Friday, March 29, 2019

"The Matrix Recollections: Talking Bullet Time With Big Cop"

BMD:
First I say “Freeze, police!” – there was a bit of a contest over who was going to say the lines

...

We did this about eight times and the first time was hysterical. The rig was a large pneumatic ram that develops about two and a half tonnes of pressure, running around a pulley up near the ceiling directly to my harness: if it’s at the same height you are it actually pulls you into the ground, and they didn’t want that. Brian Ellison was about eight feet behind me with his own ram, and the idea was that my ram would be activated, I’d fly back and hit him, then his ram would be activated and we’d both fly back together into the wall. In that first take, on “Action!” Brian shoots back onto the wall and a split-second later I coming flying back and smack into him. I was fine, but Brian collapsed and couldn’t breathe. We got to him and pulled his shirt open to see how his ribs were, only to find the cross he was wearing had shattered, leaving a great big imprint on his chest!

...

[Keanu] was around all the time! He’s a big motorcycle fan and I came to the studio one day on my bike, a Honda ST1100, and he looked at it and went “Wow, what’s this?” so I asked if he wanted a ride: soon he was riding it around the studio! I believe at the end of the show he bought each head of department a Harley as a gift.
*Previously: The building Neo works at looks like a spinal column, and the spelling of the company's name changes inside.