The Director Fired to Make Bulletproof Look Like a Bigger Hollywood Production

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The Director Fired to Make Bulletproof Look Like a Bigger Hollywood Production

Bulletproof / 1980s

Bulletproof began as a very different kind of project. Fred Olen Ray wrote the story under the working title Thunderblast and was originally scheduled to direct it as part of a two-picture arrangement with the fledgling production company CineTel. Ray, whose earlier work had given him a reputation for low-budget, camp-oriented genre films, had created the film’s indestructible hero with writer T. L. Lankford; the same character concept eventually resurfaced in their later film Deep Space. CineTel executives, however, wanted Bulletproof to serve as a prestige step upward for the company. Its casting director reportedly warned president Paul Hertzberg that Ray lacked the pedigree necessary to attract the better-known action star the producers wanted. Hertzberg responded by removing Ray from the director’s chair and hiring Steve Carver, whose mainstream credentials were considered more marketable. The change helped CineTel secure Gary Busey, who had just appeared in Lethal Weapon and was moving toward larger action roles. Ray received financial compensation for being dismissed, but according to accounts of the production, his relationship with Hertzberg remained strained for years. Ray then moved on to the cheaper Commando Squad for Trans World Entertainment, turning a planned promotion within CineTel into a professional rupture.