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[HetMasteen]

First of all, nice work on the UHQ photos. I've been doing some research, and I conclude that this is 100% legit. The proof in my opinion is that the picture is totally false (i.e it doesn't represent real life). So this isn't some photo manip, but a CG image made from the ground up.

Proof? Two things:

A. The SOL does not face Manhattan Island. It faces Europe. Manhattan Island lies to the NE of Liberty Island, but the SOL's face is pointing SE, toward the old country. (pic 1)
You can see the direction (and distance) are all wrong.



B. The SOL isn't in the right place. Look at the poster. On the left you can see 2 World Financial Center (the building with the dome on top - in the frame). As you can see in pic 2 - 2 WFC is across the water from New Jersey, so in order for the SOL to be there, it would have to be standing on the NJ shore. Not to mention the fact that the skyline south of 2 WFC looks nothing like it does in the poster.




I'm not being an uber fanboy here, I'm just saying that the inaccuracies lead me to believe it's legit. This can't be a photo manip, because no photo would look like this. It's all wrong.

[worngmike]

[Kayberry]

HetMasteen is right about the SOL facing the wrong way, but is wrong about the view of Manhattan. If you take a second look at the Google image and the poster image, you can identify the other buildings in the poster image that clearly indicate the photo was taken from the southern face.

[HetMasteen]

[HetMasteen]

Another thing. To me, the marks on the SOL look as though some massive hand ripped the head of, and some of the back came off with it.

Imagine standing next to the SOL (and you're alive and huge). You take your right hand, grab the head, and pull in a downward/rightward motion. The head would come off, tearing the body with it (it's hollow sheet metal).
Probably some sharp claws were involved. But it definitely looks like a giant hand ripped the head off.


Also, look at the SOL in the trailer. You can see the edged, and it does look ripped.

[worngmike]

don't think this has been posted, did have a look around but there is this detail in the poster that looks odd, doesn't look like smoke.
but then maybe i just want to see something, anything.
what do you think?

[konamouse]

Don't get all Freudian on this thing.

[Blue K]

It looks like there's a plume of smoke rising from the hole where the SoL's head used to be, but it doesn't really doesn't look like the smoke in the rest of the poster. It's blue, like steam or water droplets. Maybe the head of the SoL was blown off from inside pressure, like a tea kettle.

[Kayberry]

Closeup of the Poster's Skyline

Okay, working more on the poster skyline, I fear it's also a composite. We can start identifying some of the buildings here, beginning with one of the damaged ones, it's the J.P. Morgan building:
http://members.aol.com/smurphynyc/down/60wall.jpg
Immediately to the right and in front is 20 Exchange Place:
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid54/pe6b8482b8f4eaf22c345fd6658995c8f/fc84f365.jpg
Behind both those buildings is 70 Pine Street:
http://members.aol.com/nycskyscrp/down/70pine.jpg
To the left of those, you can see Irving Trust at 1 Wall Street:
http://members.aol.com/nycskyscrp2/down/1wall.jpg
And in front of it, the Equitable Building:
http://members.aol.com/nycskyscrp2/down/120bway.jpg
To the immediate right of Irving Trust is the Chase Manhattan Building:
http://members.aol.com/smurphynyc/down/1chasepl.jpg
The building farthest right seems to be 1 Seaport Plaza, except from the East face:
http://members.aol.com/smurphy109/down/199water.jpg


For the majority of buildings this is a view from the south, which does support my "from the statue of liberty location" theory.
Still working on other buildings.

Fortunately, the monster seems to have destroyed Trump Tower. Take him down a peg!

[HetMasteen]

[BrianJonestown]

[Ziz]

[Steve_NY]

[engdude]

[Kingpin]

I completely concur with those that the skyline is composite... I think it's fair to say the artist tried to get an approximation of the real Downtown New York skyline but used a collection of photographs to do it.

The same was used on the poster to The Day After Tomorrow where both the Empire State Building and Chrysler Building were moved to a position significantly south of their real locations. The other notable thing would be that the art team rotated the Statue of Liberty so you could see more of her face... if she'd been in the correct position in the design most of her face would've been obscurred by her arm.

And then of course, the water level isn't accurate to the film either... But I digress.

I believe I can also see One World Financial Center in front of the ruined Chase Manhattan Building, which places it significantly further away from it's real location (In the picture I've included, 1WFC is the building seen on the far right with a roof shaped like the unfinished pyramid (yet another National Treasure reference! ) to the right of the Twin Tower without the mast.