Teresa Palmer Point Break

Teresa Palmer Point Break

Cast: Luke Bracey, Teresa Palmer, Edgar Ramirez
Director: Ericson Core
Rated: M
Running Time:114 minutes

Synopsis: In Alcon Entertainment's fast-paced, high-adrenaline action thriller "Point Break," a young FBI agent, Johnny Utah (Luke Bracey), infiltrates a cunning team of thrill-seeking elite athletes – led by the charismatic Bodhi (Edgar Ramirez). The athletes are suspected of carrying out a spate of crimes in extremely unusual ways.

Deep undercover, and with his life in imminent danger, Utah strives to prove they are the architects of this string of inconceivable crimes.

The film is replete with the most daring athleticism ever seen in a motion picture. These action adventure feats are performed by elite athletes representing the world's best in class in big-wave surfing, wingsuit flying, sheer-face snowboarding, free rock climbing, and high-speed motorcycling.

Point Break
Website: www.pointbreakmovie.com.au

About The Production

Chasing The Eight: The Driving Force Behind The Action In The New 'Point Break"

The idea for a 2015 'Point Break" began in the best possible place: in the hearts of true fans. 'The first -Point Break' was amazing, inspiring. We all loved it and were influenced by it," says director Ericson Core, whose intent was to honor its original premise and themes while pushing the story's physical limits to the wall…and then going over that wall by taking it to another level in ways that would have been impossible 25 years ago. 'We wanted to use that inspiration to bring our own vision of -Point Break' to the screen, expanding it on a global scale, with today's most extreme, world-class athletes driving the action."

At the same time, Ericson Core and the filmmaking team understood that a big part of what made 'Point Break" so compelling was the relationship between its two strong-willed leads: the rookie FBI agent Johnny Utah, trying to shake his demons and find his place in the world, and his elusive quarry Bodhi, a charismatic force of nature with an unusual agenda. This pivotal conflict between individuals who appear diametrically opposed but are oddly simpatico remains the basis of the story. Additionally, Ericson Core states, 'Many of the philosophic questions Bodhi raises merit deeper exploration, like the idea of being truly free and living by your own code, so we kept all of that alive."

What's radically different is the canvas on which Utah and Bodhi's conflict plays out amidst the larger drama. The crimes that Bodhi and his gang commit are more sophisticated and dangerous now, with far-reaching motives and implications, and the lengths to which Utah must go to take him down will push him further into untested terrain.

Enlarging the story beyond the exploits of daredevil surfers pursuing an endless summer on the California coast, the new film commands a worldwide stage. Touching down in 11 countries across four continents, it offers a rare look into what it means to be an extreme athlete today, by incorporating the most stunning exhibitions of motocross, skydiving, wingsuit flying, snowboarding, free climbing and, of course, big-wave surfing, executed by those who have dedicated"and risked"their lives to perfect these jaw-dropping feats, many of which have never been seen before in a feature film.

'On a scale of one to 10, 10 being the max, I'd rate the action at 45," says Edgar Ramirez, starring as Bodhi. 'It was a revelatory experience. What these guys do is beyond incredible."

Often the athletes themselves were equipped with cameras that, in combination with helicopter mounts and strategically placed close-up lenses, will take audiences immediately into the controlled chaos of what it's like to be riding that edge.

'This is an in-camera movie," states Andrew A. Kosove, one of the film's producers and also a competitive triathlete. 'What that means for audiences is that they're going to see stunts captured on camera as they really happened, on actual locations, by real athletes. It's not a green-screen exercise; no one is crashing into a fake building, dusting himself off and walking away. We were at Angel Falls in Venezuela, the tallest continuous waterfall on Earth; at the top of the Jungfrau in the Alps; in Walenstadt, Switzerland; at Teahupoo, off the coast of Tahiti; and at Jaws, near Maui, to catch the largest wave break of the decade. It's been an extraordinary shoot and I can't wait for audiences to experience it."

For producer Broderick Johnson, 'It's being front-and-center to see what jumping off the top of a mountain or surfing a hundred-foot wave actually looks like. Feeling that sense of real danger and intensity was the most thrilling part of it for me, both as a filmmaker and as someone watching this footage. We really wanted to immerse the audience and take them on a ride they wouldn't otherwise have."

But for all its commitment to pursuing that adrenalin rush, 'Point Break" has a story to tell, and each action sequence forms a link in the chain of events. For example, says Ericson Core, 'The wingsuit flight, impressive outside the context of the film, is actually a very important part of Utah's journey and his connection with Bodhi and the rest of the crew. It's the moment of apex achievement. The preceding scenes build up to it, and what follows is influenced by what Utah goes through in that moment. Everything is tightly woven together."

To that end, the film introduces a fictional touchstone called The Ozaki Eight, which the director describes as 'a way of communing with all the energies of the Earth." Invented for the film, these challenges, said to have been devised by a famous polyathlete and environmentalist, call upon the practitioner to harness the planet's natural forces in executing great physical achievements. The Ozaki Eight represents a singular path to enlightenment by requiring mental and spiritual stamina as well as physical skill. Its author is supposed to have died attempting the third ordeal, while the seventh and eighth are largely considered impossible.

Meeting these challenges, or 'Chasing the Eight," is what drives Bodhi. As Ozaki emphasized finding the one true line through each obstacle and following it to its end, Core says, 'That echoes a theme of the movie. -Finding your line' also refers to a person's path or truth. Utah is trying to find his line throughout the story, and Bodhi is doing the same."

But Bodhi puts his own spin on it. Focused on 'giving back" to the Earth, he and his gang he calls his Wolf Pack perpetrate a series of escalating thefts and wreak destruction on mining and other operations they consider environmentally and morally toxic.

'We tried to make Bodhi's ideas a little broader and less black-and-white, regarding the philosophy behind what he's doing," says Ericson Core. 'Beyond the specifics, though, and whether or not people will agree with him, what he's trying to do is live life absolutely to its fullest, according to what he cares about"and I think he does that from the beginning to the end of the film."

To the extent that this informed Ramirez's portrayal of the criminal/philosopher, 'I think the story invites you not only to think outside the box but to just throw the box away; destroy it, understand that there is no box," the actor comments, noting that it's a concept shared by both films. 'It's a great message about freedom, not just factually but spiritually. You may believe you're free, but look closer: it may be that your spirit is caged. It's an idea I cherished from seeing the original -Point Break' and one that also figures prominently here."

The issue is in how far Bodhi is willing to go to achieve his ends. At what point is giving back to the Earth a justification for jeopardizing innocent lives?

'You could say these are well-intentioned people who take an idea too far," suggests producer John Baldecchi. 'You're talking about a group of athletes who push themselves to the very edge of human capability by snowboarding down mountains and jumping out of airplanes, so they're accustomed to taking things to the extreme. Their lives revolve around Mother Nature. These heists are big, and they're designed as tools to return what they feel has been stolen from the Earth. They don't consider themselves criminals. But things end up going awry and people get hurt. And that puts Johnny Utah on their trail."

Starring as Johnny Utah, Luke Bracey says, 'Whether it's jumping into the breach or deciding what he really wants to do with his life and what he believes in, Utah knows he's only going to understand who he is by testing himself. He isn't fearless. He has fear, but he tries to overcome it, and that's much more courageous than not being scared at all. For me, that's one of the things this movie is about." The athleticism in 'Point Break" is not only the most daring and uncompromising by very definition of the sports involved, but also in how each sequence is designed for maximum impact. For this, the producers credit Core, an accomplished cinematographer, who was not only the film's director but its director of photography, gamely angling himself atop a rocky peak or other treacherous points of view with a hand-held camera to capture every beat.

It was largely Ericson Core's approach and his obvious passion for the project that convinced the athletes they could trust him to portray their work in a way they would make them proud: accurately, and without artifice, letting the visuals speak for themselves. 'I was a mountain guide for many years and love the outdoors," Ericson Core offers. 'I've always been aware of this world of extreme sports and fascinated with the idea of what it is to be an extreme athlete. What is their relationship to nature, and how do they feel about challenging themselves against it and protecting it? These are some of the concepts we touch upon."

The filmmakers reached out to prominent athletes across a range of sports, enlisting them not only as performers in lieu of traditional stunt men, but as technical advisors and stunt coordinators in their particular disciplines, as well as a number of fun cameos.
Producer Christopher Taylor notes, 'The stunts and action are so integral to this movie that we had to have the cooperation and contributions of people who actually participate in these sports. What audiences will see is real, and that meant it first had to pass the test with the athletes, themselves. That was our goal and our benchmark from the start."

'We hope people will engage with -Point Break' through the authenticity of the action and the locations and the performances, as well as the draw of these relationships," says Ericson Core. 'The big take-away for me would be for everyone who sees it to think about the existence of their own line and what that means to them…and where they're going to take it."

Find Your Breaking Point

As the story begins, Ericson Core says, 'Johnny Utah is something of a lost soul. He was an extreme athlete who did some extraordinarily daring things and had a lot of bravado, but it led to tragedy. He's trying to put that behind him now by training for a job with the FBI to find some order in his life, which he desperately needs."

'What remains constant is his all-or-nothing approach," says Luke Bracey. 'One of the things I like most about the character is his lust for life and his willingness to commit to every challenge, though he seems to have a bit of a death wish, too. He definitely tries his hardest to put himself into precarious situations, always testing his limits. I think Utah has spent his entire life trying to find out who he is and where he belongs in the world."

At first, it appears that where he belongs may not be the FBI, considering that his supervisor is still reviewing his performance with doubts about how a guy with Utah's particular background might fit into the bureau. It's then that fate takes a hand.

News breaks of an outrageous crime in which skydivers lift a bale of cash from a cargo plane. Slashing the bale in mid-air, they rain bills down upon the impoverished villages of San Luis Potosí in Central Mexico before disappearing without a trace. This captures Utah's attention. But he's not sure what it means until he compares it to reports of other recent, equally inexplicable events: three motorcyclists in helmets bearing images of U.S. presidents rob a diamond-sorting facility in Mumbai and escape by bursting from its 100-story windows, dropping gems down to the slums of Mumbai as they parachute away; a logging complex is burned to the ground on the banks of the Congo River and the perps flee via the treacherous Inga Rapids. Their images also resemble those of three people photographed BASE-jumping off Everest.

To the uninitiated these incidents might seem unrelated, but to Utah they have purpose. 'The way these guys get away is miraculous," says Kosove. 'Utah realises that the people orchestrating these crimes must be extreme athletes…and they're Chasing the Eight."

If he's right, Utah is suddenly the FBI's most valuable asset.

Hoping to trade on his former rep as an extreme athlete who was up for anything, he anticipates the next big challenge and goes undercover to meet these guys on their own terms. There, in the wake of a big-wave encounter that nearly kills them both, Utah and Bodhi meet.

'Bodhi is a wonderful character, our anti-hero," says Core. 'Deeply pure in his ideologies and his focus on achieving the Ozaki Eight, he is committed to honoring and giving back to the Earth, but he adopts a hard-edged, militant way of doing it."

It's that take-no-prisoners attitude, juxtaposed with his more contemplative side, that intrigued Edgar Ramirez. 'Bodhi is trying to figure out what lies beyond the thrill, beyond the line," he affirms. 'It's not about conquering the geological forces of nature; it's about becoming one with them. The subversive spirit of Bodhi has always fascinated me. He's a non-conformist who doesn't buy what society tells him. He questions everything. Bodhi can sometimes come across as cold, but I believe he's just pragmatic. He feels that everyone is responsible for his or her own choices. No apologies, no regrets."

Much of that rings true for Utah, too, making his job increasingly harder. Drawn into Bodhi's sphere, he once again tastes the freedom of the slopes, the sea and the sky, and finds himself forming a bond with this man who's in some ways not so different from himself.

'Luke is wise beyond his years and brings depth and emotional grasp to the character," says Ericson Core. 'He's also an extraordinary athlete and can pick up almost anything. It was the same with Edgar, who gives Bodhi a real sense of humanity. They're amazing young actors."

'The relationship between Bodhi and Utah is unique, and one that takes its cues from the original film," Core continues. 'The world Bodhi lives in is the same world Utah came from, but immersing himself in it now is much more intense. I think Bodhi sees something in Utah and wants to help him find his path." Says Johnson, 'They have a fascinating bond that transcends which side of the law they're on. Neither one wants to believe that the other is the enemy."

This similarity of spirit was an essential element that bridges the two films.
Rick King, along with W. Peter Iliff, was a writer on the first film and shares story credit again with Iliff and with the new 'Point Break" screenwriter and producer Kurt Wimmer. 'We all have friends who give us something we lack, or who dare us to challenge ourselves," King Wimmer says. 'Utah and Bodhi combine these qualities for each other."

'We used to call it -like-minded people on opposite sides of a badge,'" adds Iliff. 'It's a great journey of discovery for Utah to face his more primal, thrill-seeking instincts, and Bodhi recognises that potential in his adversary."

The new film also introduces a strong female role, Samsara, played by Teresa Palmer, whom Ericson Core calls 'extraordinary, incredibly beautiful and fearless," much like the character she plays. 'Samsara seems more grounded than anyone else in Bodhi's group. She has more perspective and a sense of other people's needs. She represents a place of calm and peace for Utah – at least initially, although that situation soon changes."

While traveling with Bodhi and holding an important place in his life, his quest, and, presumably, his heart, Samsara is definitely her own person and makes her own decisions. She can be more than a little unpredictable.

'I love this character," Teresa Palmer exclaims. 'She's a strong, empowered woman and something of a warrior, but deeply rooted in spirituality. Ericson Core and I had numerous conversations about her and we were very much on the same page. We kept coming back to the fact that she lives fully in the present and she doesn't wear a mask; she's open and honest and completely her true self. I think audiences will connect with that."

While not an elite athlete herself, Samsara has honed certain skills enabling her to keep up with Bodhi and his crew, which required the actress to expand her physical repertoire. Ericson Core jokes, 'Being Australian, she took the rub-some-dirt-in-it approach, willing to do anything. She did scenes underwater and on a surfboard, she climbed, she really embraced the role in all its facets and ran with the Wolf Pack."

Meanwhile, as Utah's undercover work with Bodhi's gang takes him from one remote outpost to another, his FBI lifeline consists of his home office supervisor, Instructor Hall, played by Delroy Lindo, and his covert field contact, Pappas, played by Ray Winstone. Both Hall and Pappas see promise in the young recruit and genuinely want him to succeed. They find his audacity a plus. Still, they have their reservations.

'There's a kind of paternal dynamic without it being father and son," says Delroy Lindo. 'There are certain characteristics Hall sees in Johnny Utah that he relates to, and that resonate in him, and that causes Hall to root for the kid even when he's not rooting for himself."

Still, Hall holds back giving Utah his badge. It's his decision whether or not the agent-in-training makes the grade, and a lot depends upon Utah's handling of this unusual case. If Hall were entirely by the book, it's unlikely that Utah would even be on Bodhi's trail. However, Lindo notes, 'He's not a stereotypical FBI operative. Ericson's ideas gelled with mine as far as making this agent slightly different, which we did in subtle ways, from the stud he wears in his ear to the way he carries himself and his approach to his job."

Says Ericson Core, 'Despite his respected position, Hall doesn't always play by the rules, usually opting to trust his instincts over protocol, and it might be the renegade spirit he sees in Utah that he appreciates. Delroy Lindo found that perfect balance of a career agent fully versed in procedure who still knows when to go with his gut and take a calculated risk."

Pappas takes a different, though similar, approach. Winstone explains, 'Pappas doesn't believe what Utah is telling him at first, but he comes to understand that this kid is onto something, and he starts to have more respect for him. At the same time, Pappas sees the potential for mistakes, maybe the same ones he's made himself. It's the classic father/son thing –you scold your kids because you hope they'll go down the right path. He wants Utah to go onand make something of his career and his life, so it's a case of, -Don't make the mistakes that I made.'"

Winstone made the role his own by imbuing Pappas with an irascible air of seen-it-all and done-it-all, but with a healthy dose of sarcasm and charm. 'Ray was fantastic," says Ericson Core. 'He brought dramatic weight to the character, as well as an edge and a sense of humor."

As Utah is drawn further into Bodhi's inner circle, Hall and Pappas fear his loyalties are being tested. Ironically, though playing a part to gain their trust, Utah is more himself now than he's been in years and back in touch with a life he apparently can't deny or bury deep enough…prompting Pappas to remind him, 'It's time to decide which side you're on."

Rounding out the international cast as Bodhi's fierce"and fiercely loyal"Wolf Pack, are German-born Clemens Schick ('Casino Royale") as Roach; Swedish actor Matias Varela ('Easy Money," Showtime's 'The Borgias") as Grommet; and Norwegian Tobias Santelmann ('Kon-Tiki," 'Hercules") as Chowder. Each of them quite literally trusts Bodhi with his life and rarely questions him, although they are clearly less inclined than Bodhi is to welcome Utah into their tight-knit group.

'There's a passion and edge to these actors that really ratchets up the suspense and tension in their scenes with Bodhi and Utah," says Johnson.

Additionally, fans of the 1991 'Point Break" will recognize two playfully placed cameos by James LeGros and Bojesse Christopher. The actors, who originally portrayed Bodhi's confederates Roach and Grommet, now appear as FBI agents eager to bring down the gang. 'We're on the other side of the law now," notes LeGros, who adds that working on the re-imagined story was 'a delight. The original was a very good picture but much smaller in scope and this takes it into many different directions."

The filmmakers also invited luminaries from the sports and music worlds to populate two celebratory party scenes: one aboard a luxury yacht and another at an Alpine chalet, where the story's athletes kick back with friends, sponsors and local VIPs after a day of pushing themselves to the limit. Familiar faces include wingsuit pilot Jeb Corliss, snowboarder Xavier De Le Rue, and free climber Chris Sharma, each of whom also figure prominently in the action scenes; German triathlete and 2005 World Champion Ironman Faris Al-Sultan and German triathlete and 2009/2010 World Champion Ironman Michael Raelert; U.S. pro surfer Sebastian Zietz; Swiss snowboarder Christian Haller; U.S. pro skateboarder Eric Koston; Austrian snowboarder Mitch Toelderer; and U.S. snowboarder Louie Vito; as well as Canadian electronic music pioneer Kenny Glasgow, Australian musician and film composer Brett Rosenberg (aka Jonny White) and American electronic house musician Steve Aoki, who also contributed to the film's soundtrack; French musician and actor Mouloud Achour; and American DJ Seth Troxler.

Also joining the party is Brazilian-American skateboarder and X Games veteran Bob Burnquist, among the skate pros catapulting themselves into the ocean from a massive curved ramp custom-designed by Jeff King and mounted on the yacht's deck; and sports commentator/journalist Sal Masekela, whose longtime gig hosting the X Games has earned him a special place amongst the athletes whose exploits he covers.

The Only Law That Matters Is Gravity: Capturing The Stunts That Make 'Point Break" Such A Rush

'Point Break" opens with an electrifying motorcycle race on the razor's edge of a hilltop, culminating in an insane leap across a chasm onto a narrow mesa. The lead rider is a grinning, exhilarated young Utah, sharing his latest exploit with his YouTube fan base.

It's all a blast…until it isn't. The second rider fails to stick his landing and plunges into the gap. Following that tragic day, Utah turns away from life on the precipice. Three years later he's training for the FBI, solemnly channeling his focus and strength in a new direction.

But it's not his destiny to make a clean break. Upon discovering a bizarre crime wave characterized by incredible physical achievements and impossible escapes, Utah knows that these hits aren't the reckless display of daredevil criminals but the actions of elite athletes dedicated to a higher calling he, too, once respected: Chasing the Eight.

The Eight Ordeals of Ono Ozaki

1.Emerging Force
2.Birth of Sky
3.Awakening Earth
4.Life of Water
5.Life of Wind
6.Life of Ice
7.Master of Six Lives
8.Act of Ultimate Trust

Utah believes the gang has already successfully completed the first three ordeals. Riding the Inga Rapids after their raid on the logging concern? Emerging Force. BASE jumping off Everest? Birth of Sky. The plane cargo heist and their subsequent 1000-foot drop into an underground cavern called The Cave of the Swallows? Awakening Earth.

He has to intercept them at number four: Life of Water. Knowing that recent storms over the Atlantic Ocean have kicked up some of the largest, most aggressive waves in years, Utah feels they won't be able to resist surfing these giants, so that will be his rendezvous.

Life of Water – Big Wave Surfing

Big wave surfing is featured near the beginning and again at the end of the film. The first sequence, set off the coast of France, was actually captured near Tahiti, French Polynesia, at the famed Teahupoo break in the Pacific where, in September 2014, swells were mountainous. It's here that Utah launches his board into a massive curl to catch Bodhi's attention and make him believe that Utah is just another thrill seeker crashing the biggest surf party on the planet.

Joining the filmmaking crew as second unit director on the wave action is respected filmmaker Philip Boston, director of the 2003 big-wave feature documentary 'The Billabong Odyssey." Australian big wave riding champ Dylan Longbottom doubled for Bodhi while pro surfers Billy Kemper, Bruce Irons and Laurence 'Laurie" Towner doubled for Utah. Also on hand was the legendary Laird Hamilton, a pioneer of the tow-in that makes big wave surfing possible, who makes an insider cameo as the jet ski operator pulling Utah's board into position.

'A lot of times surfing in films is terrible and stereotypical," Hamilton concedes. 'In this film, Ericson has gone out of his way to do it in the most realistic way possible, by getting the best surfers and going to the best breaks in the world. His objective was to capture the essence of what these athletes do and bring it to the screen, and I think he's done that."

Longbottom, also a skilled board shaper who provided boards for the surf scenes, considers Teahupoo one of 'the heaviest spots on the planet," and reveals how the filmmakers waited until the time was right. 'Laurie and I were on standby for a year, watching the charts. They wanted something like code red, something that might not happen in ten years."

In tandem with Towner, and later Irons, Longbottom executed 'some pretty crazy crossovers and doubles," he recounts. 'They asked us to share a wave, which can be super dangerous. I had to look back at Johnny Utah as I came flying out of a wave, which I've never done at Teahupoo, let alone on a towering wave. I didn't want to lose my focus and balance at that speed. I was concentrating on the close of that bowl, but I did the look-back, and it was okay. I had my line, and then he disappeared, and then we both came flying out. It was one of the best things I've ever done."

The story's climactic closer, featuring pro surfers Ian Walsh and Makuakai Rothman, was set at Cortes Bank off the Southern California coast, though shot at the infamous Peahi Break, better known as 'Jaws," off the Hawaiian island of Maui. Waiting to catch the highest waves, the filmmakers started watch in November 2013 and were rewarded with a formidable swell in late January 2014. Core remembers, 'They were the biggest waves on record for a decade, 70-foot plus. Many of the surfers born and bred in Maui had never seen waves that high."

Life of Wind – Wingsuit Flying

To test Utah's mettle, Bodhi invites him to their next challenge, Life of Wind, a wingsuit flight that will take them soaring from the mountaintops to parting blades of grass below.

In preparation for the scene, Core reached out to leading BASE-jumper and wingsuit pilot Jeb Corliss. Sidelined by an injury at the time, Corliss signed on as a technical advisor, helping to assemble an international dream team of professional wingsuiters for the group flight: award-winning freestyler Michael Swanson doubling for Bodhi; champion skydiver and cameraman Jon Devore serving as aerial stunt coordinator and doubling for Utah; and world-class wingsuit pilots Noah Bahnson and Julian Boulle, suiting up as Roach and Grommet.

Jhonathan Florez, who broke four Guinness World Records with a 37,265-foot jump in 2012, and renowned skydiver and documentarian James Boole, who survived a broken back in 2009 to return to the sky, shared the especially tricky job of flying a breath behind the formation with helmet-mounted RED Epic cameras, to catch the bird's-eye view of the action.

'We really pushed the limits of the sport," says Core. 'Not only did we capture authentic wingsuiting, but in ways that had never been done before: five people flying in formation, in such a tight space, at those speeds. And as many times as they flew in order to create the sequence, it was extraordinary."

Corliss, who has been surfing the air in one form or another for 20 years, confirms, 'This is an incredibly complicated sequence. Wingsuit flying in general is complicated; proximity flying close to the ground at high speed takes many, many years of training to do in a relatively safe manner. To do it as a unified group is even more complex. They have to work with radio communication. The guy in the back is telling them -speed up, slow down, go left.' I genuinely believe these are the greatest wingsuit pilots who ever lived and this is the greatest stunt I've ever seen. When people see this on the big screen, they're going to sit back and go, -Wow.'

When that first pilot steps off the cliff I want the people sitting in their seats in the theater to feel their stomachs drop," he says. 'I want them to see what it's like for a human being to fly."

It was Corliss' suggestion to film near the small village of Lauterbrunnen in the Jungfrau region of the Swiss Alps, as well as the infamous 'Crack," near Walenstadt, Switzerland, known by wingsuiters worldwide, and combine footage from the two spots into one spectacular ride.

Says Devore, 'The characters in the story are attempting the most challenging things, so for wingsuits that would be not only terrain flying but sub-terrain flying, which is what we have in Walenstadt: a location with a massive break, or crack, that we're able to fly into so that we have earth on either side. It's a situation where there are no outs"meaning, you can't just fly away and pull your parachute."

Returning to one of the movie's fundamental themes, he adds, 'You commit to your line and you have to stick it."

Life of Ice – Snowboarding

Following his wingsuit adventure, Utah believes he's in with Bodhi's gang and ready to take the next leap of faith, wherever and whatever that may be. This means begging the further indulgence of Pappas and Hall to remain undercover, despite their growing doubts about what, exactly, Utah is now pursuing.

The next ordeal, Life of Ice, Bodhi intends to accomplish by snowboarding down the rocky, frozen face of a mountain near Mont Blanc in the Italian Alps. For this, a small group of key crew made camp near Courmayeur, Italy.

Seven-time snowboarding champion Xavier De Le Rue, along with Olympic Gold Medalist Iouri Podladtchikov, Ralph Backstrom, Mitch Toelderer and other competitive snowboarders doubled for Utah, Bodhi, and Bodhi's comrades as they catapult themselves down the mountain at speeds between 30 and 65 miles per hour.

'Our lead snowboarder, Xavier, is one of the best downhill big mountain snowboarders in the world," Core attests. 'He helped us find locations like no other. He's also a filmmaker in his own right, so he became a partner in terms of where to place the cameras. Ultimately, when it became clear that no one could keep up with him, I gave him a camera and he captured quite a bit of what happened downhill because he's the only person I know who's good enough to take the extraordinary runs we were taking and handle a RED camera at the same time."

De Le Rue states, 'I've never seen a Hollywood movie that pulled out a really credible snowboard segment, so it was the goal here to have something that would feel authentic for everyone"not only for wide audiences but for the core snowboarders."

The volatile snow pack is always an issue, and avalanches a constant threat. With safety the primary concern, consultation with local mountain guides and the Italian Avalanche Advisory was a daily ritual, with the day's schedule and locations entirely dependent on their advice. Everyone remained on high alert throughout. Of the three and a half weeks allotted to filming, the crew was able to use only 11 days.

'We shot two times for the snowboard unit and faced different situations each time," Core recalls. 'Everyone was roped in. I was operating a camera when one of the largest avalanches rolled past." 'In big mountain riding there are many types of dangers, number one being snow, which is a difficult element to control," De Le Rue emphasizes. 'There could be cornices, crevices, and slides that could either bury you or take you down into the rocks. So you always have that to think about, plus just the gravity of riding above rocks at that speed. There are lots of variables, so you need to be focused and take a huge margin on everything you do. Never rush, and don't get carried away with the amazing day you're having."

Amplifying the danger was the pairing of two or four riders on a slope, which is rarely if ever done in the mountains, as the rider in the lead could kick up snow that blinds the ones behind, so communication and planning between the performers was vital. 'It was very technical," De Le Rue allows, 'but, all in all, a great experience."

Master of the Six Lives – Freestyle Rock Climbing

The first six of Ozaki's ordeals work in concert with gravity but the seventh defies it"going up rather than down, and for that there is no better example than the sheer rock wall alongside the world's highest continuous waterfall: Angel Falls, in Venezuela. But, by the time Bodhi arrives, his relationship with Utah has changed drastically so their climb is more a showdown than a shared effort, making this hand-over-hand ascent all the more perilous.

Chris Sharma, one of the world's preeminent rock climbers, helped make the director's vision of this momentous climb a reality. Sharma not only led the team, which included Dani Andrada as Bodhi, but also doubled for Utah, and selected the site. 'When I talked to him about what we were trying to achieve, he said the only place in the world to do it was Venezuela, so that's where we went," Core recounts. 'Chris considers himself more of a creative soul than an athlete. When he looks at something, the line is what needs to be discovered, and that's something revealed through nature. As he says, the most beautiful way to get to the top is not necessarily the easiest."

Working with Core and the filmmakers to make sure the scene felt legitimate and authentic, Sharma says, 'I felt that on Angel Falls we could show rock climbing in all its beauty, because it's so much more than a sport. It's a lifestyle, an adventure, a way of connecting with nature and with yourself. Since the actors didn't have any climbing training, I talked to them about the mentality of it, just trying to share my approach and transmit to them the essence of the sport and what it means to me."

Knowing the dangers firsthand, Sharma was also involved in the production's extensive safety precautions, with riggers arriving a month before the first unit to secure rope lines.

Close-ups of the actors were shot at a 200-foot-plus cliff face rigged especially for them, just a few minutes away from Angel Falls and they, too, felt the majesty of the site.

Ramirez, a native Venezuelan, acknowledges, 'Angel Falls is in a place called Canaima, which is a national park, probably one of the least explored places on Earth and one of the most beautiful. It's very special, being Venezuelan and shooting a movie in one of the most spectacular places in my country. This is definitely a sacred place, where very few human beings have ever been, and I was happy not only to be there but to have the opportunity to show it to the world in such an amazing way."

Act of Ultimate Trust

The eighth and final ordeal, Act of Ultimate Trust, is something Bodhi and Utah cannot plan and will understand only as it's happening, and that the filmmakers hope will take audiences by surprise.

Apart from the Ozaki Eight sequences, stunt motorcycle riders Steve Haughelstine and Dustin Nowak delivered the film's heart-stopping opening race along a remote ridge in Swingarm City, Utah. Later, renowned riders Riley Harper and Oakley Lehman tear it up as Utah and Bodhi in a motocross chase down a hillside, and whip through a forest near the small mountain village of Flattach in Austria, a remote location Core scouted as the site of a dynamite blast and the moment when things turn deadly across the board. Says Harper, 'We had three weeks of prep to get the bikes ready, test the mounts, build ramps and reinforce the railings so we didn't fall down the 1000-foot cliffs."

'One of my favorite things about the film," notes Broderick Johnson, 'is how, amidst the spectacle of these action scenes, there is great character conflict and emotion. You have Bodhi and Utah standing off on a mountain road where Bodhi plans to dynamite a gold mine and Utah is trying to stop him. It's a dramatic scene with rockslides and explosions and a motorcycle chase, but it's also a turning point in the film and in their dynamic."

Though not performing the outrageous level of stunts 'Point Break" required, the actors were by no means sidelined. Bracey and Ramirez, in particular, found themselves hanging off the side of a mountain, albeit in the care of experts and held by ropes and wires that were later erased by visual effects, as well as snowboarding and surfing. Teresa Palmer joined Bracey 30 feet underwater for a scene in which their characters take a moonlit dive. Additionally, the remote nature of the locations meant everyone did a fair amount of hiking and climbing just to make their marks.

Notes Andrew Kosove, 'In order to realize Ericson's commitment to do this movie almost entirely without visual effects, we needed actors who were prepared to roll up their sleeves and take part in a production that was a real adventure. You could walk to the set one day and be up to your knees in mud. We slept in tents or hammocks, and we rode by helicopter. The actors and our entire team were fantastic."

At every location, and through the planning and execution of each stunt, safety was the rule of the day. Says Core, 'We wanted great locations and edge-of-your-seat action and drama but, most importantly, we wanted everyone to be safe. Seeing people walking around the set smiling is what I was most happy about."

Breaking Camp Around The World And Bringing It Home

Core's mandate to ground everything in the reality of the outdoors, meant shooting exclusively on location. 'We also wanted the visuals to have a bit of grit and bite," he says. 'We took the hard road in doing this: going to real places rather than green-screen stages, which was an extraordinary challenge but also extraordinarily rewarding."

With principal photography starting in June 2014 in Berlin, Germany, and wrapping in November, in Italy, everyone was living out of a suitcase for months. 'The biggest challenge filming this movie was trying not to lose my passport," Bracey laughingly admits.

'I was my own director of photography on this, which can limit the conversation," Core jokes, 'so our production designer Udo Kramer, as well as [head gaffer, Europe] Janosch Voss were wonderful visual partners for me. We wanted a very specific look and style, with everything edging a bit toward green, with a lot of contrast. We used natural lighting consistently, making the collaboration with Udo very important, to bring practicals into the scene rather than a ton of lights to manipulate reality."

A big part of the equation was logistics. The director outlines, 'Being up on mountain tops we couldn't bring huge lighting packages and generators and giant silks, or we wouldn't have achieved what we did. Instead, the camerawork largely fell onto my shoulders, hand-held. We shot with a very small lighting package and sometimes none, a little bounce card or little LED. Natural light was key, and Mother Nature was very much a part of the lighting team."

Kramer's challenges revolved around the ever-changing weather and environs, and his efforts to lend cohesion to a production encompassing upwards of 70 separate locations. Conversely, one of his most interesting tasks was striking the visual clash between the hypnotic pull of the natural world on Utah's psyche versus the stark interiors of his chosen profession. 'On the one hand," Kramer says, 'you have nature with its big, impactful images, and then there are the FBI offices, where we deleted any hint of that. There is no green in the office, and no exteriors."

Kramer also set the scene for a climactic shoot-out set at a bank meant to be in Northern Italy, which was actually filmed in Hall, Tirol, Austria, the key element being the tightness and limited space that hinders escape and generates greater chaos. 'We adapted the design to create an Italian look. The idea was to have a small space on a narrow street, where the action gets as intense as possible and you can hear the bullets flying around you."

Core traveled light, hiring local crews and taking with him only key collaborators. In addition to 'Point Break" producer David Valdés, he was accompanied by make-up and hair designer Thomas Nellen and make-up and hair department head Heike Merker, who, among other things, maintained the cast's tapestry of tattoos.

Full ink for each lead actor took about 90 minutes to apply, purposefully drawn with slightly softened lines to appear not new but rather something that was a part of their history.

Ramirez worked with Merker on his character's body art, saying, 'Bodhi is an environmental activist so it was important to have symbols of his ideology, the activities and sports he practices and the elements he wants to become one with. There's a wolf, because that's his animal, and on his right arm is a forest, with birds, and a waterfall."

For Utah, so called because of his birthplace, Nellen designed a mountain range reminiscent of the region, across his chest. Additionally, Utah bears the names of his parents on the fingers of each hand. Samsara's art includes a delicate line of birds from her shoulder to her elbows, suggesting her spiritual connection to Bodhi.

The project provided Christl an opportunity to expand her repertoire by immersing herself in the various sports depicted and the clothing they would require. 'Being a mountain guide, Ericson knows a lot about outdoor clothing and I learned a lot from him. Plus, I did my research and I asked the athletes what they needed even before doing a fitting with the actors," she says.

'These guys are not only athletes but travelers, and they come from many different countries," Christl continues. 'Where are they from? What is their journey? Bodhi would be influenced by Asian and Indian colors and motifs while Roach would project his European background. All of the Wolf Pack wear special necklaces reminiscent of their travels together."

Outfitting the group's lone female was the most fun for Christl, who gave Samsara's look an ethnic sensibility, repurposing saris and even old blankets for an eclectic mix of textures and influences, including a blanket she picked up in the Himalayas 25 years ago.

Like the others, Christl moved to the international rhythm of the shoot, saying, 'While we were in Berlin, I was prepping Austria, Italy, Tahiti, Mexico and Venezuela."

It was exactly this global sense of scope that Core sought to capture for the screen, recalling, 'It was more of an expedition than a film production, and I'm deeply grateful to everyone who participated, from the producing team and the cast to the athletes who led us to these remarkable locations. They were far more than stunt performers; they were true partners. Conversations we had prior to production became part of the dialogue of the film and I believe their interactions with the actors added a degree of authenticity and understanding to their performances."

'Some of the things Bodhi and Utah have in common, I like to think Edgar and I also have," Bracey suggests. 'We really pushed ourselves and kept each other motivated to give our best throughout the shoot. It was an amazing journey. We were in the Alps, in Tahiti, Mexico, Venezuela…There were some tough days, and times when we were cold and tired, but then we'd look at each other and say, -This is awesome.'"

Adds Ramirez, 'The one thing all these athletes have in common is that they couldn't care less about being number one. It's about the search, and what lies beyond the challenge, what you can gain as a human being if you push yourself beyond what you consider is your limit."

Such is the spirit that Bodhi embodies, right or wrong, and that Utah struggles with through much of the story, which may be why it remains such an enduring story.

For Core, who is and will always remain a fan of the story and what it stands for, 'Looking back at the scale and ambition of this undertaking, the places we've been and the astonishing moments we've captured on film, it's really rather amazing. And that's how we felt meeting and working with these extreme athletes," he reflects. 'It's humbling to think about being a part of nature rather than conquering it, and about living life to the fullest. I hope audiences watching 'Point Break" are swept up and entertained, but also I hope they find it equally inspiring."

Point Break
Release Date: January 1st, 2016