Was shooting the final battle with practical explosions (i.e. no CGI) a unique experience?
GM: The special effects guys were from London, and we were walking around the set preparing for the scene. That’s when we all realized it was going to be a massive battle, much bigger than any of us had imagined or prepared for. Even the effects guys were surprised, in fact they didn’t have enough time to get all the squibs and explosive materials into Thailand within the two months prep time. So we actually postponed shooting that sequence in order to give them time to acquire all the materials they needed to satisfy the scene. But in the end they made it happen, that was real important to Stallone, he kept saying to me “…this ain’t going to be some CGI movie”. J: How was it working in the oppressive heat and filming on location in the jungle? GM: We started in Feb. and finished at the end of May. Beginning in April and then into May it started to get real hot. There were guys dressed up in full solider garb and a couple of them fainted in the 116 degree heat. When it started getting
