Sporting a dark purple suit at the press day for Terminator Salvation, director McG was so eager to talk to press about his latest project that he came in excitedly asking the room full of reporters what we all thought of the movie. As he sat down, the engaging director noticed a journalist wearing a T-shirt with an old record on it and started the interview on his own by talking about how he missed record stores and how that tied into the film.
āHi guys, I have a Technics turntable. This film has a lot to do with progress and thereās progress and de-progress, and I would consider the death of the record shop not progress. Iām not kidding. I love iTunes like the next guy, but I love sifting through the racks and finding records. I wanted the film, in fact, to feel very tactile, so we built everything and ultimately blew it up.ā
Q: Can I ask you about that one shot that looks like one long tracking shot with Christian in the helicopter Ā that was a really good scene.
McG: Iām very influenced by the Hitchcock picture āRope,ā where in that time they would run out of film in the mag and theyād move into somebodyās back full frame and thatās where they would hide their cut and do their thing. And one of the things that we wanted to do in this picture is honor the audience and the passionate by staging and blocking the picture in a way that wasnāt reliant upon cuts. I think cutting is a bit of a cheat, when say thereās a bunch of cameras on the scene, then weāll cut it together and weāre going to make it work in post. We chose to go and scout the locations, Christian was a good sport, and we blocked the action very succinctly where you see him coming out of a hole, registering a dead Terry Crews, the camera swings around to see a transport ship of Skynet flying away, Christian runs over to a helicopter, and the pilotās been killed, he gets in the helicopter to take off, all without a cut, the camera is now moving with him, the hole down below explodes, the helicopter crashes, [he] cuts himself out of the seatbelt, crawls out to see a mushroom cloud which is effectively the ashes of all the people he cares about, until heās interrupted with the hand on the shoulder of a T-600. No cuts, and we do that a great many times in the picture in the spirit of saying, āWe honor you audience, weāre trying to show a lot of leg work and a lot of planning went into this film, and itās not just schlocky and cut together in the spirit of faking the action.ā So thatās one example. The escape through the minefield, of the Marcus character and the Blair character, same thing, very, very long shots that theyāre in the body of action sequences which one traditionally equates with a great many cuts, we chose to do in a single shot.
Q: The film is so rich and thereās so much going on, can you talk about any stuff that was shot that isnāt in the theatrical cut that we might see on the DVD?
McG: Yeah, but I have a very particular position about that, I always maintain that what is released is, indeed, the directorās cut. And shame on any director who doesnāt have the wherewithal toā¦ right over here is a woman named Sue Kroll, she runs Warner Brothers, and she may like something or not like something, but itās my job to articulate why itās critical, thatās in the film. Thereās an example of Moon was just in here, there was a topless scene with Moon that was designed to echo the Kelly McGillis/Harrison Ford scene in āWitness.ā It was very innocent, theyāre 30 meters away from each other, but at the end of the day we all looked at it and felt, oh that feels gratuitous and feels like weāre placating the genre, and it may give people a platform to stand on to take the film less seriously, and we donāt want that. So nobody pressured me to make that decision, I made that decision.
Q: Is that going to be on the DVD?
McG: I suspect it will be on the DVD, because Moon has a very sophisticated third wave feminist take on why she made that choice.
Q: Is that because you had a female producer?
McG: No, Iām a big fan of strong female characters, Jim Cameron is a fan, I think the strongest female characters in history have got to be Ripley in the āAlienā pictures and certainly Sarah Connor. So I come from a place of an empowered female position, and I think that the film tries to suggest a secondary gain of the bombs going off, because thereās no more ageism, thereās no more racism and thereās certainly no more sexism. Everything is ability based. You know how to fix a broken leg, go fix that broken leg. You know how to get the helicopter running, get it running. Nobody is hung up on the minutia and the ridiculousness of things that weāre hung up on today. Without ever shining a lantern on it youāll notice thatās very, very prevalent in our picture.
Q: How did you go from being the āCharlieās Angelsā guy to getting this film and were you afraid that you might be stereotyped?
McG: No, I mean, itās the privilege of the public to put people in boxes, you take the body of material that anybody has been a part of and you draw conclusions, and who would ever guess that a guy that was on ā21 Jump Streetā with a ridiculous name like Johnny Depp would go on to be one of the great entertainers of our time. Youāve got to earn your stripes and pay your dues, and Iām certainly willing to earn mine and fortunately Iām most comfortable in this genre ironically, these are the films that I grew up on. This was my film school, this was my passion, so Iām very comfortable working in this world and you just sort of take the good with the bad, you take your lumps along the way, and on this picture I tried to get away from being a cheerleader and really just let the film do the talking. It started at Comic-Con some year and a half ago, over a year ago, and we just said this is what the film is, and we let it speak for itself, and you try to honor the fan base by making elegant choices. Stan Winston, certainly Christian Bale, people have to take a closer look. And they werenāt excited about the prospect of the āCharlieās Angelsā guy making a āTerminatorā movie, and respectfully, why would they be? What have I done that would suggest Iām the right guy? So you take a step back, you work that much more diligently, and you let the film do the talking.
Q: And what have you learned about yourself after making this?
McG: Well, I definitely hate myself, I can promise you that. But when you hate yourself I think it gives rise to a higher level of artistry.
Q: Why would you hate yourself?
McG: Iāve got a mirror, donāt I? I donāt know, itās part of my own inner turmoil, and I donāt think we have enough time to get into that.
Q: How many drafts did you go through before finally settling on this?
McG: I read a draft that John and Michael wrote and thatās the reason why Iām here. I remember talking to Jim Cameron about it. āWhy is this worth telling?ā I said, ābecause itās the future war and people are interested. Iām interested. Itās not a contemporary movie with the machine coming back in time and chasing someone. This is that world that youāve only ever given us a tiny glimpse of and therefore thatās the point of entry.ā He nodded and went, āoh thatās cool.ā Iāll credit those guys for creating that world, but by the time I came onto the picture, those guys were busy doing their thing. We went through a couple of writers. Christian and I were working very intimately. Christian had an excellent shorthand with Jonathan Nolan. He did some production work while we were in New Mexico, and at the end of the day I think itās the responsibility of me actually to be the arbiter of what goes in the film and what goes out. Itās always a team effort. There are a great many moving parts and that was the case in the writing of the script to say the least.
Q: Where do you want to see future āTerminatorsā? Where do you want to see this story go?
McG: Well, I wouldnāt be so bold as to say thereās going to be another one. I think itās up to the people to seeā¦
Q: Iām just saying what if?
McG: Iāve arced out a second film and a third film. Iāve spoken at length to [Jeff] Rubinoff about it. Iāve talked to Amy Pascal down at Sony about it. Weāll see what the appetite is. If the people jump up and say we want more, weāre certainly going to be ready. There are a great many places to go in a world where what was once science fiction is now upon us.
Q: Can you talk a little about casting Christian? He was in one of the biggest franchises, Batman, and youāre asking him to do another franchise. I wouldnāt have thought youād have gone to him.
McG: Thatās exactly why it was appealing because heāll say to himself heās bloody minded and he always likes a challenge and this was no gimme. Who calls himself McG? Whoās this guy talking to him? What are we out to do and why is this worthwhile? He likes a challenge like the next guy. I went over to England and I saw him. I wanted him to play Marcus. He was more interested in playing Connor and we went about the business of working on the script. You gotta understand, Christian Bale is so passionate about acting and about his craft. He has no entourage. Heās got no assistant standing out there in the hall. He drove here in a beat up pick-up truck. He is about the work. Thatās who he is. And to work with an actor whoās that focused and that intense, I think, is to all of our benefit.
Q: Do you think your use of practical effects in this film is going to possibly move the industry toward more organic productions of action films?
McG: Well, Iām always using this example. I think the public has an intimate understanding of physics and I think filmmakers underestimate that. We all know whatās going to happen right there [demonstrates by dropping a pen on the table] and if I just said, weāll do the CG pen, the audience would go, something was off about that dopey CG pen and it didnāt respond correctly when it made impact with the table. I also donāt like trying to get performances out of characters when Iām saying, āhey Christian, see that tennis ball? Thatās a 7 foot robot trying to kill you and that green screen is ultimately going to be a post apocalyptic downtown Los Angeles.ā Thatās bullsh*t. I think thatās a cop out. You canāt reach your highest level of performance in the absence of a tactile environment. I think from a place of performance, from a place of feeling the heat, itās in the interest of building everything, creating as much as you can in camera, and honoring the audience in that respect.
Q: There are a lot of explosions in this movie which are really great. Is there ever this pressure in terms of how do you build a bigger explosion that the last? Do you sit up at night thinking about it?
McG: I really donāt. This film was always designed to work at a table read like this where you just read it. What I wanted to do is tell the becoming story of Connor. Hereās a guy whoās been in the mountains, thereās been radiation all around and he finally comes out and he says hey everybody, Iāve got an idea how to win this thing. Well what does the guy who spent 20 years in the Marines who also survives say to this kid saying I know what to do? Shut the f*ck up! You do what I tell you to do. Iāve been surviving my whole life and Iām still here. So we see the becoming of the Connor character. Thatās what the movieās about. In regard to Marcus, I think itās an allegory for what weāre experiencing today where if you have a bad heart, theyāll give you a new one. If youāre depressed, nobody says tell me about your mom and dad. They just say Iām going to manipulate your serotonin re-uptake inhibitors and youāre just going to feel better. We can clone a sheep and deconstruct the human genetic code and therefore, what is it that makes us human. Where does humanity lie? And the Marcus character is indeed a study of humanity and you may be able to put a few metal rods running through my body but at the end of the day I am a human being and Iām willing to go all the way to prove that. So itās not about those explosions but Iām not apologizing for summer fare. I like that level of activity and at the end of the day itās a āTerminatorā movie and if weāre successful, it will work on both levels.
Q: Can you talk about casting Bryce and Moon? Both were very different in the film. What did each bring to her character?
McG: Bryce brought an elegance. She brings a First Lady elegance that I believe all the way. If you look at Carla Bruni in France, or you look at Hillary Clinton, or you look at Michelle Obama, these are very elegant people that I would personally believe in. I took one look at Bryce and I know a thing or two about her upbringing and who she is as a young lady and I thought that sheās effectively a wonderful first lady choice of this world. Then you take a look at Moon, and Moon to me is the third leg of that triangle of Ripley, Sarah Connor, Blair, because Moon can damn well do one-handed pull-ups on a psychiatric bed turned upside down and thatās following in the footsteps of Sarah Connor. She is a survivor and she doesnāt have a rich uncle in Hollywood. Sheās got herself to pick up by her own boot straps and make it happen and I responded to that and I said I believe you would be the last woman standing so come be a part of this.
Q: Has Jim Cameron seen the movie?
McG: I donāt believe he has seen the movie. I look forward to showing it to him. He was the first guy I talked to when I was considering making the movie. I went down there out of a position of respect to kiss the ring and told him what my intention was. He says he reserves the right to like or not like the movie. I said, āI reserve the right to like or not like āAvatar,'ā and we both giggled and went on our way but he told me that story and Iāve told it many times about his following the great Ridley Scott in the āAlienā picture and people said whoās this guy who made āPiranha 2ā think heās doing following Ridley Scott. He thought I can honor the mythology and tell the story. I think weāre all glad that āAliensā got made. Hopefully weāve done our job and created a new idea in a world that he most certainly created.
Q: Connor ends and goes through the film on such a note of intensity. Do you think itās a challenge to craft an emotional arc for him in a sequel?
McG: Iāve reserved that for the sequel. This film is all about the burden of a destiny you donāt want. Itās not fun when somebody gets on the radio and says how many survivors are there? And I say one. Yet again one. Everybody died but me. I hate this curse of being the one whoās gotta always crawl out of there and carry the torch. Thatās the burden of being the hero in this respect. In the next picture, weāre talking about exploring those more emotional arcs. So, weāll see.
Q: Speaking of the big explosions and the summer movie, you had thrown down the gauntlet to Michael Bay for an explosion-measuring contest. Iām wondering if he has responded to that?
McG: Itās interesting because itās the sort of thing that makes me never want to speak again because it was meant to be ironic. Somebody said whose robots are bigger? And I was thinking in my mind whose robots are bigger, thatās effectively like asking whose c*ck is bigger. So I responded well we can meet at the Spartacus steps at midnight and I thought it was painfully clear [raises his voice] IāM KIDDING! By the way, Iāve got a tiny Irish c*ck. Iāve got no business. Iām base packing a Dura-Flame. I know a guy who went to college with them. I canāt win that battle. So, it was meant to be ironic but the irony was lost in print so Iām done talking about such vulgar things.
Terminator Salvation hits theaters on Thursday, May 21st.
