The fire man

Action movies are in David R. Ellis’ bones -- part of his cinematic DNA you might say. A onetime stuntman on “Days of Thunder” and “Lethal Weapon,” he’s been shooting second-unit footage on high-end action projects such as “Patriot Games,” “The Perfect Storm” and the upcoming “The Matrix Reloaded,” for more than 20 years.

Ellis has watched the genre evolve from straight-on action sequences in “Bullitt” and “The Dirty Dozen” to the pyrotechnics of “The Matrix.” Just hitting theaters is Ellis-directed “Final Destination 2,” the latest installment in New Line Cinema’s budding horror/action movie franchise. It opened Friday to generally good reviews, grossing an estimated $16.2 million at the box office.

Ellis has only flown solo once before, in 1996’s “Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco,” a family film featuring talking cats and dogs. Still, says New Line production chief Toby Emmerich, he never viewed Ellis as a creative or financial risk.

When it comes to hiring an action director, “I’ll tell you what a risk is,” the executive suggests. “Risk is when a guy who has made a bunch of European perfume commercials and a couple of alternative music videos shows up in a black Comme des Garcons suit and a great haircut. He starts handing you photographs by Ansel Adams and Diane Arbus and says, ‘This is what I’m going for.’

“David worked his way up, apprenticing with some major directors, a process that harkens back to the guild system,” he continues. “Besides, stuntmen only get a couple of chances to get it right -- and you need nerves of steel when you’re directing a feature film.”

“Final Destination 2” tells the story of a group of people who, having narrowly missed a massive freeway pileup, are trying to outwit death. Miffed at having his grand design upset, the Grim Reaper disposes of them in imaginative ways, each high on the gore scale. The $24-million original brought in $53.3 million in domestic box office and has had a strong video life.

The intent this go-round: Keep the formula, but make the group more diverse in age and ethnicity. Although the scope of the action is bigger, everyday objects such as garbage disposals and barbecues are still the primary source of suspense.

Ellis had ample opportunity to flex his action muscles. The opening car crash segment, which took 10 days to shoot, is already generating buzz. Emmerich calls the sequence the best action footage since 1971’s “The French Connection.” Ellis smiles when the compliment is passed along but notes that new technology makes a director look good and provides a safety net.

“Visual effects brought a whole new element into action,” explains the affable, blond 50-year-old, decked out in a light blue outfit and shades outside his modest Malibu home. “When the flames didn’t take off in my ‘wall of fire,’ I used computer graphics. Same with the logging truck that triggered the highway crash. Real logs didn’t slide off right. Technology has pushed the envelope of what we can do -- everything has gone to a new dimension.”

Many of the tools that broaden the action palette can be traced back to 1999’s “The Matrix,” he says. Actors were put on wires so they could be suspended longer in the air (a technique later used in films such as “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” “Charlie’s Angels” and Jackie Chan movies). Crowd scenes were created through “replication,” duplicating a portion of a stadium, for example, so the arena seemed full. And in a process called “bullet time,” action was shot in slow motion through multiple cameras to exaggerate the effect.

“The Matrix Reloaded,” scheduled for release in May, is even more cutting edge, he says, featuring a bad guy leaping from car to car during a 75 mph freeway chase, riding the cars like surfboards.

With stunts, too, life has changed. In the old days, someone jumping off a building would land in layers of cardboard boxes to cushion the fall. Now, with air bags and “decelerators” -- cables strapped on to stop the plunge 5 feet from the ground -- stunt people can be hurled from greater heights with an increased sense of security.

Despite the advances, Ellis describes himself as “old school,” opting for reality whenever possible. What made “The French Connection” so powerful was the authenticity of its speed and some of the top stunt drivers in the world, he asserts. Having an actor outrun a fireball (a reference to some famous “Indiana Jones” footage) damages the credibility of a film. Ellis’ mantra when shooting action: “Be safe. Keep it real.” Most important, cool camera moves shouldn’t overwhelm the story. “The challenge for me is to balance what I can do and what I should do,” he says. “The action shouldn’t call attention to itself.”Preparation is the key to Ellis’ success, Emmerich says. Every action shot for “Final Destination 2” was mapped out in advance. . In the end, the $25-million film came in on time and under budget.

“Cameron Crowe, Nora Ephron and Woody Allen are good with dialogue,” says New Line’s Emmerich. “David is one of those who’s very good with action. I don’t know what his ambitions are, but he can give Roland Emmerich [the ‘Independence Day’ director, who’s no relation to Toby] and Michael Bay [‘The Rock’] a run for their money.”

Transition to directing

Growing up in Malibu, Ellis was one of California’s top-ranked junior pro surfers. At 19, he became friends with Buddy Joe Hooker, a leading stuntman, with whom he apprenticed for two years. One day, Ellis got a call to do water stunts for Bob Crane in 1974’s “Superdad,” and before long he was taken under the wing of other stunt coordinators. Those at the top of that profession now earn $300,000 to $400,000 a year, he says.

“Stunt people aren’t daredevils but professional athletes who know how to minimize risk,” he says. “You learn to choreograph action, make it look real and capture it on film. It was a natural transition into second-unit directing, which was always my goal.”

Ellis directed car chases for episodic TV and, in 1983, shot small scenes for “Gorky Park.” Taking on projects such as “Fatal Attraction” rather than “Rambo,” he says, ensured he’d be surrounded by quality directors. Among the “shared” moments of which he’s most proud: the alley ambush sequence in “Clear and Present Danger,” the Jet Ski footage in “Waterworld” and co-creating virtually all of the seafaring action on a sound stage for “The Perfect Storm.” Down the road, he expects that a 16-minute car chase in “The Matrix Reloaded” will be another feather in his cap.

“The key to being a second-unit director is understanding that it’s the director’s film,” he says. “The shots should look as if he’d done them, if he had the time. You adapt to all different styles. I’m more of a technician who’s given the latitude to be creative, honored that some great directors chose me to paint on their canvas.”

When it came to striking out on his own, however, Ellis had a credibility problem. Action was one thing, but could he deal with actors? His breakthrough came in 1996 with the sequel to “Homeward Bound.” Coming off second-unit work on “Beethoven’s 2nd,” “Iron Will” and “The Jungle Book,” he’d proved he could handle animals.

Although the $14-million “Homeward Bound II” took in a respectable $32.8 million in domestic box office receipts, he “got no buzz off it,” Ellis says. Unable to parlay his success into new directorial assignments, he lined up work on films such as “Sphere,” “The Perfect Storm,” “The Negotiator,” “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” and “The Matrix Reloaded,” which established him as a top second-unit action director.

New Line offered him “Final Destination 2” and was so pleased with the outcome that it signed him for “Cellular” as well. The thriller, in which a kidnapped woman reaches a boy on a cell phone and tries to enlist his help, is set for release in 2004.

Because of strong word-of-mouth on “Final Destination 2,” directorial offers are finally coming in. But second-unit work still appeals. You make good money, Ellis explains, and you can have fun “without carrying the world on your shoulders.” Four months ago, Ellis collaborated with Peter Weir on “Master and Commander,” a period piece featuring Russell Crowe as a sea captain.

In his dreams, Ellis would like to direct Crowe and three other actors with whom he has worked -- George Clooney (“The Perfect Storm”), Harrison Ford (“Patriot Games”) and Mel Gibson (“The Man Without a Face”) -- in a “Dirty Dozen”-type war film. Although he’s also interested in comedy, in his heart of hearts, he’s an action man.

“I’d love to do the ultimate car-chase movie,” he says. “The technology for capturing it is so advanced now. If we had the latitude to go through city blocks of traffic, we could do something cool.”