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"I find it hilarious that everyone thinks the stunts were computer generated. There's zero CG in the film. I come from the stunt world, man, we do this s*** for real..."
Scott Waugh, director of the new Need for Speed movie, has perhaps unwittingly invoked playwright Robertson Davies' age old maxim that the "eyes only see what the mind is prepared to comprehend."
Because it's difficult to comprehend an £866,000 McLaren P1 being totalled, or one of the three heartbreakingly exquisite Lamborghini Sesto Elementos being toasted into oblivion. Or a one-off, two-million dollar Mustang being air-lifted by a military helicopter. It has to be CG, right?
Wrong. Turns out Scott's quite passionate about his new movie. He's a chatty, Los Angeles dude who can't really believe his luck, having been handpicked by none other than Steven Spielberg himself to direct a movie adaption of one of the gaming world's biggest franchises.
And seeing as you've just witnessed Aaron Paul - aka Jesse from Breaking Bad and lead star Tobey Marshall in Need for Speed - set a scorching time around the TG test track, we decided to grab a few moments with former stuntman and NfS director Waugh to get behind the mechanics of building a car movie.
Top Gear: How did you get the gig directing Need for Speed?
Scott Waugh: I ended up having a meeting with Steven Spielberg, after he'd seen my film Act of Valour and was a fan, telling me that he'd love to work with me. He'd just bought the script for NfS, and asked me to direct it. Steven Spielberg!
I was so excited. I mean, I'm a little perplexed as to how we can't beat what was on screen 50 years ago from the car movie world.
TG: What do you mean?
SW: Some of the best car movies are still from the 60s and 70s, from my perspective. I mean, we still always only say Bullitt, French Connection, Grand Prix, Smokey and the Bandit. I have a lot of subtle throwbacks in NfS to all these car movies, whether it's American Graffiti, Vanishing Point, Cannonball Run and the rest.
I still think Bullitt's car chase is incredible, it has a raw grittiness, plus a) it had Steve McQueen, and b) Steve McQueen actually drove in it. It's seems to be a lost art form in actors these days.
TG: Why choose the Ford Mustang as the hero car?
SW: I wanted a car to represent the average consumer's modern version of muscle. Not these $100,000-plus supercars, but something represents the middle of America. There's really only three - the GT500 Mustang, the ‘Vette, and the Viper.
Personally I was always a Carroll Shelby fan, and when Carroll passed away it hit me hard; he was such an innovator. Plus, the Mustang is the car Steve McQueen drove. I think it's as cool as ass. Bullitt set the tone for car culture movies.
And the Mustang in NfS is the Bullitt car if you think about it - it was a '68 Mustang in a '68 movie. I thought if I'm doing a 2015 movie, lets make it a 2015 Mustang, right?
TG: How many Mustangs did you destroy during the shoot?
SW: We built eight Mustangs, and we wrecked six. Five of them were complete write-offs. The one that did that jump didn't want to see the light of day afterwards, for example. The others went in straight T-bone accidents. We were really pushing the envelope. It was a bummer to see that happen to these cars, but it's part of the deal.
Overall I'd say we destroyed just under 100 cars. I don't know the full body count, but I mean... [thinks] the biggest car body count is still the Blues Brothers. There's a homage to that in NfS too.
Written By:- Vijay Pattni
More of this article on the Top gear website
