Doug Liman Quotes

'Rocky' represents the optimistic side of life, and 'Rambo' represents purgatory.

A bad guy always assumes he's going to win, whereas the good guy has to struggle with, what if I lose?, and the audience wants to struggle with him.

Without the villain, the hero sits at home on his couch.

A lot of my characters are anti-heroes that became heroes.

Well, you need the villain. If you don't have a villain, the good guy can stay home.

In all our pictures, we had an antagonist who becomes the good guy, and the underdog fulfills his quest.

Nothing is given to man on earth - struggle is built into the nature of life, and conflict is possible - the hero is the man who lets no obstacle prevent him from pursuing the values he has chosen.

Many great actions are committed in small struggles.

Characters who don't suffer have no interest to me.

I've had lots of ups and downs. I've had situations where I've gone against the rules, and I've lost everything.

I don't concentrate on any one period of history; I like to locate my stories in wildly different eras and places. I seem to be drawn to large, sprawling, uncomfortable swaths of American history, finding embedded within them a tight narrative that involves strife, heroism, and survival under difficult circumstances.

Any film is about heroism: the triumph of good over evil. If you look back at my films, you will see that as a recurring theme.

That's what protagonists do. They work hard, they have a conflict, they overcome the obstacles.

Good action films - not crap, but good action films - are really morality plays. They deal in modern, mythic culture.

You have to do bad things in order to become a hero. You have to make sacrifices.

The majority of comic book villains are pure evil, but Curt Connors is an exception. Curt Connors is a good man who initially wants to save the world, but he gets hungry and greedy and reckless, and he pays the price for that.

The measure of a superhero is always his nemesis.

We love a tale of heroes and villains and conflicts requiring a neat resolution.

I love reluctant heroes, all of that.

In a bid for change, we have to take off our coats, be prepared to lose our comfort and security, our jobs and positions of prestige, and our families... A struggle without casualties is no struggle.

All stories boil down to good vs. evil, and that's what the archetypal American Western was.

Really, the arc for the first season of 'Luke Cage' is 'hero.' How does one become a hero? What does one feel about being a hero? How does one live their life and eventually go through the Elizabeth Kubler-Ross stages of grief until the acceptance is, 'Fine, I'm a hero.' This is what it is.

I'm a target on and off the court. I've done some things I regret. But being a target is rough.

I wanted to create a world that presented the Smurfs with obstacles and challenges and really put them in a fish-out-of-water situation but also make them very active in getting out of their situation. Make them really the central characters.

No one is really playing the good guy, but if they want to play the bad guy, I'm ready to play the super hero and take these guys out.