xXx: State of the Union, a.k.a. XXX2, is an action-thriller about a military splinter group that threatens to overthrow the American government. A very interesting title sequence that might have benefitted greatly from a custom-made score, instead of KoRn’s testosterone-fuelled Public Enemy cover “Fight The Power.”
720.jpg "xXx State Of The Union (stills)")
xXx: State of the Union was title designer Bruce Schluter’s first job at Pacific Title & Art Studio. Schluter: “I was previously working at a company called BLT, which did marketing. The last job I did for BLT was working on the marketing for ‘XXX’. When I came here, I had no work. I knew the ‘XXX’ script very well and had a lot of ideas that did not work in the marketing campaign, but I thought were great visuals. So I spent a couple of weeks boarding up a sequence and offered the ideas to the director. He was already working with another design firm, but was blown away by the spec presentation and we got the job. It was originally meant to be an end title sequence. About two weeks before delivery, the director wanted it as a main title. After a test screening, he felt he needed something energetic up front. We quickly sped up a 3 minute piece to a minute and a half sequence with new music. It was a mess at first.”
Year of production
2005
About Bruce Schluter
Bruce Schluter has been designing title sequences since the late 1980s. He learned the tricks of the trade at R/GA, had his own company for a while and he teamed up with Richard Greenberg to form Greenberg/Schluter. Nowadays, Schluter designs for another prolific company that specializes in title design, Pacific Art & Title Studios. He worked on the title sequences of The Last Boyscout, Star Trek First Contact, The Long Kiss Goodnight, The Matrix, Miami Vice (the movie), Ricochet xXx: State of the Union and The Starter Wife.
Full credits
Director (film)
Lee Tamahori
Title designer
Bruce Schluter
Title design company
Pacific Title & Art Studio
Music
KoRn featuring Xzibit “Fight The Power”