Exclusive: A RAID PACIFIC Visual Effects (VFX) Test Reel |

September 15, 2026 • 0 Comments

A Life After Gateway Exclusive: A Raid Pacific Visual Effects (VFX) Test Reel

Today at Life After Gateway, I present to you an exclusive test video for Raid Pacific’s VFX. The World War 2 submarine thriller, starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, is filming now. Watch the video below.

The Recap

Raid Pacific was recently announced in Variety. I advertised that project at Life After Gateway HERE.

Since then, I had the privilege to sit down with director Steven Luke and owner of WW2 Vehicle Rentals, Charles Bolanis III, to chat about the film, its genesis, its star Jean-Claude Van Damme, the setting, production, and the story.

Find Part One of that interview HERE.

Find Part Two of that interview HERE.

The story is based on The Raid of Makin Island, a real-life mission that occurred a few months after the attack on Pearl Harbor. US submarine Nautilus transported Marine Raiders to Makin Island, a Japanese outpost in the Pacific Ocean, on a vital mission to disrupt enemy activities in the region. It was the first time that a submarine had ever been used for such a purpose.

Jean-Claude Van Damme will portray Captain Pierce of Nautilus.

The story, as per IMDB:

Follows Captain William Pierce, a U.S.-French submarine commander tasked with transporting Marine raiders into enemy waters to destroy a critical Japanese outpost after Pearl Harbor.

The VFX Test Video: Credit to Schuetzle Company Productions

In my interview with Director Steven Luke, he made the following comment:

“… the technology has just advanced so much over the years, that their ability to recreate that photo realistically is pretty incredible. We’ll have to send you some of our tests we’ve been working on … some tests on our VFX submarine. You’ll have to let me know what you think.”

And now we have that test video. What do you think? Tell me in the comments below. Stay tuned for more news about Raid Pacific including more exclusive stories. Watch this space.

———

Follow TSJ on Facebook.
Follow TSJ on X.
Follow TSJ on Instagram.
Follow TSJ’s Blog Life After Gateway, featuring one carefully curated news item from the world of Science Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Horror, and Suspense each day. Enter your email in the “Subscribe to Blog via Email” widget on the right.

———

A Blanket of Steel by Timothy S. Johnston and from Fitzhenry & Whiteside, LTD. is the recipient of the 2024 GLOBAL Thriller Award GRAND PRIZE and the 2024 CYGNUS Award First in Category.

— Timothy S. Johnston, 15 September 2026

———

Praise for Timothy S. Johnston’s A Blanket of Steel

“Fans of Clive Cussler’s NUMA Files will be delighted with Timothy S. Johnston’s undersea novels. Truman McClusky and Dirk Pitt are cut from the same adventurer’s cloth.” — Nick Cutter, author of The Deep and The Troop

“Action that ranges from close range combat to torpedo-fueled attacks. The result is a thriller that keeps moving from confrontation to confrontation … with constant danger and the vast depths of the ocean as a setting, there is always reason to keep reading.” — Kirkus Reviews

“Read the book and prepare to be blown away by one of the best writers I have ever had the pleasure to read. Timothy S. Johnston is simply amazing.” — FIVE Stars from Readers’ Favorite

“A Blanket of Steel is not simply a ‘daring do’ thriller … It’s prescient.” — Amazing Stories

“A priority selection. An action-packed story that is hard to put down. A Blanket of Steel is outstanding.” — D. Donovan, Sr. Reviewer, Midwest Book Review

“Innovative technology, Mac taking risks no one else would dare and thinking his way through to brilliant solutions … But the stakes are higher than they’ve ever been before. This is it. The countdown to the final battle … Johnston does an excellent job of keeping the tension taut as he plays with the reader’s perceptions of characters we thought we knew and trusted …” — SFcrowsnest

“Expect to be left breathless. Trust me here. Please. I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN.” — Michael Libling, author of The Serial Killer’s Son Takes A Wife and Hollywood North: A Novel in Six Reels

———

A BLANKET OF STEEL is out now!

WATCH THE GRIPPING BOOK TRAILER HERE.

FOR PURCHASE OPTIONS CLICK HERE

———

A Blanket of Steel from Timothy S. Johnston and Fitzhenry & Whiteside, Ltd.

Book Cover & Jacket Copy:

AN UNSTOPPABLE THREAT!

A mysterious assassin has murdered Cliff Sim, Chief Security Officer of the underwater colony, Trieste. Cliff was a mountain of a man, highly trained, and impossible to defeat in combat. And yet …

Someone brutally beat him and left his broken body in a secret Chinese facility at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.

And included a calling card for Truman McClusky, Mayor of Trieste.

Taunting him.

Mac has led the underwater colonies in their fight against the world’s superpowers. Climate change has devastated the surface; nations suffer famine, drought, rebellion, rising waters, and apocalyptic coastal flooding. But now, as Mac leads the underwater colonies to freedom and independence, he’s faced with the gravest threat of his life: a Russian assassin, hellbent on killing Mac and everyone he cares for. Now Mac must uncover the identity of the killer, face him in combat, and at the same time lead people in battle against the largest underwater force ever assembled. It’s Mac’s final test, and to win the war, he must use every tool at his disposal, including the most surprising and devastating underwater weapons ever invented.

If Mac fails, all hope is lost for the future of human colonization on the ocean floors.

But the assassin could be anyone …

Watch your back, Mac.

A Blanket of Steel is the most gripping thriller yet in The Rise of Oceania.

FOR PURCHASE OPTIONS CLICK HERE

The other books in The Rise of Oceania series by Timothy S Johnston:

The War Beneath 9781771484718
The Savage Deeps 9781771485067
Fatal Depth 9781554555574
An Island of Light 9781554555819
The Shadow of War 9781554556007