News culture “It was a bloodbath in the truest sense of the word” The filming of Borderlands looked nothing like the film, stunt manager points the finger at the post-production
Nine years after it was announced and several years after filming, the Borderlands movie was finally released. An unusual wait that resulted in a flop at the box office. And it’s hard for the film’s stunt coordinator not to mention the differences between the filming and the version shown in theaters.
“We made people’s heads explode.”
The film Borderland was released in cinemas in France on August 7th and it is an understatement to say that the film adaptation did not attract as much attention as the video games. Although he does not make a connection between his observation and the negative reviews, stunt coordinator Jimmy O’Dee points out that the filmed images were aimed at an older audience. It is up to the specialized media Screen Rant what he explains:
When we made it, we were making an R-rated film. We always knew we were going to make a 15 or R (15 in the UK) film for a slightly more mature audience. So we made people’s heads explode. We cut off feet. We did all that. We made this film nearly three years ago, or had just finished it.
He adds that the goal was to do something bloody. Then there was post-production and the film Borderland seems to be far from what Jimmy describes, as evidenced by its classification in France and the United States as “All Public Figures” and “Persons over 13 years old”, respectively.
Too mainstream?
It is even more surprising when we look at the director’s profile. Eli Roth is not known for making peaks, as was the case with his previous films The green inferno For example, Jimmy O’Dee serves as a witness thanks to his statement to Screen Rant:
And of course Eli loves horror. He loves horror. It was funny, he was in second unit, he came and said, “Uh… cut the knuckles.” Yeah, take the knife and cut the knuckles off and we’ll leave these ends.” Sometimes it was almost like there wasn’t enough blood for him. Eli was into that kind of thing. He was great to work with. We had a lot of fun.
And that’s probably where the problem lies. Even though critics think the production is an homage to the video game Pandora, the sacrifices seem to be in vain because Borderlands feels like a film made for fans above all else.
