. . .FIREBERT: Missing In Action (ENG)

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Missing In Action (ENG)

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MIA

An American producer came down to Manila to do the casting for a movie called: “A Matter of honor”. That's all I knew. It was crowded in Fillmore Avenue when I arrived, white guys, black guys,Filipino's, everybody wanted a job. I lost all confidence. How to get into this. I figured the chance to be choosen very small so I didn't expect too much of it. There was a bustle I picked up saying that Chuck Norris was involved to shoot a Vietnam-war movie. I got exited and hoped to see the man in action and see him for real. So I tell you that I was more then surprised when Chuck in person stapped into the room, holding some papers, that seemed to be our applicationforms. We stood lined up, I was somewhere in the middle. He started to point a couple of guys who made it through the selection, He chatted with some of them, coming closer and closer. Then it was my turn. My heart-beat went up by 50% at the first handcontact. This was the hand he used to fight Bruce Lee with. He was my hero for so many years already. He smiled while reading my CV and said they needed a guy who was going to be killed by the enemy and after that carried away on Chuck's shoulders.

“You are about my hight and not too heavy”, he thought. I had to stap forward and he lifted me on his shoulders, like a fireman's holding. He walked around with me, said yes to his assistent and placed me back gently. “You are in..”

Wow, I made it, This was way more than the glimpse I hoped for..

I couldn't help feeling proud after shaking hands with this celebrity. 6 x world champion and famous for his fighting scenes with Bruce isn't catpiss you know..

The shooting was to start in a couple of days and the location: Pagsanjan. As it was much shorter for me to travel directy from Cavite to Laguna instead of having my ass going to Manila first I agreed with the production to plan my own transportation to the set.

Now travelling the Phils. is always an adventure, don't ask me why, but I got late on the set. I was in time though to see my scene being shot. A POW was executed by Erni Ortega and dropped dead into the river. It took several takes ( the man didn't die nice) but finaly it was a print. I instandly got a bad, bad, bad mood. The chance of a lifetime, and I screwed up, fuck*#@$%.

But I didn't get my ass kicked, hell no. They were glad instead because I showed up. I was sent to wardrobe to get me a uniform with a helmet. I hated those suckers on my head, they never seem to fit and always crowled down my face. So the first thing I took care of was losing it the very first scene while running my ass of..

“There's a close-up as we are handling a stretcher in the very beginning of the movie. We are under fire and Braddock (Chuck) signals me to follow him. I run and hide, my M-16 ready to fire. Explosions all over the place, heli's flying of and on trying to rescue us. We try to reach the copters but many of us got killed.”

It seemed to work during the rehearsals (without any blasts and with clear visibility). Camera's made their settings, light was optimized and explosions were prepared. Then the real thing. ACTION...

Protecting my face against dust and debris I walk into the clouds of noise and danger. Doing this without my glasses didn't make it easier to perform.( Now there was this story going about Vic Morrow who got himself and several kids killed during the takes of Twilight Zone two years earlier. He was beheaded by a wrongly maneuvered helicopter, so believe me, I was careful).

There was so much noise and dust causing disorientation, I absolutely couldn't localize the heli, and thinking of Vic I didn't want to walk into the killing arms of the rotating blades like a blind. I hesitated a while. Then turbulence of the blades cleared my view a little and the smoke spread. I saw the last troops humping into the last heli, ready to take of...Running and stumbling I try to reach my rescue but at the very last moment the heli takes of showing me the ski's at eye-level. I could have jumped to grip and hold the ski, and I most likely would have done such under real circumstances, but I got chicken and fell to the ground playing dead, while the copter 'kissed' the coconut trees and disappeared. I'm sure that it would have hit the trees if I was hanging down under.

I was told later that my decision to do so was correct, but if I had done it, it probably had highlighted the days shooting..

Such a shame I didn't have the guts.

There were shootings in and around Luneta-hotel in Ermita, the E in the light sign had been blinded, resulting in a Vietnamese sounding Lun ta. The working title changed to Missing in action.

Earlier that day there was some commotion when the marines (extra's) had to cross a streaming river. The crossing was not too difficult and for sure not life-threatening. One could slip of the smooth rocks and duck for a second or so, an overall depth of about 2 feet. Some guys had dollar signs in their eyes and demanded “danger money”. It almost ended a strike. There was a lot of talking and arguing and finally the shoots continued, leaving the demanders without extra fee. I didn' t join the mutiny and was watching it from the side.

Little Henry was mad twice his size. He shouted that that kinda suckers had lost his support and need not work for him anymore.

“I tell you”, he said, “When we are to select our helicopter-crew they are first in line to volunteer to fly. And then they're not talking danger-money. Well fuck them.” He turned around with and said something like: “Bert, get ready you're with the heli's!”

I couldn't help raising a smile.

After this prologe to the movie, Braddock wakes up and we appear to be his nightmare....

The weapons used in this film: