What’s the Cranbrook connection to the new blockbuster movie “Deepwater Horizon”?

The air-ram is used to catapult stunt men and debris high into the air simulating the effects of an explosion.

"Deepwater Horizon" is based on the real-life story of the 2010 oil-rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico. — Photo: Deepwater Horizon

Applied Compression Systems Ltd. of Cranbrook built and supplied the 5000 PSIG, diesel engine driven, air compressor which was used to charge the high-pressure storage tanks that actuate the air-ram in the movie Deepwater Horizon.

Deepwater Horizon is the big-screen dramatization of the 2010 oil-rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico, starring Mark Wahlberg, Kurt Russel, John Malkovich and Kate Hudson. Much of the movie's appeal comes from the spectacular visual effects, many of which are accomplished by a device known as a high pressure air-ram.

The air-ram is used to catapult stunt men and debris high into the air simulating the effects of an explosion. The air-ram used in this blockbuster, major studio production was manufactured in Cranbrook by Applied Compression Systems Ltd.

Congratulations to Bill Sanderman and staff at Cranbrook's Applied Compression Systems.