Tag Archives: Movies

Films and the cinema provide a lot of great inspiration for LEGO builders all over the world. You’ll find LEGO models inspired by everything from Mad Max to Toy Story here.

A grotesque alter ego plays his role

This odd looking chap sitting at the piano, smoking a cigarette and tinkling the keys may not be known to everyone as a character from the film Gainsbourg (Vie héroïque) [tr. Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life]. The film tells the story of French singer Serge Gainsbourg, from growing up in 1940s Nazi-occupied Paris, through his successful songwriting years in the 1960s. Pedro Vezini has masterfully built Gainsbourg’s grotesque alter ego with his large nose, long thin fingers, and an affection for cigarettes and drinking – a character who personifies all of the singer’s worst habits.

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Transforming LEGO in disguise

The Transformers was a US animated television series which originally aired in the 1980s, but has been transforming throughout the years into different generations of TV series and film franchises. The original US series was based on Hasbro’s Transformers toy line and involved giant mecha that can transform into vehicles (although Hasbro’s own toy line was based upon other toys made by Japanese manufacturer Takara) with the opposing teams of Autobots and Decepticons at war with each other. Alex Jones has built a fantastic collection of LEGO Autobots including Optimus Prime at the centre next to Jetfire the jet, Bumblebee in his yellow VW Beetle state on the left and Windcharger the red sports car on the right. How many of these Transformers can you name and remember playing with as a child?

Alex has just co-authored a book with another builder whose work we have featured on TBB, Joachim Klang. Tips for Kids: Transformers: Cool Projects for your Lego Bricks is due out at the end of July 2017 and will help budding builders transform their bricks into Autobots and Decepticons. We also recently highlighted Alex and Joachim’s incredible LEGO diorama of Optimus Prime in position in a tranquil street which gives a taste of the book’s theme.

Chateau Reloaded

Even if you hate the later Matrix movies, maybe you can acknowledge their existence for at least a moment to admire this fantastic LEGO build of the the chateau scene from the second movie. Letranger Absurde puts together some impressive architecture work with a striking curved staircase design. While the model may not be 100% accurate to the scene it’s still a great looker. Well, at least until the minifig Neo destroys most of it.

A tranquil street about to be Transformed

Alex Jones has packed a lot of great LEGO building into this single creation with several Transformers against a city street backdrop. Sure, it looks peaceful now, but you know it’s all about to kick-off. Optimus Prime is nicely done, but the eye is quickly drawn to Bumblebee in Camaro form and the brightly-coloured Devastator. I believe this is based on the game Transformers: Devastation where a similar setting sees you battling Devastator.

I go. You stay. No following.

This desktop sized vignette by Obedient Machine pays homage to the memorable movie The Iron Giant. It features the heroic extraterrestrial robot mounted on a pedestal and bearing a microscopic figure of the story’s protagonist Hogarth. Represented by only 4 tiny elements, Hogarth remains unmistakable to anyone who’s seen the film. Despite being a seemingly simple creation, this model apparently went through three iterations in LEGO Digital Designer, proving that even small creations can take time and effort to perfect.

Oh, wicked, bad, naughty Zoot!

She has been setting alight to our beacon, which, I just remembered, is grail-shaped. The beacon appears to have drawn in Letranger Absurde, who has commemorated the occasion with this fantastic rendition of the Wicked Zoot Abbey from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

The scale is deceptive here; I daresay it’s microscale of a very large abbey. He’s made excellent use of SNOT techniques, using new corner tiles to give texture to the walls of the building. Take a peak at the spire in the back – it’s not often you see a string reel drum used without string, or the complete assembly!

If you haven’t already done so, check out our interview we did with him earlier this year to gain excellent insight into his creative process.

Rogue group, use your harpoons and tow cables – go for the legs!

What’s not to love about this action-filled nano-scale diorama of the Battle of Hoth by Belgian builder GolPlaysWithLego. The AT-AT is built with almost no visible studs and a perfectly shaped body section, and a clever use of the signal paddle element for the head mounted blasters. Two T-47 Snowspeeders swing into action, just as the AT-AT is about to be brought to its knees.

The DF.9 turret (looking a tad bit helpless but ready for action) and the 1.4 FD P-Tower complete this throwback to one of the most iconic scenes from The Empire Strikes Back.

Happy Star Wars Day from the REJECTZ!

Unless you’ve been living in a Dolovite mining colony on the Outer Rim for the past five years, you’ll be aware that today – May 4th – is Star Wars Day! To mark this most made-up of holidays, I decided to go for the throat with my latest batch of REJECTZ, the adorably ugly characters that aren’t Brickheads and that you hate to hate but have to hate because no-one messes with Star Wars except George Lucas.

Check out the Flickr album for more photos and a little Star Wars Day themed LEGO humor.

Detention Block Rescue (Star Wars Celebration exclusive) [Review]

The recent tradition of LEGO releasing special collectible sets for the official Star Wars convention, known as Celebration, never fails to capture anticipation and attention. This year’s event – which also coincided with the 40th Anniversary of Star Wars – happened a few weeks ago and LEGO did not disappoint eager fans. This year’s exclusive LEGO item is a 220 piece set called Detention Block Rescue, and features Luke and Han in detention block AA-23 from Star Wars: A New Hope.

Click to read the full review

Crimson Queen of the Xenomorphs

In advance of the release of Alien: Covenant, Grant Masters brings us a fantastically creepy LEGO rendition of a crimson Alien Queen. Clips and minifigure hands do a brilliant job of capturing the unmistakable mechanical/organic Giger styling of this classic beastie. I dread to think how fiddly this was to put together — any time I try to use clips like that something always pops loose. Grant must have the patience of a saint. Nice work on the base too — the dark grey really makes the red figure pop out of the image.

I really hope we get to see something as cool as this creation in the new movie, but I am nervous of suffering the same “anticappointment” I felt with Prometheus.

A fancy title is all you need

Excited for The LEGO Ninjago Movie? The movie trailer has been out since February, and we got our first official look at some of the sets last month. But whether or not you’re going to take a pass on the film or are already in line (6 months early), you can surely appreciate this awesome fan design of a brick-built scroll of the movie’s title by ZiO Chao. The lettering is perfect, both for the small text in Latin characters on the top and bottom and the main title with hànzì characters.

Shake a tail feather and head to Ray’s Music Exchange

When two brothers, Jake and Elwood Blues, reform their band in the movie The Blues Brothers, they have high hopes of saving the orphanage in which they were raised from financial ruin. One slight issue is the requirement for musical instruments, and this leads the brothers to Ray’s Music Exchange where R&B genius Ray Charles has a cameo as the store owner. Nate Flood has built a perfect LEGO version of the infamous store, complete with a fantastic ‘LEGO-ized’ version of the famous mural.

Nathan’s build is not just an exterior though, as inside we can see Jake and Elwood strutting their stuff, with Ray Charles at the piano and the guys shaking some tail feathers with their guitars and saxophones.