After a scary movie about the world almost ending, we can walk into the sunlight and say, "Wow, everything's still here. I'm OK!" We like to tease ourselves. Human beings have a need to get close to the edge, and when filmmakers or writers can take them to the edge, it feels like a dream where you're falling, but you wake up just before you hit the ground.

As a Jew I am aware of how important the existence of Israel is for the survival of us all. And because I am proud of being Jewish, I am worried by the growing anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism in the world.

I'm always in favor of Israel responding strongly when it's threatened.

I wanted to do another movie that could make us laugh and cry and feel good about the world. I wanted to do something else that could make us smile. This is a time when we need to smile more and Hollywood movies are supposed to do that for people in difficult times.

I don't dream at night, I dream at day, I dream all day; I'm dreaming for living.

I made 'Empire of the Sun' in Shanghai in the 1980s and want to come back one day to make a movie in China.

For one thing, I don't think that anybody in any war thinks of themselves as a hero.