Interviews: Uwe Boll - Director of Rampage: Capital Punishment

The Movie Sleuth had a chance to talk one on one with Uwe Boll, director of Rampage: Capital Punishment which was released on blu-ray today.

TMS: In your career, you’ve directed nearly 30 films. What was your favorite movie to work on and what was the hardest one to complete?'

UB: The shooting of POSTAL and IN THE NAME OF THE KING 1 were the best shooting experiences I ever had. POSTAL was so much fun; every scene was a highlight. Even the crew was laughing their asses off. KING was so great because we worked on a huge movie with sometimes 2000 people on set. This was a movie where I could do what I wanted, an extra 65 shooting days, etc. A luxury I never had before or after.

All the BLOODRAYNE movies were hard shoots due to not easy locations, bad weather, bad crew, some bad actors. BLACKWOODS in the ice rain was also not easy to shoot.

And of course horrific shoots were my first 2 movies GERMAN FRIED MOVIE and BARSCHEL-MURDER IN GENEVA because I had no money – no catering, no pay, we drove 11 hours to Geneva to shoot a day  and after shooting we drove back because we had no money for a hotel. I was up 38 hours ….and DEAD.

TMS: To expand on that, are there any movies, on set experiences, or actors that still give you nightmares? What wakes Uwe Boll up at night?

UB: The drunken Michael Madsen on Bloodrayne was no fun to work with or Eric Roberts not able to remember his lines or Tara Reid falling apart trying to act…but no reason to get nightmares.


TMS: What director influences your work and was there a certain movie that made you decide that this was what you wanted to do?

UB: I was 10 and watched Mutiny on the Bounty with Marlon Brando. The film was a big adventure in my mind! Then I watched all of Orson Welles, Stanley Kubrick, John Ford, later Scorsese and Oliver Stone.

TMS:  Over the course of all the movies you’ve worked on, you’ve dealt with a lot of naysayers and have been the focal point for negative criticism. How do you deal with it and what do you have to say to the people that don’t support what you do in your type of film making? On that same note, do you really care what people have to say or do you just make what you want because you love movies?

UB: The last few years I left that behind me. I now do more movies I write and I’m very happy with movies like RAMPAGE, ASSAULT ON WALL STREET, STOIC, DARFUR, AUSCHWITZ and POSTAL.

TMS: What does Uwe Boll want people to know about Rampage: Capital Punishment? Did you up the ante for this one and will there be WAY more action and bloodshed? And how will this one differ from the first Rampage flick?

UBIt is really a second part – the story goes on and we see that Bill has no real goal. His years in hiding made him a political terrorist. In RAMPAGE 1 it was all about the money.

TMS:  In the process of picking a new project, how exactly do you decide on the features you want to make? It seems like your focus has been on fantasy or action. Are those your favorite genres and can we expect you to expand in to even more areas of film?

UB: I like putting political messages in action films because then you reach a bigger and a different audience than with a drama.

TMS:  Now, back to Rampage 2. When can audiences expect to see the movie and where will it be available?

UB: In August in the USA on DVD, in France and Germany in September and in Canada in October. Right now I’m in Germany on a cinema tour with it. So far the audience loves it – it’s hard, radical and a no nonsense approach.

TMS: Lastly, is there anything else you want The Movie Sleuth’s readers to know about the man, the myth, and the director known as Uwe Boll?

UB: Please don’t illegally watch my movies; we need the DVD revenues to survive.

-CG