Ratner Iinterview

[WorthyStevens]

Ratner: I actually had Simon and Zak there the whole time I was making the movie. They're the biggest "X-Men" fans in the world, so, you know, I'm not taking anything away from them. But what I'm saying is the script is not the movie. The movie's the movie. Where I put the camera, how I block the scene, the tone of the scene — but I did stay very true not only to the first two movies but to the comic books.

LIES.

Ratner: It wasn't just from Whedon. Every scene in this movie you could find in an existing comic book — a portion of it or the idea behind it. I didn't want the fans saying, "Oh, Brett Ratner invented this in his mind." So I made Zak and Simon show me the comic book references. Every single scene I had on my wall in my office in comic book form.

LIES!

Ratner: No. When I did "Red Dragon," I had a huge ensemble. The most difficult part is balancing it. How much time do you spend with Rogue or Wolverine? The most interesting story line, I think, is the Dark Phoenix plot. I gave Halle Berry's character a little bit more to do. So that was my focus. Bryan focused more on the male characters. I focused more on the female aspect of it, because that was what my plot was.

Your focus? Of the whole damn movie, you decide to focus on one single character?

 

[WideAwake]

What spark627 was trying to say was that Storm had a pretty nasty attitude towards everyone who disagreed with her. Making Storm more like her comic-counterpart does not mean you have to make her a b****.

Ratner indeed sounds very full of himself. I've heard this before when reading a review of the Red Dragon DVD. The reviewer wrote that Ratner (on the audiocommentary) is a little too happy with himself and the movie.
But does Ratner really think he gave every character in this movie enough depth? I can't even begin to understand that.
Half of the characters get killed/cured in the first half of the movie, while others stay underdevelopped: "Callisto" isn't even mentioned by name, Multiple Man "is in" for no reason at all, Angel's character arc consists of about 2 scenes, and they "couldn't do too much with Phoenix because it's Hugh and Halle's movie"...

The line "...they'd all be back if I would be directing it" bugs me too. Indeed, Ellen, Anna and James didn't seem to happy with their parts. Also, wasn't there a rumor of Famke wanting out of the project, and I also read something on these boards of Rebecca not liking him (please, correct me if I'm wrong). Also, he didn't cast all of the new X Men: Vaughn cast Grammer as Beast (inspired choice) and Jones as Juggernaut (ok, maybe not so inspired ). The people he did cast he cast because of he worked with them before, not because they were the best people for the part.

Also, him saying it's a Brett Ratner movie is just a slap in the face to everyone who worked on the project. Making a movie is a collaborative effort.

 

[chaseter]

And the Ratner bashing has begun again.

 

[LastSunrise1981]

And the Ratner bashing has begun again.

And here comes the post where the poster has nothing to contribute again.

Are you upset that we're bashing your precious Ratner?

 

[gothicFLAVOURS]

Well, I loved X3 (it's my favorite of the three movies) but Ratner sounded like an arrogant ass in this interview

 

[NateGray]

X3 is just as good as X1 and X2 all the Singerites need to get a clue becuase if he had directed it, it would have been pretty much the same movie, keep telling yourselves he would have not been pressured by FOX to do whatever they told him just like Ratner and while your at it keep telling yourselves the tooth fairy is real because they have about the same ammount of truth to them....

As for the interview he does come off as an Ass but so did Singer when interviewed for SR so hmmm maybe its a half assed director trait to act like an ass perhaps????

 

[chaseter]

And here comes the post where the poster has nothing to contribute again.

Are you upset that we're bashing your precious Ratner?

Yea, looks like a lot of contributing is going on in here...

 

[La_She-Beast]

I'm sure if there was an "X-Men 4," they would all show up if I was directing it.

OMG... I think... I'm going to cry... terrible...pathetic...selfish... words can't describe him.



I found this with the interview, an extract of Ratner's diary:

 

[ntcrawler]

Oh man, I can't resist this. This is TOO good! [cracks knuckles] t:

MTV

: Comic book fans are crazy — some guy has posted a script online for what he hopes will be "X-Men 4."

that's not crazy. That's how people get into writing. It's because people DO take things too seriously that we have novels like Neuromancer and Lord of the Rings. If you had it your way, you'd turn them into gas stations attendants who refuse to see reality.

Brett Ratner: When I was shooting the movie it was 90 percent negative, and then it became 90 percent positive.

Huh?

I didn't look at the Internet the whole time I was shooting because ["X-Men" and "X2" director] Bryan Singer told me, "Whatever you do, don't look at the Internet."

He was trying to save your skin

Some people were obsessed with Rogue, so they think that Rogue should have the most screen time.

Since when??? She got plenty of screentime to tell her story in X1 without stealing time from the rest of the main cast.

I literally did not read anything.

That much is obvious

I wasn't, you know, worrying about what other people wanted.

That much is obvious too. Instead you were worried about what the managers and Rothman's daughter wanted

Ratner: No. I mean, look: I felt that it was a built-in franchise. It had a huge core audience, [so] the movie was going to be successful.

Hence why there was an advertising campaign expensive enough that the money could have been spent on making a feature length film. That's alot of effort to convince a pre-existing, huge core audienc, wouldn't you say?

The thing that I was personally excited about was that I love the movie.

You have a knack for the obvious

I'm sure if there was an "X-Men 4," they would all show up if I was directing it.

Oh yeah, Brett, you are the man.

Ratner: I did not change the plot of the film.

No, of course not. It would have violated your contract.

But I don't think it matters. I'm the director of the movie.

This makes no sense!

Not that writers aren't important, but that's why it's a Brett Ratner film and not a Zak Penn or a Simon Kinberg film.

Actually it's a FOX film. Penn and Kinberg wrote down what they dictated, and you had to film what was written down.

I actually had Simon and Zak there the whole time I was making the movie.

Yeah, and they stood around doing nothing, just like Jean at the Alcatraz battle.

They're the biggest "X-Men" fans in the world,

It's for statements like that that you are doing the right thing by avoiding fans and public forums

But what I'm saying is the script is not the movie.

The script describes the action, the plot, and the dialogue. Last time I checked, that's a very BIG part of the movie.

Where I put the camera, how I block the scene, the tone of the scene — but I did stay very true not only to the first two movies but to the comic books.

Actually, the way you put things together, makes it sound like you didn't even watch the first two movies, nor did you read the comic books. But then again, you're just the director, not a writer as you pointed out above.

Ratner: It wasn't just from Whedon. Every scene in this movie you could find in an existing comic book — a portion of it or the idea behind it.

Actually most of your ideas seemed to have come from just the cover artwork of comic books, especially those with stories clearly labelled "alternative what-if's" or "not canon"

I didn't want the fans saying, "Oh, Brett Ratner invented this in his mind."

So where did Brett Ratner get the idea of turning the Phoenix into a zombie that looked like she was soaking and festering in a lake? What comic did you pull that one out of? Swamp Thing?

So I made Zak and Simon show me the comic book references. Every single scene I had on my wall in my office in comic book form.

That's how it's normally done, Brett. It's called storyboards. They usually are in comic book form.

Ratner: My goal was to stay true to the first two movies and create a film that felt like it was part of a trilogy,

You failed on both counts. We ended up with 2+1 films. 2 films plus an alternative what-if story the likes of "The End"

I gave Halle Berry's character a little bit more to do. So that was my focus.

Correction. You gave her a bigger role: the keys to the mansion. But she still did not have more to do. Wolverine was your focus. Admit it. We have pictures of you posing with the rest of the cast dressed up as Wolverine and growing like a little boy.

Bryan focused more on the male characters. I focused more on the female aspect of it, because that was what my plot was.

Oh really now? So I guess Jean's and Rogue's storyarcs in X1 were clearly overshadowed by the men?

Ratner: Absolutely. You no longer have to put scenes in the movie just because you love them.

No, but you should put scenes into a movie so that they actually explain what the heck is going on and why in the movie!

You know it's going to exist somewhere forever in another format.

Translation: this one's going to haunt you for a long time

Ratner: Well, I put all the deleted scenes on. There are some interesting things on the DVD as far as debates we were having. For instance, if Rogue should get cured or not — I put on the alternate version where Rogue doesn't get cured.

Deleted scenes? But you said earlier that everything you wanted to put into the movie made the cut. Now you're saying you actually left something out? I'm truly shocked.. No really, I am.

Sounds like you can't make up your own mind as to how the plot should proceed. That's a very bad sign. How are we supposed to get sequels from that? Choose your favorite ending? Audience vote?

I was passionate about it, because ... you need to show both sides in the film.

They either die, or they don't die. They either take the cure, or don't take the cure. You CANNOT have it both ways!

But there's no scene that was so important to me that I had to have it in the movie.

Again, that much is obvious. It was the only way to win that bet and make a epic movie shorter than 105 minutes.

 

[CapBeerCino]

90 percent positive?!?

Ratner- log on and get a clue!!!


p.s

LMAO @ La She-Beast. Good stuff

 

[Mike059jig]

90 percent positive?!?

Ratner- log on and get a clue!!!


p.s

LMAO @ La She-Beast. Good stuff

LOLt: ..I know where did he log on????.......nothing here 90% at all

 

[ntcrawler]

La-She-Beast: TOO FUNNY! And oh so true!

But you need to cross out Wolverine too. Remember? He decided to leave and go back to Canada, homesick for some cheep beer and cage fighting. He's no longer in the story either by the end of the movie.

 

[ntcrawler]

Your focus? Of the whole damn movie, you decide to focus on one single character?

Oh it's true, but only partially. Yes he did focus on one, single character. But it wasn't Storm

 

[CapBeerCino]

LOLt: ..I know where did he log on????.......nothing here 90% at all

Maybe he goes to the X-verse? :P

 

[Mike059jig]

oh yeah.......hardly anyone was their at all

 

[CapBeerCino]

oh yeah.......hardly anyone was their at all

90% out of 5 people sounds about right

 

[CapBeerCino]

LIES.

Are you suggesting they're not the biggest "X-Men" fans in the world??? Soon you'd be saying they're not Cyclops fans as well...

"Every scene in this movie you could find in an existing comic book"

LIES!

- right down to the part where Jean kills Cyclops and Rogue cures herself...

What an idiot! Say: "yes, we've changed it and I like what we did." Fans might disagree, but they won't think your a clueless liar.

 

[gothicFLAVOURS]

As for the interview he does come off as an Ass but so did Singer when interviewed for SR so hmmm maybe its a half assed director trait to act like an ass perhaps????

Yeah, I agree. Singer sounds so arrogant in most of his interviews. I didn't like SR, but I just guess directing these kind of successing 200 million movies makes a director overate himself.

 

[Celestio]

Your focus? Of the whole damn movie, you decide to focus on one single character?

I think you misinterpreted what he said. After he mentions Halle Berry, the sentence ends. THEN he says "That was my focus." which was on the female aspect. So his focus wasn't Halle Berry particularly, but on the female aspect in general I believe.

 

[ntcrawler]

- right down to the part where Jean kills Cyclops

that part exists on a cover of one of the comics. And Magneto's hovering behind Jean as she holds a dead Cyclops.

Just like there's cover artwork of Jean seducing Wolverine and Cyke holding a dead Emma Frost, but even we know that doesn't happen either. Unfortunately those world's biggest fans did not.

and Rogue cures herself...

Oh yeah, straight out of the comics, baby!

What an idiot! Say: "yes, we've changed it and I like what we did." Fans might disagree, but they won't think your a clueless liar.

But if he said that, it would show him as being mature and having class.

 

[LastSunrise1981]

I guess Ratner went to the XVerse where comments are positive 24/7 and if you dare say anything negative you'll be banned or warned.

 

[chaseter]

Poor Ratner just needs to shut his mouth. Every time he speaks people on here go crazy. If he doesn't realize this he is stupid. You gave us an ok movie but it was no where near the 90% range you said.

 

[LastSunrise1981]

Poor Ratner just needs to shut his mouth. Every time he speaks people on here go crazy. If he doesn't realize this he is stupid. You gave us an ok movie but it was no where near the 90% range you said.

Ratner should've just been honest from the beginning. But instead he, Kinberg, and Penn continued the lies and false hype.

When the heat got too hot they ran away and intentionally misled fans by posting a picture of Cyclops at Alcatraz. What was done was intended with malicious intent and for that they don't deserve any sympathy.

 

[ntcrawler]

When the heat got too hot they ran away and intentionally misled fans by posting a picture of Cyclops at Alcatraz.

And Angel wearing his uniform.

What was done was intended with malicious intent and for that they don't deserve any sympathy.

Agreed. That was clearly part of the hype to get more people to see the movie and actually believe Cyke didn't get a cheap death early in the film. There is no other explanation for it than false marketting.

 

[gap5ewl]

because ["X-Men" and "X2" director] Bryan Singer told me, "Whatever you do, don't look at the Internet." There are rabid fans, and each fan has a different opinion of who should be at the forefront of the series

he got something right. However, if he also mean Cyclops, then he is seriously wrong. SERIOUSLY..

I think Storm was great in x3. She wasnt ghetto like some of you whine about.. I agree her best film portrayal was x1 cause she was more like the character but just because there was no mention of the african goddess days, doesnt mean she had no real storyline in x3. Compared to the other two films, she had more of a purpose and more presense in this film.

But yeah Ratner comes of very arrogant in that interview. I really wish he would just admit that he was just a manipulating tool of fox's because they had most of the creative input in the film NOT him.