THN meets Danny Dyer and talks new movie Age of Heroes

THN has discovered that there is no better way to revive a flagging pub conversation than to mention Danny Dyer. Within mere seconds of uttering the double D moniker, all those present are foaming at the mouth – eagerly awaiting their moment to give a witty and spurious critique of his back catalogue – usually accompanied by a cockney impression that has something to do with ‘Gizzers’ and ‘stabbin’.

Well this week THN  met up with the man himself – dispelling many of our misconceptions. Friday saw the release of his new movie AGE OF HEROES and THN caught up with him to have a chat.

AGE OF HEROES is a WWII action/thriller inspired by the real-life events of Ian Flemming’s 30 Commando Unit. In the film Sean Bean and Danny Dyer play soldiers on an elite mission, venturing into Nazi occupied Norway to capture vital technology that has the potential to turn the tide of the war.  To be frank the film is a pretty standard fare for a Dyer movie – if you like the guy and his style – you’ll probably enjoy it. This is what Dyer had to say on the matter:

DD: It’s simple, it about tactics, don’t fuck about – get out there do what you gotta do. Get out there if it goes wrong it goes wrong – It’s always nice to kill a few Nazis too! I read the script and I fucking loved everything about this old school war film that’s not Americanised in any way shape or form. Theres not been a film told through the British armed forces eyes in a while really and I love that – I buzzed off that!

Dyers observation of a truly British production is valid but it’s a doubled edged sword. One side you’ve got patriotism and best of British and the other you’ve got the small budget and slightly cheap TV movie feel to the piece as a whole.  The budget was so tight that it limited the amount of boot camp training to a matter of days, meant they couldn’t afford to use proper blanks in the guns (although you’d never know) and has seen the movie only released in  only six cinemas nation wide – much to Dyer’s annoyance.

DD: Ideally when your making a film like this you should go and have 6 weeks on a boot camp but we didn’t have the time or money….It’s all bollocks at the end of the day – I think they’ve [the distributer Metrodome ] not really taken a risk with it – which I think they should have done – and they’re tying to hedge they’re bets by only releasing it in six cinemas.

Maybe as an audience we’re overwhelmed by the more  ‘Hollywood’ war film, but there is something about the look style of AGE OF HEROES that is a little too clean and static and as a result it lets the movie down – even dragging down the performance of A-list-er Sean Bean whose acting chops are well renowned.

As well as being a best of British production the film has also been doing it’s bit for charity to help raise money and support for ex-soldiers with special screenings around the country. The production itself also had a help for heroes vibe

DD: The Nazi’s were played by ex-marines and soldiers so they were taking the piss out of us constantly –they had been injured in war so they couldn’t go back to fighting which is why we got them in the film. One had lost an eye, some of them had been shot, another one had post traumatic stress. So it was part of the help the heroes’ charity and to get them back working get them involved in a film.

This noble effort was also the cause of a lot of onset antics – Set and filmed in the Norwegian country side often in meters of snow – Dyer described the shoot as a six week snowball fight between the veterans and ‘poncey actors’.

DD: We felt a little bit inferior to them because we’re just pretending at the end of the day. They were there if you wanted to ask a question they’d be serious but they just ripped the piss out of us constantly…

Dyer’s admission of was a refreshing view from an actor who is associated with projecting an hard man image – and it was great to see a more humble attitude.

DD: I’ve got so much love and respect for all of them I really do – I think they’re very, very special human beings and I think we should never forget that….the war we’re fighting at the moment which is against these IEDs and stuff – its not even like you’ve got an enemy in front of you – you don’t know what your enemy is – these men and women are treading on these fucking bombs that are blowing  them up – Its just horrendous the whole thing you know and I just can’t really see an end to it.

Whilst doing our homework  THN noticed a future project titled AGE OF HONOR but much to our puzzlement the project didn’t have Dyer’s name attached – only HEROES’ director Adrian Vitoria and female lead Izabllea Mika had been announced. Things got a little prickly as the announcement seemed to be news to Dyer who exchanged glances with his management and pumped THN for info.

DD: Yeah it’s meant to be a trilogy Age of Heroes, Age of Honor and Age of Glory, I’m not attached yet because this hasn’t been release yet….(slightly disgruntled)  Who is attached to Age of Heroes ? Its based on my character so unless I’ve got the elbow and I don’t know about it, it should go ahead.

THN was bowled over by Dyer who was a complete charmer, polite (if a little blue with his language), passionate and enthusiastic about what he does.  If you look at his CV he’s a real grafter –one could argue it’s a case of quantity over quality – or that he only ever plays the same character but this could be said of a number of actors far higher up the food chain. In the 20 or so projects he’s been involved in there are 4 or 5 stand out performances that we tip our bonnets to.  The fact that Dyer is hard working and genuine only serves to make the verdict on his latest film harder to dish out:

AGE OF HEROES is a flat action movie – there are a couple nice scenes, and Dyer has a few great moments  (practice on the firing range and subsequent punishment are both neat bits) but unfortunately a low budget meant theres no depth and it’s all a little hard to buy into – It is a strange blend of some great settings and efficient plot – mixed in with ones that try to be all emotive and Schindler’s Listy – but just come off as hammy sentiment that doesn’t really tug the heart strings. Overall AGE OF HEROES feelS a bit flimsy and even some of the action sequences are a little A-team-esque.

Despite the movie not being great – Danny Dyer is!  He has a firm supporter in the THN camp. Thank you for your time Mr Dyer sorry about the verdict…but we are also look forward to some of your upcoming work – and perhaps a few performances that may just silence the critics.

Watch this space – part II of this interview is coming soon – Dyer talks Future Projects, Gillian Anderson and UFOs….