer's Apprentice car had to meet the demands of the film’s chase scenes, and our team did some vehicle modifications on some of the high-end sports cars to meet those demands.

Where Does the Rolls Royce Appear in the Movie?

The Sorcerer's Apprentice car appears throughout the movie in the driving shots and chase scenes. We were proud to have our car featured in the main chase scene of the movie between Nicolas Cage’s Blake and Maxim Horvath, played by Alfred Molina.

The scene features Blake attempting to stop Horvath from getting outside of New York, and during this climax of the film, Horvath and Blake change their vehicles to supercars to keep pace with one another. We were also proud to have made many of the cabs used in that same big chase scene.

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This was a fun build from starting with a classic car to finishing with modern enhancements that added some mystique to the film’s set. Our team enjoyed building The Sorcerer's Apprentice Rolls Royce, because of the added challenge to the restoration work.

If your TV, film, or commercial production is interested in building a custom made vehicle, contact our build team at (818) 780-6272 or through our contact page.

Priest Movie Bike Custom Build

The Priest movie bike was a custom build by our team at Cinema Vehicles. It was an important part of the movie that had to match the extravagant style asked by the studio while being operationally safe and functional.

Priest is a 2011 dystopian sci-fi action movie, starring Paul Bettany as the eponymous character, loosely based on a Korean comic. The film is set in an alternative universe where vampires and humanity have been at odds for centuries. The story follows Priest, who is one of many warriors for humanity, and his attempts to rescue his niece, Lucy, with the help of the local town sheriff, Hicks.

Our team at Cinema Vehicles created the bike that the Priest and Hicks use throughout the movie to travel around the world of Priest’s desolate landscape.

The Priest Movie Motorcycle Design

The design for the motorcycle used in the film was made to fit the film’s dystopian, futuristic setting. Therefore, our team built in dust guards onto the front of the bike and padded the bike’s sides with armor. The dust guards on the front of the bike along with the armor-plated wheel well made the bike align more closely to dystopian, desert setting in Priest.

Finally, the form of the Priest movie bike was streamlined for the long shots of travelling across the desert seen in the latter half of the movie. For this reason, our team chose a faster looking, Suzuki bike to fit that bill.

Challenges with the Priest Movie Motorcycle Build

The world of Priest, much like other recent horror action films, required a very unique build, which included many challenges along the way. Our team had to design the bike around a standard Suzuki Gladius bike to adhere to Priest’s cinematographic direction. The Priest movie bike had to make sense for the flat terrain of the Priest universe, so that is why we chose to go with the Suzuki as a base bike.

Another challenge with the build is that we had to build one of the two main bikes for the film. Therefore, we had to work with the studio closely to create this unique build. We also had to match the extravagant design from the studio, while also modifying the bike to be operationally safe and functional.

Where Does the Priest Movie Motorcycle Appear in the Movie?

The Priest movie motorcycle made appearances throughout the film’s many desert scenes and chase scenes. The design of the bike is most prominent in the initial shot of the Priest and Hicks leaving Augustine in order to go find Lucy. This shot is featured on the film’s main poster. The bike was also shown during the fight scenes against the vampires in their strongholds.

The Priest movie bike was an integral part of the storytelling since motorcycles were the Priest and Hicks’ only modes of transport throughout the movie.

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Our team found the build for Priest to be challenging and fun. The bike that we made for the film was outside our normal requests for modified cars, but we enjoyed the rigor of building an amazing custom bike for the dystopic movie. We thought our design for the Priest bike combined the cyberpunk, futuristic style of the universe with the functionality and safety required for the many action scenes.

If your TV, film, or commercial production wants to include a custom built vehicle, please contact our custom build team at (818) 780-6272 or through our contact page.

The RoboCop Car Custom Build for 2014’s Robocop Reboot

2014 saw a reboot of this classic movie, and Cinema Vehicles was up to the challenge of creating a Futuristic Police Car to became the new RoboCop Car.

The original RoboCop is a fan favorite sci-fi movie from the 1980’s. The new film updated the story of RoboCop to fit our modern times, but the overall plot remained familiar.

Set in 2028, the story is centered around Alex Murphy, a Detroit police detective who is maimed during a car bomb explosion sabotaged by a local crime boss. After his body is recovered from the wreck, weapons and robotics manufacturers OmniCorp designs a cybernetic interface to attach to Alex’s remaining body and transforms him into cyborg, nicknamed RoboCop.

At Cinema Vehicles, our team was tasked with designing the updated version of the futuristic police car used by RoboCop throughout throughout the film.

The Futuristic Police Car Build

For this project, our goal was to build a futuristic, yet modern looking, police cruiser to fit with the RoboCop timeline of the near future of 2028. We recreated a traditional police cruiser sedan, added new body panels and a few hood to make the car appear sleeker and smoother.

We added updated bull bars and new LED police lights to the vehicle to simulate modifications that might actually be made to police vehicles within the next decade. Finally, our RoboCop car required a custom body wrap to recreate a traditional police cruiser’s look and feel.

Challenges With the RoboCop Car Build

During this build we had to make many changes to a traditional police vehicle in order to make it seem realistic to the film’s setting. Many of the cruiser’s body panels needed to be reformatted to fit the sleeker look for the future world of RoboCop. We also had to replace the hood, and front bumper, which required intensive time management while also minding the budget.

Finally, we carefully considered the the lights and wheel wells to correspond to the rest of the car’s design. It was well worth the extra work, as the large, ostensive lights on the car helped ensure that this police car stood out on screen.

Where Does the RoboCop Car Appear in the Movie?

The RoboCop car appears in most of the film’s action scenes. After Alex turns into RoboCop at the beginning of the movie, he uses the police cruiser while OmniCorp has control over him. In many of the following scenes, RoboCop utilizes his car in order to chase down criminals in the streets of Detroit.

The car appears most significantly in one scene where Alex’s cruiser is shot by a large machine gun while in pursuit of a criminal. The car’s smooth, yet rugged, design withstands the hail of bullets shot at it — not unlike Alex’s own cybernetic suit.

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For fans of the original RoboCop movie, we attempted to recreate some of the magic and futuristic look in the 2014 film’s design of the RoboCop car. While the real engineering went into the design of RoboCop, our team felt like we should match RoboCop’s cyberpunk, futuristic look with our build of the RoboCop police cruiser.

If your TV, film, or commercial production is looking to build a custom made vehicle, contact our custom build team at (818) 780-6272 or through our contact page.