Uwe Boll
Encyclopedia
Uwe Boll (ˈuːvə ˈbɔl; born June 22, 1965) is a German director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...

, producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...

 and screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...

, whose work includes several films adapted from video games. He finances his own films through his Boll KG
Boll KG
Boll KG is Uwe Boll's personal production company. It is headquartered in Bergrheinfeld, Bavaria, Germany.-Films:* Blackwoods * House of the Dead * Heart of America * Alone in the Dark...

 production company. He is often cited as the worst director of all time.

Early life

Boll was born in Wermelskirchen
Wermelskirchen
Wermelskirchen is a town in the Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, southeast of Remscheid. It is home to the world's biggest live Christmas tree.-Coat of arms:...

. He studied at the University of Cologne
University of Cologne
The University of Cologne is one of the oldest universities in Europe and, with over 44,000 students, one of the largest universities in Germany. The university is part of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, an association of Germany's leading research universities...

 and the University of Siegen
University of Siegen
The University of Siegen in Siegen, North Rhine-Westphalia, was founded in 1972. 14,100 students were enrolled at the university as of October 2010.-Faculties:University of Siegen offers in total 126 degree programmes across four faculties:...

, and holds a doctorate
Doctorate
A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...

 in literature
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...

.

He first decided to go into the movie business at ten years old, after seeing Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando, Jr. was an American movie star and political activist. "Unchallenged as the most important actor in modern American Cinema" according to the St...

's Mutiny on the Bounty
Mutiny on the Bounty (1962 film)
Mutiny on the Bounty is a 1962 film starring Marlon Brando and Trevor Howard based on the novel Mutiny on the Bounty by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall. The film retells the 1789 real-life mutiny aboard HMAV Bounty led by Fletcher Christian against the ship's captain, William Bligh...

.

Films

Boll's first two major releases were the horror movie Blackwoods
Blackwoods (film)
Blackwoods is a 2002 psychological thriller film, directed by Uwe Boll, making it his sixth feature length film and his second film in English, and starring Patrick Muldoon and Clint Howard...

 and the drama Heart of America
Heart of America (film)
Heart of America is a 2003 drama film by German director Uwe Boll about a fictional school shooting in a suburban high school. It is believed to have been inspired by such shootings as the Columbine High School Massacre...

, both of which he directed and co-wrote.

Boll is best-known for adapting video games into movies, having directed and produced a number of such adaptations, including House of the Dead
House of the Dead (film)
House of the Dead is a 2003 action-horror film adaptation of the successful 1996 light gun arcade game of the same name produced by Sega. The film was directed by Uwe Boll. The film was universally panned by critics.-Plot:...

, Alone in the Dark
Alone in the Dark (2005 film)
Alone in the Dark is a 2005 horror film, loosely based on Infogrames' popular video game series of the same name. It is directed by Uwe Boll, and stars Christian Slater as supernatural detective Edward Carnby and Tara Reid as the scientist assisting him...

, Alone in the Dark II
Alone in the Dark II
Alone in the Dark II also known as Alone in the Dark: Fate Of Existence is a 2008 horror film, starring Rick Yune, Rachel Specter and Lance Henriksen, directed by Peter Scheerer and Michael Roesch. It is a sequel to Uwe Boll's 2005 film Alone in the Dark.Alone in the Dark II was filmed in New York...

, BloodRayne
BloodRayne (film)
BloodRayne is a 2005 action and horror film, set in 18th century Romania, and directed by Uwe Boll. The film stars Kristanna Loken, Ben Kingsley, Michael Madsen, Billy Zane, Meat Loaf and, Matthew Davis...

, BloodRayne II: Deliverance
BloodRayne II: Deliverance
BloodRayne 2: Deliverance is a direct-to-DVD vampire/Western film, set in 1880's America, and directed by Uwe Boll. The film is a sequel to the 2005 film BloodRayne, which was also directed by Uwe Boll, and starred Kristanna Loken...

, BloodRayne: The Third Reich, In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale
In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale
In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale is a 2006 fantasy action film directed by Uwe Boll, inspired by the Dungeon Siege video game series. It was produced by Brightlight Pictures and distributed by Freestyle Releasing and Vivendi Entertainment in the United States and Canada. 20th Century...

, Postal
Postal (film)
Postal is a 2007 Canadian-American-German black comedy action film co-written and directed by Uwe Boll.Like the majority of Boll's previous films, Postal is a film adaptation of a video game, in this case, Postal, though this film draws more heavily from that video game's sequel, Postal 2.-Plot:The...

 and Far Cry
Far Cry (film)
Far Cry is a German film adapted from the video game of the same name. The film is directed by Uwe Boll and stars Til Schweiger.- Plot :Jack Carver, a former member of Germany's Special Forces, takes journalist Valerie Cardinal to visit her Uncle Max on an island, where he works in a military...

.

In the opening credits to Seed
Seed (2007 film)
Seed is a horror film written and directed by Uwe Boll. The film stars Will Sanderson, Mike Dopud, Andrew Jackson, Ralf Möller, Don S. Davis, and Michael Paré. Filming ran from July 17 to August 11, 2006 in British Columbia, Canada, on a $10 million budget.- Plot :Max Seed , a man responsible...

 (2007), Boll used footage of animal abuse and torture he acquired from PETA
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is an American animal rights organization based in Norfolk, Virginia, and led by Ingrid Newkirk, its international president. A non-profit corporation with 300 employees and two million members and supporters, it claims to be the largest animal rights...

 to underscore the film's nihilism
Nihilism
Nihilism is the philosophical doctrine suggesting the negation of one or more putatively meaningful aspects of life. Most commonly, nihilism is presented in the form of existential nihilism which argues that life is without objective meaning, purpose, or intrinsic value...

. He has also promised to donate 2.5 percent of his net profits from Seed to PETA.

Financing

Boll's movies have often performed poorly at the box office in the United States. House of the Dead
House of the Dead (film)
House of the Dead is a 2003 action-horror film adaptation of the successful 1996 light gun arcade game of the same name produced by Sega. The film was directed by Uwe Boll. The film was universally panned by critics.-Plot:...

, which was budgeted at $12 million, made $5.73 million in its opening weekend, Alone in the Dark
Alone in the Dark (2005 film)
Alone in the Dark is a 2005 horror film, loosely based on Infogrames' popular video game series of the same name. It is directed by Uwe Boll, and stars Christian Slater as supernatural detective Edward Carnby and Tara Reid as the scientist assisting him...

, which was budgeted at $20 million, made over $5.1 million, and BloodRayne
BloodRayne (film)
BloodRayne is a 2005 action and horror film, set in 18th century Romania, and directed by Uwe Boll. The film stars Kristanna Loken, Ben Kingsley, Michael Madsen, Billy Zane, Meat Loaf and, Matthew Davis...

, which was made for $25 million, made $2.42 million. The least profitable commercial performance of his career was In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale
In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale
In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale is a 2006 fantasy action film directed by Uwe Boll, inspired by the Dungeon Siege video game series. It was produced by Brightlight Pictures and distributed by Freestyle Releasing and Vivendi Entertainment in the United States and Canada. 20th Century...

, which made barely $10 million worldwide at the box office on a $60 million budget.

Until the law was changed in 2005, Boll was able to acquire funding thanks to German tax laws that reward investments in film. The law allowed investors in German-owned films to write off 100% of their investment as a tax deduction; it also allowed them to invest borrowed money and write off any fees associated with the loan. The investor was then only required to pay taxes on the profits made by the movie; if the movie loses money, the investor got a tax writeoff.

In the DVD commentary of Alone in the Dark, Boll explains how he funds his films: "Maybe you know it but it's not so easy to finance movies in total. And the reason I am able to do these kind of movies is I have a tax shelter fund in Germany, and if you invest in a movie in Germany you get basically fifty percent back from the government."

Boll has received a lot of negative publicity regarding this funding method.

Criticism

As of May 2011 House of the Dead
House of the Dead (film)
House of the Dead is a 2003 action-horror film adaptation of the successful 1996 light gun arcade game of the same name produced by Sega. The film was directed by Uwe Boll. The film was universally panned by critics.-Plot:...

  (for which VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever described Boll as a "cinematic train wreck"), and Alone in the Dark
Alone in the Dark (2005 film)
Alone in the Dark is a 2005 horror film, loosely based on Infogrames' popular video game series of the same name. It is directed by Uwe Boll, and stars Christian Slater as supernatural detective Edward Carnby and Tara Reid as the scientist assisting him...

 appear on the Internet Movie Database's Bottom 100 films list. Three of his films (Alone in the Dark, House of the Dead, and BloodRayne
BloodRayne (film)
BloodRayne is a 2005 action and horror film, set in 18th century Romania, and directed by Uwe Boll. The film stars Kristanna Loken, Ben Kingsley, Michael Madsen, Billy Zane, Meat Loaf and, Matthew Davis...

) also appeared on GT Countdown's "Top 10 Worst Video Game Movies"; all were in the top five, with only Super Mario Bros.
Super Mario Bros. (film)
Super Mario Bros. is a 1993 American action film directed by Rocky Morton and Annabel Jankel. Based on the Super Mario Bros.video game and its entire franchise, the film features Bob Hoskins, John Leguizamo, Dennis Hopper and Samantha Mathis. It tells the story of the Mario brothers, Mario and...

 (at number 2) preventing them all from being in the top three; BloodRayne was ranked number one. In a review of Alone in the Dark, Rob Vaux states that the movie makes other "bad" movie directors feel better in comparison: "'It's okay,' they'll tell themselves, 'I didn't make Alone in the Dark.'" Another reviewer wrote that Alone in the Dark was "so poorly built, so horribly acted and so sloppily stitched together that it's not even at the straight-to-DVD level." For example, in one scene a character who was "killed" can be seen getting up as the actor prematurely made the move to get off the set. One critic has dubbed him as the "Jonas Brothers
Jonas Brothers
The Jonas Brothers are an American boy band. The band gained its popularity from the Disney Channel children's television network. From the shore region of New Jersey, the band consists of three brothers: Paul Kevin Jonas II , Joseph Adam Jonas , and Nicholas Jerry Jonas...

 of movie directors".

Boll also made a bid to direct the upcoming World of Warcraft
World of Warcraft
World of Warcraft is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game by Blizzard Entertainment. It is the fourth released game set in the fantasy Warcraft universe, which was first introduced by Warcraft: Orcs & Humans in 1994...

 movie, but was turned away by the owners of the Warcraft
Warcraft
Warcraft: Orcs & Humans is a real-time strategy game , developed by Blizzard Entertainment and published by Blizzard and Interplay Entertainment. The MS-DOS version was released in November 1994 and the Macintosh version in late 1996. Sales were fairly high, reviewers were mostly impressed, and the...

 franchise, Blizzard Entertainment
Blizzard Entertainment
Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game developer and publisher founded on February 8, 1991 under the name Silicon & Synapse by three graduates of UCLA, Michael Morhaime, Allen Adham and Frank Pearce and currently owned by French company Activision Blizzard...

 who said: "We will not sell the movie rights, not to you…especially not to you." Boll responded "Because it’s such a big online game suc­cess, maybe a bad movie would destroy that ongo­ing income, what the com­pany has with it."

Blair Erickson, a writer of a treatment for Alone in the Dark, has written a critical account of his experience working with Boll, in which Erickson alleges that Boll stole ideas from prior movies and wanted to add elements to the story that were not true to the tone of the source material. Uwe chose to not use Erickson's script, citing reasons such as it having "not enough car chases."

The comic book series Firestorm features an issue where the titular character reacts angrily when his girlfriend Gehenna purchases DVDs of all of Boll's films. When he berates her for her decision, she jokingly claims that she becomes aroused by how bad Boll's films are.

Boll has blamed the poor theatrical performance of his early video game adaptations on his distribution company, Romar, and has filed a lawsuit against them. Boll's films prior to the release of House of the Dead were more positively received. The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

, for instance, gave Blackwoods
Blackwoods (film)
Blackwoods is a 2002 psychological thriller film, directed by Uwe Boll, making it his sixth feature length film and his second film in English, and starring Patrick Muldoon and Clint Howard...

 a positive review, although most reactions to the film have been negative.

On X-Play
X-Play
X-Play is a TV program about video games, known for its reviews and comedy skits...

s "Gphoria" awards show, one of the categories was "Game Most Deserving of an Uwe Boll Adaptation."

Boll received a rare "Worst Career Achievement" award at the 29th Golden Raspberry Awards
Golden Raspberry Awards
A Golden Raspberry Award, or Razzie for short, is an award presented in recognition of the worst in movies. Founded by American copywriter and publicist John J.B. Wilson in 1981, the annual Razzie Awards ceremony in Los Angeles precedes the corresponding Academy Awards ceremony by one day...

 on February 21, 2009 for In The Name of the King
In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale
In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale is a 2006 fantasy action film directed by Uwe Boll, inspired by the Dungeon Siege video game series. It was produced by Brightlight Pictures and distributed by Freestyle Releasing and Vivendi Entertainment in the United States and Canada. 20th Century...

, 1968 Tunnel Rats
1968 Tunnel Rats
1968 Tunnel Rats is a war film directed by Uwe Boll. The film is based on the factual duties of tunnel rats during the Vietnam War...

, and Postal
Postal (film)
Postal is a 2007 Canadian-American-German black comedy action film co-written and directed by Uwe Boll.Like the majority of Boll's previous films, Postal is a film adaptation of a video game, in this case, Postal, though this film draws more heavily from that video game's sequel, Postal 2.-Plot:The...

. Boll has been nominated for Razzies three times in total.

Boll has begun to sue BitTorrent users for illegally downloading his film, Far Cry
Far Cry (film)
Far Cry is a German film adapted from the video game of the same name. The film is directed by Uwe Boll and stars Til Schweiger.- Plot :Jack Carver, a former member of Germany's Special Forces, takes journalist Valerie Cardinal to visit her Uncle Max on an island, where he works in a military...

, as a way to generate revenue from money thought lost to illegal file-sharing.

Response to criticism

Boll does not shy away from his critics. In the Alone in the Dark
Alone in the Dark (2005 film)
Alone in the Dark is a 2005 horror film, loosely based on Infogrames' popular video game series of the same name. It is directed by Uwe Boll, and stars Christian Slater as supernatural detective Edward Carnby and Tara Reid as the scientist assisting him...

 DVD commentary, he responds to criticism that his adaptations make significant changes to the plot and style of the source material: "Fans are always totally flipping out and I understand that the fan of a video game has his own agenda in his head and has his ideas about what is a good movie and what is a bad movie." Referring to House of the Dead
House of the Dead (film)
House of the Dead is a 2003 action-horror film adaptation of the successful 1996 light gun arcade game of the same name produced by Sega. The film was directed by Uwe Boll. The film was universally panned by critics.-Plot:...

, Boll said: "I think I made a perfect House of the Dead movie, because it really shows how the game is. It's a lot of fun, it's over-the-top action." Boll is especially critical of his Internet detractors. Referring to two Ain't It Cool News
Ain't It Cool News
Ain't It Cool News is a website founded and run by Harry Knowles, dedicated to news, rumors and reviews of upcoming and currently playing films and television projects, with an emphasis on science fiction, fantasy, horror, comic-book and action genres...

 critics who negatively reviewed his work, Boll said, "Harry
Harry Knowles
Harry Knowles is known for his website called Ain't It Cool News. Knowles is a member of the Austin Film Critics Association.-Biography:...

 (Knowles) and Quint (Eric Vespe) are retards."

Boll also criticizes the game companies themselves for providing zero support once the movie license is sold. He cites the cross-promotion and support which comic-book-based properties adapted for the screen receive, whereas video game companies often "sell off the license and then forget about it." He argues that this is the reason video game adaptations are not well received by critics and audiences.

When Wired
Wired (magazine)
Wired is a full-color monthly American magazine and on-line periodical, published since January 1993, that reports on how new and developing technology affects culture, the economy, and politics...

 published a negative review of Postal, Boll responded with an e-mail claiming that the critic didn't "understand anything about movies and that you are a untalented wanna bee filmmaker with no balls and no understanding what POSTAL is. you don't see courage because you are nothing. and go to your mum and fuck her ...because she cooks for you now since 30 years ..so she deserves it" [sic]. Boll claims that this angry email was sparked not by the review, but because the Wired editor told Boll in person that the editor loved the movie then published a negative review.

Critic boxing matches (Raging Boll)

Boll made headlines by challenging his critics to "put up or shut up". In June 2006, his production company issued a press release stating that Boll would challenge his five harshest critics each to a 10-round boxing match. Invitations were also open to film directors Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and actor. In the early 1990s, he began his career as an independent filmmaker with films employing nonlinear storylines and the aestheticization of violence...

 and Roger Avary
Roger Avary
Roger Avary is a Canadian film and television producer, screenwriter, olive farmer and director in the American mass media industry. He was behind the screenplays of the films Silent Hill and Beowulf...

. To qualify, critics had to have written two extremely negative reviews of Boll, in print or on the Web. In 2005, footage from the fights were to be included on the DVD of his upcoming film Postal
Postal (film)
Postal is a 2007 Canadian-American-German black comedy action film co-written and directed by Uwe Boll.Like the majority of Boll's previous films, Postal is a film adaptation of a video game, in this case, Postal, though this film draws more heavily from that video game's sequel, Postal 2.-Plot:The...

. On June 20, 2006, Rich "Lowtax" Kyanka stated on Something Awful
Something Awful
Something Awful, often abbreviated to SA, is a comedy website housing a variety of content, including blog entries, forums, feature articles, digitally edited pictures, and humorous media reviews. It was created by Richard "Lowtax" Kyanka in 1999 as a largely personal website, but as it grew, so...

 that he had been invited by Boll to be the first contestant, after Kyanka reviewed Alone in the Dark. The online gambling site GoldenPalace.com
GoldenPalace.com
GoldenPalace.com is an online casino, hosted at Mohawk Internet Technologies, which is located in the Kahnawake Mohawk Territory near Montreal. They are well-known for their publicity stunts. They are also known for large 'bonuses' which must be waged a comparatively excessive fifty times before...

 decided to sponsor this event, dubbing it "Raging Boll". A lot was drawn up in late August 2006, featuring Kyanka, Rue Morgue magazine writer Chris Alexander, webmaster of Cinecutre Carlos Palencia Jimenez-Arguello, Ain't it Cool News
Ain't It Cool News
Ain't It Cool News is a website founded and run by Harry Knowles, dedicated to news, rumors and reviews of upcoming and currently playing films and television projects, with an emphasis on science fiction, fantasy, horror, comic-book and action genres...

 writer Jeff Sneider and Chance Minter, amateur boxer and website critic. Boll fought and won against all five participants. The first match took place on September 5, 2006 in Estepona
Estepona
Estepona is a town and municipality in the region of the Costa del Sol, southern Spain. It is located in the province of Málaga, part of the autonomous community of Andalusia. Estepona is renowned for its beaches, which stretch along some 21 km of coastline...

, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 against Carlos Palencia. The others battled on September 23, 2006 at the Plaza of Nations
Plaza of Nations
The Plaza of Nations was an entertainment complex located on the northeast shore of False Creek in Vancouver, British Columbia.It was part of the British Columbia Pavilion during Expo '86, and along with Science World, Canada Place, and the Roundhouse Community Centre is one of the remaining...

 in Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...

.

After Kyanka lost his match, he would go on to make several allegations against Boll, including the fact that Boll refused to fight against Chance Minter (an amateur boxer), because he was an experienced boxer. However, Boll fought Minter as his fourth opponent. He also claimed that Boll misled them by claiming it was a PR stunt when he actually intended to fight them and that Boll claimed that the participants would get training before the match (which no one did). Boll had seriously wounded Sneider, who had also believed Boll.

Kyanka added in a post-match interview that, "Half of us (the contenders) hadn't even seen his movies." Sneider shared similar sentiments, stating "I think he's a jerk. This might be PR but I don't want to keep getting punched in the head." Boll has denied these claims in an interview, stating that he gave his opponents three months to prepare.
Other contestants responded less negatively. Alexander, in a Toronto Star
Toronto Star
The Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...

 article, recounts being invited to Boll's beach house on the following day, where Boll asked him about the reasons for his universally negative reviews. Alexander bluntly told Boll that his movies were "bloated, expensive and incoherent attempts at aping American genre pictures, sporting some of the most boneheaded casting choices in filmdom". He also stated that Boll was an "insane, two-fisted rogue, and a shockingly honest one at that, someone who absolutely adores film, knows its history and truly lives for what he does."

Alexander referred to the event as "the weirdest pop culture bizarre journalism stunt I've ever been involved in." Minter also praised what he had seen of Boll's upcoming production known as Seed. Boll praised the contestants in a post fight press conference, stating "I now like the critics... Everybody who was in the ring showed guts. Nobody dived."

Electronic Gaming Monthly
Electronic Gaming Monthly
Electronic Gaming Monthly is a bimonthly American video game magazine. It has been published by EGM Media, LLC. since relaunching in April of 2010. Its previous run, which ended in January 2009, was published by Ziff Davis...

's November 2006 edition's "The Rest of the Crap" section, written by critic Seanbaby
Seanbaby
Sean Patrick Reiley , better known as Seanbaby, is an American writer best known for his comedy website and frequent contributions to video game media outlets Electronic Gaming Monthly and 1UP.com. He is also a regular contributor to the humor website Cracked.com...

, described Seanbaby's own involvement. Apparently Uwe was going to appear on G4
G4 (TV channel)
G4, also known as G4 TV, is an American cable- and satellite-television channel originally geared primarily toward young adult viewers, originally based on the world of video games...

's Attack of the Show!
Attack of the Show!
Attack of the Show! is an American live television program shown weeknights on G4, G4 Canada and Fuel TV in Australia. The program is hosted by Kevin Pereira and Candace Bailey...

 to promote this fight by sparring with one of the hosts. Seanbaby claims that, "Again, he's a matchmaking genius, because everyone on TV is 3 feet tall. If you were watching Attack of the Show during the time I cohosted, you might have noticed that I could have leaned over and eaten host Kevin Pereira
Kevin Pereira
Kevin Pereira is co-host of G4's Attack of the Show! .-Biography:While in high school, Pereira hosted Pointless Audio under the pseudonym Captain Immy...

." A producer of the show then asked if Seanbaby would come and spar in the host's place for the event. Seanbaby says that he trains in Muay Thai
Muay Thai
Muay Thai is a combat sport from Thailand that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques. It is similar to other Indochinese kickboxing systems, namely pradal serey from Cambodia, tomoi from Malaysia, lethwei from Myanmar and muay Lao from Laos...

 and jujutsu
Jujutsu
Jujutsu , also known as jujitsu, ju-jitsu, or Japanese jiu-jitsu, is a Japanese martial art and a method of close combat for defeating an armed and armored opponent in which one uses no weapon, or only a short weapon....

, stating that, "boxing is to fighting what Hungry Hungry Hippos
Hungry Hungry Hippos
Hungry Hungry Hippos is a tabletop game made for young children, currently produced by Hasbro, under the brand of its subsidiary, Milton Bradley. It was published in 1967 and introduced in 1978...

 is to eating." When Uwe heard of this, he wanted to know Seanbaby's age, height, weight and fighting experience since he "learned he wasn't fighting a midget." Seanbaby claims he sent said information to Boll, after which Boll chose not to appear on the program.

Petition to retire

In April 2008, The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...

 ran an article claiming Boll had promised to retire if an online petition at PetitionOnline.com asking him to do so received 1,000,000 signatures.

On May 7, 2008, the makers of Stride gum
Stride (gum)
Stride is a brand of chewing gum created by Cadbury Adams . Its packs usually consist of 14 pieces of gum.-Current Flavors:There are 17 flavors in total.* Always Mandarin* Eternal Melon* Forever Fruit 2.0...

 announced they would give each signer a digital coupon for a pack
of gum if the petition obtained the required 1 million signatures by May 14, 2008.

, there are around 364,572 signatures. In an interview with Mike Gencarelli of the Movie Mikes website on March 22, 2010, Boll stated that he would not retire, should the petition receive one million signatures, commenting:

I think no, it has been too long. If they would have made to a million in like 2 months, then they would have had something. They even got sponsored by that gum factory. I felt like it's three years later, forget it. I also felt that people signed numerous time on the petition so it is probably only like 150,000 people that actually signed it.

Response

As part of a publicity stunt for POSTAL, Uwe Boll released a video stating that he is "the only genius in the whole fucking [movie] business" and that other directors such as Michael Bay
Michael Bay
Michael Benjamin Bay is an American film director and producer. He is known for directing high-budget action films characterized by their fast edits, stylistic visuals and substantial practical special effects...

 and Eli Roth
Eli Roth
Eli Raphael Roth is an American film director, producer, writer and actor. He is known for his role as Donny "The Bear Jew" Donowitz in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds for which he won both a SAG Award and a BFCA Critic's Choice Award...

 are "fucking retards." He promised that his film Postal
Postal (film)
Postal is a 2007 Canadian-American-German black comedy action film co-written and directed by Uwe Boll.Like the majority of Boll's previous films, Postal is a film adaptation of a video game, in this case, Postal, though this film draws more heavily from that video game's sequel, Postal 2.-Plot:The...

 would be "way better than all that social-critic George Clooney
George Clooney
George Timothy Clooney is an American actor, film director, producer, and screenwriter. For his work as an actor, he has received two Golden Globe Awards and an Academy Award...

 bullshit that you get every fucking weekend." In response to an "Anti-Uwe Boll" online petition, Boll has also expressed hopes that somebody will start a Pro-Uwe Boll petition, which he would expect to hit a million signatures. As of May 15, 2011, the pro-Uwe Boll petition with the most signatures is the Long Live Uwe Boll poll with a total of 7,588 signatures.

Bay responded to the "fucking retards" comment by calling Boll "a sad being" and stated that he did not care "in the slightest" about the remark while Roth facetiously said Boll's comments were the "greatest compliment ever." Boll later noted that the comments were meant to be a generic picture over Hollywood, and that he has nothing against the people mentioned.

Boll then appeared on Thursday, April 10's episode of G4's Attack of the Show, where he was interviewed regarding his controversial online retort. In the interview, he said (in regard to Michael Bay and Eli Roth responding to his criticisms) that Roth "has a sense of humor" and that Bay "has no sense of humor." He also jokingly stated that he believes that his upcoming adaptation of Postal (from the video game of the same name) could beat Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull at the box office.

On April 27, 2008, Boll responded to Bay's "not caring about Boll" comment. "To prove who is the better director", Boll offered to challenge Bay to a boxing match at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. If Bay accepted, the match would last for 12 rounds and would take place in September. In response to Boll's comments, Bay again posted a statement this time saying:

I never even heard his name till last week when he made threats and rants. The guy is a fucking idiot, making threats to me, Clooney, Eli Roth, says he has a doctorate—but uses the word 'retard' in his vocabulary, come on. When you look at his videos, what is interesting are the backgrounds. I guess his low rent offices, with 15 year old 3/4 machines, archaic computers, this is just some dumb chump trying to get some fame when he has none, so he has to make Youtube lame quality anger rants. This guy just wants attention because he can't get any for the so called movies he makes. Nothing sadder when he had his screening in LA to an over half empty movie house.


Writings

Boll has written two books, Wie man in Deutschland einen Film drehen muss (How one must make a movie in Germany) and Die Gattung Serie und ihre Genres (Genus Series and its Genres), on themes of serial television.

Upcoming projects

Uwe Boll's website now offers the opportunity for anyone to "co-produce" his upcoming film Blackout. In exchange for a gift of €33 (US$44), a donor will receive a limited edition DVD of the film and a signed certificate from the cast and crew.

In September 2010, a trailer for his new film, entitled Auschwitz
Auschwitz (film)
Auschwitz is a 2011 German drama film directed by Uwe Boll.- Cast :* Steffen Mennekes* Arved Birnbaum* Nik Goldman* Alexis Wawerka as Oven prisonner* Maximilian Gärtner* Harold Levy as Dentist Prisonner* Uwe Boll as Nazi officer- Production :...

, about the concentration camp, was posted on YouTube. The trailer, in which Boll appears as an SS gas-chamber guard, contains explicit scenes of the brutalization and killing of concentration camp inmates. Boll has been quoted as saying that films such as Schindler's List
Schindler's List
Schindler's List is a 1993 American film about Oskar Schindler, a German businessman who saved the lives of more than a thousand mostly Polish-Jewish refugees during the Holocaust by employing them in his factories. The film was directed by Steven Spielberg, and based on the novel Schindler's Ark...

 "no longer had the ability to reach young people and that it was his duty as a German to make the film as a way of confronting the past."

Boll is the subject of a documentary film entitled Raging Boll, directed by Dan Lee West, which premiered at the Austin Film Festival
Austin Film Festival
The Austin Film Festival was started in 1994 in Austin, Texas and is claimed to be "the first organization of its kind to focus on the writer’s unique creative contribution to the film and television industries"...

 in October 2010.

The upcoming Italian zombie film Eaters is presented by Uwe Boll. Boll will also be producing the upcoming film Zombie Massacre
Zombie Massacre
Zombie Massacre is a 1998 computer game for the Amiga computer. It was a clone of the immensely popular first person shooter Doom on the Amiga.- Production:...

 based on the 1998 video game of the same name.

Boll is also slated to appear as himself in the upcoming Postal III video game.

Personal life

He currently lives in Richmond Hill, Ontario
Richmond Hill, Ontario
Richmond Hill is a town located in Southern Ontario, Canada in the central portion of York Region, Ontario. It is part of the Greater Toronto Area, being located about halfway between Toronto and Lake Simcoe...

, and currently holds both Canadian and German citizenship. His wife is native to Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...

.

Filmography

Year Film Director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...

Producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...

Writer
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...

1991
1991 in film
The year 1991 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*April 28 - Bonnie Raitt marries actor Michael O'Keefe in New York* Terminator 2: Judgment Day, became one of the landmarks for science fiction action films with its groundbreaking visual effects from Industrial Light & Magic.*November...

German Fried Movie
1993
1993 in film
The year 1993 in film involved many significant films, including the blockbuster hits Jurassic Park, The Fugitive and The Firm. -Events:...

Barschel – Mord in Genf?
1994
1994 in film
1994 was a significant year in film.The top grosser worldwide was The Lion King, which to date stands as the highest-grossing traditionally-animated film of all time...

Amoklauf
1997
1997 in film
-Events:* The original Star Wars trilogy's Special Editions are released.* Production begins on Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.* Titanic becomes the first film to gross US$1,000,000,000 at the box office making it the highest grossing film in history until Avatar broke the record in 2010.*...

Das Erste Semester
2000
2000 in film
The year 2000 in film involved some significant events.The top grosser worldwide was Mission: Impossible II. Domestically in North America, Gladiator won the Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Actor ....

Fíaskó
Fíaskó
- Cast:* Róbert Arnfinnsson* Kristbjörg Kjeld* Silja Hauksdóttir* Ólafur Darri Ólafsson* Uwe Boll* Björn Jörundur Friðbjörnsson* Eggert Þorleifsson* Margrét Ákadóttir...

2001
2001 in film
The year 2001 in film involved some significant events, including the first of the Harry Potter series and also the first of The Lord of the Rings trilogy...

Sanctimony
Angels Don't Sleep Here
2002
2002 in film
The year 2002 in film involved some significant events. The first significant releases of sequels took place between The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Men in Black II, Analyze That, Spy Kids 2: The Island of...

Blackwoods
Blackwoods (film)
Blackwoods is a 2002 psychological thriller film, directed by Uwe Boll, making it his sixth feature length film and his second film in English, and starring Patrick Muldoon and Clint Howard...

Heart of America
Heart of America (film)
Heart of America is a 2003 drama film by German director Uwe Boll about a fictional school shooting in a suburban high school. It is believed to have been inspired by such shootings as the Columbine High School Massacre...

2003
2003 in film
The year 2003 in film involved some significant events. Releases of sequels took place with movies like The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions, Pokémon Heroes, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines,...

House of the Dead
House of the Dead (film)
House of the Dead is a 2003 action-horror film adaptation of the successful 1996 light gun arcade game of the same name produced by Sega. The film was directed by Uwe Boll. The film was universally panned by critics.-Plot:...

2005
2005 in film
- Highest-grossing films :Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top-grossing films that were first released in the United States in 2005...

Alone in the Dark
Alone in the Dark (2005 film)
Alone in the Dark is a 2005 horror film, loosely based on Infogrames' popular video game series of the same name. It is directed by Uwe Boll, and stars Christian Slater as supernatural detective Edward Carnby and Tara Reid as the scientist assisting him...

BloodRayne
BloodRayne (film)
BloodRayne is a 2005 action and horror film, set in 18th century Romania, and directed by Uwe Boll. The film stars Kristanna Loken, Ben Kingsley, Michael Madsen, Billy Zane, Meat Loaf and, Matthew Davis...

2006
2006 in film
- Highest-grossing films :Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top-grossing films that were first released in the United States in 2006...

In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale
In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale
In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale is a 2006 fantasy action film directed by Uwe Boll, inspired by the Dungeon Siege video game series. It was produced by Brightlight Pictures and distributed by Freestyle Releasing and Vivendi Entertainment in the United States and Canada. 20th Century...

2007
2007 in film
This is a list of major films released in 2007.-Top grossing films:Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top grossing films that were first released in the USA in 2007...

They Wait
They Wait
They Wait is a 2007 Canadian horror film It stars Jaime King as a mother attempting to find the truth and save her son, Regan Oey, when threatened by spirits during the Chinese tradition of Ghost Month. The other leading star is Chinese Canadian actor Terry Chen, who plays her husband...

BloodRayne 2: Deliverance
Postal
Postal (film)
Postal is a 2007 Canadian-American-German black comedy action film co-written and directed by Uwe Boll.Like the majority of Boll's previous films, Postal is a film adaptation of a video game, in this case, Postal, though this film draws more heavily from that video game's sequel, Postal 2.-Plot:The...

Seed
Seed (2007 film)
Seed is a horror film written and directed by Uwe Boll. The film stars Will Sanderson, Mike Dopud, Andrew Jackson, Ralf Möller, Don S. Davis, and Michael Paré. Filming ran from July 17 to August 11, 2006 in British Columbia, Canada, on a $10 million budget.- Plot :Max Seed , a man responsible...

2008
2008 in film
This is a list of all major films made in 2008.-Highest-grossing films:Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top grossing films that were first released in the USA in 2008...

1968 Tunnel Rats
1968 Tunnel Rats
1968 Tunnel Rats is a war film directed by Uwe Boll. The film is based on the factual duties of tunnel rats during the Vietnam War...

Alone in the Dark II
Alone in the Dark II
Alone in the Dark II also known as Alone in the Dark: Fate Of Existence is a 2008 horror film, starring Rick Yune, Rachel Specter and Lance Henriksen, directed by Peter Scheerer and Michael Roesch. It is a sequel to Uwe Boll's 2005 film Alone in the Dark.Alone in the Dark II was filmed in New York...

Far Cry
Far Cry (film)
Far Cry is a German film adapted from the video game of the same name. The film is directed by Uwe Boll and stars Til Schweiger.- Plot :Jack Carver, a former member of Germany's Special Forces, takes journalist Valerie Cardinal to visit her Uncle Max on an island, where he works in a military...

2009
2009 in film
The year 2009 saw the release of many films. Seven made the top 50 list of highest-grossing films, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that as of this year, their Best Picture category would consist of ten nominees, rather than five .- Highest-grossing films :Please note...

Stoic
Stoic (film)
Stoic is an arthouse feature by Uwe Boll. The film is one of two dramas, the other Darfur, Boll plans to direct. Unlike many of his previous directorial efforts, Stoic is not an adaptation of a video game.- Plot :...

Rampage
Rampage (2009 film)
Rampage is a 2009 mass murder thriller film directed by Uwe Boll and starring Brendan Fletcher, Michael Paré, Shaun Sipos, Lynda Boyd and Robert Clarke. Also appearing were Matt Frewer, Katharine Isabelle and Michaela Mann...

Darfur
Darfur (film)
Darfur is a film directed by Uwe Boll concerning the current conflict in Darfur, starring Kristanna Loken, Billy Zane and Edward Furlong...

2010
2010 in film
The year 2010 saw many new films released worldwide. 2010 saw a dramatic increase and prominence in the use of 3D-technology in filmmaking and film releases after the success of Avatar in the format, with releases such as Alice in Wonderland, Clash of the Titans, Jackass 3D, all animated films and...

Final Storm
Max Schmeling
Max Schmeling (film)
Max Schmeling is a 2010 German biographical film directed by Uwe Boll. The film tells the story of German boxing icon Max Schmeling.-External links:* at...

BloodRayne: The Third Reich
2011
2011 in film
The year 2011 is notable for containing the release of the most film sequels in a single year, at 27 sequels. The following tables list films that are in production or have completed production and will be released in the United States and Canada at some point in 2011.- Highest-grossing films :...

Auschwitz
Auschwitz (film)
Auschwitz is a 2011 German drama film directed by Uwe Boll.- Cast :* Steffen Mennekes* Arved Birnbaum* Nik Goldman* Alexis Wawerka as Oven prisonner* Maximilian Gärtner* Harold Levy as Dentist Prisonner* Uwe Boll as Nazi officer- Production :...

Blubberella
Blubberella
Blubberella is a 2011 film by German director Uwe Boll, to be released on DVD and Blu ray at the end of July. The plot evolves around an obese superhero, set in Nazi Europe. This film was shot simultaneously with BloodRayne 3: The Third Reich. Lindsay Hollister plays Blubberella with director Uwe...

In the Name of the King 2
In the Name of the King 2
In the Name of the King 2 also known as In the Name of the King: Two Worlds , is an upcoming fantasy-action film sequel to In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale...

2012
2012 in film
The following tables list films that are in production or have completed production and will be released in the United States and Canada at some point in 2012...

Zombie Massacre
Zombie Massacre
Zombie Massacre is a 1998 computer game for the Amiga computer. It was a clone of the immensely popular first person shooter Doom on the Amiga.- Production:...


External links

  • Golden Palace Events – Photos, video, and details of Uwe's September 2006 boxing match with his critics
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