My first exposure to the work of Ramiro Hernandez came back in 2007 when I reviewed his film 40 Seconds.  From that film I could tell that he had a great eye for visuals and talent as a film maker.

Now it's 2009, and he's sent me his latest short film, Phoenix Down to review.  I was looking forward to seeing this because not only did I know he had talent as a film maker, but he also told me he had to learn how to do CGI in order to make this.

The film itself is about a couple of American fighter pilots playing chicken over the South China Sea with a Chinese MIG fitghter jet that starts to harrass them.  They start messing with him as well, which leads to a mid air collision, causing all three pilots to eject.

The pilots wash ashore on an island, and after a bit of searching, one of the American pilots finds the Chinese pilot laying wounded.  The Chinese pilot reaches for something, and the American pilot, assuming he's reaching for a gun, shoots him, only to find out after the fact that he was only reaching for a photo of his family.  The American pilot realizes he made a huge mistake and tries to help the Chinese pilot, but it's too late and he dies, leaving the American pilot feeling horrible and having to live with his mistake.

This seven minute short film is actually the prologue scene to the upcoming feature film Phoenix Falling, and all I can say is...damn!  I can't believe Ramiro Hernandez actually learned to do CGI for this film.  The CGI work looks like it was done by a well practiced professional who's been doing it for years.  I mean it just looks phenomenal.

Aside from the great over the ocean flying scenes, the cockpit scenes are shot inside an actual cockpit and everything looks really great right down to the flight suits.  This is a really high quality production, and it really shows how professional looking and polished independent films can be.

Aside from the overall look of the film, Derek Latta, Benjamin Lebish and Will Barnes as the three pilots all put in really great performances as well, which only added to the quality and polish of the overall product.

I fully expected another quality production from Ramiro Hernandez, but I have to say, this exceeded my expectations.  All I can say is, if this just the prologue scene, I can only imagine how great the actual feature will be once it's completed.

If you'd like to find out more about this film, you can check out its page and see a clip of the film on the Fandango Pictures website.