Phantom's menace

Cinema-goers and car fans watching Iron Man 2 may wonder what special effects were used to make it look as though a Rolls-Royce Phantom was destroyed. The answer, however, is that cars were actually hurt in the making of this movie. The filmmakers trashed two identical Phantoms, each costing $438,000 (Dh1.6 million), according to John Armstrong, who worked on the film's stunts and special effects. "Rolls-Royce built us two identical cars," Armstrong said in an interview last week with The New York Times. "Because their cars are hand-built, they never build any identical cars, but they did for us." However, Karen Vondermeulen of Rolls-Royce North America said she was unable to say with absolute certainty they had never made two identical cars before. According to eagle-eyed readers of The Times, however, there was one small difference between the two Phantoms: one car has the optional "coolbox" in the back seat; the other doesn't. The Audi R8 Spyder is also featured heavily in the blockbuster film. Iron Man 2 is currently showing at cinemas nationwide.