Jerry Bruckheimer Reveals The Dark Reason Why He Loves Guy Ritchie Movies - Exclusive Interview
It makes sense that industry vet Jerry Bruckheimer would back "The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare." Guy Ritchie's adaptation of a real band of mavericks is the kind of story that Bruckheimer has carved into Hollywood with the likes of "Armageddon" (mavericks in space), "Pirates of the Caribbean" (mavericks at sea), and the "Top Gun" franchise (well, just Maverick, really). He knows the kinds of stories that will hook audiences and clearly saw one with this new film, which follows Gus March-Phillips (Henry Cavill) leading a ragtag team of soldiers behind enemy lines, striking the Nazi regime via unauthorized means.
Joining Cavill's squad are the impressive talents of Alan Ritchson, Alex Pettyfer, Hero Fiennes Tiffin, and Henry Golding. While their secretive battlefield stretches across land and sea, Cary Elwes, Eiza Gonzalez, and Babs Olusanmokun add a splash of spy business, working even deeper and breaking things from the inside out. For Ritchie, it's another interesting venture into the action genre with all the traits of classic do-or-die missions, some of which even Bruckheimer himself has played a part in bringing to the screen. It's this very detail that marks the first team-up with this revered producer and a director who began as a fresh new voice in British gangster movies and now, almost 30 years later, is coming locked and loaded into a genre he's spending more time in now than ever.
So what's it really like to work with Guy Ritchie, and how does he differ from other filmmaking legends? In an exclusive interview with Looper, Bruckheimer revealed all.
This Ministry is in the transportation business
Mr. Bruckheimer, your contribution to film is legendary in its own right. You've worked with loads of equally legendary directors. I was just wondering if you've seen any sort of work ethic in the likes of Ridley Scott, Tony Scott, and Michael Bay that you saw in Guy Ritchie's work or if [there was] anything that he brought new to the table that you were quite surprised to see?
He's an enormously talented guy. He is really talented, and he's got such a light touch, and he finds humor in the darkest situations. That's what makes this movie so interesting because these men are killers, but they have a sense of humor in how they have to deal with taking other people's lives. It is just wonderful what he brought to this movie because if you read it on the page, it's very dry, but he brought this sense of fun to the film.
And particularly with this genre of film, what do you think about do-or-die action films that always draw an audience in? It seems you think of "The Magnificent Seven" or various films of that ilk. This is very similar. What do you think it is that just always hooks us?
I think you love to go on a new adventure. We transport you to places. We're in the transportation business. We take you from one place to another. This movie takes you back to World War II and the bravery of the British people — that they were being bombed every night and weren't fed. They had no power. They had no water. You kind of empathize with them and the fact that Churchill held the country together with his speeches on the radio, and he wouldn't give in to the Nazis, and even though Parliament was willing to acquiesce, he wouldn't. He wouldn't allow it. He created these ungentlemanly warfare men who went behind enemy lines and changed the course of the war.
Do you have a personal favorite of a classic sort of do-or-die mission where you think, "I've always got time for that film?"
"The Magnificent Seven" is a great one, and "The Wild Bunch" is another good one. There are a lot of great movies.
To learn more about "The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare," check out everything we know so far about the cast, plot, and more before it hits theaters on April 19. This interview was edited for clarity.