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Yesterday Twitch ran a brief interview with Michael Biehn in which Biehn discusses his experiences as the director of The Blood Bond in which Biehn states that he feels the film was taken from his control and mishandled by producer Bey Logan. In the interests of getting both sides of the story we immediately forwarded this story to Logan and invited his comments, which follow below.
From Bey Logan:
I have noted Michael Biehn's comments in your interview, and would like to preface my own by thanking him publicly for his hard work on Blood Bond: Shadowguard.
I am certain Michael did the best he could on the film. As his producer, I think I put an unfair amount of pressure on Michael by asking him to make his directorial debut on a film shot at a studio in China, given that he doesn't speak Chinese and doesn't seem to have any particular affinity for Asian culture, language or martial arts...
In retrospect, we should just have hired him as the fine screen actor he is. The studio was great and Michael is a decent director: it was just a bad match. I understand Michael is now directing his own films in the US, and I'm sure that, on his native soil, he'll have better experiences than he did in China.
I would also like to note that the viciously unfair review that started this dialogue was written by someone dismissed from the production very early in the process. (He does refer to this himself, but, then, 'qui s'accuse se excuse'...) [Logan is referring to this review by James Marsh.]
After a long road from shoot to screen, I believe Blood Bond:Shadowguard is a decent east-meets-west actioner, coming soon to a DVD store near you. Fans of Michael Biehn will see him in a neat Asian-set thriller that easily stands alongside most of his output from the last ten years, and in a film to which he made an invaluable contribution.
I hope, in time, the warm experiences we all shared while making the film will outweigh the bitterness Michael seems to feel now, and that he can enjoy this unique experience for what it was.
- Bey
From Bey Logan:
I have noted Michael Biehn's comments in your interview, and would like to preface my own by thanking him publicly for his hard work on Blood Bond: Shadowguard.
I am certain Michael did the best he could on the film. As his producer, I think I put an unfair amount of pressure on Michael by asking him to make his directorial debut on a film shot at a studio in China, given that he doesn't speak Chinese and doesn't seem to have any particular affinity for Asian culture, language or martial arts...
In retrospect, we should just have hired him as the fine screen actor he is. The studio was great and Michael is a decent director: it was just a bad match. I understand Michael is now directing his own films in the US, and I'm sure that, on his native soil, he'll have better experiences than he did in China.
I would also like to note that the viciously unfair review that started this dialogue was written by someone dismissed from the production very early in the process. (He does refer to this himself, but, then, 'qui s'accuse se excuse'...) [Logan is referring to this review by James Marsh.]
After a long road from shoot to screen, I believe Blood Bond:Shadowguard is a decent east-meets-west actioner, coming soon to a DVD store near you. Fans of Michael Biehn will see him in a neat Asian-set thriller that easily stands alongside most of his output from the last ten years, and in a film to which he made an invaluable contribution.
I hope, in time, the warm experiences we all shared while making the film will outweigh the bitterness Michael seems to feel now, and that he can enjoy this unique experience for what it was.
- Bey
More from The Blood Bond
- Interviews: Michael Biehn Talks Losing Control Of THE BLOOD BOND
- Reviews: THE BLOOD BOND SAGA: SHADOWGUARD Review
- News: Michael Biehn Goes All 80s In The First Footage From THE BLOOD BOND
- News: Michael Biehn: Still A Badass. Simon Yam: Fond Of Knives. First Images From THE BLOOD BOND
- Galleries: The Blood Bond
- News: Michael Biehn's BLOOD BOND Gets Rolling
- News: Michael Biehn Making Directorial Debut With THE BLOOD BOND
A classy response from Mr. Logan.
Biehn is one of my favorite actors but it does seem a little weird that he was so upset by having this movie taken away from him-- then on his next American movie, decides to take it away from director while they were still shooting so he could direct it himself. I'm not sure what that says...
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"...that easily stands alongside most of his output from the last ten years..." Is it just me or is that kind of a back-handed compliment? Heh. Biehn hasn't been up to much the past ten years, outside of the stray cameo in "Terror Planet" and whatnot...
I think Bey wants the comment to look classy but he plays the race card right away and then proceeds with back-handed compliments, too. Anybody who read his production blog of the film could see the writing on the wall as to what sort of film this would be. Why even hire a name like Michael Biehn to help spray paint the set? The pictures don't lie. Mr. Bey seems to be the king of veiled jabs about Mr. Biehn on his blog too. Just say what you mean and move on, Mr. Bey.
http://www.alivenotdead.com/beylogan
What a creepy response.
How anybody could think that response is sincere, is beyond me.
LMAO - folks using words like "classy" and "sincere". This is Bey "look at me" Logan you're talking about.
My heart goes out to Michael Biehn on this one. It's sad too, cause apart from the wooden acting, I liked seeing him in Dragon Squad, and the thought of him being in more HK films made me happy. Probably not anymore, after his experience on Blood Bond. What a waste of Simon Yam too.
Let it be known that Bey is actually a pretty swell guy (when I went to Hong Kong many years ago, he actually met a friend and I for lunch and a stroll around HK), so this whole situation seems unfortunate. In the end, I believe Biehn's comment on the inexperienced crew is most likely the culprit in why the movie is what it is.
This is exactly why I don't contribute to these kind of forums: you just can't win! Though, in this case, I did, because I receive a bridge mending private message from Michael after my post ran, which I very much appreciate. Living and working in this far outpost in Hong Kong, I'm flattered to get even this much attention from the fans, positive or negative, so keep it coming, guys!
Most of all, I think TWITCH should be thanked for all this. I myself was wondering what exactly happened with TBB and Biehn not directing it anymore, etc. So thank you, TWITCH, for filling in the blanks.
All this is unfortunate, but life goes on. Looking forward to THE VICTIM.
I wonder if Michael Biehn will be given the opportunity to finnish his movie the way he wanted?? Directors cut instead of producers cut..
Just came on this site to see the Blood Bond Trailer. Its funny but the old saying "People that cant do, criticize" becomes very relevant when I read the above postings. Very few of you if any on this blog/posting have ever made a film, let alone been involved in the process, so you haven't the vaguest clue what goes into it actually getting a film made. From idea to conception to an actual finished product is unbelievably time consuming, creative draining and not the sexy image that everyone has about the idea of movie making. So the fact they Bey has several films in the can says something about him right there. And as for his reply to Mr Biehn, its called class and not washing your dirty laundry, if there is any, in a public forum. Bey, I'm disappointed you never invited me down for a perve, excuse me, visit, to the set of Beach Spike !!