was terrific. Forty-eight hours later, the deal was done, bang." "I would say the movie is, hopefully, more of a suspense film, which is more interesting to me than that type of movie where we see a bunch of explosions", said Hopkins. "I was attracted because there were a bunch of great characters who obviously would attract great actors to do them. And also the suspense bit; there's so many different types of suspense in the film. There are some fun suspense scenes, and there are some very emotionally intense scenes." "You can make violence into a fantasy situation or you can try and make it relatable", said Hopkins. "If you bring it down to as realistic terms as possible under the circumstances, then for me it becomes more interesting than to be out there with larger-than-life superhuman types in glossy, glamorous situations. There's some politically incorrect things about this film I like which aren't usually allowed in these kind of films. The hero did make mistakes, he lied to his wife, he lies to his friends all the way through the film, he feels guilty and acts irresponsibly, he gives up. Normally I find now that everyone has to be perfect." Casting Hopkins says that Bridges' casting "opens up a whole bunch of actors who really want to work with him." "I was looking for an action film", said Jeff Bridges. "So I read a lot of scripts, looking for one that transcended the genre. I wanted something that had a little more depth -- that had genuine characters and relationships. What appealed to me about this script was that you cared about the people." Richard Harris was going to play Bridges' mentor. However the role ended up being played by Bridges' father Lloyd. The producers made Lloyd Bridges audition because they associated the actor with comedies. Another actor new to the genre was Forest Whitaker, who wanted to play "a character that could walk into a room and say: 'I'm the best. Stick around and maybe you'll learn something from me. Filming Filming was scheduled to start August 24 in Massachusetts. It was the biggest budget movie ever to be made in Massachusetts until that time. The Boston Bomb Squad acted as consultants. Hopkins used microphotography and expanded digital sound effects to get right inside the bombs. "I thought it was a great way of using sound and