What is it about that particular film, has that influenced you in some way?
Do you think theres a kind of fate in there somewhere?
I suppose you could say that.
I read it and I kinda liked it but I just wasnt as enthused about it as he was.
You know, he tried and I finally just said, No really, you should do this.
It wasThelma and Louise.
You started off as a lawyer?
I did, for the lack of a better idea of what to pursue.
It wasRed Dawnthat was the breakthrough for you, wasnt it?
And my student film, I was fortunate enough to get Steven Spielberg to see it.
That really sort of got my foot in the door.
How tough a decision was it to throw away the legal career and do the switch to film work?
Thats right, yeah.And what advice did he have for you?
Where did he come in?
How did he push you?
and I walked in and he goes, Steven Spielbergs office is on the phone.
I went, Okay….
So, the next day we talked for like an hour and a half.
He said, you know, What do you want to do?
and all this and I said, Well, I want to be a director and he was great.
How old you were at the time?
Thats right.Fandangogot you kick-started, its still got a popular audience now and you also tackledThe Beast.
What are your feelings on those two projects now?
The one that really got talked about.
What are you feeling at that point, when all that acclaims coming in?
thats the story, anyway.
It was quite challenging, I mean having never worked with buffalo before!
And do buffalo get particularly angry in a circumstance like that?
And I turned around to the cameraman and I said, Did you get that?
and he was like hitting the camera with his hand and the battery had gone down.
And it was shooting at eleven frames a second instead of twenty-four.
I was just furious, I said, Get another camera, this is crazy.
We set it up a third time and the buffalo are going nuts.
Third time, anyway, we push in on him and the buffalo at this point know whats coming.
They turned away from us and took the entire fence down, ran off into the distance.
The shot never made it into the picture it was a beautiful shot but we just never got it.
But thats part and parcel of what you have to deal with when you go to scenic locations.
But I think ultimately we got the look that we were after.
And then you had your cast change four days before.
Did it feel like almost nothing else could go wrong here?
Thats just part of filmmaking.
Was the desire to put that energy into it right from the start?
Do you often get pushed to a compromise you dont want particularly?
And like I say, it used to make me nuts.
Its not exactly what you originally conceived.
To me thats the wonderful mystery, and why films have a uniqueness to them.
But yeah, to some extent I am happy that people saw more of what I intended.
But…youd make yourself crazy if you constantly dwelt on it.
You have to move onto something else.
I cant watch my films.
and Why did I make that choice?.
And that seemed like a very, very personal project.
It was, and I have to say in retrospect, looking back unfortunately thats probably my worst film.
Why do you feel that?
Very, very difficult.
Sometimes you simply cant overcome some of the obstacles.
And that is sort of a case in point, that particular picture.
I read through some of the things youve tackled and theres a real glutton for punishment feel about it!
So at what point did you realise that the problems were really going to kick in?
Because of the water.
And so, Universal knew the potential problems of shooting on water.
Theres that great big gunfight scene with the Smokers blasting away.
I cant even begin to imagine the logistics of that and how hard it was.
Away from the land.
So we chose a location where we had about a 180 degree view of open water.
Those are the kinds of things that people dont realise.
Well, when youre on open water things tend to drift apart.
And these are simple things that you dont really realise when youre looking at it on film.
But logistically, its crazy.
You also had the day that the set sank?
Theres a myth about that.
Im not sure how much of the press barrage you got on set…
It was huge, we were constantly fighting people wanted to have bad press.
That was more exciting to them than the good news.
And I turned to the boatmaster and I said, Bruno, is this safe?.
And he looks up the mast and he goes, No.
Dont lie to me Ive had this confirmed from two different people.
And, he goes, What are you talking about?.
And he goes, Dont lie to me, dont cover this up, we know this has happened.
[Laughs]
You could almost sense the disappointment in the writing at the time.
But by the end, people…they wanted it to be a disaster.
Would your version have differed dramatically from what we saw on the screen?
And they look down and erase the grass away and thats this plaque.
And that was in script and I was like, Oh, of course!
Wow, the highest point on the planet!
That would have been dry land!.
And we got it!
And they left it out of the picture.
And Im like, Whaaat?!.
Its like the Statue of Liberty moment inPlanet of the Apes.
Is it fair to say that most things are buried there now?
I think weve reconciled, were both a little older and wiser.
It was actually brought to me by Mel Gibsons company.
So that kind of blew me away.
It had the look and the feel very much of almost an antiDead Poets Society.
Theres a look and feel you were going for there, a really down-to-earth, gritty style to it.
It was great working with Ericson.
And Im like, Great.
So we really fed off each other, like that, it was wonderful.
Did that feel almost like back to the student filmmaking days?
It did, it did, it was a great experience and it was exactly what I needed afterWaterworld.
And the picture didnt make a dime.
It seems to have endured because of the DVD format?
Yep, and I think Sam was great.
I think its one of his best performances.
I think its a very shocking film at the end, as well.
Thats why it didnt work so well.
What attracted you to it?
And also you got away with setting so much of it in a prison!
Yeah, and that was a challenge.
Going back to the same location.
That was one of the highlights of my career, getting to work with him.
He was so wonderful, hes such a character, so legendary…and he was such a pro.
He knew what worked for him.
And again, was that quite relaxed by context against what youve done before?
No, that was actually a very difficult picture.
How was working with the Scott brothers, as producers…?
What kind of projects youre on the look-out for now?
For a former lawyer, is there ever a legal thriller on the horizon, do you think?
No, I passed on that opportunity a long time ago!
I would have though thats one of the first things they offered you.
You have to be absolutely relentless if you want to succeed in this business.
I think there are a lot more people who want to be involved in it.
And its true, it really is.
Somebodys going to succeed.
And you have to say to yourself, Why shouldnt that be me?.
Unfortunately to the detriment of your personal life and everything else.
You have to be absolutely obsessive to succeed.
Kevin Reynolds, thank you very much!
