title: Glasgow

text: The Scottish press publishes various newspapers in the city such as "The Evening Times ", "The Herald", "The Sunday Herald", the "Sunday Mail" and the "Daily Record". Scottish editions of Trinity Mirror and News International titles are printed in the city. STV Group is a Glasgow-based media conglomerate with interests in television, and publishing advertising. STV Group owns and operates both Scottish ITV franchises (Central Scotland and Grampian), both branded STV. Glasgow also had its own television channel, STV Glasgow, which launched in June 2014, which also shows some of Glasgow's own programs filmed at the STV headquarters in Glasgow. Shows included "The Riverside Show", "Scottish Kitchen", "City Safari", "Football Show" and "Live at Five". STV Glasgow merged with STV Edinburgh to form STV2 in April 2017 which eventually closed in June 2018.


title: Glasgow

text: Various radio stations are also located in Glasgow. BBC Radio Scotland, the national radio broadcaster for Scotland, is located in the BBC's Glasgow headquarters alongside its Gaelic-language sister station, which is also based in Stornoway. Bauer Radio owns the principal commercial radio stations in Glasgow: Clyde 1 and Clyde 2, which can reach over 2.3 million listeners. In 2004, STV Group plc (then known as SMG plc) sold its 27.8% stake in Scottish Radio Holdings to the broadcasting group EMAP for £90.5 million. Other stations broadcasting from Glasgow include Smooth Scotland, Heart Scotland, which are owned by Global. Global Radio's Central Scotland radio station Capital Scotland also broadcast from studios in Glasgow. Nation Radio Scotland, owned by Nation Broadcasting, also broadcasts from the city. The city has a strong community radio sector, including Celtic Music Radio, Subcity Radio, Radio Magnetic, Sunny Govan Radio, AWAZ FM and Insight Radio.


title: Glasgow

text: Glasgow is a city of significant religious diversity. The Church of Scotland and the Roman Catholic Church are the two largest Christian denominations in the city. There are 147 congregations in the Church of Scotland's Presbytery of Glasgow (of which 104 are within the city boundaries, the other 43 being in adjacent areas). Within the city boundaries there are 65 parishes of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Glasgow and four parishes of the Diocese of Motherwell. The city has four Christian cathedrals: Glasgow Cathedral, of the Church of Scotland; St Andrew's Cathedral, of the Roman Catholic Church; St Mary's Cathedral, of the Scottish Episcopal Church, and St Luke's Cathedral, of the Greek Orthodox Church. The Baptist Church and Salvation Army are well represented.


title: Glasgow

text: The Protestant churches are the largest in number, including Baptist, Episcopalian, Methodist and Presbyterian. 32% of the population follow the Protestant Church of Scotland whilst 29% following the Roman Catholic Church, according to the 2001 census (Christians overall form 65%). Much of the city's Roman Catholic population are those of Irish ancestry. The divisions between the two denominations and their respective communities play a major part in sectarianism in Glasgow, in a similar nature to that of Northern Ireland, although not segregated territorially as in Belfast.


title: Glasgow

text: Biblical unitarians are represented by three Christadelphian ecclesias, referred to geographically, as "South", "Central" and "Kelvin".


title: Glasgow

text: The Sikh community is served by four Gurdwaras. Two are situated in the West End ("Central Gurdwara Singh Sabha" in Sandyford and "Guru Nanak Sikh Temple" in Kelvinbridge) and two in the Southside area of Pollokshields ("Guru Granth Sahib Gurdwara" and "Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Gurdwara"). In 2013, Scotland's first purpose-built Gurdwara opened in a massive opening ceremony. Built at a cost of £3.8M, it can hold 1,500 worshippers. Central Gurdwara is currently constructing a new building in the city. There are almost 10,000 Sikhs in Scotland and the majority live in Glasgow.


title: Glasgow

text: Glasgow Central Mosque in the Gorbals district is the largest mosque in Scotland and, along with twelve other mosques in the city, caters for the city's Muslim population, estimated to number 33,000.


title: Glasgow

text: Glasgow has seven synagogues, including the Romanesque-revival Garnethill Synagogue in the city centre. Glasgow currently has the seventh largest Jewish population in the United Kingdom after London, Manchester, Leeds, Gateshead, Brighton and Bournemouth but once had a Jewish population second only to London, estimated at 20,000 in the Gorbals alone.


title: Glasgow

text: In 1993, the St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art opened in Glasgow. It is believed to be the only public museum to examine all the world's major religious faiths.


title: Glasgow

text: Glasgow is Scotland's main locus of Gaelic language use outside the Highlands and Islands. In 2011, 5,878 residents of the city over age 3 spoke Gaelic, amounting to 1.0% of the population. Of Scotland's 25 largest cities and towns, only Inverness, the unofficial capital of the Highlands, has a higher percentage of Gaelic speakers. In the Greater Glasgow area there were 8,899 Gaelic-speakers, amounting to 0.8% of the population. Both the Gaelic language television station BBC Alba and the Gaelic language radio station BBC Radio nan Gàidheal have studios in Glasgow, their only locations outside the Highlands and Islands.


title: Glasgow

text: Very little of medieval Glasgow remains; the two main landmarks from this period being the 15th-century Provand's Lordship and 13th-century St. Mungo's Cathedral, although the original medieval street plan (along with many of the street names) on the eastern side of the city centre has largely survived intact. Also in the 15th century began the building of Cathcart Castle, completed c. 1450 with an impressive view over the landscape in all directions. It was at this castle Mary Queen of Scots supposedly spent the night before her defeat at the Battle of Langside in May 1568. The castle was demolished in 1980 for safety reasons. The vast majority of the central city area as seen today dates from the 19th century. As a result, Glasgow has an impressive heritage of Victorian architecture: the Glasgow City Chambers; the main building of the University of Glasgow, designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott; and the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, designed by Sir John W. Simpson, are notable examples.


title: Glasgow

text: The city is notable for architecture designed by the Glasgow School, the most notable exponent of that style being Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Mackintosh was an architect and designer in the Arts and Crafts Movement and the main exponent of Art Nouveau in the United Kingdom, designing numerous noted Glasgow buildings such as the Glasgow School of Art, Willow Tearooms and the Scotland Street School Museum. A hidden gem of Glasgow, also designed by Mackintosh, is the Queen's Cross Church, the only church by the renowned artist to be built.


title: Glasgow

text: Another architect who has had an enduring impact on the city's appearance is Alexander Thomson, with notable examples including the Holmwood House villa, and likewise Sir John James Burnet, awarded the R.I.B.A.'s Royal Gold Medal for his lifetime's service to architecture. The buildings reflect the wealth and self-confidence of the residents of the "Second City of the Empire". Glasgow generated immense wealth from trade and the industries that developed from the Industrial Revolution. The shipyards, marine engineering, steel making, and heavy industry all contributed to the growth of the city.


title: Glasgow

text: Many of the city's most impressive buildings were built with red or blond sandstone, but during the industrial era those colours disappeared under a pervasive black layer of soot and pollutants from the furnaces, until the Clean Air Act was introduced in 1956. There are over 1,800 listed buildings in the city, of architectural and historical importance, and 23 Conservation Areas extending over . Such areas include the Central Area, Dennistoun, the West End, Pollokshields – the first major planned garden suburb in Britain – Newlands and the village of Carmunnock.


title: Glasgow

text: Modern buildings in Glasgow include the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, and along the banks of the Clyde are the Glasgow Science Centre, The OVO Hydro and the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre, whose Clyde Auditorium was designed by Sir Norman Foster, and is colloquially known as the "Armadillo". In 2006 Zaha Hadid won a competition to design the new Museum of Transport. Hadid's museum opened on the waterfront in 2011 and has been renamed the Riverside Museum to reflect the change in location and to celebrate Glasgow's rich industrial heritage stemming from the Clyde.


title: Glasgow

text: Glasgow's impressive historical and modern architectural traditions were celebrated in 1999 when the city was designated UK City of Architecture and Design, winning the accolade over Liverpool and Edinburgh.


title: Glasgow

text: Glasgow has the largest economy in Scotland and is at the hub of the metropolitan area of West Central Scotland. The city itself sustains more than 410,000 jobs in over 12,000 companies. Over 153,000 jobs were created in the city between 2000 and 2005 – a growth rate of 32%. Glasgow's annual economic growth rate of 4.4% is now second only to that of London. In 2005, over 17,000 new jobs were created, and 2006 saw private-sector investment in the city reaching £4.2 billion, an increase of 22% in a single year. 55% of the residents in the Greater Glasgow area commute to the city every day. Once dominant export orientated manufacturing industries such as shipbuilding and other heavy engineering have been gradually replaced in importance by more diversified forms of economic activity, although major manufacturing firms continue to be headquartered in the city, such as Aggreko, Weir Group, Clyde Blowers, Howden, Linn Products, Firebrand Games, William Grant & Sons, Whyte and Mackay, The Edrington Group, British Polar Engines and Albion Motors.


title: Glasgow

text: Glasgow was once one of the most significant cities in the UK for manufacturing, which generated a great deal of the city's wealth; the most prominent industry being shipbuilding based on the River Clyde. Among the historic vessels constructed there were the famed tea clipper "Cutty Sark", the Royal Navy battlecruiser , and the transatlantic luxury liners Aquitania, , , and . Although Glasgow owed much of its economic growth to the shipbuilding industry, which still continues today in the form of Ferguson Marine and BAE Systems Maritime - Naval Ships' two shipyards, the city has its roots in the tobacco trade and is noted to have "risen from its medieval slumber" from trade in tobacco, pioneered by figures such as John Glassford. The city was also noted for its locomotive construction industryled by firms such as the North British Locomotive Companywhich grew during the 19th century before entering a decline in the 1960s.


title: Glasgow

text: Whilst manufacturing has declined, Glasgow's economy has seen significant relative growth of tertiary sector industries such as financial and business services (centred around the International Financial Services District on the Broomielaw, once a stretch of riverside warehouses replaced by modern office blocks), communications, biosciences, creative industries, healthcare, higher education, retail and tourism. Glasgow is now the second most popular foreign tourist destination in Scotland (fifth in the UK) and offers Scotland's largest retail centre.


title: Glasgow

text: Between 1998 and 2001, the city's financial services sector grew at a rate of 30%, making considerable gains on Edinburgh, which has historically been the centre of the Scottish financial sector. Glasgow is now one of Europe's sixteen largest financial centres, with a growing number of Blue chip financial sector companies establishing significant operations or headquarters in the city.


title: Glasgow

text: The 1990s and first decade of the 21st century saw substantial growth in the number of call centres based in Glasgow. In 2007 roughly 20,000 people, a third of all call centre employees in Scotland, were employed by Glasgow call centres. This growth and its high use of recruitment agencies to hire graduates as temporary workers has led to accusations of exploitative practices such as long hours, poor pay and lack of job security by the TUC and other union bodies.


title: Glasgow

text: The city's main manufacturing industries include companies involved in; shipbuilding, engineering, construction, brewing and distilling, printing and publishing, chemicals and textiles as well as newer growth sectors such as optoelectronics, software development and biotechnology. Glasgow forms the western part of the Silicon Glen high tech sector of Scotland with consumer electronics companies such as RHA Technologies headquartered.


title: Glasgow

text: Glasgow has a large urban transport system, mostly managed by the Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT).


title: Glasgow

text: The city has many bus services; since bus deregulation almost all are provided by private operators, though SPT part-funds some services. The principal bus operators within the city are: First Glasgow, McGill's Bus Services, Stagecoach West Scotland and Glasgow Citybus. The main bus terminal in the city is Buchanan bus station.


title: Glasgow

text: Glasgow has the most extensive urban rail network in the UK outside London, with rail services travelling to a large part of the West of Scotland. Most lines were electrified under British Rail. All trains running within Scotland, including the local Glasgow trains, are operated by ScotRail, which is owned by the Scottish Government. Central station and Queen Street station are the two main railway terminals. Glasgow Central is the terminus of the long West Coast Main Line from London Euston, as well as TransPennine Express services from Manchester and CrossCountry services from Birmingham, Bristol, Plymouth and various other destinations in England. Glasgow Central is also the terminus for suburban services on the south side of Glasgow, Ayrshire and Inverclyde, as well as being served by the cross city link from Dalmuir to Motherwell. Most other services within Scotland – the main line to Edinburgh, plus services to Aberdeen, Dundee, Inverness and the Western Highlands – operate from Queen Street station.


title: Glasgow

text: The city's suburban network is currently divided by the River Clyde and the Crossrail Glasgow initiative has been proposed to link them; it is currently awaiting funding from the Scottish Government. The city is linked to Edinburgh by four direct railway links. In addition to the suburban rail network, SPT operates the Glasgow Subway. The Subway is the United Kingdom's only completely underground metro system and is generally recognised as the world's third oldest underground railway after the London Underground and the Budapest Metro. Both railway and subway stations have a number of park and ride facilities.


title: Glasgow

text: As part of the wider regeneration along the banks of the River Clyde, a bus rapid transit system called Clyde Fastlink is operational between Glasgow City Centre to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.


title: Glasgow

text: Global-ship-management is carried out by maritime and logistics firms in Glasgow, in client companies employing over 100,000 seafarers. This reflects maritime skills over many decades and the training and education of deck officers and marine engineers from around the world at the City of Glasgow College, Nautical Campus, from which graduate around one third of all such graduates in the United Kingdom.


title: Glasgow

text: The main operational dock within Glasgow operated by Clydeport is the King George V Dock, near Braehead. Since the advent of containerisation, most other facilities, such as Hunterston Terminal, are located in the deep waters of the Firth of Clyde, which together handle some 7.5 million tonnes of cargo each year. Longer distant commercial sea shipping from Glasgow occurs regularly to many European destinations, including Mediterranean and Baltic ports via passage through the Sea of the Hebrides.


title: Glasgow

text: Leisure and tourist sailing is important, at marinas and towns of the Clyde, including the PS "Waverley", the world's last operational seagoing paddle-steamer.


title: Glasgow

text: The main M8 motorway passes around the city centre and connects with the M77, M74, M73 and M80 motorways, all of which pass within the city's boundaries. The A82 connects Glasgow to Argyll and the western Highlands. The M74 runs directly south towards Carlisle.


title: Glasgow

text: Other strategic roads in the city include the East End Regeneration Route, which provides easier access to areas of the East End, linking the M8 to the extended M74.


title: Glasgow

text: There are three international airports within 45 minutes travel of the city centre, as well as a centrally located seaplane terminal. Two airports are dedicated to Glasgow, and Edinburgh International airport, situated on the west side of Edinburgh, is not far from Glasgow. These airports are Glasgow Airport (GLA) ( west of the city centre) in Renfrewshire, Glasgow Prestwick Airport (PIK) ( southwest) in Ayrshire, Edinburgh Airport (EDI), ( east) in Edinburgh and Glasgow Seaplane Terminal, by the Glasgow Science Centre on the River Clyde. There are also several smaller, domestic and private airports around the city. There is a heliport, Glasgow City Heliport, located at Stobcross Quay on the banks of the Clyde.


title: Glasgow

text: All of the international airports are easily accessible by public transport, with GLA and EDI directly linked by a bus routes from the main bus station and a direct rail connection to PIK from Glasgow Central Station. A series of proposals to provide a direct rail link to Glasgow International Airport have ended unsuccessfully, beginning with the Glasgow Airport Rail Link in 2009. As of 2019, local authorities have approved plans for a "Glasgow Metro", including a connection to the International Airport.


title: Glasgow

text: Glasgow is known for its tenements; the red and blond sandstone buildings are some of the most recognisable features of the city. These were the most popular form of housing in 19th- and 20th-century Glasgow, and remain the most common form of dwelling in Glasgow today. Tenements are commonly bought by a wide range of social types and are favoured for their large rooms, high ceilings and original period features. The Hyndland area of Glasgow became the first tenement conservation area in the UK and includes some tenement houses with as many as six bedrooms.


title: Glasgow

text: Like many cities in the UK, Glasgow witnessed the construction of high-rise housing in tower blocks in the 1960s, along with large overspill estates on the periphery of the city, in areas like Pollok, Nitshill, Castlemilk, Easterhouse, Milton and Drumchapel. These were built to replace the decaying inner-city tenement buildings originally built for workers who migrated from the surrounding countryside, the Highlands, and the rest of the United Kingdom, particularly Ireland, to feed the local demand for labour. The massive demand at that time outstripped the pace of new building, and many originally fine tenements often became overcrowded and unsanitary. Many degenerated into infamous slums, such as the Gorbals.


title: Glasgow

text: Efforts to improve this housing situation, most successfully with the City Improvement Trust in the late 19th century, cleared the slums of the old town areas such as the Trongate, High Street and Glasgow Cross. Subsequent urban renewal initiatives, such as those motivated by the Bruce Report, entailed the comprehensive demolition of slum tenement areas, the development of new towns on the periphery of the city, and the construction of tower blocks.


title: Glasgow

text: The policy of tenement demolition is now considered to have been short-sighted, wasteful and largely unsuccessful. Many of Glasgow's worst tenements were refurbished into desirable accommodation in the 1970s and 1980s and the policy of demolition is considered to have destroyed many fine examples of a "universally admired architectural" style. The Glasgow Housing Association took ownership of the housing stock from the city council on 7 March 2003, and has begun a £96 million clearance and demolition programme to clear and demolish many of the high-rise flats.


title: Glasgow

text: Medical care is mainly provided by NHS Scotland and is directly administered by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.


title: Glasgow

text: Major hospitals, including those with Accident & Emergency provision, are: the Western Infirmary, Gartnavel General Hospital, Glasgow Royal Infirmary and the Dental Hospital in the city Centre, Stobhill Hospital in the North and the Victoria Infirmary and Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in the South Side. Gartnavel Royal Hospital and The Priory are the two major psychiatric hospitals based in Glasgow.


title: Glasgow

text: The Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) Campus is a 1,677-bed acute hospital located in Govan in the south-west of Glasgow. The hospital is built on the site of the former Southern General Hospital and opened at the end of April 2015. The hospital comprises a newly built 1,109-bed adult hospital, a 256-bed children's hospital and two major A&E departments, one for adults and one for children in addition to buildings retained from the former hospital. The QEUH is the Regional Major Trauma Centre for the west of Scotland and is also the largest hospital campus in Europe.


title: Glasgow

text: There is also an emergency telephone service provided by NHS 24 and 24-hour access to general practitioners through out-of-hours centres. Paramedic services are provided by the Scottish Ambulance Service and supported by voluntary bodies like the St. Andrew's Ambulance Association. A strong teaching tradition is maintained between the city's main hospitals and the University of Glasgow Medical School.


title: Glasgow

text: All pharmacies provide a wide range of services including minor ailment advice, emergency hormonal contraception, public health advice, some provide oxygen and needle exchange.


title: Glasgow

text: There are private clinics and hospitals at the Nuffield in the west end and Ross Hall in the south side of the city.


title: Glasgow

text: On weekend evenings, when the statutory medical services are under most pressure, a charitable team of medical volunteers from Glasgow Street Aid patrol the city centre offering welfare and medical assistance, as well as onward medical referrals to those requiring it. This allows for minor ailments and injuries to be attended to, generally without the attendance of an emergency ambulance. The charity also responds to major medical emergencies upon request, where life support can be administered whilst further assistance from the ambulance service can be sought.


title: Glasgow

text: Glasgow is a major centre of higher and academic research, with the following universities and colleges within of the city centre:


title: Glasgow

text: In 2011 Glasgow had 53,470 full-time students aged 18–74 resident in the city during term time, more than any other city in Scotland and the fifth-highest number in the United Kingdom outside London. The majority of those who live away from home reside in Shawlands, Dennistoun and the West End of the city.


title: Glasgow

text: The City Council operates 29 secondary schools, 149 primary schools and three specialist schools – the Dance School of Scotland, Glasgow School of Sport and the Glasgow Gaelic School ("Sgoil Ghàidhlig Ghlaschu"), the only secondary school in Scotland to teach exclusively in Gaelic. Outdoor Education facilities are provided by the city council at the Blairvadach Centre, near Helensburgh. Jordanhill School is operated directly by the Scottish Government. Glasgow also has a number of Independent schools, including The High School of Glasgow, founded in 1124 and the oldest school in Scotland; Hutchesons' Grammar School, founded in 1639 and one of the oldest school institutions in Britain; and others such as Craigholme School (closed 2020), Glasgow Academy, Kelvinside Academy and St. Aloysius' College. Glasgow is part of the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities.


title: Glasgow

text: The world's first international football match was held in 1872 at the West of Scotland Cricket Club's Hamilton Crescent ground in the Partick area of the city. The match, between Scotland and England finished 0–0.


title: Glasgow

text: Glasgow was the first city (since joined by Liverpool in 1985, Madrid in 1986, 2014, 2016 and 2018, Milan in 1994 and London in 2019) to have had two football teams in European finals in the same season: in 1967, Celtic competed in the European Cup final with rivals Rangers competing in the Cup Winners' Cup final. Rangers were the first football club from the United Kingdom to reach a European final, doing so in 1961. They have also won more domestic top-tier league titles than any other football club in the world (currently 55). Celtic were the first non-Latin club to win the European Cup, under the management of Jock Stein in 1967, before Manchester United the following year. Celtic also went on to reach another European Cup Final in 1970, losing to Feyenoord, and also the final of the UEFA Cup in 2003, where they lost an enthralling match which finished 3–2 to Portuguese club Porto. Rangers also reached the final of the same competition in 2008, where they lost to Zenit Saint Petersburg of Russia.


title: Glasgow

text: Hampden Park, which is Scotland's national football stadium, holds the European record for attendance at a football match: 149,547 saw Scotland beat England 3–1 in 1937, in the days before leading British stadia became all-seated. Hampden Park has hosted the final of the UEFA Champions League on three occasions, most recently in 2002 and hosted the UEFA Cup Final in 2007. Celtic Park (60,411 seats) is located in the east end of Glasgow, and Ibrox Stadium (50,817 seats) on the south side.


title: Glasgow

text: Glasgow has four professional football clubs, who all play in the SPFL: Celtic, Rangers, Partick Thistle, and Queen's Park (after their move from amateur status in November 2019). Prior to this, Glasgow had two other professional teams: Clyde (now playing in Hamilton) and Third Lanark (liquidated in 1967), plus four others active in the league in the 19th century: Thistle, Cowlairs, Northern and Linthouse. There are a number of West of Scotland Football League clubs within the city as well, such as Pollok, Maryhill, Benburb, Ashfield, Glasgow Perthshire F.C., Glasgow United (formerly Shettleston Juniors), and Petershill, plus numerous amateur teams.


title: Glasgow

text: The history of football in the city, as well as the status of the Old Firm, attracts many visitors to football matches in the city throughout the season. The Scottish Football Association, the national governing body, and the Scottish Football Museum are based in Glasgow, as are the Scottish Professional Football League, Scottish Junior Football Association and Scottish Amateur Football Association. The Glasgow Cup was a once popular tournament, which was competed for by Rangers, Celtic, Clyde, Partick Thistle and Queen's Park. The competition is now played for by the youth sides of the five teams.


title: Glasgow

text: Glasgow is also home to six women's football teams. Currently, Glasgow City are the champions of the Scottish Women's Premier League. Other local teams include Glasgow Girls and the women's sections of the men's clubs: Celtic and Rangers play in the top division.


title: Glasgow

text: Glasgow has a professional rugby union club, the Glasgow Warriors, which plays in the European Rugby Champions Cup and Pro14 alongside teams from Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Italy and South Africa. The Warriors current home is Scotstoun Stadium and has been since 2012, previously they played at Firhill Stadium. They have won the Melrose 7s in both 2014 and 2015 and were also crowned champions of the Pro12 at the end of the 2014/15 season after beating Irish side Munster in Belfast.


title: Glasgow

text: In the Scottish League, Glasgow Hawks RFC was formed in 1997 by the merger of two of Glasgow's oldest clubs: Glasgow Academicals and Glasgow High Kelvinside (GHK). Despite the merger, the second division teams of Glasgow Academicals and Glasgow High Kelvinside re-entered the Scottish rugby league in 1998.


title: Glasgow

text: South of Glasgow, in East Renfrewshire, in the suburb of Giffnock, is based another of Glasgow area's most prominent clubs Glasgow Hutchesons Aloysians RFC (GHA). GHA was formed in 2002 with the merger of two of Glasgow's leading clubs at the time, Glasgow Southern RFC and Hutchesons Aloysians RFC.


title: Glasgow

text: Glasgow was also home to one of the oldest rugby clubs in Scotland, West of Scotland F.C., which was formed in 1865, and was a founding member of the Scottish Rugby Union. The club was originally based in Partick at Hamilton Crescent but is now based outside the city, at Burnbrae, Milngavie in East Dunbartonshire.


title: Glasgow

text: The Easterhouse Panthers based in the East End of Glasgow are a rugby league team who play in the Rugby League Conference Scotland Division.


title: Glasgow

text: From 1966 to 1986, the Glasgow Dynamos played at Crossmyloof Ice Rink. Since October 2010 a team called the Glasgow Clan based in the nearby Braehead Arena in Renfrewshire has played in the professional Elite Ice Hockey League alongside two other Scottish teams, the Fife Flyers and the Dundee Stars.


title: Glasgow

text: The Arlington Baths Club was founded in 1870. It is situated in the Woodlands area of the city and is still in use today. It is believed the club's first Baths Master William Wilson invented water polo at the club. The Arlington inspired other Swimming Clubs and the Western Baths, which opened in 1876, is also still in existence in nearby Hillhead.


title: Glasgow

text: Glasgow hosts Scotland's only professional basketball team, the Caledonia Gladiators, who compete in the British Basketball League. Previously based in Renfrewshire's Braehead Arena and the 1,200-seat Kelvin Hall, the team has been based at the Emirates Arena since the 2012/13 season.


title: Glasgow

text: Major international sporting arenas include the Kelvin Hall and Scotstoun Sports Centre. In 2003 the National Academy for Badminton was completed in Scotstoun. In 2003, Glasgow was also given the title of European Capital of Sport.


title: Glasgow

text: Glasgow is also host to many cricket clubs including Clydesdale Cricket Club who have been title winners for the Scottish Cup many times. This club also acted as a neutral venue for a One Day International match between India and Pakistan in 2007, but due to bad weather it was called off.


title: Glasgow

text: Smaller sporting facilities include an abundance of outdoor playing fields, as well as golf clubs such as Haggs Castle and artificial ski slopes. Between 1998 and 2004, the Scottish Claymores American football team played some or all of their home games each season at Hampden Park and the venue also hosted World Bowl XI.


title: Glasgow

text: Glasgow Green and the Gorbals are home to a number of rowing clubs, some with open membership the rest belonging to universities or schools. Historically, rowing races on the River Clyde here attracted huge crowds of spectators to watch regattas in the late 19th century and early 20th century; before football caught the public imagination. Two of Glasgow's rowing clubs separately claim that it was their members who were among the founders of Rangers Football Club.


title: Glasgow

text: Motorcycle speedway racing was first introduced to Glasgow in 1928 and is currently staged at Ashfield Stadium in the North of the city. The home club, Glasgow Tigers, compete in the SGB Championship, the second tier of motorcycle speedway in Britain.


title: Glasgow

text: Glasgow is also one of five places in Scotland that hosts the final of the Scottish Cup of Shinty, better known as the Camanachd Cup. This is usually held at Old Anniesland. Once home to numerous Shinty clubs, there is now only one senior club in Glasgow, Glasgow Mid-Argyll.


title: Glasgow

text: Glasgow was the host of the 2018 European Sports Championships along with Berlin (hosts of the 2018 European Athletics Championships).


title: Glasgow

text: On 9 November 2007, Glasgow was selected to be the host city of the 2014 Commonwealth Games. The games were held at a number of existing and newly constructed sporting venues across the city, including a refurbished Hampden Park, Kelvingrove Park, Kelvin Hall, and the OVO Hydro at the SECC. The opening ceremony was held at Celtic Park. 2014 was the third time the Games have been held in Scotland.


title: Glasgow

text: There is an area on Planet Mars which NASA has named Glasgow, after Scotland's largest city. The Mars rover Curiosity, which landed on the planet in August 2012, has drilled at the site.


title: Stranger Things (season 3)

text: The third season of the American science fiction horror drama television series "Stranger Things" was released worldwide on the streaming service Netflix on July 4, 2019. The series was created by the Duffer Brothers, who also serve as executive producers along with Shawn Levy, Dan Cohen and Iain Paterson. It was preceded by Stranger Things season 2 and succeeded by Stranger Things season 4.


title: Stranger Things (season 3)

text: The season stars Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Noah Schnapp, Sadie Sink, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Joe Keery, Dacre Montgomery, Maya Hawke, Priah Ferguson, and Cara Buono. Brett Gelman, Francesca Reale, Cary Elwes, Alec Utgoff, and Andrey Ivchenko appear in recurring roles. The season received positive reviews from critics, who praised the visuals, humor, performances (particularly those of Harbour, Brown, Montgomery, and Hawke), and emotional weight, but some criticized its excessive pop culture references and narrative structure.


title: Stranger Things (season 3)

text: In the summer of 1985 in Hawkins, the newly opened Starcourt Mall has become the center of attention in town, causing other stores to close their business due to its popularity. Hopper disapproves of Eleven and Mike's relationship and is feeling separated with Eleven. Joyce considers moving out of Hawkins with her children. And she gets the help of Hopper to investigate the reason behind her magnet losing its magnetism. Will begins having premonitions regarding the Upside Down, despite Eleven having closed the portal, they realize the Mind Flayer is still alive. And it soon takes control of Max's stepbrother Billy Hargrove, leaving Eleven and her friends no choice but to battle him, the other possessed victims, and destroy the Mind Flayer in its new and terrifying form, once and for all.


title: Stranger Things (season 3)

text: Levy noted in November 2015 that he and the Duffer Brothers had already begun planning a potential third season, saying, "We are not gonna be caught off guard and we don't wanna be making stuff up like the day before we have to write it and make it, so we are definitely optimistic and we have started thinking ahead." The Duffer Brothers anticipate having about four to five seasons to work with, but do want to "have a really finite ending" while the series is still at a height of success, according to Matt, rather than letting it draw out indefinitely. In August 2017, the Duffer Brothers confirmed there would be a third season, with the likelihood of one more season following that, with Ross saying, "We're thinking it will be a four-season thing and then out". However, executive producer Shawn Levy later suggested that either four or five total seasons were possibilities, claiming that "the truth is, we're definitely going four seasons and there's very much the possibility of a fifth. Beyond that, it becomes, I think, very unlikely." Matt Duffer later commented that no official decision has been made, claiming that "It's hard, like four seems short, five seems long. So I don't know what to do." In December 2017, Netflix officially confirmed that they have green lit the third season, consisting of eight episodes. Levy also confirmed that a fourth season was "definitely happening" and that there was potential for a fifth season. A year later, the episode titles for season three were revealed, along with confirming the season would be named "Stranger Things 3", similar to the second season.


title: Stranger Things (season 3)

text: Writing for the third season began before the second season's premiere, with a good portion being written in twelve-to-fourteen-hour bouts by the series' creators. It was reported that Netflix wanted both the third and fourth seasons to be written simultaneously as to facilitate a back-to-back production schedule, for the actors were aging faster than their on-screen characters, but both the Duffer Brothers and producer Shawn Levy opted to focus only on the third season to ensure it was better-developed and more fleshed out.


title: Stranger Things (season 3)

text: In terms of narrative, Levy said the season would be less about Will, saying, "We're not going to put Will through hell for a third season in a row. He'll be dealing with stuff, but he won't be at rock bottom... We're [going to be] dealing with forces of evil that are new." David Harbour has said that the third season also draws heavily from the film "Fletch". Both Levy and Natalia Dyer echo sentiments that this season's events will be more adult-oriented, with Dyer calling the season's narrative "...Bigger, darker, [and] scarier."


title: Stranger Things (season 3)

text: The early pitch documents for the season featured a scene that had the Mind Flayer monster rampaging through the Hawkins Fourth of July Parade, but the idea was later scrapped as the scripts were written.


title: Stranger Things (season 3)

text: The third season sees Ryder, Harbour, Wolfhard, Brown, Matarazzo, McLaughlin, Schnapp, Sink, Dyer, Heaton, Buono, Keery, and Montgomery return. In March 2018, it was announced that Priah Ferguson's character had been promoted from a guest role to a reoccurring role and that Maya Hawke has been cast as Robin, a new lead who's been described as an "alternative girl." Hawke's character was later revealed to be Steve's co-worker at the Scoops Ahoy ice cream parlor in the newly built Starcourt Mall. Cary Elwes and Jake Busey's castings were announced in April 2018; Elwes was cast as Mayor Kline, a " classic '80s politician – more concerned with his own image than with the people of the small town he governs," and Busey as Bruce, a shifty reporter who works at The Hawkins Post. Francesca Reale was cast as Heather, a popular lifeguard at the community pool. As of September 2018, casting had still not been completed for the season, which at that point had been shooting for five months and was less than two months from completion. Carmen Cuba, the show's casting director, attributed the slower-than-usual casting process to the heightened secrecy of the plot paired with certain roles' shifting characterizations and importance.


title: Stranger Things (season 3)

text: For the third season, it was reported that several of the cast members would receive pay raises. Ryder and Harbour received an increase to $350,000 an episode from $150,000 and $80,000 respectively; Wolfhard, Matarazzo, McLaughlin, and Schnapp earned a pay increase to over $200,000 an episode, possibly as much as $250,000, a significant increase from the reported $20,000 they had made in season one (later increased by $60,000); and Dyer, Heaton, and Keery received approximately $150,000 an episode. Brown's wage increase was not disclosed but was estimated to be bigger than that of her young counterparts. Some sources suggest she made at least $250,000 and may have received between $300,000 and $350,000 per episode.


title: Stranger Things (season 3)

text: Filming for the third season officially began on April 23, 2018. Jackson, Georgia remained as primary filming area for scenes in Hawkins' downtown area. The South Bend Pool in Atlanta served as the Hawkins community pool. The major setpiece of the season, Starcourt Mall, was filmed at a re-dressed Gwinnett Place Mall near Duluth, Georgia. The production team had searched around Georgia for a dead mall, one either closed or with significantly reduced vacancy, for film, and found Gwinnett was nearly perfect, having been built in 1984 and thus having the staples of construction from malls in that period. They secured a portion of the mall that had been vacant for some time, redressing the storefronts and food court to feature brands of the 80s, paying attention to which stores likely had made it to Indiana by 1985. Outside "Scoops Ahoy!", a fictional store, they had to make one exception for "Glamour Shots", which was a real chain of photo studios but did not come to malls until after 1985; as a scene of Eleven and Max enjoying a photo shoot was a necessary plot element, the design team created a similar photo studio but with a new fictitious name. Not only did they recreate the facade of each of the storefronts, but they worked to fully stock them as well, in anticipation of any last-minute filming ideas the Duffers may have had. A custom-built grid cloth was employed to completely block sunlight from entering the atrium of the food court to enable filming night scenes during the day.


title: Stranger Things (season 3)

text: In addition to the aforementioned sets, filming also occurred at pre-existing structures dressed as the Hawkins town hall and Mayor Kline's house. The production also used a total of seven sound stages, with an average of three sets per stage. To create the "black void", the visual manifestation of Eleven's telepathic ruminations, filming took place in a pool that was "painted black [and filled] with about an inch of water, [and was] surrounded by 270 degrees of duvetyne around thirty feet high". The void's look was tweaked slightly for the third season and shooting in the newer, smaller space required a Technocrane and two boom operators. An empty field was used to film the scenes set at the Hawkins Fun Fair, with the crew arriving just three weeks prior to the opening of a previously booked medieval fair. Period-appropriate carnival rides were trucked into the set from locations across the country, and the crew retrofitted the rides' modern lighting with bulbs that would have been used in the 1980s.


title: Stranger Things (season 3)

text: On September 27, 2018, Brown was spotted filming an emotional scene with stunt doubles and a child dressed in a baseball uniform at a beach in Malibu, California. Filming for the third season concluded on November 12, 2018. Regarding the lengthy hiatus between the second and third seasons, Netflix programming executive Cindy Holland noted "[the Duffer Brothers and Shawn Levy] understand the stakes are high. They want to deliver something bigger and better than last year. I think it's going to be a fantastic season. It will be worth the wait."


title: Stranger Things (season 3)

text: Heading into production for the first season of "Stranger Things", the Duffer Brothers intended on shooting a number of special effects using practical methods. However, due to issues with the deployment of the practical effects on-set, coupled with a dissatisfaction with the results of the filmed practical material, The Duffer Brothers became much more keen on utilizing digitally-produced special effects for the second season, and even more so for the third season. During pre-production, the Duffers sat down with Senior VFX Supervisor Paul Graff, production designer Chris Trujillo, and senior concept illustrator Michael Maher to plan out the digital visual effects for the season. One of the most important topics of discussion was the design of the "corporeal" manifestation of the "Shadow Monster/Mindflayer," which the Duffers wanted to be cognizant of the titular "Thing" from John Carpenter's 1982 science fiction horror film "The Thing". To emulate this decided look, the group decided the creature should have "some real weight and, consequently, a different new feel for [the animation], including specularity and moisture," an aesthetic that also translated to the "Tom/Bruce" monster that attacks Nancy at the hospital.


title: Stranger Things (season 3)

text: The team for season three found it important for the actors to have some sort of on-set physical guide to interact with the large would-be digital entities, as money wasn't budgeted for any sort of costly on-set augmented reality previsualization renderings. Graff noted it was impractical and too expensive to 3D print a rough replica of the physical "Shadow Monster/Mindflayer", as had been done with creatures in the previous season, especially considering the monster is essentially "something the size of a T-Rex invading a shopping mall." A one-hundred pound "zeppelin-shaped creature shell" was initially constructed for the actors to interact with, but it too was deemed impractical and was scrapped. Graff eventually went out and purchased "the largest object [he] could think of" — a blow-up beach ball — and taped it to the end of a twenty-foot boom pole so he could "puppeteer the ‘head’ enough to provide an eyeline for the actors while also giving camera operators a shot at framing for and tracking the creature's movements.” Graff employed a much more unique means to visualize the "Tom/Bruce" monster during filming, as the extremely erratic and complicated lighting situation of the scenes that it was featured in mounted a number of potential hardships to be faced during post-production work:


title: Stranger Things (season 3)

text: The original soundtrack album for the third season, titled "Stranger Things 3", was released digitally on June 28, 2019, via Lakeshore and Invada Records. Like the previous two seasons, the soundtrack was composed by Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein of the electronic band Survive. The album was also released on physical formats such as CD, vinyl, and cassette.


title: Stranger Things (season 3)

text: In addition to Dixon and Stein's original soundtrack, the season features several songs selected from the 1980s and earlier eras. Legacy Recordings released of these songs on July 5, 2019.


title: Stranger Things (season 3)

text: The finale of the episode "E Pluribus Unum", particularly the scenes involving Eleven's telepathic encounter with the Mind Flayer-possessed Billy, contains excerpts of "Confrontation and Rescue" from the second act of Satyagraha by Philip Glass.


title: Stranger Things (season 3)

text: Of note was the use of "The NeverEnding Story", the theme to the 1984 film of the same name, which is used in the final episode when Suzie refuses to provide the critical code until Dustin sings it to her. The Duffers had wanted to introduce Suzie into the show's narrative in some dramatic fashion while giving Matarazzo, who has sung on Broadway before, a chance to show off his own vocals. Initially, they were planning to use "The Ent and the Entwife" song from "The Lord of the Rings", but aware that Amazon Studios were developing its own "Lord of the Rings" series, decided to change direction. The Duffers credit writer Curtis Gwinn for using "The NeverEnding Story" as the replacement. Matarazzo and Gabriella Pizzolo, the actress playing Suzie and also a seasoned singer on Broadway, were on sets near each other when they sang the song together and were able to harmonize the song as well without the backing music. As their characters were not meant to be in that much synchronization due to being in two different places, the song's backing track and some autotuning were used to blend their singing to their respective settings and the tone of the soundtrack. According to the cast and to composers Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein, the song became an earworm for many of the cast on the day that scene was filmed. Later in the episode, Lucas and Max, played by Caleb McLaughlin and Sadie Sink, sing the song in duet back to Dustin to mock him; both McLaughlin and Sink also have had experience in Broadway musicals. As a result of its appearance in the series, "The NeverEnding Story" drew an 800% increase in viewership and streaming requests on YouTube and Spotify over the days after initial broadcast, putting Limahl, the song's artist, briefly back in the spotlight.


title: Stranger Things (season 3)

text: Promotion for the third season began with the first day of production, when Netflix released a video featuring the cast as they met for the season's first script read-through. On July 16, 2018, the first teaser trailer for the season was released. The teaser, which is the first to feature footage shot for the new season, is styled as an in-universe commercial for the newly built Starcourt Mall, one of the main settings for the season's events. The "commercial" lists some of the stores found in the mall as well as restaurants in the "state-of-the-art" food court, and closes with Steve (Joe Keery) and Robin (Maya Hawke) saying "Ahoy!" during a short plug for one of the food court's establishments, an ice cream parlor called Scoops Ahoy. On December 9, 2018, during an appearance at the 2018 Comic Con Experience at the São Paulo Expo in São Paulo, Brazil, Noah Schnapp, Sadie Sink, and Caleb McLaughlin presented a new teaser which revealed the titles of the eight episodes in the new season. Hours later, the teaser was released online across all of the official "Stranger Things" social media accounts.


title: Stranger Things (season 3)

text: On December 31, pedestrians in New York City's Times Square noticed a video playing on a loop advertising a special announcement "sponsored" by the Starcourt Mall. According to the video, the announcement was slated to be aired on the fictional ABC network affiliate WIYZ. At midnight EST, Netflix released a new teaser announcing the release date of the season to be July 4, 2019. The teaser utilized footage from "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve 1984", specifically the countdown to the New Year. As the countdown commenced, the video slowly turned upside down and became fuzzy, and Mike could be heard calling out for Eleven as the video cut in between different recordings of computers running MS-DOS. The season's first poster, featuring a menacing creature slowly approaching the cast while they're enjoying Independence Day festivities, was released concurrently with the teaser.


title: Stranger Things (season 3)

text: On March 19, 2019, the official "Stranger Things" social media accounts posted a short clip of rats scurrying through a dilapidated industrial area with the caption "It's almost feeding time." This turned out to be a prelude to the release of stills and the first official trailer the next day on March 20. The trailer quickly became the most-viewed video on Netflix's YouTube channel, amassing 22million views in the first week of its release. On May 21, the first clip from the season was released in tandem with cast posters. The clip, which features Billy flirting with Karen Wheeler at the local pool, includes notable references to the early-1980s comedy films "Caddyshack" and "Fast Times at Ridgemont High". Netflix released the final trailer on June 20, 2019.


title: Stranger Things (season 3)

text: In July 2019, actors Finn Wolfhard and Caleb McLaughlin took part in a Q&A session at the Open'er Festival in Gdynia, Poland. The festival also boasted a replica of the Palace Arcade filled with retro coin-ops – such as "Space Invaders", "Pac-Man", "Donkey Kong" and "Dig Dug".


title: Stranger Things (season 3)

text: Netflix revealed they had partnered with around 75 companies to produce tie-in products to promote the third season. For many of these deals, there was no financial exchange between Netflix and the third-parties, with Netflix allowing the third-parties to generate their own marketing buzz for their products while helping to promote "Stranger Things". Some of the more notable tie-ins include:


title: Stranger Things (season 3)

text: A video game adaptation titled "Stranger Things 3: The Game" was released hours after the third season premiered on July 4, 2019. It was developed by BonusXP and published by Netflix The game was criticized by reviewers for being an exact scene-by-scene replica of the season.


title: Stranger Things (season 3)

text: Within four days of its release, Netflix reported that over 40.7million accounts had seen at least 70% of one episode of the third season, a record viewership for any Netflix program, while 18.2million had seen the entire season within the time. Netflix reported in October 2019 that over 64million households had watched "Stranger Things 3" within the first four weeks of its release.


title: Stranger Things (season 3)

text: Nielsen ratings recorded viewership data for those who viewed the series within the United States on a TV set; the data does not account for mobile, tablet, and PC devices, nor viewers outside of the United States.


title: Stranger Things (season 3)

text: On Rotten Tomatoes, the third season received an approval rating of 89% based on 132 reviews and an average rating of 7.80/10. The site's critical consensus states, "Vibrant and charming, "Stranger Things" transforms itself into a riveting—if familiar—summer ride that basks in its neon-laden nostalgia without losing sight of the rich relationships that make the series so endearing." Writing in the "New Statesman", Emily Bootle considered the third season an improvement on the second stating that the third "returned to strength" after a confusing second season and that "season three has largely brought back what made the show unique in the first place". Hugh Montgomery at the BBC awarded 5 stars, describing the third season as "an exhilarating example of a franchise hitting new heights that Hollywood would do well to learn from." On Metacritic, the third season has a weighted average score of 72 out of 100, based on 25 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews."


title: Stranger Things (season 3)

text: On the dissenting side, Darren Franich of "Entertainment Weekly" criticized the third season for looking like a Reagan-era pop culture mixtape. Ed Power of "The Telegraph" blamed Duffer Brothers for refusing "to stray from the Goonies-meets-Stephen King formula" and recycling their "well-worn bag of retro references to increasingly underwhelming effect", producing the limpest installment of the three. His opinion was echoed by Hank Stuever of "The Washington Post", who felt almost heartbroken for "the Duffers working so hard to re-create an elusive vibe" of the 1980s with a "mishmash of ingredients" only to fail to create a fully entertaining show. Writing in "National Review", Daniel Payne criticized the season's "sloppy storytelling" and "cornball humor" compared to the previous seasons, claiming that season three was "frenetic and bewildering where the first two seasons were slow, careful, and rewarding in crafting their plots."


title: Stranger Things (season 3)

text: As part of the 2019 Teen Choice Awards "Stranger Things" received a nomination for Choice Summer TV show. Caleb McLaughlin, Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo, and Noah Schnapp were all nominated for Choice Summer TV actor for their work on the series while Millie Bobby Brown was nominated for Choice Summer TV actress for her work on the series. "Stranger Things", Schnapp, and Brown all won awards in their respective categories.


title: Snowpiercer

text: Snowpiercer () is a 2013 post-apocalyptic science fiction action film based on the French climate fiction graphic novel "Le Transperceneige" by Jacques Lob, Benjamin Legrand and Jean-Marc Rochette. The film was directed by Bong Joon-ho and written by Bong and Kelly Masterson. A South Korean-Czech co-production, the film marks Bong's English-language debut; almost 85% of the film's dialogue is in English.


title: Snowpiercer

text: The film stars Chris Evans, Song Kang-ho, Tilda Swinton, Jamie Bell, Octavia Spencer, Go Ah-sung, John Hurt, and Ed Harris. It takes place aboard the "Snowpiercer" train as it travels a globe-encircling track, carrying the last remnants of humanity after a failed attempt at climate engineering to stop global warming has created a new Snowball Earth. Evans stars as Curtis Everett, leader of the lower-class tail-section passengers, as they rebel against the elite of the front of the train. Filming took place at Barrandov Studios in Prague, using train car sets mounted on gimbals to simulate the train's motion.


title: Snowpiercer

text: "Snowpiercer" received critical acclaim, and appeared on many film critics' top ten lists of 2014 after its international release, with praise for its vision, direction, and performances, particularly by Evans and Swinton. In the United States, the film was initially planned for a limited-screen showing but the critical response prompted The Weinstein Company to expand the showing to more theaters and to digital streaming services. With a budget of $40 million, it remains one of the most expensive South Korean productions ever.


title: Snowpiercer

text: In 2031, 17 years after an attempt to stop global warming via stratospheric aerosol injection catastrophically backfires and creates a new ice age, the remnants of humanity have taken to a self-sustaining circumnavigational train, the "Snowpiercer", run by reclusive transportation magnate Wilford. The passengers on the train are segregated, with the elite in the extravagant front cars and the poor crammed into squalid tail compartments overseen by armed guards.


title: Snowpiercer

text: Urged by his father-figure, Gilliam, Curtis Everett and his second-in-command, Edgar, lead the tail passengers in a revolt after they realize the guards' weapons have no ammunition; bullets are believed to be extinct due to a previous revolt. They free Namgoong Minsoo, a captive security specialist, who insists that his clairvoyant daughter, Yona, be freed as well. Namgoong helps the tail mob progress forward, but they find themselves facing guards with melee weapons, overseen by Minister Mason. During the battle, the train goes into a tunnel, causing total darkness. The guard force, who have night vision, begin picking off the blind rebels. However, the tail-sectioners launch a counterattack with torches and push the guards back. Edgar is held hostage, but Curtis abandons him to capture Mason, forcing her to order the remaining guards to surrender while Edgar is fatally stabbed. The tail army stays back, holding the guards captive, while Curtis takes Mason, Namgoong, Yona, skilled fighter Grey, and Tanya and Andrew (two parents who have had their children taken from them) toward the front of the train.


title: Snowpiercer

text: Curtis's group travels through several opulent cars. Namgoong and Yona recognize a landmark outside and consider that the ice may be thawing. The group reaches a schoolroom, where a teacher is indoctrinating the children on Wilford's greatness. A bald man brings eggs for the children to open to celebrate the eighteenth circumnavigation of the Earth. The bald man goes to the tail army and shoots them with loaded automatic guns hidden under the eggs, revealing that bullets still exist. The captured guards are freed, as is Mason's henchman Franco. The teacher, who received a gun from the bald man, kills Andrew before Grey kills her. Franco broadcasts to the classroom his execution of Gilliam, which prompts Curtis to kill Mason. Curtis's group moves on, but Franco catches up with them, killing Grey and Tanya. Franco is then seemingly killed by Curtis and Namgoong. The two, along with Yona, continue onward.


title: Snowpiercer

text: In the last car before the engine, Namgoong reveals that the reason he collected the drug Kronole was to use it as an explosive to escape the train with Yona, believing they can survive. Curtis stops them, as he wants to meet Wilford; Curtis explains that in the early days of the train, 17 years before, the tail section had resorted to cannibalism, and he had been ready to eat the infant Edgar but Gilliam offered him his arm instead. Curtis wants to face Wilford to ask why he created this closed ecosystem. The engine door opens, and Wilford's assistant Claude emerges and wounds Namgoong before inviting Curtis inside.


title: Snowpiercer

text: Curtis meets Wilford and, to his shock, learns that he and Gilliam conspired to stage Curtis's rebellion to reduce the tail section's population to sustainable levels. Wilford orders 74% of the tail passengers killed. He then offers Curtis his position leading the train. Curtis appears ready to accept when Yona overpowers Claude, rushes in, and pulls open a floorboard to reveal Andrew and Tanya's children, Andy and Timmy, working the engine as slaves. Appalled, Curtis knocks out Wilford and rescues Timmy from the machinery, though he loses his arm in the process. Curtis gives Yona matches to light the fuse for the Kronole, while Namgoong fights and kills Franco, who had followed them, along with partygoers from another car. As the door to the engine room was damaged during the fighting and will not close, Curtis and Namgoong use their bodies to protect Yona and Timmy from the blast.


title: Snowpiercer

text: The explosion triggers an avalanche that derails and wrecks the train. With Namgoong unresponsive, Yona escapes the wreckage with Timmy. They see a polar bear in the distance, indicating that life exists outside the train. The bear notices them.


title: Snowpiercer

text: Additionally, Adnan Hasković as Franco the Younger, an executor of the army led by Mason; Clark Middleton as the Painter, who is often seen drawing other passengers or key events visually chronicling underclass life and death; Emma Levie as Claude, Wilford's assistant who may have a relationship with Wilford; Tómas Lemarquis as Egg-head, one of Wilford's agents that aids in the New Year celebration massacre; Steve Park as Fuyu, a regimented assistant to Mason; and Paul Lazar as Paul, one of the rebels in Curtis's army who makes the protein blocks. The creators of the graphic novel, Jean-Marc Rochette and Benjamin Legrand, have cameo appearances in the film.


title: Snowpiercer

text: In the winter of 2005, Bong found Jean-Marc Rochette's French graphic novel series "Le Transperceneige" at a comic book shop near Hongik University and finished reading the entire series while standing in front of the bookshelf where he found it. He was fascinated by ideas of people struggling on the train for survival, and how every section is classified in social stratification. Bong showed the series to his friends, fellow director Park Chan-wook and producer Lee Tae-hun, who loved it as well. Although Bong praised the original graphic novel, he soon realized that a film like "Snowpiercer" needed an original take. Bong stated, "... I had to come up with a completely new story and new characters in order to create a new, dynamic "Snowpiercer" that was packed with cinematic exhilaration."


title: Snowpiercer

text: In the following year, Park's production company Moho Film acquired the copyrights to the original story of "Snowpiercer" for Bong, and in 2007 the copyrights to the story extended. The first draft of the screenplay for "Snowpiercer" was completed on 15 September 2010, and in December, the second draft of screenplay was completed and modified. On 4 October 2010, Bong, whilst at the Vancouver International Film Festival, had initially entertained the idea of shooting the film in Canada due to it having "... a great infrastructure for filmmaking, and Korean expatriates are involved in the film industry a lot." Bong wanted a film studio with a 75- to 100-meter-long space to fill with four train cars connected together. The production team travelled to Europe for studio scouting and ended up with two studio choices: Barrandov Studios in Czech Republic and Korda Studios in Hungary. In August 2011, a Czech producer hired by the production team began negotiations with two film studios for availability; Barrandov Studios was eventually chosen as the film studio and production service provider of "Snowpiercer".


title: Snowpiercer

text: On 18 January 2012, Kelly Masterson was hired to rewrite the script before it went into production due to Bong seeing his screenplay work on "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead" and being impressed with the tonality of darkness and acuity in the story. Bong and Masterson had originally envisioned a romantic story for the protagonist; however they jettisoned that idea in subsequent drafts of the screenplay. On 8 October 2013, at the Busan International Film Festival, Bong acknowledged the challenges in adapting such a story to fit the apparent constraints of cinema, to which had to omit certain scenes from the graphic novel, "... I had to capture that long story in a two-hour film, so rather than cut out some scenes from the comic, I just rewrote the whole story to fit this time frame."


title: Snowpiercer

text: On 13 January 2012, Chris Evans began negotiations to star in the film adaptation, and was later confirmed as the film's male lead. On 17 January 2012, Tilda Swinton and Jamie Bell were confirmed to be in talks to join the project. Swinton first met Bong at the Cannes Film Festival, where she was of the mind that she did not want to make any other films, a decision she takes after each film: "And that one (and only) condition in which I will make another film is that I will have some fun. So we started to play with the idea of what would amuse us about this." Bong and Swinton experimented with voices, mannerisms and the general appearance of the character of Mason. On 18 January 2012, John Hurt was confirmed to have been cast, with Hurt stating, "All the film crew refer to [Bong], with great reverence, as 'Director Bong'. I love the fact that I am working for Director Bong." On 2 February 2012, Octavia Spencer had joined the cast of Bong's project in the role of a "passenger on the train who joins the revolt in order to save her son." Ed Harris spoke of his love of Bong Joon-ho's films and wanted to work with him, "I want to do this. I don't care what he's asking me to do because he's a really great filmmaker." On 27 February 2012, Ewen Bremner had joined the cast of Bong's film. On 3 April 2012, Luke Pasqualino was confirmed to have joined the cast.


title: Snowpiercer

text: Bong states that it took four years to develop the project, with an additional three to produce with Park. Stating, "Today, I feel I have overcome a terrible disease, like cancer cells had occupied my body during that time," as well as expressing an interest in making smaller films in the future.


title: Snowpiercer

text: In August 2011, the studio was determined as the shooting location, and in October 2011, Bong and his production team moved to the Czech Republic. During the period of November 2011 to April 2012, the key members of the crew were secured and confirmed, those being: Ondřej Nekvasil, Eric Durst, Julian Spencer and Marco Beltrami. The preparatory production began in Tyrol, Austria during mid-March for one day to shoot some snowy scenery on the Hintertux Glacier, which made for excellent conditions and perfect weather. On 3 April 2012, principal photography had officially begun in Prague, Czech Republic, at the Barrandov Studios on gimbals on its interconnected sound-stages after preparatory filming in the production occurred at the end of March, with a said budget near to $42 million, which was the largest film budget of all time for any film with Korean investors.


title: Snowpiercer

text: Bong filmed "Snowpiercer" with 35mm film in a aspect ratio. Roughly ninety percent of the film was shot on set. Bong's original wish was to shoot the film entirely in Korea, but a studio large enough to accommodate a set of such scale was difficult to find, thus Barrandov Studio was used instead, requiring the construction of a 100-meter replica of the title train. In choosing Barrandov Studio, Bong explained, "All the artwork, huge train sets and the gimbal were greatly completed and fully operational. Shooting at Barrandov Studios will never stop with a perpetual engine." Bong's usage of the studio allowed him and his team to carry out meticulous experiments to contrive perpetual movement by staging the film on a giant gyroscopic gimbal, which can roll from side to side or bend realistically, to give three-dimensional feel to the train. Nearly all the shots within the train are filmed so that the tail sections are left of the characters on-screen, and the engine to the right; this was a "discipline" that Bong wanted to "maintain that energy, and give the audience a sense that whichever way the shot is moving, that's where the characters are going".


title: Snowpiercer

text: Flash SFX, the team involved in the construction of the gimbal stated, "The main challenge of physical effects work was that of inventing and developing a system that would perfectly simulate movements of train in motion. We managed to create a massive gimbal system supporting train cars with a total weight close to 100 tons. It was capable of simulating all sideway motions and vibrations of the train, including perfect make-believe curves of railroad tracks."


title: Snowpiercer

text: On 14 July 2012, principal photography officially wrapped in the Barrandov Studios after a 72-day shoot, with post-production carried out in South Korea, and Bong started editing the film for its release.


title: Snowpiercer

text: The visual effects company Scanline VFX worked on "Snowpiercer". The company worked primarily on the exterior shots of the film: the frozen city, the Yekaterina Bridge, the Frozen Harbour landscape in the sushi lounge, the "Frozen Seven" sequence, the industrial park in the shoot-out sequence, and the avalanche and post crash environment at the end of the film. Already having multiple designs, storyboards and basic concepts of the train cars, it set in motion the development of over 60 different versions of the various wagons for the train "Snowpiercer". Thus, visual effects supervisor Michel Mielke said "... we [had] a good idea of the vision of director Bong, we saw what he liked, and what did not work for the movie."


title: Snowpiercer

text: Visual effects designer Eric Durst spoke of the Aquarium Car being an intriguing challenge of lighting, with the differentiation of a water-based environment on one side and a frozen-based landscape at the other. Durst and his team, including director of photography Alex Hong, had light "travel through water trays on top of the aquarium structure." Durst added that "These refracted the light spilling on the actors, replicating the way light would react in an actual aquarium environment." In the task of creating that world, Mark Breakspear and his team in Vancouver spent a great amount of time at the Vancouver Aquarium to study "the fish, the lighting environments, the way the light refracted through the water and glass, along with how it distorted the fish as they passed."


title: Snowpiercer

text: Among the most challenging effects on the train was the length of the train and the number of cars that needed to be handled. Mielke had a "very complex rig" created and built to provide the animators involved in the creating process with enough capability as was possible. He stated, "The rig managed that the train automatically followed the rails, that the motion of the wagons where simulated depending on the rails, that the wagons could be changed easily and so on."


title: Snowpiercer

text: Parallel to principal photography in Prague, the first designs of visuals spanned from May 2012 up until the final shots of early March 2013, with a team of over 70 artists developing over 186 VFX-shots with almost 50 being full of computer-generated imagery.


title: Snowpiercer

text: Costume designer Catherine George explained that Mason was initially inspired by a Smithsonian photograph that production designer Ondřej Nekvasil had found of an older lady amongst a room full of dead birds at the Museum of Natural History, who was a real person from Swinton's childhood. In designing Mason's costume, George found images of women from their late sixties and early seventies, adding that, "... a certain type that I remembered growing up who would wear their fur to go into town and scoff at people who were less better off, a bit of a Margaret Thatcher type, really." George also designed Mason's suit to look "a typical conservative politician shape and style" with the purple adding a royal quality to the attire. She had "collected pictures of dictators wearing elaborate uniforms and crazy hand-made medals" to experiment with the designs of such a character. George later admitted to the similarities to Ayn Rand, although not intentional. George and Bong travelled to Swinton's home in Scotland with "a couple of suitcases of clothes, wigs, glasses and teeth" to play around with ideas.


title: Snowpiercer

text: On creating individuality for the passengers in the tail section, George had the designs come from random materials they would use to fashion practical clothing, "The tail section clothing was pieced together from different garments and repairs were made on top of that. They had to improvise with any materials that were left on the train." For the design of Curtis, Bong and George wanted him to be anonymous but at the same time recognizable. The design was difficult as George had to conceal Evans's muscular physique and muscle mass thus, "We had to cut out the sleeves of his under layers to help him look leaner."


title: Snowpiercer

text: George personally designed the costumes for Nam and Yona, who wear the "darker-coloured intense black". Taking inspiration from photographs of train engineers from an early industrial period and vintage French railway jackets, it was designed while she looked at utilitarian clothes due to Nam previously being a train engineer before his imprisonment. George also designed many of the tail section costumes, including Nam's, using Japanese Boro fabric.


title: Snowpiercer

text: In creating Claude's yellow coat and dress, George was mindful of the fact it was the first colour of brightness in the tail section scene, as well as the property of yellow being the most luminous colour in the spectrum. She expressed, "It's the colour that captures our attention more than any other and in colour psychology yellow is non-emotional and lacking compassion." Camera testing occurred before deciding the final colours as well as observing how they'd interact, with the back drop of darker costume colours.


title: Snowpiercer

text: Bong and his illustrators created various pieces of concept art for the train cars of "Snowpiercer", led by Czech production designer Ondřej Nekvasil, who was brought onto the production team to help realize those visions. Nekvasil approached the atmosphere of the tail section it as if it were a "dark, monochromatic ... life", emphasising poor living arrangements, to which he found inspiration from poor areas of Hong Kong and elsewhere to put in the set designs. In order to make the colours appear "used" and "dirty", Nekvasil and company started with colourful props that were subsequently washed out and forcibly aged to create a feeling of "really used property and space", while creating a back story to justify the appearance.


title: Snowpiercer

text: When designing the train, Nekvasil and Bong hit upon the idea of the train not being designed by one man in one specific moment; the idea that "these various train cars were built in different periods of Wilford's life". Another idea was the logical scale of the train itself, though Bong entertained the notion of it being beyond a logical scale, Nekvasil stated, " ... if it's 20 feet wide, it'll no longer seem like a train." Dimensions and sizes were discussed, and the design sized finalised was "slightly bigger than a typical train", though enough to allow space for camera movement inside the train. The design was difficult due to distance limitations, as Nekvasil said, "... the biggest stage we had, which was about 300 feet long, was not big enough to fit everything."


title: Snowpiercer

text: Instead of overly relying on CGI, Nekvasil's production design team constructed twenty-six individual train cars and used a giant gyroscopic gimbal in Prague's Barrandov Studios to simulate the movement of an actual train when shooting. Bong stated that the gimbal was used on the third day of shooting, explaining, "Sometimes we felt carsick on set," due to the realistic effects of the gimbal.


title: Snowpiercer

text: Sound engineers Anna Behlmer, Terry Porter and Mark Holding mixed the sound for "Snowpiercer", supervised by sound editor Taeyoung Choi.


title: Snowpiercer

text: In May 2012, Marco Beltrami was hired to compose the incidental music for "Snowpiercer". In January 2013, a song titled "Yona Lights" was released on the film's official website in South Korea. On July 2013, during the 007 Fimucité at Tenerife International Film Music Festival in the Canary Islands, a few pieces of the three films composed by Beltrami ("Snowpiercer", "Soul Surfer" and "The Wolverine") were selected for the performance.


title: Snowpiercer

text: The film's official soundtrack was released in August 2013 in South Korea and the international release date was on 9 September 2013.


title: Snowpiercer

text: "Snowpiercer" premiered at the Times Square on 29 July 2013 in Seoul, South Korea, before screening at the Deauville American Film Festival as the closing film on 7 September 2013, the Berlin International Film Festival as the part of Berlin's Forum sidebar on 7 February 2014, opening the Los Angeles Film Festival on 11 June 2014, and the Edinburgh International Film Festival on 22 June 2014.


title: Snowpiercer

text: On 9 November 2012, The Weinstein Company acquired the distribution rights to "Snowpiercer" from CJ Entertainment, based on the script and some completed footage, with a plan for wide release in North America, as well as throughout the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. It was released in the United States on 27 June 2014 in just eight theaters in selected cities. This delay was caused by Harvey Weinstein, an owner of The Weinstein Company, requesting 25 minutes of footage be cut, asking for less dialogue and more action, and a voice-over sequence at the end of the film. The fish-gutting scene was one that Weinstein was adamant about removing, but Bong lied to Weinstein, claiming his father was a fisherman and the scene was in tribute to his father, to get Weinstein to agree to keep it. Weinstein screened his cut to a test audience of around 250 members. In response to the poor score given by the test audience, Weinstein said to Bong they needed to cut more. In a later test screening of Bong's original cut of the film, the audience's score was "much higher". Following the news of the cut, a "Free Snowpiercer" petition campaign demanding the director's cut of the film to be released in the US was created by cinema activist Denise Heard-Bashur, with support from the film's stars Tilda Swinton and John Hurt. Bong's uncut version of the film was eventually released, but with the caveat that the film switched distributors to Radius-TWC, resulting in a limited release in art house cinemas. On 3 July 2014, it was announced that thanks to positive reviews, "Snowpiercer" would get a wider US release and play in over 150 theaters.


title: Snowpiercer

text: The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray in various countries, including France and Korea, over Q3 and Q4 first, before the movie was finally debuted in North American theaters. The film was eventually released on home media in North America on 21 October 2014, and became available on Netflix for streaming on 1 November 2014. It did not get a genuine UK release until November 2018, when it was made available digitally via Amazon Prime Video and was released on DVD & Blu-ray in 2020.


title: Snowpiercer

text: Between its South Korean opening on 27 June 2014 and 23 October 2014, the film earned US$86.7 million worldwide. , it was the tenth highest-grossing domestic film in South Korea with 9.35 million admissions. The film holds the domestic record for the fastest movie (domestic and foreign) to reach four million admissions, which it achieved in its fifth day after premiere, and another record for the highest weekend figure (from Friday to Sunday) for a Korean film, with 2.26 million viewers. The film took in $171,000 on its US opening weekend, averaging around $21,400 per theater. The film grossed US$59.8 million in South Korea and its largest international market was China, with $11.1 million.


title: Snowpiercer

text: Film review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes reports that 94% of critics gave the film a positive rating, based on 264 reviews with an average score of 8.1/10. The website's critical consensus states, ""Snowpiercer" offers an audaciously ambitious action spectacle for filmgoers numb to effects-driven blockbusters." Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 84 out of 100, based on 38 reviews from mainstream critics, considered to be "universal acclaim".


title: Snowpiercer

text: Chris Nashawaty of "Entertainment Weekly" gave the piece an "A" rating, stating, ""Snowpiercer" sucks you into its strange, brave new world so completely, it leaves you with the all-too-rare sensation that you've just witnessed something you've never seen before ... and need to see again."


title: Snowpiercer

text: A. O. Scott wrote, in his review for "The New York Times", "Planetary destruction and human extinction happen a half-dozen times every summer. It's rarely this refreshing, though." Andrew Pulver of "The Guardian" scored the film most positively, writing, ""Snowpiercer" works brilliantly, the sum of extremely disparate parts that adds up to cinematic excellence." Joshua Rothkopf of "Time Out New York" scored the film five out of five stars, writing, "Sprung from a 1982 French graphic novel and bearing its era's trickle-down tensions, "Snowpiercer" is a headlong rush into conceptual lunacy—but you'll love it anyway." Rothkopf praises Joon-ho, stating, "... Bong grabs onto the grungy conventions of postapocalyptic adventure with relish. He serves up claustrophobic action scenes (one largely shot in the dark) and ominous, messianic overtones as the band of rebels makes its way forward."


title: Snowpiercer

text: Lou Lumenick of "The New York Post" gave the film high acclaim, writing, "Don't miss it—this is enormously fun visionary filmmaking, with a witty script and a great international cast." He added, "The beautifully designed train is one of the most memorable in screen history ..." David Denby of "The New Yorker" spoke highly of the piece, stating it to be, "Violent, often absurd, but full of brilliant surprises, while Bong keeps the center of the action moving toward the front of the train, a considerable feat of camera placement, choreographed mayhem, and cohesive editing," and praising Nekvasil's production design, "Bong and [Nekvasil], provide them with a series of sybaritic astonishments."


title: Snowpiercer

text: Clarence Tsui of "The Hollywood Reporter" wrote a highly positive review, commenting, ""Snowpiercer" is still an intellectually and artistically superior vehicle to many of the end-of-days futuristic action thrillers out there." Speaking highly of Bong's film-making, Tsui wrote, "Bong's vivid depictions—aided by Ondřej Nekvasil's production design, Hong Kyung-pyo's cinematography and Steve M. Choe's editing—are exceptional." David Thomson of "The New Republic" remarked that "The most bracing and liberating thing about Joon-ho Bong's "Snowpiercer" is not just its lyrical forward motion, but the exuberance with which the film revels in its plot predicament." He furthers praises Nekvasil's "progression of design set-pieces" and Tilda Swinton's performance, saying "She is the life and soul of this riotous party, and you will be sad to see her disposed of, no matter that Mason's ghastly manner has earned it." Scott Foundas of "Variety" wrote, "An enormously ambitious, visually stunning and richly satisfying futuristic epic from the gifted Korean genre director Bong Joon-ho." Foundas added that Beltrami's original score was "among the generally impeccable craft contributions [to the film]."


title: Snowpiercer

text: James Rocchi of Film.com wrote that, "If the film has one element that never flags or falters, it's Evans."


title: Snowpiercer

text: Some were more critical of the film. Jordan Adler of "We've Got This Covered" wrote "We leave "Snowpiercer" more exhausted with questions than invigorated by its unique vision and style. It is a formidable example of directorial control bogged down by poor writing, half-finished effects work and a rather thin exploration of a fascinating dystopian universe." Ann Hornaday of "The Washington Post" found otherwise potentially good acting to be "virtually lost in a tonal mishmash that can never decide between thoughtful political metaphor, lightheartedness and pulverizing violence" and went on to describe the director's "tiresome, slow-motion fetishism, mixing costumes and weaponry in an effort to distract from the scenes' sheer repetitiveness."


title: Snowpiercer

text: In 2020, "Snowpiercer" was ranked by "The Guardian" number 8 among the classics of modern South Korean Cinema. The film appeared on several critics' lists of the top ten best films of 2014.


title: Snowpiercer

text: The film, along with the original French graphic novel, was adapted into an American television show by Tomorrow Studios, and premiered on TNT on May 17, 2020, in the United States. It is available on Netflix for worldwide distribution. The show stars Jennifer Connelly and Daveed Diggs, among others, and takes place in a rebooted narrative of the film, with events on the train starting about seven years after the global catastrophe.


title: Drive (2011 film)

text: Drive is a 2011 American action drama film directed by Nicolas Winding Refn. The screenplay, written by Hossein Amini, is based on James Sallis's 2005 novel of the same name. The film stars Ryan Gosling as an unnamed Hollywood stunt driver who moonlights as a getaway driver. He quickly grows fond of his neighbor, Irene (Carey Mulligan), and her young son, Benicio. When her debt-ridden husband, Standard (Oscar Isaac), is released from prison, the two men take part in what turns out to be a botched million-dollar heist that endangers the lives of everyone involved. The film co-stars Bryan Cranston, Christina Hendricks, Ron Perlman, and Albert Brooks.


title: Drive (2011 film)

text: Producers Marc Platt and Adam Siegel optioned the source novel after Siegel read a review from "Publishers Weekly". Adapting the book proved to be challenging for Amini, as it had a nonlinear narrative. Gosling, one of Platt's top casting choices, eventually signed on for the lead, as he wanted to star in an action-oriented project. Gosling played a pivotal role in the film's production, which included hiring Refn as director and Beth Mickle as production designer. Newton Thomas Sigel oversaw the principal photography, which started on September 25, 2010, was shot on location in various parts of Los Angeles, and ended on November 12.


title: Drive (2011 film)

text: Before its September 2011 release, "Drive" had been shown at a number of film festivals, including the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, where it received a standing ovation. Refn won the festival's Best Director Award. The film was praised for its direction, cinematography, performances (particularly Gosling and Brooks'), visuals, action sequences, and musical score; however, some critics were appalled by its graphic violence and found that potentially detrimental to the film's box office success. Nonetheless, the film was still a commercial success, grossing $81 million against a production budget of $15 million. Several critics listed "Drive" as one of the best films of 2011, including the National Board of Review. Its honors include a nomination for Best Sound Editing at the 84th Academy Awards.


title: Drive (2011 film)

text: An unnamed man, known as "Driver", works as a mechanic, a stunt double, a stunt driver, and a criminal-for-hire getaway driver in Los Angeles, California. His jobs are all managed by auto shop owner Shannon, who persuades Jewish mobster Bernie Rose and his half-Italian partner Nino "Izzy" Paolozzi to purchase a car for the Driver to race. The Driver meets his new neighbor, Irene, and grows close to her and her young son, Benicio. Their relationship is interrupted when Irene's husband, Standard Gabriel, arrives after his release from prison. Standard owes protection money from his time in prison and is assaulted by Albanian gangster Chris Cook, who demands that Standard rob a pawn shop for $40,000 to pay off the debt. Learning this, the Driver offers to act as the getaway driver for the pawn shop robbery.


title: Drive (2011 film)

text: While the Driver is waiting outside the pawn shop with Blanche, Cook's accomplice, the store owner kills Standard. The Driver and Blanche are then pursued by another car. The Driver hides with Blanche in a motel where he learns that the pawn shop owner claims Standard was the sole perpetrator and no money was stolen. He threatens Blanche when she lies about being oblivious to the second car. She admits that the bag contains $1 million, and she and Cook planned to re-steal the money for themselves using the car that chased them. While Blanche is in the restroom, she is killed with a shotgun by one of Cook's henchmen. The Driver fatally stabs the gunman before killing another one with the shotgun.


title: Drive (2011 film)

text: At the auto shop, Shannon offers to hide the money, but the Driver declines. He tracks Cook to a strip club and threatens to kill him. Cook reveals that Nino was behind the robbery. The Driver calls him, and Nino dismisses his offer of the money, instead sending a hitman to the Driver and Irene's apartment building. The Driver tells an angry Irene about his involvement with her husband's death. When the pair enter an elevator, the Driver notices the hitman. He kisses Irene and then brutally stomps the hitman to death, horrifying Irene. Knowing that someone may have leaked the Driver's whereabouts for Nino to know his address, the Driver confronts Shannon, who reveals that he also unwittingly mentioned Irene. Driver tells Shannon to flee.


title: Drive (2011 film)

text: At his pizzeria, Nino reveals to Bernie that a low-level Philadelphia mobster from the Italian "East Coast mob" stashed the money at the pawn shop with plans to use the money to set up a new operation. Since anyone tied to the robbery could lead the East Coast Italian Mafia to them, they need to kill everyone involved. He convinces Bernie to follow his plan. Bernie murders Cook, as he is the sole witness to their agreement. After Shannon refuses to divulge the whereabouts of the Driver at the auto shop, Bernie slashes his forearm with a straight razor, killing him.


title: Drive (2011 film)

text: Enraged and agonized at finding Shannon's corpse at the auto shop, the Driver disguises himself with a rubber stuntman's mask, follows Nino from the pizzeria to the Pacific Coast Highway and rams his car onto a beach. The Driver chases Nino towards the ocean and drowns him. He calls Irene and tells her that he will not return, also letting her know that she and Benicio were the best part of his life. The Driver meets Bernie, who promises that Irene will be safe in exchange for the money. Upon giving him the money, Bernie stabs him in the stomach before the Driver pulls out his own knife and stabs Bernie to death. The Driver manages to escape, while Bernie's corpse lies in the parking lot next to the cash. Irene knocks on the Driver's apartment door and walks away when no one answers. Although severely wounded, the Driver drives into the night.


title: Drive (2011 film)

text: The novel "Drive" by James Sallis was published in 2005. Producers Marc Platt and Adam Siegel of Marc Platt Productions optioned the novel after Siegel read a review in "Publishers Weekly". The driver intrigued Siegel because he was "the kind of character you rarely see anymore he was a man with a purpose; he was very good at one thing and made no apologies for it". The character interested Platt, because he reminded him of movie heroes he looked up to as a child, characters typically portrayed by Steve McQueen or Clint Eastwood.


title: Drive (2011 film)

text: Hossein Amini adapted the novel for the screen. He felt it was a rare book to receive from a studio because it was short, gloomy, and like a poem. Since the novel does not present a linear story, but has many flashbacks and jumps around in time, Amini found the adaptation challenging. He felt the non-linear structure made it "a very tricky structure" for a feature film.


title: Drive (2011 film)

text: A film adaptation of "Drive" was first announced in early 2008, with Neil Marshall set to direct what was being described as "an L.A.-set action mystery", planned as a starring vehicle for Hugh Jackman. Universal Studios, which had tried to make a film version for some time, was also on board.<ref name="/Film"></ref> By February 2010, Marshall and Jackman were no longer attached to the project.


title: Drive (2011 film)

text: Producer Marc E. Platt contacted actor Ryan Gosling about "Drive" early on. Platt explained: "I have this list that I've created of very talented individuals whose work inspire me writers, directors, actors whom I have to work with before I go onto another career or do something else with my life." Near the top of Platt's list was Gosling, who, despite having starred in several films of diverse genres, had never starred in anything like "Drive". He had always been interested in doing an action-oriented project. Gosling said that he had been put off by the many current action genre films that focused more on stunts instead of characters. But he responded to Platt about two days later, as he was strongly attracted to the plot and the leading role of the unnamed driver. He thought the story had a "very strong character" at its core, and a "powerful" romance.


title: Drive (2011 film)

text: In an interview with Rotten Tomatoes, Gosling was asked what had attracted him to the film, and whether he had read the earlier script when Jackman and director Neil Marshall were attached to it. He said:


title: Drive (2011 film)

text: I think that might be the original one I read. I read a few drafts. I read one as well where he wasn't a stunt driver at all, which was a newer draft maybe that's the one Hugh Jackman had; I'm not sure exactly. Basically when I read it, in trying to figure out who would do something like this, the only way to make sense of this is that this is a guy that's seen too many movies, and he's started to confuse his life for a film. He's lost in the mythology of Hollywood and he's become an amalgamation of all the characters that he admires.


title: Drive (2011 film)

text: When Gosling signed on for the leading role, he was allowed to choose the director, a first in his career. The actor chose Danish filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn, whose work he admired. He said, "It had to be [him]. There was no other choice."


title: Drive (2011 film)

text: When Refn read the first screenplay for "Drive", he was more intrigued by the concept of a man having a split personality, being a stuntman by day and a getaway driver at night, than the plot of the story. Believing that the director might be intimidated by the script, as it was unlike anything he had done before, Gosling had concerns about whether Refn wanted to participate. Refn took on the project without hesitation.


title: Drive (2011 film)

text: When casting roles in his films, Refn does not watch casting tapes or have his actors audition for him. Instead, he meets with them, and casts them on the spot if he feels they are right. "Drive" was the first film that British actress Carey Mulligan signed on to do after being nominated for an Academy Award for her role in "An Education" (2009), which was directed by Lone Scherfig, also a Danish filmmaker. (Scherfig used to babysit Refn when he was a child, and they have become good friends). At the time of Mulligan's casting, Refn had not seen "An Education". But his wife was a big fan of the film and Mulligan's performance, and she urged him to cast her. In the original script, the character was a Hispanic woman named Irina. The character was changed to Irene after Mulligan was cast; Refn said that he "couldn't find any actress that would click with [him] personally".


title: Drive (2011 film)

text: While working on the film, Refn had some cast and production members move in temporarily with him, his wife and two daughters in their home in Los Angeles. This included Carey Mulligan and Hossein Amini, the screenwriter. This enabled them to be immersed in the film. Refn and Amini made significant changes to the original script during this time.


title: Drive (2011 film)

text: Bryan Cranston plays the role of Shannon. Refn knew he wanted to cast Cranston, as he was a fan of his work in the TV series "Breaking Bad". Knowing Cranston had other opportunities, Refn asked the actor how he would like to develop the role. After not hearing back, Refn called him; Cranston was just then writing the pros and cons of doing "Drive" for himself. Moved by Refn's interest, Cranston accepted the part. Christina Hendricks plays the small role of Blanche. "Trying to work in a more reality arena for a character like that," Refn originally auditioned porn stars for Blanche. He was unable to find anyone with the necessary acting talent. After meeting with Hendricks, he decided to cast her as he felt her persona would click with the character.


title: Drive (2011 film)

text: Albert Brooks plays the foul-mouthed, morose Bernie Rose. When Refn suggested him, Gosling agreed, but thought the actor might not want to play a character who is violent and sullen, or appear in a film that he did not work on himself. Brooks accepted the role to go against type, and because he loved that Bernie was not a cliché.


title: Drive (2011 film)

text: There are six people you could always get to play this kind of part, and I like that the director was thinking outside of the box. For me, it was an opportunity to act outside the box. I liked that this mobster had real style. Also, he doesn't get up in the morning thinking about killing people. He's sad about it. Upset about it. It's a case of, 'Look what you made me do.'