John Carpenter was the author behind the original script - did he have any creative input into the finished film?
Once John had given us his blessing, he finished his coffee, left the restaurant where we had met, and went off to fly one of his helicopters. That ended his involvement in the movie.
Did you specifically seek out Tommy Lee Jones for the lead role?
Tommy is a very fine actor, and we all felt that we would get a lot more value from someone who had many sides to his character, other than just the ability to throw a punch.
Were any of Tommy's sardonic wisecracks a result of his input?
Tommy Lee Jones is one of the best writers of dialogue around, especially for himself. Scriptwriter Bill Gray and I would sit each morning with Tommy and he'd make suggestions for his character, which we would kick around, then Bill would go over it and generate some new pages as a result.
There are a lot of stunts in the film - did Tommy ever put himself in harm's way?
He did an awful lot of his own stunts - he was hanging from wires far higher than any insurance company would be happy with.
Did the Black Moon car pose any problems to film?
The car was based around a Formula One chassis so Bud Davis, our stunt driver, was quite recumbent. Added to that, he had a big slab of Plexiglas in front of him reflecting a lot of sky. As a result Bud found it almost impossible to see where he was going.
The film seems to belie its 80s roots with a lot of fast cutting.
I had a sign over the editing machine that read 'keep it kinetic'. My editor Todd Ramsey was taught to cut by Robert Wise, the editor-turned-director. We would be talking about editing dialogue and Todd would regale me with a story that Wise had told him about when he was editing "Citizen Kane" for Orson Welles. This continuity of knowledge, which is handed down in a 'mentor/apprentice' manner, is rapidly disappearing as some of the great editors have retired because they feel they've been sidelined by the new editing technology.
Read a review of the Region 1 DVD of "Black Moon Rising".
Read an interview with Harley discussing his film "Pilgrim".
