Toronto RAT Pack Gets VIP Treatment @ MI2

["Paul Wilson" <paulwilson@xxxxxxxxx>]

Last Saturday evening,  Toronto Triumph owners received the full VIP
treatment at a screening of Mission: Impossible 2 at the spectacular new
Paramount multiplex cinema in the heart of Toronto's theatre district.  The
evening was organized and hosted by John McBride, the owner of our local
(and Canada's largest) Triumph dealership, McBride Cycle.  (Geez, I should
be employed writing press releases . . .!!!)

About 30 of us were in attendance, and the evening got off to a great start
when I arrived on my blue ST and discovered that the street directly in
front of the theatre had been roped off for Triumph-only bike parking.  We
all felt like celebrities!  There were about 10 Triumphs in total, including
one other blue ST,  the rest being primarily Daytonas and Speed Triples.
Since it was Saturday night, and the theatre being located in the middle of
the club district, there were thousands of people on the street and we
received plenty of attention from passers-by.  There was even more attention
paid to us and our bikes after the movie was over, when the movie-goers
realized that our bikes were the same ones as in the movie.  One young lady
came up to me and enquired if I was one of the stunt riders in the film!
We all got just a tiny taste of what it must be like to be a celebrity that
evening.

After three weeks of almost constant rain, the gods were co-operating on
Saturday, and it was a clear, yet cool, evening - perfect riding weather.
The new Paramount multiplex really is spectacular.  Because it was built on
a rather small downtown lot, they had to build vertically in order to fit
everything in.  As a result, when you enter the cinema, you immediately
ascend a dramatic five storey escalator which faces a glass wall opening on
to the neon lights of the clubs on the street below.  Our group was then
escorted to a lounge where we were served complimentary refreshments and
large popcorns and given our free movie admissions.   After about 30
minutes, we were then taken into the empty theatre and given the prime seats
for our 9:20 PM screening.  As soon as we were settled, the other patrons
were admitted into the theatre.  Then the movie began . . .

I enjoyed the movie.  It's by no means Oscar material, but the plot is
certainly more decipherable than the first Mission: Impossible flick.  A
typical Hollywood summer blockbuster:  two hours and ten minutes of non-stop
action.  The Triumphs get about 10 minutes of on-screen exposure towards the
end of the film although the actual Triumph logo is never seen really
clearly since the bikes are in constant motion while on-screen.  As another
lister has commented, we all groaned when we saw the aggressive knobby tires
on the bikes as they flung giant rooster-tails during an off-pavement
segment.  For some reason, the film-makers decided to prominently show these
tires up on the screen, instead of trying to disguise them.  Other than
that, it was pretty hard to discern that the bikes were heavily-modified
Triumphs and the stunts are pretty spectacular, especially that
180-degree-spin-stoppie-while-firing-a-handgun sequence that is featured in
the trailer for the film!

All in all, a great evening of VIP treatment compliments of our Toronto
Triumph dealership.

Regards, and looking forward to meeting many of you in just 10 short weeks,

Paul Wilson
Toronto, Canada


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