INTERVIEW

WITH DIRECTOR

ENZO G CASTELLARI

 

Thanks to Enzo for providing this interview via e-mail on 28 October 2003.

 

1.    How old was Marco De Gregorio when he made Bronx Warriors? Marco was 17 yearsold.       

 

2. Is it true that he was "discovered" in a gym and was working in a shoe store in Rome?

Yes. He was discovered in a gym. I do not know about the shoe store.

 

3. Is your brother playing 2 separate roles in Bronx 1 and 2 or the same man? In 1 he's called Ted Fisher and in 2 he's called President Clark. This could be Sergio Leone syndrome (actors in the Dollar westerns playing different roles).

   

I just used an actor for different roles. I always do in my movies.

 

4. Is your brother's character in part one Anne's father? This is left ambiguous (at least in the English version I own).

My brother’s role was Anne’s Uncle.

 

5. Was permission not given for the streets to be closed down during shooting for part 1?

We did not need the permission because the local people of the Bronx help us out during the filming. The Police was present and fully armed. They stayed all day in police cars. They came out only to get the lunch boxes.

 

6. Was Hammer trying to rescue Anne or have her killed at the end of Bronx Warriors? No one bar Trash seems to care when she gets shot.

Hammer was trying to kill her.

 

7. Are there any deleted scenes in either film? For example I saw a deleted scene for part 1 on the trailer and also on a lobby card of Paul being held down by Tigers and kicked in the face by Witch.  Also on the back of the British cassette for part 2  is a shot of Massimo Vanni being gunned down which isn't in the film.

Sometimes during the editing I do cut off scenes or sequences. There are different editing in the different versions.

 

8. Was Escape From The Bronx made as a "stand alone" movie as there is very little to link it to the first movie and no references made to that film's events?

In the two Bronx movies the only things in common are the actors and the place.

 

9. How long after part 1 was  part 2 made?

Just the time to film “The New Barbarians” and then we made Part 2.

 

10. The scene where Trash trips up 2 Disinfestors with a drainpipe is my favourite scene of Escape From The Bronx. Was this scene filmed with the actors moving at half-speed and then speeded up in editing? The Disinfestors get up a little quickly just before Trash knocks them down again.

I always use high speed camera for my actions scenes. No actors moved slowly.

 

11. How long did it take to film Bronx Warriors?

Five weeks for preproduction and seven for shooting.

 

12. And Escape From The Bronx?

Three weeks for preproduction and seven for shooting.

 

13. Part 2 appears to have a massive budget? How much bigger than part one was the budget?

No. Part 1 had a higher budget.

 

14. Do you know the body count for Part 2?

No. Do you?

 

15. The second film appears to have been left open-ended for a 3rd movie (Trash shaking his head at Strike after the battle). How was this originally going to have gone?

We left the door opened for the Bronx 3…. Maybe one day…

 

Home