'Spy Kids 3-D' set to launch family entertainment into new dimension

Introducing the new future of high-tech interactivity, the third chapter in Miramax International/Dimension Films' Spy Kids-franchise uses the very latest digital technology to weave 3-D images directly into the Spy Kids' trademark espionage action, inviting audiences of all ages to become part of the larger-than-life excitement on the screen.

"SPY KIDS 3-D is totally different from the first two movies," says Rodriguez. "It takes the same characters everyone already knows somewhere completely new and has lots of fun surprises for the audience."

Rodriguez, whose groundbreaking inventions and boundless imagination have already changed the way movies are made, is now taking another leap forward by bringing back the excitement of 3-D in his own inimitable pioneering style.

For the first time in decades, a new generation will experience the thrill of putting on special glasses that transport them right into the middle of the exhilarating action and adventure. Cinemas screening the film in SA will be equipped with special free viewing glasses for the release of SPY KIDS 3-D: GAME OVER - glasses that become part of the interactive fun -- making it a major family event for kids that have never seen 3-D and parents who have never seen 3-D like this.

Parents who grew up loving 3-D classics such as Alfred Hitchcock's DIAL M FOR MURDER and Andre DeToth's HOUSE OF WAX, will now be able to experience the thrill of the 3-D experience as a family event. Rodriguez has incorporated up-to-the-minute computer effects and his own specially designed high definition 3-D monitors and camera systems to create a fantasy world in unprecedented detail. Unlike the more gimmicky 3-D spectacles of the past, Rodriguez adds, "From the beginning, I realized this movie wouldn't really be like making a sequel at all. It was a completely fresh and exciting challenge for everyone involved." He has created the very plot and fabric of this film with 3-D in mind from the start, weaving three-dimensional scenes throughout the film, into the plot, making it part and parcel of his high-flying storytelling.

This HD/3-D technology comes to the fore as under-age agents Juni and Carmen Cortez set out on their most mind-blowing mission yet: journeying inside the virtual reality world of a 3-D video game designed to outsmart them, as the awe-inspiring graphics and creatures of gaming come to real life. Rodriguez continues, "Because the Spy Kids are immersed in this digitally animated world, it allowed us to raise the bar on excitement and thrills." Relying on humour, gadgetry, bravery, family bonds and lightning-quick reflexes, the Spy Kids must battle through tougher and tougher levels of the game - facing challenges that include racing against road warriors and surfing on boiling lava - in order to save the world from a power hungry villain (Sylvester Stallone).

SPY KIDS 3-D: GAME OVER stars Alexa Vega and Daryl Sabara as Juni and Carmen Cortez and Antonio Banderas and Carla Gugino as spy-parents Gregorio and Ingrid. Also returning to the series are Ricardo Montalban as the Spy Kids' grandfather; Steve Buscemi as the mad scientist Romero; Alan Cumming as Floop; Bill Paxton as the President of the United States; Cheech Marin as Uncle Felix; and Danny Trejo as Machete. Action film veteran Sylvester Stallone joins the cast as the power-hungry villain the 'Toymaker,' who wants to take over the youth of the world.

Ster-Kinekor Pictures will release SPY KIDS 3-D: GAME OVER at cinemas nationwide this Friday, January 30, 2004.