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XXX (film)
Encyclopedia
xXx, pronounced "Triple X", is a 2002 action film
directed by Rob Cohen
and starring Vin Diesel
in the lead role as Xander Cage, a thrill seeking extreme sports enthusiast, stuntman
and rebellious
anarchist turned reluctant spy
for the National Security Agency
who is sent on a dangerous mission to infiltrate
a group of potential terrorists in Eastern Europe
. xXx also stars Samuel L. Jackson
, William Hope
, Danny Trejo
, Asia Argento
, Marton Csokas
, Michael Roof
, Leila Arcieri
and Tom Everett
.
The film received mixed reviews but was a financial success for the studios, grossing US$277,448,382 worldwide. It was followed by a 2005 sequel entitled xXx: State of the Union
.
agent on a mission infiltrates a concert where Rammstein
is performing only to be killed by Anarchy 99, a rebellious Eastern European underground group. After losing the third agent assigned to the mission, NSA operative Augustus Gibbons (Samuel L. Jackson
) gets the OK to run a project to find the right person to infiltrate Anarchy 99; since conventional NSA agents are too obvious to the ex-military Anarchy 99, Gibbons feels that a more brutal style of agent is called for in this instance to escape detection.
Xander Cage (Vin Diesel
) is a law-breaking extreme sports enthusiast, with a propensity for rebellious behavior
. After crashing California
senator Dick Hotchkiss' Corvette
, in response to the senator championing a cause to ban all controversial video games and music, Cage's hideout is raided during a party by a SWAT Team and he is tranquilized.
Cage wakes up in a diner. As he groggily tries to familiarize himself with his surroundings, he notices things are out of place and is not surprised during a fake robbery attempt. After Cage quickly foils the "robbery", Gibbons informs him that the whole scenario was part of a test and that he passed. Cage tells Gibbons that he's not interested in this "test" and is once again tranquilized as he attempts to leave.
Cage later wakes up in the payload of a U.S. Marines C-123 cargo plane along with two other criminal types similar to Cage. The plane's cargo door opens, and Cage, along with the others, are dumped in Colombia
and taken captive by a Colombian drug cartel after stumbling upon a cocaine plantation. Later, the cartel leader (Danny Trejo
) arrives and attempts to interrogate the three who, believing the scene to be another NSA setup, jokingly refuse to cooperate. As the drug lord begins to use torture tactics, Cage realizes that this scenario is real and frees himself and the others as the Colombian Army raid the plantation. As Cage attempts to escape, he is captured by camouflaged NSA agents.
The next morning, Gibbons arrives and mentions that exposing the Colombian drug cartel was another part of the test. Xander is then given a choice by Gibbons: work for him or serve a lengthy prison term in Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary for his misdeeds. He grudgingly chooses government employment.
xXx goes undercover
in the Czech Republic
in order to find out more about "Anarchy 99" and in particular their leader Yorgi (Marton Csokas
), a Russian
ex-soldier who has a grudge against authority and society in general, and indeed all political ideologies, both left wing and right wing. Fitting right into the dark yet lavish and tempting underworld inhabited by the group, Xander finds himself drawn to Yorgi's apparent girlfriend Yelena (Asia Argento
), and he negotiates a political asylum deal with Gibbons to save and secure a new life for her in America. However, Anarchy 99 turns out to be a terrorist faction, planning a series of chemical weapons attacks on major world cities by utilizing a high speed automated sea-faring and river-faring drone named Ahab. The chemical weapon is referred to as "Silent Night", and the formula has been missing since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. Silent Night is made of everyday chemicals that in combination are lethal. After killing millions the chemicals are designed to harmlessly disperse in water. Yorgi's ultimate aim is cause chaos
and lawlessness
across the entire world, bringing civilization
to an anarchic end and destroying the system that killed so many of Anarchy 99's old military comrades for no reason.
Xander, with Yelena acting as a double agent
, learns that Ahab is equipped with a device designed to travel to highly populated areas where it can deploy its biological missiles and continue on its world-ending journey by submerging in the ocean. An agent-turned-criminal Milan Sova (Richy Müller
), unaware of Yorgi's ultimate plans, finds Xander's methods so extreme - Xander having exposed him as a spy during the initial infiltration attempt and subsequently shooting him with fake bullets to gain Yorgi's trust - that he defects in support of Yorgi, and Yelena is forced to kill him, but she reveals that she is an abandoned agent of the Russian intelligence agency, the Federal Security Bureau. Then, Xander arranges an operation with the Czech special forces to raid the remote castle, which Yorgi and Anarchy 99 have been using as their base and laboratory. Xander is then captured. Soon, the Czech police arrive, blowing up the mansion, and in the chaos Yorgi and Kirill, his sniper
, escape. Xander and Yelena go after them and Xander kills Kirill using a heat seeking rocket, which was caused ironically by Kirill's habit of smoking. After Xander shoots and kills Yorgi, he speeds along winding roads in a previously acquired Pontiac GTO
, and parasails onto Ahab as it speeds down the Vltava River towards Prague
, capital of the Czech Republic
, with a population of well over a million. Xander finally destroys the drone and the chemicals onboard as he quips, "Welcome To The Xander Zone!"
The film ends with Xander on vacation with Yelena in Bora Bora
as agent Gibbons jokingly informs him that because of his actions, he has passed "The Test", the "Gibbons Test". He also says that he needs him for another assignment, as "something else has come up". Cage ignores this as he and Yelena go for a swim.
To imply Xander Cage's credibility within extreme sport subcultures, various personalities make cameo appearances:
, Czech Republic
. The Corvette jump was filmed at the Foresthill Bridge
in Auburn State Recreation Area
, Auburn, California
. The final scenes were set in Bora Bora
, Tahiti
, and other areas in French Polynesia
.
The first few minutes of the film take place in a Rammstein
concert in Prague. The same clip is available, but from the band's perspective (with only brief scenes from the film) in their video compilation Lichtspielhaus
.
Harry L. O'Connor, Diesel's stunt double, was killed in an accident during filming, in a scene in which he was supposed to rappel down a parasailing line and land on a submarine. When O'Connor failed to rappel down the line fast enough, he hit a bridge at high speed and was killed instantly. His death was caught on film, and director Rob Cohen decided to include the footage of the scene with the final moments edited out — out of respect for the stuntman's final act.
soundtrack
, mostly featuring heavy metal
. Rammstein
provided some of the music and was even featured in the film in one scene. The soundtrack album
also features Queens of the Stone Age
, Drowning Pool
, Hatebreed
and others, and some artists of different genres such as Nelly
, Lil' Wayne, N.E.R.D, Orbital
and Moby
. It was released on August 6, 2002 through Universal Records
. It peaked at #9 on the Billboard 200
, #16 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums
and #1 on the Top Soundtracks. There was also a song created just for the movie. The song was "Adrenaline" by Gavin Rossdale, the lead singer of Bush.
reported that 48% of the critics gave the film positive reviews based on a sample of 174 reviews, with an average score of 5.8/10. It was a financial success. The film's box office surpassed its budget of US$70,000,000 with a North American gross of $142,109,382 and $135,339,000 in other territories, making its total worldwide gross $277,448,382.
DVD
of xXx was released on April 19, 2005, ten days before the sequel xXx: State of the Union
was released in cinemas. The Director's Cut of xXx featured new artwork, and deleted scenes
of xXx previously unseen. Some of these include additional scenes that foreshadowed Xander as a hero, and also a longer stripper-in-the-bedroom sequence. There were also sneak peeks at the sequel.
In the short film Xander Cage is played by Vin Diesel's stunt double Khristian Lupo (who never shows his face or speaks) while reusing some lines spoken by Vin Diesel. It also features Leila Arcieri
as Jordan King from the first film, and John G. Connolly as Lt. Colonel
Alabama "Bama" Cobb, one of the villains from the sequel xXx: State of the Union
, as the man behind the attack on Xander Cage.
The sequence opens with Xander driving in a car with Jordan King. He stops next to his apartment building. King makes sexual overtures to him and they get intimate. Suddenly they hear a noise and Xander goes to check it out. Cobb's men show up and abduct King. They plant a bomb in the building and drop her coat on the steps to trick Xander to his death. After confronting a homeless man, Xander returns to the building. He takes the bait left by Cobb and his henchmen and is blown apart by a huge explosion. His trademark coat survives the blast. Cobb shows up and picks up a piece of skin from Xander's neck which has the triple x tattoo on it. He remarks "Poor Xander, you never had very much between the ears." His men pick him up and drive off in their car. Cobb's motives for killing Xander are obvious; he doesn't want him to interfere in Deckert's plans. Feuer Frei by Rammstein
plays in the background during the sequence.
in 2005, entitled xXx: State of the Union
, starring the rapper Ice Cube and directed by Lee Tamahori
. Neither Vin Diesel, Rob Cohen, nor xXx creator Rich Wilkes
were involved in the sequel, and there were notable differences in both style (less emphasis on extreme sports) and music (rock music was replaced with hip hop
and rap
), for example. xXx: State of the Union currently has a very poor rating of 16% on Rotten Tomatoes
. The sequel was also a disastrous financial failure, making less than half of what was expected compared to the original film.
Action film
Action film is a film genre where one or more heroes is thrust into a series of challenges that require physical feats, extended fights and frenetic chases...
directed by Rob Cohen
Rob Cohen
Robert "Rob" Cohen is an American film director, producer and writer.-Early life:Cohen was born in Cornwall, New York. He was raised and spent his childhood in the Town of Newburgh and graduated from Newburgh Free Academy in 1967...
and starring Vin Diesel
Vin Diesel
Vin Diesel is an American actor, writer, director and producer. He became known in the early 2000s, appearing in several successful Hollywood films, including The Fast and the Furious and xXx...
in the lead role as Xander Cage, a thrill seeking extreme sports enthusiast, stuntman
Stuntman
A stuntman or stunt performer is someone who performs dangerous stunts.Stuntman may also refer to:*The Stunt Man, a 1980 film starring Peter O'Toole*Stuntman , a 2002 video game**Stuntman: Ignition, its sequel...
and rebellious
Anti-establishment
An anti-establishment view or belief is one which stands in opposition to the conventional social, political, and economic principles of a society. The term was first used in the modern sense in 1958, by the British magazine New Statesman to refer to its political and social agenda...
anarchist turned reluctant spy
SPY
SPY is a three-letter acronym that may refer to:* SPY , ticker symbol for Standard & Poor's Depositary Receipts* SPY , a satirical monthly, trademarked all-caps* SPY , airport code for San Pédro, Côte d'Ivoire...
for the National Security Agency
National Security Agency
The National Security Agency/Central Security Service is a cryptologic intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the collection and analysis of foreign communications and foreign signals intelligence, as well as protecting U.S...
who is sent on a dangerous mission to infiltrate
Infiltration tactics
In warfare, infiltration tactics involve small, lightly equipped infantry forces attacking enemy rear areas while bypassing enemy front line strongpoints and isolating them for attack by follow-up troops with heavier weapons.-Development during World War I:...
a group of potential terrorists in Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
. xXx also stars Samuel L. Jackson
Samuel L. Jackson
Samuel Leroy Jackson is an American film and television actor and film producer. After becoming involved with the Civil Rights Movement, he moved on to acting in theater at Morehouse College, and then films. He had several small roles such as in the film Goodfellas before meeting his mentor,...
, William Hope
William Hope (actor)
William "Bill" Hope is a Canadian stage, film, television and voice actor.-Career:Most of Hope's stage work has been leading roles in a wide variety of regional, touring and West End theatres in England....
, Danny Trejo
Danny Trejo
Dan "Danny" Trejo is an American actor who has appeared in numerous Hollywood films, most notably in roles as an antagonist, or anti-hero.-Early life:...
, Asia Argento
Asia Argento
Aria Asia Anna Maria Vittoria Rossa Argento is an Italian actress, singer, model and director.-Family and early life:...
, Marton Csokas
Marton Csokas
-Early life:Csokas was born in Invercargill, New Zealand. His mother, a nurse, is of Irish and Danish descent; his Hungarian-born father, also named Márton Csókás, worked as a mechanical engineer...
, Michael Roof
Michael Roof
Michael Roof was an American television and film actor.Roof was born at an Air Force hospital in Tampa, Florida to Michael Roof, Sr. and Jean...
, Leila Arcieri
Leila Arcieri
Leila C. Arcieri is an American actress and model. She was Miss San Francisco in the 1997 Miss California pageant and has appeared in many films such as xXx, Wild Things 2, and Daddy Day Care.-Early life:...
and Tom Everett
Tom Everett
Tom Everett is an American actor known for his performances in political films such as Air Force One and Thirteen Days.-Film:-TV:-External links:...
.
The film received mixed reviews but was a financial success for the studios, grossing US$277,448,382 worldwide. It was followed by a 2005 sequel entitled xXx: State of the Union
XXX: State of the Union
xXx: State of the Union, mainly released as xXx²: The Next Level outside the United States and Canada, is a 2005 action-adventure film directed by Lee Tamahori. It is a sequel to the 2002 film xXx...
.
Plot
An NSANational Security Agency
The National Security Agency/Central Security Service is a cryptologic intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the collection and analysis of foreign communications and foreign signals intelligence, as well as protecting U.S...
agent on a mission infiltrates a concert where Rammstein
Rammstein
Rammstein is a German Neue Deutsche Härte band from Berlin, formed in 1994. The band consists of members Till Lindemann , Richard Z. Kruspe , Paul H. Landers , Oliver "Ollie" Riedel , Christoph "Doom" Schneider and Christian "Flake" Lorenz...
is performing only to be killed by Anarchy 99, a rebellious Eastern European underground group. After losing the third agent assigned to the mission, NSA operative Augustus Gibbons (Samuel L. Jackson
Samuel L. Jackson
Samuel Leroy Jackson is an American film and television actor and film producer. After becoming involved with the Civil Rights Movement, he moved on to acting in theater at Morehouse College, and then films. He had several small roles such as in the film Goodfellas before meeting his mentor,...
) gets the OK to run a project to find the right person to infiltrate Anarchy 99; since conventional NSA agents are too obvious to the ex-military Anarchy 99, Gibbons feels that a more brutal style of agent is called for in this instance to escape detection.
Xander Cage (Vin Diesel
Vin Diesel
Vin Diesel is an American actor, writer, director and producer. He became known in the early 2000s, appearing in several successful Hollywood films, including The Fast and the Furious and xXx...
) is a law-breaking extreme sports enthusiast, with a propensity for rebellious behavior
Anti-establishment
An anti-establishment view or belief is one which stands in opposition to the conventional social, political, and economic principles of a society. The term was first used in the modern sense in 1958, by the British magazine New Statesman to refer to its political and social agenda...
. After crashing California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
senator Dick Hotchkiss' Corvette
Corvette
A corvette is a small, maneuverable, lightly armed warship, originally smaller than a frigate and larger than a coastal patrol craft or fast attack craft , although many recent designs resemble frigates in size and role...
, in response to the senator championing a cause to ban all controversial video games and music, Cage's hideout is raided during a party by a SWAT Team and he is tranquilized.
Cage wakes up in a diner. As he groggily tries to familiarize himself with his surroundings, he notices things are out of place and is not surprised during a fake robbery attempt. After Cage quickly foils the "robbery", Gibbons informs him that the whole scenario was part of a test and that he passed. Cage tells Gibbons that he's not interested in this "test" and is once again tranquilized as he attempts to leave.
Cage later wakes up in the payload of a U.S. Marines C-123 cargo plane along with two other criminal types similar to Cage. The plane's cargo door opens, and Cage, along with the others, are dumped in Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
and taken captive by a Colombian drug cartel after stumbling upon a cocaine plantation. Later, the cartel leader (Danny Trejo
Danny Trejo
Dan "Danny" Trejo is an American actor who has appeared in numerous Hollywood films, most notably in roles as an antagonist, or anti-hero.-Early life:...
) arrives and attempts to interrogate the three who, believing the scene to be another NSA setup, jokingly refuse to cooperate. As the drug lord begins to use torture tactics, Cage realizes that this scenario is real and frees himself and the others as the Colombian Army raid the plantation. As Cage attempts to escape, he is captured by camouflaged NSA agents.
The next morning, Gibbons arrives and mentions that exposing the Colombian drug cartel was another part of the test. Xander is then given a choice by Gibbons: work for him or serve a lengthy prison term in Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary for his misdeeds. He grudgingly chooses government employment.
xXx goes undercover
Undercover
Being undercover is disguising one's own identity or using an assumed identity for the purposes of gaining the trust of an individual or organization to learn secret information or to gain the trust of targeted individuals in order to gain information or evidence...
in the Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
in order to find out more about "Anarchy 99" and in particular their leader Yorgi (Marton Csokas
Marton Csokas
-Early life:Csokas was born in Invercargill, New Zealand. His mother, a nurse, is of Irish and Danish descent; his Hungarian-born father, also named Márton Csókás, worked as a mechanical engineer...
), a Russian
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
ex-soldier who has a grudge against authority and society in general, and indeed all political ideologies, both left wing and right wing. Fitting right into the dark yet lavish and tempting underworld inhabited by the group, Xander finds himself drawn to Yorgi's apparent girlfriend Yelena (Asia Argento
Asia Argento
Aria Asia Anna Maria Vittoria Rossa Argento is an Italian actress, singer, model and director.-Family and early life:...
), and he negotiates a political asylum deal with Gibbons to save and secure a new life for her in America. However, Anarchy 99 turns out to be a terrorist faction, planning a series of chemical weapons attacks on major world cities by utilizing a high speed automated sea-faring and river-faring drone named Ahab. The chemical weapon is referred to as "Silent Night", and the formula has been missing since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. Silent Night is made of everyday chemicals that in combination are lethal. After killing millions the chemicals are designed to harmlessly disperse in water. Yorgi's ultimate aim is cause chaos
Chaos
- Mythology, philosophy, and religion :* Chaos , the concept in classical creation myths** a chasm or abyss, especially in biblical usage, see Abyss** prima materia, the primordial state from which the cosmos originated...
and lawlessness
Lawlessness
Lawlessness may be:* lack of law, in any of the various senses of that word ;* chaos;* anomie;* anarchy;* anarchism* anarchism* randomness;* antinomianism;...
across the entire world, bringing civilization
Civilization
Civilization is a sometimes controversial term that has been used in several related ways. Primarily, the term has been used to refer to the material and instrumental side of human cultures that are complex in terms of technology, science, and division of labor. Such civilizations are generally...
to an anarchic end and destroying the system that killed so many of Anarchy 99's old military comrades for no reason.
Xander, with Yelena acting as a double agent
Double agent
A double agent, commonly abbreviated referral of double secret agent, is a counterintelligence term used to designate an employee of a secret service or organization, whose primary aim is to spy on the target organization, but who in fact is a member of that same target organization oneself. They...
, learns that Ahab is equipped with a device designed to travel to highly populated areas where it can deploy its biological missiles and continue on its world-ending journey by submerging in the ocean. An agent-turned-criminal Milan Sova (Richy Müller
Richy Müller
Richy Müller is a German television and movie actor.-Filmography:* Die große Flatter * Sei zärtlich, Pinguin...
), unaware of Yorgi's ultimate plans, finds Xander's methods so extreme - Xander having exposed him as a spy during the initial infiltration attempt and subsequently shooting him with fake bullets to gain Yorgi's trust - that he defects in support of Yorgi, and Yelena is forced to kill him, but she reveals that she is an abandoned agent of the Russian intelligence agency, the Federal Security Bureau. Then, Xander arranges an operation with the Czech special forces to raid the remote castle, which Yorgi and Anarchy 99 have been using as their base and laboratory. Xander is then captured. Soon, the Czech police arrive, blowing up the mansion, and in the chaos Yorgi and Kirill, his sniper
Sniper
A sniper is a marksman who shoots targets from concealed positions or distances exceeding the capabilities of regular personnel. Snipers typically have specialized training and distinct high-precision rifles....
, escape. Xander and Yelena go after them and Xander kills Kirill using a heat seeking rocket, which was caused ironically by Kirill's habit of smoking. After Xander shoots and kills Yorgi, he speeds along winding roads in a previously acquired Pontiac GTO
Pontiac GTO
The Pontiac GTO is an automobile built by Pontiac Division of General Motors in the United States from 1964 to 1974, and by GM subsidiary Holden in Australia from 2004 to 2006. It is considered an innovative, and now classic muscle car of the 1960s and 1970s...
, and parasails onto Ahab as it speeds down the Vltava River towards Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
, capital of the Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
, with a population of well over a million. Xander finally destroys the drone and the chemicals onboard as he quips, "Welcome To The Xander Zone!"
The film ends with Xander on vacation with Yelena in Bora Bora
Bora Bora
The commune of Bora-Bora is made up of the island of Bora Bora proper with its surrounding islets emerging from the coral reef, 29.3 km² in total, and of the atoll of Tupai , located north of Bora Bora...
as agent Gibbons jokingly informs him that because of his actions, he has passed "The Test", the "Gibbons Test". He also says that he needs him for another assignment, as "something else has come up". Cage ignores this as he and Yelena go for a swim.
Cast
- Vin DieselVin DieselVin Diesel is an American actor, writer, director and producer. He became known in the early 2000s, appearing in several successful Hollywood films, including The Fast and the Furious and xXx...
as Xander Cage, also known by his nickname "Triple X". Cage is a thrill seeking AmericanUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
extreme sports enthusiast, stuntmanStuntmanA stuntman or stunt performer is someone who performs dangerous stunts.Stuntman may also refer to:*The Stunt Man, a 1980 film starring Peter O'Toole*Stuntman , a 2002 video game**Stuntman: Ignition, its sequel...
and anti-establishmentAnti-establishmentAn anti-establishment view or belief is one which stands in opposition to the conventional social, political, and economic principles of a society. The term was first used in the modern sense in 1958, by the British magazine New Statesman to refer to its political and social agenda...
activist. Idolized in some sub-cultures, xXx is also hunted by the authorities and he is offered a deal to become a spySPYSPY is a three-letter acronym that may refer to:* SPY , ticker symbol for Standard & Poor's Depositary Receipts* SPY , a satirical monthly, trademarked all-caps* SPY , airport code for San Pédro, Côte d'Ivoire...
for the National Security AgencyNational Security AgencyThe National Security Agency/Central Security Service is a cryptologic intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the collection and analysis of foreign communications and foreign signals intelligence, as well as protecting U.S...
in exchange for leniency, the agency requiring an agent who can do the current job without the military professional training that Anarchy 99's background will allow them to recognise. - Samuel L. JacksonSamuel L. JacksonSamuel Leroy Jackson is an American film and television actor and film producer. After becoming involved with the Civil Rights Movement, he moved on to acting in theater at Morehouse College, and then films. He had several small roles such as in the film Goodfellas before meeting his mentor,...
as Augustus Gibbons, a high ranking official in the National Security AgencyNational Security AgencyThe National Security Agency/Central Security Service is a cryptologic intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the collection and analysis of foreign communications and foreign signals intelligence, as well as protecting U.S...
who has the power to give xXx a pardon for his crimes. He uses this fact as leverage to recruit xXx for a mission he knows xXx is the only person with the possibility of succeeding- infiltrating Anarchy 99-, recognising the benefits of xXx's rebellious attitude and unorthodox methods. - William HopeWilliam Hope (actor)William "Bill" Hope is a Canadian stage, film, television and voice actor.-Career:Most of Hope's stage work has been leading roles in a wide variety of regional, touring and West End theatres in England....
as Agent Roger Donnan, the Associate and Administrator of the National Security AgencyNational Security AgencyThe National Security Agency/Central Security Service is a cryptologic intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the collection and analysis of foreign communications and foreign signals intelligence, as well as protecting U.S...
. - Danny TrejoDanny TrejoDan "Danny" Trejo is an American actor who has appeared in numerous Hollywood films, most notably in roles as an antagonist, or anti-hero.-Early life:...
as El Jefe, torturer for a ColombiaColombiaColombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
n drug cartelDrug cartelDrug cartels are criminal organizations developed with the primary purpose of promoting and controlling drug trafficking operations. They range from loosely managed agreements among various drug traffickers to formalized commercial enterprises. The term was applied when the largest trafficking...
. - Asia ArgentoAsia ArgentoAria Asia Anna Maria Vittoria Rossa Argento is an Italian actress, singer, model and director.-Family and early life:...
as Yelena, Yorgi's apparent girlfriend. She was originally an Russian intelligence agent, sent to watch over Yorgi but has since been abandoned by her superiors. Yelena becomes romantically involved with xXx and he attempts to get her political asylum in the United States for her assistance in bringing down Yorgi - Marton CsokasMarton Csokas-Early life:Csokas was born in Invercargill, New Zealand. His mother, a nurse, is of Irish and Danish descent; his Hungarian-born father, also named Márton Csókás, worked as a mechanical engineer...
as Yorgi. Yorgi is a former soldier in the army of the Soviet UnionSoviet UnionThe Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, now a wealthy hedonist owning a string of locations around Eastern EuropeEastern EuropeEastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
, including a castleCastleA castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
and nightclubNightclubA nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...
s. Yorgi is also the leader of Anarchy 99, a group of militant anarchistAnarchismAnarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...
s with a disdain for all forms of government and authority, and society in general. His ultimate aim is complete lawlessnessLawlessnessLawlessness may be:* lack of law, in any of the various senses of that word ;* chaos;* anomie;* anarchy;* anarchism* anarchism* randomness;* antinomianism;...
across the world. - Michael RoofMichael RoofMichael Roof was an American television and film actor.Roof was born at an Air Force hospital in Tampa, Florida to Michael Roof, Sr. and Jean...
as Agent Toby Lee Shavers, NSA techno-genius and gadget specialist. - Richy MüllerRichy MüllerRichy Müller is a German television and movie actor.-Filmography:* Die große Flatter * Sei zärtlich, Pinguin...
as Milan Sova, a criminal and double agentDouble agentA double agent, commonly abbreviated referral of double secret agent, is a counterintelligence term used to designate an employee of a secret service or organization, whose primary aim is to spy on the target organization, but who in fact is a member of that same target organization oneself. They...
. - Werner DaehnWerner DaehnWerner Daehn is a German/international actor, who has worked with Vin Diesel and Samuel L. Jackson in xXx, with Jason Priestley in Colditz an ITV1 2005 miniseries, with Bill Pullman in Revelations and with Steven Seagal in Shadow Man...
as Kirill, a member of Anarchy 99, cigaretteCigaretteA cigarette is a small roll of finely cut tobacco leaves wrapped in a cylinder of thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end and allowed to smoulder; its smoke is inhaled from the other end, which is held in or to the mouth and in some cases a cigarette holder may be used as well...
addictSubstance dependenceThe section about substance dependence in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders does not use the word addiction at all. It explains:...
and rifleRifleA rifle is a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder, with a barrel that has a helical groove or pattern of grooves cut into the barrel walls. The raised areas of the rifling are called "lands," which make contact with the projectile , imparting spin around an axis corresponding to the...
sharpshooter. - Petr Jákl as Kolya, Yorgi's younger brother.
- Jan Pavel FilipenskyJan Pavel FilipenskyJan Pavel Filipenský is a Czech actor. He is best known for his performances in xXx as Viktor and AVP as Boris.-Filmography:* The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian - Wimbleweather* Joséphine, ange gardien - Guard...
as Viktor, a member of Anarchy 99 and close friend of Yorgi. He is usually with Yorgi wherever he goes. - Tom EverettTom EverettTom Everett is an American actor known for his performances in political films such as Air Force One and Thirteen Days.-Film:-TV:-External links:...
as Senator Dick Hotchkiss, a conservative California State Senator; his car is stolen and wrecked by xXx prior to his recruitment by the NSA, in an act of property destruction, as a protest against some of Hotchkiss's policies. - Thomas Ian GriffithThomas Ian GriffithThomas Ian Griffith is an American actor and martial artist who has starred in films and on television.-Early life:Griffith was born in Hartford, Connecticut, the son of Mary Ann , who worked at a dance studio, and Thomas Joseph Griffith...
as Agent Jim McGrath. - EveEve (rapper)Eve Jihan Jeffers , is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer and actress. Her first three albums have reached a total of over 8 million albums sold worldwide. She has also achieved success in fashion as she started a clothing line titled "Fetish." She won a Grammy Award in 2002 for the...
as J.J., Xander's friend - Leila ArcieriLeila ArcieriLeila C. Arcieri is an American actress and model. She was Miss San Francisco in the 1997 Miss California pageant and has appeared in many films such as xXx, Wild Things 2, and Daddy Day Care.-Early life:...
as Jordan King. - RammsteinRammsteinRammstein is a German Neue Deutsche Härte band from Berlin, formed in 1994. The band consists of members Till Lindemann , Richard Z. Kruspe , Paul H. Landers , Oliver "Ollie" Riedel , Christoph "Doom" Schneider and Christian "Flake" Lorenz...
as themselves.
To imply Xander Cage's credibility within extreme sport subcultures, various personalities make cameo appearances:
- Tony HawkTony HawkAnthony Frank "Tony" Hawk , nicknamed "The Birdman" is an American retired professional skateboarder and actor. Hawk gained significant fame for completing the first 900 as well as his licensed video game titles distributed by Activision...
makes a cameo appearance in the Corvette scene from the bottom of the bridge driving the getaway Cadillac, (near the beginning of the film) and skating over a half-pipe at Xander's place later. - Mike VallelyMike VallelyMike Vallely , also known as Mike V, is a professional skateboarder. Mike is also a musician, actor, television personality, stuntman, professional wrestler and FHL hockey player.-Early life:...
also makes a cameo as a cameraman and an extra. Pro motocross rider Carey HartCarey HartCarey Jason Hart is an American freestyle motocross motorcycle racer and off-road racer. He and singer Pink have been married since 2006.-Early years:...
is seen in the back seat of the Cadillac driven by Tony Hawk. - Rider Matt Hoffman exchanges lines with Xander during the party scene.
- Also during the party scene, Josh ToddJosh ToddJosh Todd is an American musician and actor, best known as the lead singer of the rock band Buckcherry.-Background:...
(the lead singer of BuckcherryBuckcherryBuckcherry is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California formed in 1995. The band released two albums, Buckcherry and Time Bomb , before partially dissolving in the summer of 2002. In 2005, lead vocalist Josh Todd and lead guitarist Keith Nelson reformed Buckcherry and released a new album...
) makes a cameo appearance though he never turns around, but his suicide king of hearts tattoo can be seen on his back.
Production
Filming of the movie took place at three locations. Most of the film is set in PraguePrague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
, Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
. The Corvette jump was filmed at the Foresthill Bridge
Foresthill Bridge
The Foresthill Bridge over the North Fork of the American River is the highest bridge in the U.S. state of California. It is sometimes referred to as the Auburn-Foresthill Bridge or the Auburn Bridge....
in Auburn State Recreation Area
Auburn State Recreation Area
Auburn State Recreation Area is a state park unit of California, USA, along of the North and Middle Forks of the American River. The state recreation area is situated on the border of Placer and El Dorado Counties in the heart of historic Gold Country. The largest city with close proximity is...
, Auburn, California
Auburn, California
Auburn is the county seat of Placer County, California. Its population at the 2010 census was 13,330. Auburn is known for its California Gold Rush history.Auburn is part of the Greater Sacramento area.- History :...
. The final scenes were set in Bora Bora
Bora Bora
The commune of Bora-Bora is made up of the island of Bora Bora proper with its surrounding islets emerging from the coral reef, 29.3 km² in total, and of the atoll of Tupai , located north of Bora Bora...
, Tahiti
Tahiti
Tahiti is the largest island in the Windward group of French Polynesia, located in the archipelago of the Society Islands in the southern Pacific Ocean. It is the economic, cultural and political centre of French Polynesia. The island was formed from volcanic activity and is high and mountainous...
, and other areas in French Polynesia
French Polynesia
French Polynesia is an overseas country of the French Republic . It is made up of several groups of Polynesian islands, the most famous island being Tahiti in the Society Islands group, which is also the most populous island and the seat of the capital of the territory...
.
The first few minutes of the film take place in a Rammstein
Rammstein
Rammstein is a German Neue Deutsche Härte band from Berlin, formed in 1994. The band consists of members Till Lindemann , Richard Z. Kruspe , Paul H. Landers , Oliver "Ollie" Riedel , Christoph "Doom" Schneider and Christian "Flake" Lorenz...
concert in Prague. The same clip is available, but from the band's perspective (with only brief scenes from the film) in their video compilation Lichtspielhaus
Lichtspielhaus
Lichtspielhaus is the German NDH-metal band Rammstein's second DVD, and was released on December 1, 2003...
.
Harry L. O'Connor, Diesel's stunt double, was killed in an accident during filming, in a scene in which he was supposed to rappel down a parasailing line and land on a submarine. When O'Connor failed to rappel down the line fast enough, he hit a bridge at high speed and was killed instantly. His death was caught on film, and director Rob Cohen decided to include the footage of the scene with the final moments edited out — out of respect for the stuntman's final act.
Soundtrack
The film featured a contemporary rock musicRock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
, mostly featuring heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
. Rammstein
Rammstein
Rammstein is a German Neue Deutsche Härte band from Berlin, formed in 1994. The band consists of members Till Lindemann , Richard Z. Kruspe , Paul H. Landers , Oliver "Ollie" Riedel , Christoph "Doom" Schneider and Christian "Flake" Lorenz...
provided some of the music and was even featured in the film in one scene. The soundtrack album
Soundtrack album
A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television program. In some cases, not all the tracks from the movie are included in the album; however there are rare cases of songs in the trailers that do not appear in...
also features Queens of the Stone Age
Queens of the Stone Age
Queens of the Stone Age is an American rock band from Palm Desert, California, United States, formed in 1997. The band's line-up has always included founding member Josh Homme , with the current line-up including longtime members Troy Van Leeuwen and Joey Castillo , alongside Michael Shuman and...
, Drowning Pool
Drowning Pool
Drowning Pool is a four-piece alternative metal band from Dallas, Texas.-Early days :Drowning Pool rose to fame while playing along with Ozzy Osbourne during an Ozzfest tour. Their 2001 debut album, Sinner was certified platinum within six weeks...
, Hatebreed
Hatebreed
- History :Hatebreed was formed in 1994 in Bridgeport, Waterbury and New Haven. They began by recording a three song demo and selling it to locals. Those three songs would eventually be released on a split seven inch with New York's Neglect in 1995...
and others, and some artists of different genres such as Nelly
Nelly
Cornell Iral Haynes, Jr. , better known by his stage name Nelly, is an Grammy Award winning American rapper and actor. He has performed with the rap group St. Lunatics since 1993 and signed to Universal Records in 1999. Under Universal, Nelly began his solo career in 2000 with his debut album...
, Lil' Wayne, N.E.R.D, Orbital
Orbital (band)
Orbital are a British electronic dance music duo from Sevenoaks, England consisting of brothers Phil and Paul Hartnoll. Their career initially ran from 1989 until 2004, but in 2009 they announced that they would be reforming and headlining The Big Chill, in addition to a number of other live shows...
and Moby
Moby
Richard Melville Hall , better known by his stage name Moby, is an American musician, DJ, and photographer. He is known mainly for his sample-based electronic music and his outspoken liberal political views, including his support of veganism and animal rights.Moby gained attention in the early...
. It was released on August 6, 2002 through Universal Records
Universal Records
Universal Records was a record label owned by Universal Music Group, and it is now owned by Manny Patino and Michael Jackson, and operated as part of the Universal Motown Republic Group.-History:...
. It peaked at #9 on the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
, #16 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The name of the chart was changed from Top R&B Albums in 1999...
and #1 on the Top Soundtracks. There was also a song created just for the movie. The song was "Adrenaline" by Gavin Rossdale, the lead singer of Bush.
Reception
xXx received mixed reviews. Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
reported that 48% of the critics gave the film positive reviews based on a sample of 174 reviews, with an average score of 5.8/10. It was a financial success. The film's box office surpassed its budget of US$70,000,000 with a North American gross of $142,109,382 and $135,339,000 in other territories, making its total worldwide gross $277,448,382.
Director's cut
The Director's CutDirector's cut
A director's cut is a specially edited version of a film, and less often TV series, music video, commercials, comic book or video games, that is supposed to represent the director's own approved edit...
DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
of xXx was released on April 19, 2005, ten days before the sequel xXx: State of the Union
XXX: State of the Union
xXx: State of the Union, mainly released as xXx²: The Next Level outside the United States and Canada, is a 2005 action-adventure film directed by Lee Tamahori. It is a sequel to the 2002 film xXx...
was released in cinemas. The Director's Cut of xXx featured new artwork, and deleted scenes
Deleted Scenes
A deleted scene is a scene removed from or replaced by another scene in the final version of a film or television series.It may also refer to:* "Deleted Scenes", an episode of the Adult Swim animated television series, Aqua Teen Hunger Force...
of xXx previously unseen. Some of these include additional scenes that foreshadowed Xander as a hero, and also a longer stripper-in-the-bedroom sequence. There were also sneak peeks at the sequel.
The Final Chapter: The Death of Xander Cage
In addition to the deleted scenes on the Director's Cut of xXx, the DVD also contains an extra titled The Final Chapter: The Death of Xander Cage, a four minute short film that attempts to tie up some loose ends about the Xander Cage character by showing his supposed gory demise.In the short film Xander Cage is played by Vin Diesel's stunt double Khristian Lupo (who never shows his face or speaks) while reusing some lines spoken by Vin Diesel. It also features Leila Arcieri
Leila Arcieri
Leila C. Arcieri is an American actress and model. She was Miss San Francisco in the 1997 Miss California pageant and has appeared in many films such as xXx, Wild Things 2, and Daddy Day Care.-Early life:...
as Jordan King from the first film, and John G. Connolly as Lt. Colonel
Lieutenant Colonel (United States)
In the United States Army, United States Air Force, and United States Marine Corps, a lieutenant colonel is a field grade military officer rank just above the rank of major and just below the rank of colonel. It is equivalent to the naval rank of commander in the other uniformed services.The pay...
Alabama "Bama" Cobb, one of the villains from the sequel xXx: State of the Union
XXX: State of the Union
xXx: State of the Union, mainly released as xXx²: The Next Level outside the United States and Canada, is a 2005 action-adventure film directed by Lee Tamahori. It is a sequel to the 2002 film xXx...
, as the man behind the attack on Xander Cage.
The sequence opens with Xander driving in a car with Jordan King. He stops next to his apartment building. King makes sexual overtures to him and they get intimate. Suddenly they hear a noise and Xander goes to check it out. Cobb's men show up and abduct King. They plant a bomb in the building and drop her coat on the steps to trick Xander to his death. After confronting a homeless man, Xander returns to the building. He takes the bait left by Cobb and his henchmen and is blown apart by a huge explosion. His trademark coat survives the blast. Cobb shows up and picks up a piece of skin from Xander's neck which has the triple x tattoo on it. He remarks "Poor Xander, you never had very much between the ears." His men pick him up and drive off in their car. Cobb's motives for killing Xander are obvious; he doesn't want him to interfere in Deckert's plans. Feuer Frei by Rammstein
Rammstein
Rammstein is a German Neue Deutsche Härte band from Berlin, formed in 1994. The band consists of members Till Lindemann , Richard Z. Kruspe , Paul H. Landers , Oliver "Ollie" Riedel , Christoph "Doom" Schneider and Christian "Flake" Lorenz...
plays in the background during the sequence.
Sequel
The film was followed by a very poorly received sequelSequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
in 2005, entitled xXx: State of the Union
XXX: State of the Union
xXx: State of the Union, mainly released as xXx²: The Next Level outside the United States and Canada, is a 2005 action-adventure film directed by Lee Tamahori. It is a sequel to the 2002 film xXx...
, starring the rapper Ice Cube and directed by Lee Tamahori
Lee Tamahori
Lee Tamahori is a New Zealand filmmaker best known for directing the 1994 film Once Were Warriors and the 2002 James Bond film Die Another Day.-Upbringing and early career:...
. Neither Vin Diesel, Rob Cohen, nor xXx creator Rich Wilkes
Rich Wilkes
Rich Wilkes , attended El Camino High School in Oceanside, CA, and is an American filmmaker. His work to date is generally noted for its rooting in contemporary music and youth culture.- As screenwriter :...
were involved in the sequel, and there were notable differences in both style (less emphasis on extreme sports) and music (rock music was replaced with hip hop
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
and rap
Rapping
Rapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...
), for example. xXx: State of the Union currently has a very poor rating of 16% on Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
. The sequel was also a disastrous financial failure, making less than half of what was expected compared to the original film.