It’s easy to cast aspersions on Hollywood’s current 3D contagion, but one flick we’re actually looking forward to around here that uses the technology is Patrick Lussier’s DRIVE ANGRY. I mean, c’mon…a new Nic Cage hairpiece to leer at, Amber Heard, Christa Campbell, Charlotte Ross, not to mention David Morse, William Fichtner and Tom Atkins…in a high octane revenge flick? A no f*ckin’ brainer, right?
Well it seems director Patrick Lussier recently chatted it up with MTV and offered a few interesting tidbits regarding the importance of shooting in 3D (as opposed to converting it last minute, ahem, CLASH OF THE TITANS). He also talks about a rad stunt sequence they’re fixing to shoot next week. Scope it…
Lussier first addressed whether or not the DRIVE ANGRY was originally conceived to be in 3D:
“After ‘My Bloody Valentine’ finished, [co-screenwriter] Todd Farmer and I sat down and said, ‘What movie do we want to see and what movie do we want to shoot in 3-D?’ We didn’t really have anything in mind beyond that. We started writing an opening scene about a guy named Milton killing these three guys called the F—ers, who are totally scared sh–less and totally deserve it. From there, ‘Drive Angry’ was born. We wanted to come up with something that wasn’t a horror movie but was just a hard-R, action-driven road movie, because that would be a great film to see in 3-D.”
When asked if the film was shot in 3D or converted in post-production, Lussier sounded off:
“No, none of that post-conversion crap. This is totally shot in 3-D. We have 3-D cameras out from Paradise FX, which are working brilliantly. We’re shooting 3-D every day. We’re watching all our 3-D effects on every single shot as we shoot.”
“The problem with conversion is that it tends to be a little pop-up-book. For “Drive Angry,” we’ve got these great cars in the film — a ’69 Charger, a ’71 Chevelle — and the lines of those cars, to try and post-convert, you’d never get all of the depth and the beauty of those machines. Shooting in 3-D, you get all the angles of the cars and you feel like you’re in it with Nic Cage behind the wheel.”
And speaking of Nic Cage burning rubber, Lussier can barely contain his glee when speaking of a new stunt sequence that’s scheduled for filming next week:
“We have this great car chase with Nic’s character chasing after Amber Heard’s character, who’s in the middle of a fight inside this RV. You’re in this claustrophobic space, and suddenly you’re outside with Nic in hot pursuit. There’s all sorts of gunplay on the road. It’s spectacular. We shoot that next week.”
Damn, after reading all that, I can only reiterate what I began with. DRIVE ANGRY is one badass sounding 3D movie we can actually rally behind!
Would you agree?
Amber Heard!
Charlotte Ross!
Christa Campbell!