Cinefex (1980-2021) comic books 2013-2015

In this issue: Director Peter Jackson returns to J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth with The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, a prequel story of young hobbit Bilbo Baggins' quest to reclaim a lost dwarf kingdom and his fateful meeting with Gollum. As he did for the epic The Lord of the Rings trilogy, the New Zealand-based Jackson collaborated closely with the visual effects team at Weta Digital and the practical effects wizards at Weta Workshop to bring the beloved 1937 fantasy novel to the screen, the first of a planned trilogy of films devoted to Tolkien's dense and intricate narrative. Also covered: Cloud Atlas, Life of Pi and Beasts of the Southern Wild. Softcover, 9-in. x 8-in., 122 pages, full color. Cover price $12.50.

In this issue: Director Sam Mendes has James Bond hunting a sinister cyber-terrorist through Istanbul, Shanghai, Macau, London and the Scottish highlands in Skyfall. Special effects supervisor Chris Corbould collaborated with visual effects supervisor Steven Begg to energize the film with a brawny blend of practical, miniature and digital effects. Plus: Jack the Giant Slayer, Oz: The Great and Powerful and Les Miserables. Softcover, 9-in. x 8-in., 130 pages, full color. Cover price $12.50.

In this issue: Star Trek Into Darkness - J.J. Abrams returns with cast and crew for a second tour of duty aboard the starship Enterprise, reprising characters from Gene Roddenberry's beloved television series, and this time tasking Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) with an intergalactic manhunt of an enigmatic villain (Benedict Cumberbatch); Iron Man 3 - director Shane Black deftly picks up the reins to deliver a third film in Marvel Studios' popular franchise; Oblivion - Tom Cruise stars as court-martialled soldier Jack Harper, sent to destroy an alien race on a distant planet; White House Down; and HENRi. Softcover, 9-in. x 8-in., 130 pages, full color. Cover price $12.50.

In this issue: Man of Steel - producer Christopher Nolan and director Zack Snyder bring to the screen the first major retelling of the Superman origin tale since Richard Donner's classic 1978 Superman; Elysium - in his follow-up to District 9, filmmaker Neill Blomkamp presents another dystopian future, when Earth's cities have degenerated into giant slums patrolled by robot militia, and droid repairman Max De Costa (Matt Damon) attempts to escape to Elysium, a gleaming orbital space station; World War Z - Brad Pitt stars as a United Nations worker who combats a zombie invasion in this long-anticipated film from director Marc Forster; and Pacific Rim - giant monsters, known as Kaiju, emerge from a subterranean crevice beneath the Pacific Ocean in director Guillermo del Toro's new sci-fi thriller. Softcover, 9-in. x 8-in., full color. Cover price $12.50.

In this issue: Gravity - astronauts Matt Kowalsky (George Clooney) and Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) struggle to survive when a debris strike sends them careening into space. Visual effects supervisor Timothy Webber and artists at Framestore worked with director Alfonso Cuaron for three years to bring the space-bound scenes to life with frightening realism. Also in this issue: Thor: The Dark World; Ron Howard's '70s racing film Rush; and the 2013 remake of Carrie. Softcover, 9-in. x 8-in., full color. Cover price $12.50.

In this issue: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - filmmaker Peter Jackson continues his epic trilogy, following plucky hobbit Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) to his fateful encounter with Smaug the Terrible (voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch), an ancient dragon that resides in the fallen dwarf kingdom of Erebor. Special effects supervisor Steve Ingram, Weta Workshop creature designer Richard Taylor, senior visual effects supervisor Joe Letteri and crews at Weta Digital return to the Middle-earth of J.R.R. Tolkien, creating skin-shifter Beorn, giant arachnid denizens of Mirkwood, elven woodland realms, the Lake-town of Esgaroth and the subterranean terrors of the Lonely Mountain! Also in this issue: HBO's Game of Thrones; RoboCop (2014); and Ben Stiller's remake of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. Softcover, 9-in. x 8-in., full color. Cover price $12.50.

In this issue: Captain America: The Winter Soldier - Marvel Studios revisits its all-American superhero with the story of World War II-era Steve Rogers -- a.k.a. Captain America (Chris Evans) -- acclimating to the 21st century as he battles against the threat of a mysterious Soviet agent known as "The Winter Soldier." Directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, the sequel features hundreds of spectacular visual effects delivered by Industrial Light & Magic, Luma Pictures and Scanline VFX, with practical, on-set contributions by Legacy Effects, Quantum Creation FX and special effects supervisor Daniel Sudick. Other films examined in this issue include: Disney's Maleficent (starring Angelina Jolie); The Amazing Spider-Man 2; and Gareth Edward's Godzilla. Softcover, 9-in. x 8-in., full color. Cover price $12.50.

In this issue: Edge of Tomorrow - director Doug Liman's futuristic war film, based on the novel by Hiroshi Sakurazaka, and starring Tom Cruise as a slick public relations spokesman for the military, who is suddenly thrown onto the front lines of an existential battle with alien creatures, and finds himself re-living the same day over and over again, and always ending with his death! Other films profiled in this issue include: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes; X-Men: Days of Future Past; and Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy. Softcover, 9-in. x 8-in., full color. Cover price $12.50.

In this issue: Christopher Nolan's Interstellar, featuring Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway; Ridley Scott's Exodus: Gods and Kings, starring Christian Bale, Sigourney Weaver and Aaron Paul; Terry Gilliam's The Zero Theorem, featuring Christoph Waltz; and a Q&A with special make-up effects designers and creature creators Tom Woodruff, Jr. and Alec Gillis. Softcover, 9-in. x 8-in., full color. Cover price $12.50.

In this issue: In The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) arrives at the climax of his adventure, leading a company of dwarves to the Lonely Mountain, where the dragon Smaug unleashes his wrath on the citizens of Lake-town and dark forces gather for an epic battle that threatens the future of Middle-earth. In the exotic science fiction fantasy Jupiter Ascending, a genetically engineered superman (Channing Tatum) arrives on Earth to help an unsuspecting young cleaning lady (Mila Kunis) meet her destiny as the leader of an intergalactic super race. And District 9 director Neill Blomkamp offers Chappie, an action/thriller story about a robot child prodigy kidnapped by criminals and raised within their dysfunctional family. Softcover, 9-in. x 8-in., full color. Cover price $12.50.

In this issue: Jurassic World - twenty-two years after Steven Spielberg joined with Industrial Light & Magic, Phil Tippett and Stan Winston Studio to bring Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park and its array of genetically engineered dinosaurs to the screen, director Colin Trevorrow helms Jurassic World; Avengers: Age of Ultron - Marvel Studios continues its box-office winning streak with this second Avengers offering, directed by Joss Whedon and starring Chris Evans, Robert Downey, Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Chris Hemsworth and Mark Ruffalo as the team; and Mad Max: Fury Road - director George Miller and Warner Bros. Pictures present the fourth film in the saga of Max Rockatansky (Tom Hardy), federal police officer turned post-apocalyptic road warrior, who this time battles the Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron) in the wastelands of irradiated Australia. Softcover, 9-in. x 8-in., full color. Cover price $12.50.

In this issue: Marvel Studios' Ant-Man introduces the latest hero to the Marvel Comics Universe with biochemist Dr. Hank Pym, a former crimefighter who recruits cat burglar Scott Lang to battle a rival weapons manufacturer. Alan Taylor directs Terminator Genisys, the fifth entry in the Terminator franchise launched by James Cameron in 1984. And Tom Cruise returns as IMF agent Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation, the fifth entry in the phenomenally successful film run. Softcover, 9-in. x 8-in., full color. Cover price $12.50.

In this issue: In the Heart of the Sea, director Ron Howard's retelling of the true events that inspired Herman Melville's 19th century classic Moby-Dick, starring Chris Hemsworth, detailing the attack of the whaling ship Essex by a monstrously large and aggressive sperm whale that resulted in the loss of the ship and most of her crew. Also profiled: Ridley Scott's The Martian; Baltasar Kormakur's Everest; and Hellboy creator Guillermo del Toro's highly anticipated gothic horror film, Crimson Peak. Softcover, 9-in. x 8-in., full color. Cover price $12.50.

In this issue: Star Wars: The Force Awakens - Walt Disney Pictures and Lucasfilm, Ltd. present the beginning of a new trilogy set in a distant galaxy, 30 years after the fall of the evil Emperor Palpatine, in which regional governors jockey for power, and survivors of the Rebel Alliance and the last order of Jedi Knights confront new Imperial threats. Director J.J. Abrams conjures exotic worlds and bizarre creatures, working with visual effects supervisor Roger Guyett, special effects supervisor Chris Corbould, special make-up effects supervisor Neal Scanlan and artists at ILM, Base FX, Kelvin Optical, Blind Ltd., Propshop and Imaginarium Studios. Also profiled: Spectre; The Finest Hours; and The Revenant. Softcover, 9-in. x 8-in., full color. Cover price $12.50.