Official Peter Hyams Interview for Van Damme Forum

[Lionheart351976]

PART 1

The interview below was conducted via emailed questions to Mr. Hyams. He was very gracious to be willing to answer them and I thank him for that and ask you be respectful with your comments.

Jonathan Urban: Mr. Hyams, I want to say it is a very great pleasure to be able to ask you some questions about some of your movies and thank you for taking out your time to do so for the fans. As a fan, I have always enjoyed your cinematography, directing, and writing—a true “triple threat” in Hollywood! I fondly remember “Outland” with Sean Connery, “2010: The Year We Make Contact” with Roy Scheider and John Lithgow, and “The Star Chamber” with Michael Douglas, among many others. You have worked with great dramatic actors and some major action stars including Arnold Schwarzenegger in “End of Days” and last but certainly not least, Jean-Claude Van Damme. You have given us fans at least two of JC’s best movies: “Timecop” and “Sudden Death.” We all are eagerly awaiting your latest collaboration with JC, “Universal Soldier: Regeneration,” which your son, John, is the director of.

JU: Mr. Hyams, the first movie I ever saw of yours was “2010: The Year We Make Contact.” I loved it and have watched it many times over the years. Whereas the original movie was more “out there” so to speak, but still a classic, your take on Arthur C. Clarke’s second novel in the series was much more grounded and gave us a very memorable Cold War scenario. How did you go about writing and directing this sequel to Kubrick’s original and how were you approached to be involved in it?

Peter Hyams: MGM asked me to make the film. I adamantly said NO. The very last thing I wanted, was to be compared to arguably the greatest director in the world. They kept after me, and after reading the book, I said that I would do it under two conditions: One…Stanley Kubrick must approve me as the director….and two…I wanted to make a fundamental change in the story. In the book, the Russians and the Americans make this incredible journey, and everything is smoother than silk between. This is 1984…Ronald Reagan was President, and the Cold War was reaching its apogee. I come from a highly politicized family. My stepfather, who was a musician, was blacklisted, and his career was virtually destroyed. I said that I wanted the story to be about this small group of Russians and Americans, who were scientists, making this voyage, while all hell was breaking loose on Earth…and the stupidity of their respective governments, when juxtaposed with the enormity of what was going on in the universe. Arthur Clarke had to approve this, and approve of me writing it. He did…and we wound up with a very close relationship…one that I cherish. Once I decided to do it…I felt my charter was to make a film so unlike “2001” in tone and style, that it couldn’t fairly be compared to it.

JU: Were there ever talks with you or that you are aware of for the third and fourth book in that series by Arthur C. Clarke (as “2010” is really only the beginning, for those that have read the novels) and what did Clarke think of your version of “2010”?

PH: Yes. I honestly felt that I had said what I had to say on film, and I have never been interested in making a sequel to a film I had already done.

JU: You pulled triple duty on “2010.” What was it like writing, directing and doing the cinematography?

PH: It’s what I do. I am a writer/director, who has spent my life as an art student and a photography student, since I was a child. Photography is simply a language that I speak. Some obviously speak it better than I…however I photograph the way I see things. On every film, some member of the press asks my why I “wear so many hats”. I always respond that it is because I am bald.

JU: You also brought us the classic “Outland” with Sean Connery (whom you’d later re-team with for “The Presidio”). What was it like working with Sean?

PH: Sean is one of the greatest, most professional, and most wonderful men I have ever met. His ego is never about himself. It is always about the film, and how to make it better.

JU: Where did you get the idea for the story of “Outland”?

PH: I wanted desperately (and still do) to make a western. Nobody else wanted that. The studios all said that westerns don’t work. I remember sitting alone and thinking: the longest enduring genre in the history of motion pictures is the western, starting with “The Great Train Robbery”, which was produced by Thomas Edison in 1903, and is considered the first narrative silent film. So all of a sudden it has fallen off the studio radar? I couldn’t understand it. Finally I came to the realization, most probably after other people, especially George Lucas, that the western is not dead. It is alive and well, and living in outer space. So I wrote a film that was about the harshness of the frontier.

JU: “Outland” is a very claustrophobic movie as it is on a mining colony—what was it like shooting a movie with very little room for movement (much like the cramped ships in “2010”)? What were the challenges?

PH: There is an old rule in filming. You build tight spaces, so you can take walls out and get the shots you need, and you use practical locations for large spaces. The idea of both environments was to be as realistic and feasible as possible, therefore the harshness, the closeness, and the danger of living in those conditions was essential to show,

JU: You had the chance to work with Michael Douglas in “The Star Chamber” (and the remake of “Beyond a Reasonable Doubt”; as I mentioned above, Sean Connery in two movies; Harrison Ford and Christopher Plummer in “Hanover Street”; Gene Hackman in “Narrow Margin”; and many others. Who were your favorite actors to work with and why? Feel free to tell us any good behind the scenes stories for any of your movies.

PH: You left out Catherine Deneuve, Meg Ryan, and probably my favorite man and closest friend, Billy Crystal. I am not one for anecdotes. Suffice it to say that the single greatest perk of this career, as checkered as it is, has been the extraordinary privilege of spending time with some of the most gifted, interesting, and flat-out fascinating people in the world.

JU: In the 90’s you got to work with Jean-Claude Van Damme twice. What did you think of JC the first time you met him and what was he like to direct in “Timecop” and “Sudden Death”?

PH: Jean-Claude is, at heart, an extremely sweet person. I was very taken with him when I met him. He wanted me to do the film, and said some wonderfully complimentary things about my work, as well as some very candid things about what he had done. We began from the vantage point of both accepting and respecting each other. He wanted to be challenged, and he wanted to make a really good film. I found working with him a terrific experience, or I certainly would not have done it twice.

JU: In 1994, “Timecop” came out and was JC’s most successful theatrical movie. Please tell us how you became involved in this project.

PH: A script had been sent to me. I thought it was a really interesting story. A dinner meeting was arranged…and I got together with Jean-Claude, and we seem to hit it off. It’s not much more complicated than that.

JU: The late Ron Silver played a great villain. What was he like working with and was he your first choice or were others being considered? If so, would you mind letting us know?

PH: Ron was my first choice. I had seen his work, and I thought he was perfect for the role. He was great to work with, and he brought intelligence and humor to the film.

JU: When you are involved in a movie as DOP and Director, what processes do you go through and do you find it easier for getting what you want on screen?

PH: I don’t really know how to compartmentalize the making of a film from what a film looks like. I think in many ways, a director sees a film in his or her head. They then spend the next year or two trying to get on the screen, something as close to what they have been seeing in their head. In my case…I know how to put the image on the screen. It is simply a craft and an art form that I have been formally studying since I was a child. There are obviously many cinematographers who are eminently more gifted than I am. It is simply a matter of me seeing something…and then wanting exactly what I see. I speak the language. If you spoke Japanese, and you were working in Tokyo…which would be easier for you…using an interpreter, or simply speaking Japanese to people?

JU: Everyone recalls the “kitchen scene” where JC as “Max Walker” does a split on the counter to avoid getting electrocuted. Was this scene in the script or was it improvised during the course of the shoot?

PH: I don’t honestly remember if it was written in the script or not. However, from the very beginning, we knew that we wanted Jean-Claude to do a split, without a lot of clothing on. It was storyboarded, and rehearsed. It was always planned.

Continued below.......

[Lionheart351976]

Continued....Part 2

JU: Can you tell us somewhat about the design choices for the time travel vehicle and this might be a nitpick, but as the vehicle goes down the track and they go back in time, what happens to the vehicle?

PH: The vehicle was designed by Syd Mead…who I think is a bit of a genius. I had worked with him on “2010”, and he had done “Blade Runner”. It was vital, that the vehicle look industrial, feasible, and kind of bad-ass. As to the second part of your question…you are not being picky…the vehicle snaps back into the present.

JU: For the fight scenes, did JC help with the choreography and do you have a particular favorite fight from the movie?

PH: To be totally honest with you…these fight sequences were painstakingly thought out…and then storyboarded. They were done by me, and the stunt coordinator…a very experienced, and very talented man named Glenn Randal. Of course, when someone like Jean-Claude has an idea…you listen to it…and try to incorporate it. After all…he knows what he is talking about. However, the ground rules under which I agreed to do the film, were that I was not going to co-choreograph anything…and he agreed.

JU: With JC having quite a few action movies leading to this (many that were light on the drama and acting), how were you able to get the great dramatic acting performance out of him that you did?

PH: I don’t have a simple answer. The truth is that a director cannot make an actor good. I think this was an instance of Jean-Claude wanting to stretch, and reach for a level he had not achieved before…and a mutual trust between him and me.

JU: What did you think of the special effects sequences and with 20/20 hindsight are there any scenes you look back at and are not happy with?

PH: I cannot look back at a single frame of footage, of anything that I have done…anything…without cringing, and thinking that I could make it so much better now. When it comes to “2010”…it was that last of the optical composited films…and I think that Richard Edlund did a remarkable job. Parenthetically…it is also one of the first films to use CGI. The surface of Jupiter was created by taking every cloud formation on the planet, as mapped by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory…and feeding them into a Cray computer, which was at that time the most powerful computer in the private sector. It was at that time…the single most elaborate and detailed image ever put on film. Of course now…things are quite different.

JU: A year later, you re-teamed with JC to do “Sudden Death”, another great dramatic action movie. How were you approached to do this one?

PH: Both the producer and the studio wanted to re-team Jean Claude and me…and we all liked the script.



JU: Like Ron Silver in “Timecop” you struck pure gold with Powers Boothe for the main villain. Was he your first choice or were there others you considered?

PH: Absolutely. He’s a wonderful actor…who raises the I.Q. of a film by his sheer presence. He, like Ron was, who can deliver a ton of dialogue with wit and no effort.

20. JU: When you first read the script for “Sudden Death,” did you think (due to the films coming out in the years before) that it was “Die Hard in a Hockey Arena” as many have referred to it? What do you think of that comparison?

PH: I think it is an apt comparison.

JU: What were the challenges in shooting a movie of that scale in and around a real hockey arena in Pittsburgh?

PH: The arena itself was one of the most unique places I have ever seen. The fact that the roof opens the way it does, kind of dictated the climax…and made it such an exotic sequence. Howard and Karen Baldwin were two of the producers…and Howard was the owner of the Pittsburgh Penguins. As a result, I had complete access to every nook and cranny of the building. We built part of the open roof on a sound stage, so we could have Jean-Claude do the close work. However all of the wide shots are real.

JU: What was JC like this go around in terms of directing? In your opinion, did he grow with his acting abilities since “Timecop”?

PH: We had built up a mutual trust, since this was our second film together, and we had enjoyed the process. Once there is trust, everything works. Also Moshe Diamant produced “Timecop” and this was my second film with him. He remains one of my closest friends, and we are still working together.

JU: The action sequences are pretty big in “Sudden Death.” Was it hard to switch back and forth between large outdoor shots like with the helicopter being shot down and then back into the arena?

PH: Once the roof was opened…you are not “indoors” any more.

JU: Like “Timecop” there were some interesting fights for JC, with perhaps the most memorable being another “kitchen scene” where JC fights a guy with a deep fryer and other odds and ends around the arena’s kitchen. What was the process for staging these fights and did you keep trying to make the next on bigger and better as the movie progressed?

PH: I think the whole purpose of staging something in a certain place, is so that you can utilize and exploit what that place is. So, if you start out with a kitchen…you then figure out what makes a kitchen different than another room…and you start designing from there. As to the second part of your question…yes…you most definitely modulate the sequences, so that they build to a climax. You certainly do not want the high point in a film to be in the middle.


JU: And now we come back to you working on a JC film with “Universal Soldier: Regeneration”—a film that is directed by your son, John Hyams and you as director of photography. What can you tell us about this sequel?

PH: John did a brilliant job of making it completely different than the previous films. He knows a great deal about mixed martial arts, having spent two years making a wonderful documentary that was on HBO called “The Smashing Machine”. He made the fight scenes truly savage and brutal.

JU: The trailer came out just the other day and the response is mostly positive. Many fans are just happy to see the movie look like what the first sequel should have looked like. Did you assist your son in putting the trailer together (i.e. give him any pointers, with this being his first big movie)?

PH: None at all.

JU: What were some of the challenges in filming this movie?

PH: It was shot in Bulgaria, in the middle of winter. The first challenge was not dying of the cold. John is a very ambitious film- maker…and he would never take the easy way. He wanted to elevate the film…and frankly…I think he succeeded.

JU: What was it like working with your son? Describe for us a day in the life of working with your son on the set of “Universal Soldier: Regeneration.”

PH: John’s birthday occurred during shooting. I got him a watch, and inscribed on the back: “happy birthday boss”. That about says it. He was the director. He was the boss. Many, many times, he would tell me to change what I was doing. He was open to suggestions… however…he had a very clear idea of what he wanted…and my job was to help him get that. I cherish the chance I had to spend every day with him, because he is such a gifted and interesting man.

JU: Being quite a while since you last worked with JC, what did you think of working with him on this movie?

PH: In the first place…my role on this film was completely different than when I made the two previous films with him. I was much more in the background. His focus was on John…and most of the dialogue between the two of them was out of my ear-shot. John had his respect. I had this history with him…so he was very affectionate and kind with me. However, as I said, John was the Alpha on the set…I was most definitely Beta.

JU: The movie introduces many to Andre Arlovski. How was he in his first movie role?

PH: I think Andre was terrific. He was also a wonderful presence on the set. He loved John, and it was mutual. For the life of me…after being around him…and seeing his strength, speed, and size….I can’t understand anyone wanting to get in a ring with him.

JU: Well, Mr. Hyams, I want to thank you for your time and wish you the best with your current and future projects. Again, thank you so much for bringing us some great movies over the years and two classic JC films—“Timecop” and “Sudden Death.”

Kind regards,
Jonathan

[DayDreamer]

Great interview.. I really enjoyed reading that.. Thanks Lionheart...

[Martin]

really really great interview mate.

[Deborah]

Well done Lionheart, I loved reading it very interesting. x

[Time Cop]

Nice interview, very good idea giving time to other parts of his career and movies not involving Van Damme.

I always think it is annoying for some people if they are interviewed just to talk about Van Damme.

[Lionheart351976]

Originally Posted by Time Cop

Nice interview, very good idea giving time to other parts of his career and movies not involving Van Damme.

I always think it is annoying for some people if they are interviewed just to talk about Van Damme.

I loved Peter Hyams films prior to JC's movies with him too, so I figured I'd cover as much as I could.

[Time Cop]

Originally Posted by Lionheart351976

I loved Peter Hyams films prior to JC's movies with him too, so I figured I'd cover as much as I could.

Do you really love 2010? I did not meet my expectations at all as a sequel to 2001.

[Bloodsport88]

Great interview.thanks lionheart

[Lionheart351976]

Originally Posted by Time Cop

Do you really love 2010? I did not meet my expectations at all as a sequel to 2001.

I liked it more, but I was a fan of all 4 books and I think Hyams goes over the situation behind it pretty good. 2001 was too cerebral and out there--some of it is very splintered and not cohesive. A lot of metaphors and it worked for some and others never got it. 2010 worked out as a space movie and a movie showing the conflict with the USSR and USA. I liked 2001, most of it, but 2010 was more for me.