Isaac Florentine Confirms Boyka: Undisputed IV Starring Scott Adkins
Jul 14, 2014 Billy Fletcher Cinema, Movie News, Showbiz 2
In a recent interview with Movie Cricket, Isaac Florentine confirmed Boyka: Undisputed 4, starring Scott Adkins, as well as discussing his directing origins and fight scene choreography.
Movie Cricket were recently lucky enough to chat with Isaac Florentine. The action and martial arts director confirmed to us that the script is being put together for Boyka: Undisputed IV with Scott Adkins set to reprise the character who has now become a cult figure. Yuri Boyka, played by Scott Adkins, arrived in the second film of the Undisputed series. The character was introduced as a relative villain, but due to his huge popularity and Scott Adkins’ exceptional talent as an actor and martial artist, the character became a central figure in Undisputed 3: Redemption. After working together on numerous films since, like Ninja: Shadow Of A Tear, El Gringo and The Legend Of Hercules, Scott Adkins and Isaac Florentine will reunite as star and director on Boyka: Undisputed 4.
The sequel has been rumoured for quite some time, though both Scott Adkins and Isaac Florentine have now confirmed to Movie Cricket that they are moving forward with the project with the intention to begin physical production once the script is finished. Both actor and director were enthused by the project, with Millennium Films once again behind the production.
With both Isaac and Scott on board, we can’t wait to see where they take the fourth film in the series. We asked Isaac Florentine what he could tell us about Boyka: Undisputed IV and we look forward to bringing you more once principal photography has begun on the production. With Scott Adkins’ Yuri Boyka going from villain to hero, we asked Isaac Florentine where he can take the character in what will be his third film in the series.
Movie Cricket: We were recently chatting with Scott Adkins about Boyka: Undisputed IV. Where can you take the character after being the villain in Undisputed 2 and the hero in Undisputed 3?
Isaac Florentine: “Something is always changing in Boyka. That character is deeply religious. Already you see this in the scene that establishes him in Undisputed 2. In Undisputed 3 we see what motives him is that he is truly religious. Basically this will continue to motivate him in the next chapter…”
Isaac Florentine explained to us how Boyka as a character has roots deeply set within religion. He is a spiritual character who will further complete his character arc to this end in Boyka: Undisputed 4. His character will become more defined by his beliefs – if his strong character even allows more spiritual presence! Isaac agreed to reveal more details to us about Boyka: Undisputed IV after principle photography is completed, so we look forward to that.
However, Isaac Florentine was not quite finished there. The director then shared with us a great story about Scott Adkins after his Undisputed début in Undisputed 2.
Isaac Florentine: “I love the character and Scott. When we shot Undisputed 2 I was in Los Angeles and Scott was visiting from the UK and he visited the office. There was a producer there and he’d just seen the movie and he loved the movie. He was talking to me saying “Isaac, I really like the movie” – and he didn’t recognise Scott! Because Scott did not look like Boyka – the English gentleman that he is! And Scott says “Yeah, I’m very happy you like it.” He turns to Scott and says “Were you involved in the movie?” [laughs] Scott says “Look – I’ll give you a hint. I was in the ring with the African-American guy!” And only then he realised and he couldn’t believe it…he really loved that character.”
We then went on to discuss Isaac Florentine’s processes of putting together a fight scene, where Isaac shared with us his philosophy on choreography and what dynamics he tries to achieve when putting a fight sequence together in his movies.
Movie Cricket: How do you go about putting together one of your fight scenes?
Isaac Florentine: “You want to see the technique. You want to see the fight and I always enjoyed seeing the likes of Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly when they dance. You see them dancing from head to toe, you see the technique. When you see a Bruce Lee movie you see the technique. It’s not choppy. You see that the side kick is a side kick. You see that a spinning hook kick is a spinning hook kick. You see the combination. When you work with talented people and they can do more than a few moves and do long combinations the audience may not understand in cinema – but they feel that there is no cut. They register it more inside and they appreciate it more.”
We then went on to discuss just how physical these fight scene combinations can go, where Isaac Florentine elaborated on how the mechanics of the perfect fight scene mesh together. Isaac Florentine really is a master of his craft.
Isaac Florentine: “No, I don’t believe in physical contact. Reason number one, we are just doing a movie. No one should get hurt. I’m not trying to be righteous, but from a selfish point of view I want to get the best performance from the actors. Now, when an actor stamps because he knows he might get hurt he will tense, so his reaction will not be as good as it can be. But if you know you are totally safe then you can be totally relaxed. If you’re totally relaxed your response will be greater and your timing will be perfect. Now there are points where you say “okay, here you will make contact” …but the actors are prepared for it and it becomes part of their mental preparation. One, two, three takes and that’s it. Its exactly like we’re not shooting real bullets!”
It was an incredibly interesting discussion which you can hear in full at the bottom of this article via our audio link on YouTube or by the podcasts column to the right hand side of this post. Isaac Florentine is so poetic in his descriptions of the fluidity of a fight sequence and how they should be executed. For anyone who has seen his movies, like Ninja: Shadow Of A Tear or any of the Undisputed series, his fight scenes deserve significant credit.
Isaac Florentine is also known for his work with Jean-Claude Van Damme as well as Scott Adkins in The Shepherd (2008). The film exhibits wonderful fight sequences as discussed, but we were also interested which personalities of the action and martial arts genre Isaac Florentine would like to work with in the future.
Movie Cricket: Which other action legends would you like to work with?
Isaac Florentine: “I would to work with Donnie Yen. I enjoyed working with Dolph Lungren and Jean-Claude. I would also like to work with Jason Statham…of course, the biggest dream is to work with Bruce Lee. The person that was the biggest inspiration not only for me but a whole generation. For me he is more than iconic. There is him…And then there is all the rest. I remember my first time seeing Bruce Lee around 1972 in Fists Of Fury. That was not the first martial arts movie I saw…but then I remember when Five Fingers Of Death came and I didn’t like it…I didn’t like the technique. It was too violent. I didn’t like the jumping and flying in the air. Then Fists Of Fury came. It was called the Chinese Connection (In the US) but it was Fists Of Fury and I remember my sensei recommended it. I read an article about it and went to see it…When I saw this movie and I walked back home…I felt like I was walking on clouds. For the first time in my life I knew what I wanted to do. I wanted to train hard in martial arts and maybe do movies…but this only really came when I saw Enter The Dragon. But it set a direction for me.”
Isaac Florentine showing he's still got it...
Isaac Florentine went on to reference how it was the smart and sophisticated combinations and their authenticity which interested him and continue to influence him in his movies today. The director still refers to Bruce Lee’s films for ideas and they continue to inspire him like nothing else has done since 1972.
We also took time to discuss Gareth Evans and his Raid franchise, which Isaac is very fond of as well as much more. Isaac Florentine was an inspiring and genuinely interesting person to talk with. His passion and commitment to his craft, his origins as a director and his high quality action and martial arts films were a pleasure to discuss. Make sure you listen to our chat in full below via the YouTube link.
Thanks again, Isaac.
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