How is it to work with Uwe Boll? Is he really a great guy in person or a puppy-kicking slimeball?
I have met Uwe in person a few times, and he was always a great guy. He is a real lover of animals and portions of his upcoming film “SEED” will go to various animal charities. He had his dog on set both times, and has a very good report with his cast and crew.
He is a very well-spoken and funny person and he works very hard. He treats everyone on his sets well and that includes the extras. I have been on sets where the stars eat one thing and the extras get another. That does not happen on his sets as the food was very good and the same for everyone. I do not like how much venom the guy gets as he is a very dedicated person who really works hard to make his films and has a lot of passion for what he does.
Why do you think Uwe has the reputation he has?
I think it has a lot to do with the fact that he works outside the studio system and does things differently. He has made a name doing Video Games and in doing so has drawn the wrath of fans. There have been many bad video game movies such as “Mario Brothers”, “Double Dragon”, “Doom”, and “Wing Commander” to name a few. Nobody said they were the worst Directed films in history, and that the Director should be banned from making films again. Uwe is a very upfront and open person who is not afraid to speak his mind, and because he has such pride in his works, he is not one to mince words to defend his films and speak out about what he sees as the issues in the industry.
While his films may not do well at the U.S. Box Office, they do well in Europe and do well on DVD. As it was explained to me, his first three films, “House of the Dead”, “Alone in the Dark” and “Bloodrayne” cost roughly 60 million to make, but combined grossed over 120 Million once all revenues were factored in, so somebody is watching them.
I learned that when the rights to a game are purchased, certain changes have to be made as there are restrictions on storylines, characters, and so on. In the case of “Far Cry” for example, the locale had to be changed from a tropical locale to an island in the Northwest and while they could have mutants, they could not use the same look and names from the game.
Gamers are so passionate about their games, they want a live action version of their favorite game, which is not possible to do in 90 minutes and with the restrictions that are often put on game related films. As such, when the films differ from the games, Uwe gets trashed. It is also to be noted that Uwe does not shoot films in the Hollywood style as being European he has a different style to his films which to certain viewers seems different from what they are used to. Uwe does not do the same paint by numbers films that are far to common these days.
Nobody who is creative likes to be criticized but it tends to come with the public nature of filmmaking, and Uwe is not one to back down and will defend his work to the end, which often paints a bullseye on himself.
What do you have to say to the critics of Uwe Boll’s movies?
After Uwe boxed some of his critics, many expressed that they had never seen his films prior to the event. It became cool to bash the man and his films based on reputation. Many times people go onto sites like IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes and rate his films a 0 based on reputation or the films trailer.
My attitude has always been this. Are his films cinematical masterpieces? No, but they provide entertainment and can be fun to watch, especially on a lazy day or when watching a DVD with friends.
Each one of his films has been better than previous films and he has some original non-video game films coming which have had some positive reviews when shown at festivals.
I asked my wife after watching “In The Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale” if that was one of the worst films she had ever seen or badly directed. Although the genre is not her favorite, she said for what it was, it had some good action and fun moments and was a great film to watch on a rainy Sunday.
I look at some of the big budget studio films that come out every year and I can always find films that are far worse than anything Uwe has ever done, yet nobody calls their creators names, or wants to ban them from making films. We are supposed to be a society that encourages people to express themselves and allows people to voice their opinions. Yet many who take this freedom to openly be critical of the man and his work, fail to allow him the same freedoms of expression and want him banned from making films. If you do not like what he does, then do not watch it and let him do what he wants and focus your venom on someone else for a change. If his films do not measure up, then by all means be critical, just be fair and not bashing the work on reputation alone.
You can also read our Q&A with Uwe Boll here, or read about his take on the 2008 US election here.
