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Renny Harlin Quotes

Powerful Renny Harlin for Daily Growth

About Renny Harlin

**Renny Harlin** (born Renaat Laul**,** July 17, 1959) is a Finnish film director and producer, renowned for his high-energy action films and visually striking style. Born in Helsinki, Finland, Harlin developed a passion for cinema from an early age, frequently attending movies at local theaters. He began his career as a second assistant director on Ridley Scott's "Blade Runner" (1982). In 1987, Harlin made his directorial debut with the Finnish film "The White Reindeer," which won critical acclaim and set the stage for his Hollywood career. His breakthrough came in 1990 with the release of "Die Hard 2," a sequel to the iconic action film that became a box office success. Harlin's subsequent works include "Cliffhanger" (1993), starring Sylvester Stallone, and "The Long Kiss Goodnight" (1996) featuring Geena Davis and Samuel L. Jackson. He also directed the supernatural horror film "The Exorcist III" (1990), the action-adventure "Cutthroat Island" (1995) starring Geena Davis, and the remake of the classic monster film "The Legend of Hercules" (2014). Throughout his career, Harlin has demonstrated a knack for combining action, adventure, and horror genres. His films often feature strong female protagonists and are known for their intricate stunt work and spectacular visual effects. Harlin's unique blend of style, action, and storytelling continues to captivate audiences worldwide.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"I love to take an audience on a rollercoaster ride."

Renny Harlin's quote reflects his creative passion as a film director, where he aims to provide an immersive, thrilling experience for the audience through his films, much like a rollercoaster ride offers excitement and unpredictable twists and turns to its passengers. This means that his movies are designed to grip the viewer's attention with their engaging plots, dramatic ups and downs, and fast-paced action sequences.

"Action is my genre, it's what I know and love."

Renny Harlin, a renowned action director, expresses his deep passion for the dynamic, exhilarating world of action cinema in this quote. He identifies action as not only his professional specialty but also a personal affinity that fuels his creative drive. By crafting visceral, captivating action sequences, Harlin showcases both technical mastery and emotional connection to the genre he cherishes.

"Filmmaking is a team sport - you have to trust your people."

This quote emphasizes that the process of filmmaking is collaborative, relying on a team of individuals with diverse skills. Trust is a crucial element in this collaboration, as it allows each member to perform their roles effectively without fear or doubt, leading to the successful execution of the project. Effective communication, respect, and mutual understanding are necessary for building trust within a filmmaking team.

"There's always that moment when you realize, 'Oh, I'm making a movie!'"

This quote captures the essence of a filmmaker's creative process. It suggests an epiphany or realization that sets in during the course of making a movie, when they suddenly comprehend the magnitude and uniqueness of the cinematic work they are creating. Essentially, it is about embracing the fact that one is not just producing content but is, in fact, crafting a film.

"I want to make movies that entertain people, make them laugh, make them cry, and keep them on the edge of their seats."

Renny Harlin's quote expresses his goal as a filmmaker, which is to create movies that engage audiences through a mix of emotions - laughter, tears, and suspense - ultimately ensuring they stay immersed in the cinematic experience. This approach aims to captivate and entertain viewers on multiple levels.

It proved to be pretty impossible to get funds for a feature film in Finland. It's still small, but the film industry was miniscule at that point in the early '80s.

- Renny Harlin

Small, Pretty, Feature Film, Funds

A government institution called the Finnish Film Foundation funds filmmaking there, and I wrote several screenplays but never got any money. They were sent back to me, and they said that they were too commercial for them.

- Renny Harlin

Commercial, Wrote, Several, Funds

At that point, the movie was called Wild Force. Everything fell apart, eventually - our financing completely fell apart - and we were never able to make that film.

- Renny Harlin

Film, Movie, Eventually, Financing

You just never give up, no matter how hard the challenges are, and observe this world with a healthy dose of criticism and don't just follow the herd like somebody else might do.

- Renny Harlin

Challenges, Give, Like, Dose

There were a lot of people dreaming about making films, and they would finance maybe 6 films a year. Because they were funded by the government, the films sort-of had to deal with serious social issues - and, as a result, nobody went to see those films.

- Renny Harlin

Year, Deal, Maybe, Social Issues

Eventually, in '84, we made a film for a little over a million dollars - with American actors that was shot in English - that was shown in Finland A little action film called Born American.

- Renny Harlin

Born, Over, Made, Million Dollars

This was in '79. I got pretty restless there, sitting around with a lot of people sitting around smoking cigarettes and talking about films, but nobody really doing anything.

- Renny Harlin

Pretty, Restless, Films, Cigarettes

Several times we were stranded in strange places without any money and with our credit cards cancelled - trapped in a hotel that we couldn't check out of because we had no money to check out.

- Renny Harlin

Cards, Trapped, Several, Stranded

You want to do something that shows some type individuality and talent and imagination - at the same time, you want to be truthful to the predecessors, because obviously the audience liked something about them and you have to replicate that experience to a certain extent.

- Renny Harlin

Some, Predecessors, Extent, Truthful

Ford Fairlane was one of those movies that was so much fun to make that it was bound not to be a big hit.

- Renny Harlin

Big, Bound, Ford, Big Hit

I think the reason why we were able to actually get it made was that we were so extremely naive - we had no experience at all here. We didn't even know that you were supposed to have an agent. We didn't even have a lawyer. We didn't know one soul.

- Renny Harlin

Reason, Here, Agent, Naive

Eventually I did that, but it took a lot of twists and turns, and there were a year or two there where I was living with no money at all - no home, no car, no nothing. I was living in somebody's garage in Los Angeles at that point - for a year.

- Renny Harlin

Living, Took, Angeles, Twists

I learned a lot about how to shoot and how to put together sequences.

- Renny Harlin

How, Lot, Learned, Shoot

My very, very first professional job was when I was 19 years old - I got a job doing an educational industrial film on Shell Motor Oil's oil products. I really put my heart into it - I wrote a script for it, I did a lot of research.

- Renny Harlin

Doing, Very, Motor, Shell

I became a real Shell Motor Oil expert, and I did this 25-minute film. It turned out really well and, as a result, they offered me more work and lots of commercials to direct.

- Renny Harlin

Expert, Became, Motor, Shell

Actually, it was first a movie called Gale Force, which was a hurricane movie. That script never came together, and then the same deal was replaced with Cliffhanger.

- Renny Harlin

Deal, Which, Gale, Hurricane

I went out to some advertising agencies and asked if I could do anything.

- Renny Harlin

Some, Could, Asked, If I Could

I loved cutting together simple commercials about margarine or soft drinks - all kinds of silly products - but I tried to make the commercials different.

- Renny Harlin

Silly, Drinks, Commercials, Soft

In Finland, getting a university degree is the first thing that you expect your kids to do.

- Renny Harlin

University, Expect, Getting, The First Thing

What I learned most was how to tell a story in 15 seconds or 30 seconds or 60 seconds - to have some kind of goal of what to try to do and make it happen in that time.

- Renny Harlin

Goal, Happen, Some, Seconds

I did some film reviews for small papers in Finland and things like that to be able to keep living here.

- Renny Harlin

Small, Here, Some, Reviews

I've continued to always keep in mind having a healthy does of that in Hollywood, now that I am part of the system and obviously have to follow the way the system works - you still have to have that crazy determination.

- Renny Harlin

Mind, Always, Still, Determination

I loved movies and went to see every movie I could in Finland.

- Renny Harlin

Movies, Loved, See, Finland

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