Joel Silver

The action genre is kind of designed for a young male audience. But we found on 'The Matrix' that we hit the Valhalla of movie making, which is the four quadrant audience - the young male audience, the older male audience, the young female audience and the older female audience.

I've made a lot of stupid action films in my life but I like stupid action films and am kind of proud of them.

We found in 'The Matrix' that people were willing to accept something more. It was a smarter film.

Our responsibility as filmmakers is to make things that are fresh, unique and original.

The dubbing of the music and effects is really incredible today. You're feeling gun shots. I mean, it's not the way people say it is, but the gunshot sounds real. And cars sound real. Among the many things in the evolution (of movies) is to make the sound in the movie incredible. That's what you feel.

I've made a lot of stupid action films. But when we made The Matrix, we saw that people wanted more than that.

If the audience sees and feels things are real, then they buy it.

You know for years before the notion of sequels, actors were the franchise. John Wayne would rarely do sequels, but he kind of played the same guy with a different name in every movie. I have no problem with using actors as franchises. And that's what is fun to do.

I want an explosion the size of Cleveland.

There aren't a lot of guys like me left. But I'm a war horse. I've been through it all. And you know something about war horses? Through the sleet, through the snow, they just keep going.

The core of the movie business remains intact and it's not descending in scope. Studios want movies that are bigger than ever.

When California provides the same value as other locations, I'd gladly shoot all my pictures here.

The reality is that each movie has got to be seen in its own light.

I've always wanted to make 'Swamp Thing.' I like 'Swamp Thing.' I think it's a good idea, and I thought it would be a good venue for a 3-D movie, but there were rights issues with 'Swamp Thing.'