Archive notice: This article was originally published on August 20, 2008. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
Boll shot all of the night scenes, including Jack and Valerie’s arrival on the island and the boat explosion, north of Vancouver at Britannia Mine Beach near Squamish. Other locations included Deep Cove Marina, where Jack Carver works as a tour guide, Coal Harbour, and the University of British Columbia’s diving and aquatic research facility, where all of the underwater footage was filmed.
Uwe Boll, who has specialized in adapting video games for film since 2002, again relied on a number of trusted longtime collaborators for his adaptation of the successful first-person shooter FAR CRY. The screenplay was written by Michael Roesch and Peter Scheerer, who had already written Boll’s ALONE IN THE DARK (2005). Here, they provided action by the second. Boll’s longtime cinematographer Mathias Neumann was once again responsible for the spectacular images. Since meeting during a music-video shoot in the mid-1990s, the two have worked together around a dozen times. Neumann also photographed Boll’s recent theatrical film IN THE NAME OF THE KING: A DUNGEON SIEGE TALE (2007) and the upcoming war film 1968 TUNNEL RATS (2008). The experienced cinematographer knows what Boll wants to see on screen. For FAR CRY, that meant a fast-paced mixture of chases, explosions, stunts and action scenes that gives the audience no time to rest.
The shoot lasted six weeks. “The second half flew by. Everything ran smoothly, apart from a few injured stunt performers and a few scenes that had to be reshot,” said Boll.
The only problems were specific to the location and impossible to change. The enormous light sources needed for the night shoots attracted extras that cast and crew would gladly have done without: huge swarms of mosquitoes and gnats that drove the use of insect repellent to extraordinary levels.
Away from filming, Til Schweiger suffered an extremely painful bruised rib on set. Boll explained: “He was strength training with a special rubber band that one of the Russian stuntmen had recommended. But it could not withstand the strain, snapped and struck him full force in the stomach. Even with the bruise, however, Til later completed the film cleanly.” The situation was far from harmless. “I could not breathe for two minutes and the emergency doctor was already on the way,” said Schweiger. Later, once the situation had calmed down, his colleagues naturally teased him thoroughly—and the incident also left a scar as a reminder.
Nevertheless, Til Schweiger greatly enjoyed the shoot because he could concentrate entirely on acting and, unlike so often recently, was not also responsible for directing, writing and production. “I had a great time,” he said, especially because old acquaintances Ralf Moeller and Udo Kier were among the cast. “It was very funny with Ralf; we have been friends for 15 years. And Udo Kier is one of the dearest, funniest and nicest colleagues I know,” said Schweiger, who promptly cast Kier in his next film, 1½ KNIGHTS – IN SEARCH OF THE RAVISHING PRINCESS HERZELINDE (2008). Schweiger also liked his own stunt double so much that he hired him for the comedy.
Udo Kier, unquestionably the most experienced actor on set with 180 film roles, also enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere and mood.
He said: “I want to have a good time and also choose projects according to who is involved.” Playing the villain once again does not trouble him. “Evil in a film is much more interesting than good, because it has no limits,” he said, adding: “Besides, anyone who plays evil must be an angel in real life.” Perhaps that is why Kier and Natalia Avelon got along so well, forming, in a sense, a dream team of villains. “I am incredibly happy that I met Udo Kier. He is so flirtatious, sexy and mysterious,” she said. Ralf Moeller, she added, was a great guy in every sense and supported her extensively on her first action film.
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Ralf Moeller and Natalia Avelon both remember their shared fight scenes fondly. “It was very amusing; Natalia is so petite,” said Moeller. Avelon summed it up with a comparison: “It was like an ant facing an elephant,” she said with a laugh. Even with a muscle-building diet—“I was given a personal coach and had to eat six to eight times a day: sweet potatoes, brown rice, protein shakes, no sweets and no fruit”—she naturally could not match the muscular Moeller. As the ruthless Tchernov, however, she compensates for her lack of physical strength with icy cruelty and armed force.
“The action scenes were planned far in advance and defined precisely with storyboards,” said Boll. After all, the carefully choreographed sequences are the heart of the film. Right at the beginning, an entire unit loses its life when Dr. Krieger conducts a perverse test.
Later, a spectacular chase involving military vehicles takes place in the forest, with Jack and Valerie using several hand grenades to shake off their pursuers. Still inside their vehicle, they attach themselves to a helicopter with a grappling hook. It saves them from a precipice and then crashes spectacularly into the sea with them. Unfortunately, the water in the University of British Columbia research facility where all the underwater footage was shot was so polluted with algae and similar material that the production had to pump the entire pool empty and replace it with clear water before filming could begin. Every fluid, including oil and gasoline, also had to be meticulously drained from the vehicle.
Other spectacular action sequences include a boat chase in which actor Chris Coppola, as Carver’s involuntary passenger, provides comic highlights. And, of course, there is Ralf Moeller’s furious rampage as the genetically modified Colonel Max, who reduces Dr. Krieger’s laboratory to rubble before the thrilling showdown on the lumber-mill site. Magnificently choreographed one-on-one fights deliver major action highlights.
“We later processed every shot of the genetically modified soldiers on the computer so the actors would move differently from normal people. This kind of alienation effect has appeared in films before, but we are the first to show, in the same shot, people moving in slow motion while others run extremely fast,” Boll said enthusiastically. He added proudly: “This process was developed especially for the film by Doug Oddy’s Technicolor team.”
Extensive safety precautions applied across the lumber-mill site because the entire crew faced a risk of injury everywhere. Since the mill was still operating, nobody was permitted to move outside the barriers. The danger of being there became clear two weeks after filming ended, when improperly stacked logs seriously injured two of the company’s employees.
As usual, the many explosions and pyrotechnic effects were also handled under the strictest on-set safety precautions. Udo Kier, by contrast, can never get enough heat. “I always like explosions and fire. The more, the better,” said the veteran actor. Packed with exciting action scenes, FAR CRY certainly fulfilled that wish many times over.
