The essence of what it is to be American is the deep moral urge to be free, to freely express yourself and have the right to do so, and to look at all people as equals.

The public has an appetite for anything about imagination - anything that is as far away from reality as is creatively possible.

I compose the frame literally with the camera. Unless it makes a story point.

I did 50 takes on Robert Shaw assembling the Greener Gun on 'Jaws.' The shark wasn't working, so I just kept shooting to make the production report look like we were accomplishing something and to keep cast and crew from going crazy from boredom. It was a strategic indulgence.

The Japanese had a very strong belief in Bushido, death before dishonour. They were fighting for their country; they were the aggressors in World War II.

I just had a crazy, wild imagination all my life, and science fiction is the greatest outlet for me.

I thought film was more important than life itself for many years. But I was naive to the world until my first child was born in 1985.