Warriors of Future has over 1,900 CGI shots, says producer and actor Louis Koo

Warriors of Future, the science fiction action film, is all set to stream on Netflix from December 2. Ahead of the digital release, the film's producer and lead actor Louis Koo speaks about why he was determined to create a sci-fi movie brought to life by a Hong Kong team, from concept to execution.

In a statement issued by Netflix, Koo mentioned growing up watching sci-fi movies like Star Wars and noted that this genre is often about the future and allows for more creative space. "Having watched so much sci-fi from Hollywood, I’ve always wanted to make Asian sci-fi. In Asia, we face the problem of knowledge about the technology it takes to make such movies. They also require a big capital investment. When I started my production company almost 10 years ago, we came up with a 30-year plan to create a sci-fi universe. Warriors of Future is not the realization of my dream; it is just the first step."

Koo noted that they decided to do everything including computer-generated imagery by themselves. They spent three to four years working on the script. 

About the challenges involved in shooting the film, "This movie has over 1,900 CGI shots. For example, there is a battle scene that takes place on an elevated highway that is entirely CGI. We actually looked at all such highways in Hong Kong, but we couldn’t find one that was long enough for the needs of the scene. We wanted the actors to understand how the sequence would look after all the effects were put in, so we created an animated version of it to show them so they could picture it better. Working with CGI requires a lot of such prep work. I learned a lot from this experience, and that made me very happy."

Koo also revealed that his production company, One Cool Film, is working on our next sci-fi film, which will be set in space and since there is no gravity, they have to use new techniques for shooting.

"We haven’t decided whether to create a sequel to Warriors of Future, but we will be making a prequel that sheds more light on the backstory of some characters. I am glad that Warriors of Future has been recognized by many as an iconic Hong Kong sci-fi film and that Netflix will show the world that Hong Kong also has what it takes to create high-calibre CGI," he added.

The trailer gives a glimpse of the earth ravaged by pollution, and disaster. A fast-growing alien vine named Pandora has arrived to cause more lethal devastation. Th film unfolds with a combat squad swinging into action, racing against time to try and prevent an apocalypse.