Jan de Bont Quotations

Using my imagination and creativity is exciting to me.

We are creating a fabulous franchise with an incredible female action hero.

As a director, you try to find what is creative.

When I heard about the first Tomb Raider, I was very interested and I would have liked to have directed that. When I was approached for the second film, I was delighted.

One of the most amazing locations I've ever been is the top of the volcano in Tanzania, Africa. It's an actual volcano where you really have this lava every day.

We're all complex human beings, and if some of that complexity shows through, I think it's advantageous for the movie.

I think the audience would like to see movies that are stunning to watch. I really think they'd like to see spectacles.

Being in an area of the planet where scientists believe mankind started is quite amazing.

I had a very strong-willed mother, who I totally adored. She was always in control of her life.

I really believe action will always be there and will never disappear.

I think there are a lot more relationship scenes in my movies that people tend to overlook. A lot of scenes really feel real and are about the characters.

This film, Tomb Raider 2, is a big challenge. It's quite exhausting.

The quality of CGI, audiences are now so used to it. They don't know what is CGI and what is real.

The bad guys are not typical; they are not just bad, they are interesting. They might be good or bad.

Summer movies are spectacles; that's what you pay 10 dollars to see. You want to get teased by effects sometimes. I think that will never stop.

It's always an enormous pressure when you do a sequel. The demands are so high, and it's expensive.

I think what makes a good action film is a story that gets you involved. Just action, by itself, is not going to work.

Lara Croft is such a strong individual, she's very driven, she doesn't need a man, she's speaks her own mind, and that she's in control of her own life. It's a lot of what women want and have.

Angelina wanted to make sure that any fighting in the movie would be comparable to any male actor. Everything from stick fighting to horse riding was real to her.

I worked on movies with a lot of violence when I was a cinematographer, and it always bothered me. It's a personal thing. I wouldn't want my kids to see it. I certainly believe that freedom of expression shouldn't be taken away, but I also believe you can make movies that are thrilling and exciting without too much violence.

I think you have to know and care about the character. You have to have a character that feels contemporary, and like a real person.

We're surrounded by violence, and we see so much of it on TV, especially the news programs. We almost become numb. And that forces filmmakers to try to outdo themselves... They say, 'Look what I can do,' and it becomes like a showoff thing. To me, that's ridiculous. Filmmaking isn't a contest!

We sometimes do things that we think, Oh, I never knew I could do that. If you create that type of character, it's fun to see people do that.

Technology is a major tool in exploring and challenging your creativity, but it can also overtake your creativity... My mind goes very fast, and I can see all kinds of images that would be spectacular on the screen. But they would cost so much money, and would they really make the story that much better?

In regards to The Haunting, people compared it to the old movie, which is unfair. We didn't have the rights to the movie. I couldn't duplicate a single thing because that would have been legal infringement.

In the sequence where they fly off the Hong Kong building, everybody is convinced it has to be CGI or a composite shot, but that's all real.