Matchbox The Movie Puts a Triumph Scrambler 1200 XE in the Climactic Scene

The Matchbox The Movie Scrambler is Triumph’s 1200 XE, and for riders, that is the reason to press play. According to Triumph, the bike runs through the film and takes center stage in one of its climactic action scenes. Matchbox The Movie landed on Apple TV on October 9, with John Cena as an undercover CIA agent. A movie about a toy car brand just picked up a real motorcycle.

What the Matchbox The Movie Scrambler Does on Screen

Apple’s synopsis has Cena playing Sean, the long-absent leader of a group of childhood friends who comes back to his small town and pulls them into an international mission. Sam Hargrave directed the PG-13 action movie, Jessica Biel, Sam Richardson and Arturo Castro are in the cast, and the story is inspired by Mattel’s toy brand.

The Matchbox The Movie Scrambler Off Screen

The Scrambler 1200 XE is a big, tall adventure twin dressed in Bonneville clothes. It has a 1200cc parallel twin rated at 89 bhp and 110 Nm of torque, with 250 mm, or 9.8 inches, of suspension travel at both ends. It rolls on a 21-inch front wheel and a 17-inch rear, with Brembo radial calipers up front and ABS. It weighs 230 kg wet, about 507 pounds, and the seat sits at 870 mm, roughly 34.3 inches. If you want the Matchbox The Movie Scrambler in your garage, sit on one first. It is a lot of motorcycle for anyone short, and a lot of fun for anyone who likes gravel.

The Matchbox The Movie Scrambler looks great on film because it’s a working machine. The spoked wheels and long-travel suspension read as capable on camera before anybody twists the throttle, and a 1200cc twin sounds like it means it. That matters in a stunt scene, where the audience decides in a second whether to believe the rider.

At the other end of the family is the small Scrambler 400 XC, a far smaller bike. The 1200 XE is the one you buy because it looks right in a movie.

Triumph, Screens and the Matchbox The Movie Scrambler

This is not Triumph’s first trip to the screen. In The Great Escape, Steve McQueen’s character jumps a Triumph over barbed wire, and Bud Ekins made the jump for him after he and McQueen worked out an 80 mph run-up to clear a twelve-foot fence. It is widely held to be the most famous motorcycle stunt in movie history.

More recently, the Scrambler 1200 and the Tiger 900 appeared in No Time to Die, where the Bond stunt team needed high-performance bikes, and a limited Scrambler 1200 Bond Edition followed. The TF 250-X went into the Call of Duty tie-in. Putting a bike in front of people who don’t read motorcycle magazines is a habit, and a smart one.

Put the movie on some Saturday night, pour something good, and keep an eye out for the Scrambler. A good movie bike sends you to the garage afterward, and that is the test the Matchbox The Movie Scrambler has to pass.

About The Author

Allan Lane

Philadelphia born and bred, Allan Lane is the Publisher and Editor in Chief of digital magazines. He launched his first publication, SportBikes Inc Magazine in 2010, followed by dosage MAGAZINE in 2019. Recently, Allan launched his third online publication, Club For Man. As a journalist, Allan covers fashion, lifestyle, culture, art, and motorcycles.

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