So, there they were, at a private jet, where Nicolas Cage's character, Goodspeed, was finally meeting John Spencer's character, Jim Womack.
Now, when they first started rolling on this scene, Nic Cage was really feeling it, you know? He was in the zone. But then, the lighting crew messed up, and they had to reshoot. And get this – as soon as they made that adjustment, Nic's awesome vibe just vanished into thin air!
They tried three or four takes, and even Gilbert, the director, started getting a bit antsy. Nic, knowing he was the problem, quickly put up his hand and said, "My bad, director, that's on me."
Gilbert, being cool about it, didn't blow up. He just said, "Nah, it's my fault. Should've had the lighting crew sort it out earlier. We would've nailed it in one go. Can't believe one little tweak made your mojo disappear."
That actually made Nic Cage a bit embarrassed. He quickly said, "Just give me a minute..."
Gilbert thought for a bit, then turned to John Spencer, "John, why don't you run lines with Nicolas, help him get back into it?"
John Spencer, being the stand-up guy he is, agreed right away. He grabbed the script and rehearsed with Nic a few times. After that, when they filmed for real, Nic was back in form and totally nailed the scene.
You'd think, with him finding his rhythm, things would be smooth sailing from there. But nope, in the very next take, Nic Cage's mojo just flew the coop again.
Honestly, when you compare Nicolas Cage, Ed Harris, and John Spencer to Roger Moore, their acting chops are way beyond his. Especially Nicolas Cage; he's got that action star physique and a rugged look, but he's also got the acting talent that most action stars just don't. No wonder he became the face of 90s action flicks, even more so than Tom Cruise.
Sure, after Mission: Impossible, Tom Cruise could be called an action actor, but everyone was still mostly focused on his face. It wasn't until 2011, when Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol came out and Tom Cruise scaled the Burj Khalifa, scaring the pants off everyone, that he really became an action icon. Even Jackie Chan was like, "No way!" And with the old guard of Hollywood action stars getting on in years, that's when Tom Cruise really took the reins, becoming known to Chinese movie buffs as "America's Jackie Chan."
Of course, Tom Cruise probably isn't too keen on that nickname. He's his own man, you know? If Gilbert told him now that he'd become America's Jackie Chan, the ever-so-confident Tom Cruise would probably get annoyed and then wonder, "Who's Jackie Chan?"
At this point, Jackie Chan wasn't a household name in Hollywood. Even though he had a cameo in Real Steel, it didn't really catch anyone's attention. It wasn't until Rumble in the Bronx pulled in over fifty million dollars at the North American box office that Hollywood truly started to notice Jackie Chan.
It's worth mentioning that even those few minutes of screen time in Real Steel got movie fans in Hong Kong pumped. And quite a few fans in mainland China who knew Jackie Chan were just as thrilled. Word was that the film's director, Gilbert Landrini himself, personally invited him, which really solidified Jackie Chan's standing in the industry.
It's kind of like how, a decade or so later, a bunch of Chinese actresses would go to Hollywood, snag a quick cameo, and then bring that "international star" status back home. It might seem a bit fake, but it totally works. The difference is, Jackie Chan was actually able to make a real name for himself in Hollywood.
Gilbert couldn't help but wonder if, in the future, his movies would become the go-to for Chinese movie stars looking for a quick cameo. Just thinking about that, teaming up with stars like Fan Bingbing, Liu Yifei, and Yang Mi as a big-shot Hollywood director, was pretty exciting.
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Back on set, Nicolas Cage's on-again, off-again performance was giving Gilbert a serious headache. There was no other way around it: when Nic was on his game, the crew prioritized shooting his scenes, so they wouldn't have to wait around forever later.
After a tough shoot, during lunch, Gilbert and the directing team talked about the afternoon's work. Once everyone else had left, Sofia Coppola stayed behind to thank Gilbert, "Nicolas wanted me to thank you for not yelling at him when he wasn't doing great."
Gilbert looked surprised, "Me, yell? I'm like, super chill, you know?"
"Uh... you're chill?"
"Totally. I'm always chill."
Sofia rolled her eyes, "If you said that to anyone on this set, nobody would believe you."
Gilbert looked genuinely innocent. Compared to a hot-headed set tyrant like James Cameron, he was so much nicer. Why did the crew think he was some kind of monster? He just couldn't figure it out.
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During a break from filming, producer Charles Roven was chatting with Gilbert about the script and the shoot. "Gilbert," Charles said, "I think the film might be a bit too... entertaining."
"Oh? How so?" Gilbert was curious to hear Charles's take on it.
Charles explained, "I've read the script, and the overall mood is really serious. But during filming, you keep asking the actors to add in all these humorous bits, and it really messes with the film's overall vibe."
"You're right, Charles, but I'm doing it on purpose," Gilbert replied.
"Do tell," Charles Roven was keen to hear Gilbert's reasoning.
Gilbert thought for a moment, then asked, "Charles, do you think a really serious movie is automatically a good movie?"
"Not necessarily," Charles replied, "It depends on the film's quality and whether the audience likes it."
"What about a light and fun movie, like The Mask?"
"Same thing. It still depends on the film's quality and audience reception."
The Shawshank Redemption was a high-quality film, highly praised, but only made a bit over twenty million dollars at the box office, which shows it wasn't exactly a crowd-pleaser.
"So, whether a film succeeds or not isn't really about its style, right? Do you agree?" Gilbert pressed.
"Uh," Charles Roven really wanted to say yes, but then he thought about it and realized it wasn't quite right. He suddenly felt a bit lost. "Gilbert, you've completely changed the subject."
"Haha," Gilbert chuckled, "Charles, the film's overall mood is serious, but this is a summer blockbuster. Our main goal is to make sure the audience loves it. So, in certain parts, we need to inject some elements to make sure more people enjoy it."
"But how can you guarantee the audience will like the film?" As soon as Charles Roven said it, he knew it was a dumb question. While film companies do a lot of prep work when greenlighting a movie, the film industry itself is a huge gamble, with too many unpredictable factors. If you could know before release whether an audience would like a movie, there wouldn't be so many money-losing and failed films.
Charles Roven was just voicing his doubts; he wasn't trying to make Gilbert change the script or tell the actors to alter their performances. He couldn't do that even before Gilbert became famous, let alone now that Gilbert was a top-tier Hollywood director.
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Actually, Charles Roven wasn't the only one who had issues with the script; the Pentagon had their own opinions too. They felt that the Pentagon and the FBI played rather unsavory roles in the story. And a character like General Hummel shouldn't have turned out the way he did; he's a patriotic soldier. So, the Pentagon suggested changing the script to make General Hummel a good guy, and the villains would be a group of foreign terrorists.
However, when Major Hall, the liaison from the Pentagon, discussed this with Gilbert, Gilbert shot it down completely. He explained to Major Hall, "In this film, there are no truly evil villains or bad guys. Everyone is acting on their own beliefs and missions. Hummel, Mason, Goodspeed—every character's motivation and logic make sense. As for the few minor traitors, they're not the main focus of the film anyway."
The script had already been approved by the Pentagon, and since Gilbert insisted on no changes, the Pentagon eventually relented and agreed to his script plan.
Because the F-18 fighter jets still had active duty, they couldn't just wait around whenever the film crew needed them. So, after the Pentagon talked to the Navy, six fighter jets took off from an air force base near San Francisco to help with the filming.
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With permission granted, the crew headed to the air force base. They placed a high-speed wireless camera inside the cockpit of one of the F-18s to get a first-person shot of the fighter jet flying over the Golden Gate Bridge. Flying under the Golden Gate Bridge is super tricky; one wrong move with such a low-altitude flight, and you'd either hit the bridge or crash into the sea.
Gilbert brought up his concerns about safety to Lieutenant Colonel Fairmont, who was in charge of the flight for the air force base. Even though he'd pushed for the real-life shot, he knew he couldn't handle the responsibility if something went wrong.
But Lieutenant Colonel Fairmont told Gilbert not to worry: "The pilots involved in this shoot are elite Navy pilots. Their usual training is way harder than flying under the Golden Gate Bridge, so there won't be any problems."
"That's good," Gilbert said, "I'll need them to fly a few times, is that okay?"
"Why?" Lieutenant Colonel Fairmont clearly wasn't too familiar with filmmaking.
Gilbert explained, "Because I need to shoot from several angles and get multiple takes. Some camera positions would show up in a single take, so we need to fly multiple times for repeated shots."
"That's fine, I'll go talk to the pilots," Lieutenant Colonel Fairmont promised.
Back in those days, US Navy pilots were truly the cream of the crop. The shadow of that massive superpower had only recently passed, so they still maintained an incredibly strong fighting force and rigorous training. The small requests from the film crew were really no big deal for these elite Navy pilots.
Leaving John Schwartzman to help install the high-speed wireless camera, Gilbert drove back to the Golden Gate Bridge area to set up the shoot. It was late afternoon, and the sun was beginning to set, casting a beautiful, slanting light over the Golden Gate Bridge.
After talking with the San Francisco city government and the Golden Gate Bridge management, the crew temporarily closed off the Golden Gate Bridge to traffic, mainly to prevent any accidents. A fighter jet flying under the Golden Gate Bridge was a huge, demanding scene that really tested Gilbert's directing skills. Because fighter jets fly so fast, all departments had to work together perfectly to capture the shots.
"Sofia, did you check everything? Any issues?"
From a distance, Sofia Coppola gave an 'OK' sign, indicating everything was good to go. Gilbert then asked the other teams, "Camera, set design, lighting?"
"Director, no problem!"
"Don't worry, Gilbert, everything's set."
"Alright," it was his first time shooting a scene like this, and even with all his experience, Gilbert felt a bit nervous. He turned to Annie Burton and said, "Notify the base, the fighter jets can take off."
Annie Burton immediately made the call, and about fifteen minutes later, six fighter jets appeared on the horizon. They performed a maneuver in the air, splitting into two pairs, and began their low-altitude flight.
The deafening roar came from the six fighter jets as they quickly passed under the bridge at a safe speed. Gilbert watched the footage coming in from the camera on the monitor and couldn't help but shout, "Woohoo! So cool! Sofia, what do you think?"
The usually aloof Sofia was stunned, "Gilbert, you're a madman!"
It wasn't like Hollywood crews had never filmed with real fighter jets before; Top Gun did, and a pilot even died during that production. But hearing about it and witnessing it firsthand were two different things. Watching those fighter jets scream under the bridge was an experience you wouldn't forget for a long time.
Since they needed more footage and had enough fuel, and while the light was still good, the six fighter jets flew two more times, perfectly hitting their marks. Gilbert just kept shouting about how perfect it was. After that, the fighter jets flew back to the air force base, their filming mission complete.
John Schwartzman, who had been waiting at the air force base, immediately checked the high-speed wireless camera placed inside one of the fighter jets, confirming that all the footage was saved. He then took the camera and rushed back to the set, handing the film to Gilbert right away.