The renegade bikers in Torque tear through the new Wild West looking to raise hell on some of the world’s most powerful motorcycles, but their high speed, high-octane world explodes when vengeful motorcycle gangs collide.
Producer Neal Moritz, head of Original Film, credits fellow producer Brad Luff with bringing the Torque script to his attention. “I had wanted to make a motorcycle film for some time,” recalls Luff, “and Torque had all of the elements I was looking for: visceral action, drama and compelling characters driving the story.”
With a greenlight from Warner Bros. Pictures, Moritz and Luff moved on to their first order of business ‘ finding a director with a distinctive sense of style, one who could bring the world of lightning-fast motorcycles and daredevil stunts to the screen with a fresh, innovative approach.
Enter highly acclaimed music video director Joseph Kahn, whose unique, exciting style was the perfect fit for Torque’s fast-paced, larger-than-life action. Making his feature film directorial debut, Kahn brought with him a resume that boasts over 200 music videos for such artists as U2, Janet Jackson, Moby, Britney Spears, KoRn, Aerosmith, Destiny’s Child and DMX. Kahn won the Best Director award at the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards for Eminem’s hit Without Me.
“I’ve known Joseph for a long time,” says Moritz, “and I’ve watched his career blossom. I think he makes the best and most groundbreaking videos. We were looking for someone who could give Torque an inventive look and feel and there was no better candidate than Joseph.”
Luff echoes this sentiment, calling Kahn’s videos “amazing, totally cutting edge. We agreed that his style would bring an originality and hipness to the project.”
Kahn was initially drawn to Torque because directing the film afforded him the chance to take his work into a new arena, and in doing so, redefine it. “There has never been a great motorcycle chase movie,” he says, “and I felt that this project could give me the opportunity to show some of my visual style. I also felt that by grounding the action in a love story, on top of all the visuals, I could make the characters breathe. I want the audience to feel the emotion of the story, to get wrapped up in the fantasy.”
To achieve this, the filmmakers assembled an ensemble cast of talented up-and-coming young actors, anchored by Martin Henderson, who was chosen to take on the role of fugitive biker Cary Ford. After Martin’s audition, everyone agreed immediately that they had found their leading man.
“When he walked through the door and read the lines, we just connected ‘ he spoke my language and I spoke his,” recalls Kahn, who sees in Henderson some of the same qualities that he admires in action heroes like Steve McQueen, Mel Gibson and Harrison Ford. “He’s got looks, charisma and acting ability ‘ a very potent mix.”
A newcomer to the action genre, Henderson was attracted to the irreverent attitude that Ford brings to the screen. When developing his character, “Joseph and I both agreed that there was a lot of benefit in making him a little more tongue in cheek, a little more humorous,” the actor recalls. “So it was fun to play someone that I see as more of a smart-ass than a total tough guy. He’s a bit of a rogue, which is always fun.”
Trouble comes to Ford in many different guises, but the most threatening is surely Trey, a powerful motorcycle gang kingpin who is set up to believe that Ford has murdered his brother. In casting the ultra-menacing biker, the filmmakers turned to well-established actor/producer/hip-hop icon Ice Cube. “When we started to discuss the character of Trey, he was the first person we thought of and we were lucky enough that he wanted to do the movie,” comments Moritz.
Kahn had previously worked with Cube on his 1997 music video The World is Mine, and was very interested in collaborating again. “I thought it was interesting to cast Ice Cube in this role,” explains Kahn, “because he can play tough and he can play fierce, but at the same time, if you think about the movies he’s popular in, he’s actually the nice guy. Especially in the Friday movies, he’s the likeable guy. So to see someone that you know as the nice guy, but know that he can be violent, was an interesting dynamic to apply to Trey. Because even though we sympathize with him, we know that he’s doing the wrong thing and we know that he’s going to kill Ford if he catches him.”
“Trey is beyond the point where he has to scare you,” says Cube. “When you meet a guy like Trey, you already know that he means business. And that he’s a guy you might not want to know, because you could cross him one day, mistakenly or not. He’s a dude you don’t want to mess with.”
Monet Mazur plays Shane, the woman Ford left behind when he went on the run. But Shane is no damsel in distress ‘ a skillful biker in her own right, she owns and operates a successful motorcycle shop. Producer Luff asserts that she is no anomaly among the women who populate Original films. “Something we strive for in our movies, especially in the action movies, is that we want strong, independent women who not only can be tough, or pretty, but are also businesswomen, and can handle themselves in all situations.”
“Shane has been alone for about six months, after Ford left without any explanation as to why,” Mazur explains. “As far as she knew, he wasn’t ever coming back. And she isn’t the kind of person to wait around for anyone ‘ she can definitely hold her own. She’s callused over that part of her that loves him and become a little bit tougher and a little bit harder than she was before she met him. So the first time you see them together, you really wouldn’t want to be in his shoes.”
Henderson agrees. “When Ford comes back, he knows that he’s gonna have to confront everything else he was running away from, but he arrogantly thinks that he’ll be fine, that his plan will work out and he knows exactly what to do. And, of course, that’s not necessarily the case.”
Ford’s trusted buddies, hotheaded Dalton and Val, the consummate ladies man, are played by Jay Hernandez and Will Yun Lee. It was vital that the three actors’ chemistry work onscreen, since it is their longtime bond that compels Dalton and Val to risk their lives by helping Ford escape his would-be assassins. Luckily, the strong relationships that formed on set between all the cast members during shooting extended to the three amigos. “The guys definitely bonded,” says Luff. “You really buy that they’ve been friends for a long time.”
“Jay and Will are amazing,” agrees Henderson. “There should be a movie just about those two, they’re hilarious together. They’re like two feuding best friends who constantly give each other a hard time.”
Hernandez says of his character’s motivation, “Dalton’s just a crazy guy who loves bikes, loves riding, and is real tight with Val and Ford from way back when. That’s his life ‘ his bikes and his friends.”
Kahn and Lee were eager to take a new angle with Val. “We wanted to flip the Asian male stereotype,” Lee explains, “so Val is into hard rock music, he gets all the girls. Things can be exploding, guns going off, and Val’s the only guy who’s calm, reading a magazine. I think a lot of the chemistry between Val and Dalton comes from the fact that Dalton’s the one thing that ruins Val’s Zen.”
Ford and company are not only fleeing from the vengeful Trey ‘ there’s also the imminent threat provided by Henry, disreputable and dangerous leader of the Hellions biker gang, who is looking for some revenge of his own. Matt Schulze plays the dangerous criminal. “Matt is fantastic as this ruthless, outlaw biker,” Luff raves.
Every Clyde has his Bonnie, and in Henry’s case, it’s his devilishly evil girlfriend China, played by Jaime Pressly, who is just as dark and dangerous as he is ‘ maybe more. As Pressly puts it, “There’s the good, the bad and the evil in this movie. And we’d be the evil.”
The other side of the law is also hot on Ford’s trail. FBI agents McPherson and Henderson, played by Adam Scott and Justina Machado, are racing to apprehend Ford before Trey or Henry get their hands on him and remove their quarry from the face of the Earth. But lawman or not, McPherson is not above getting creative to make his bust. “As far as FBI agents go, if not rogue, McPherson definitely does things in his own unique fashion,” muses Scott. “Let’s just say that J. Edgar Hoover would not approve of Jay McPherson. I think the only thing they share is the first initial.”
“Most of the characters in the script were based on biker archetypes,” comments Kahn. “They’re pretty broad ‘ there’s the funny guy, the sexy guy, the strong girl, the bad girl ‘ but the trick, then, became finding a way to manifest these archetypes in a slightly abstract new way.”
Kahn had definite ideas about how he wanted the entire cast to look and had detailed discussions with the heads of the make-up, hair and costuming teams during pre-production. The director wanted an authentic biker look that also displayed a hip and trendy style.
Costume designer Elizabetta Beraldo created a wide variety of insignias for the characters’ clothes that reflected the individual personality of the wearer. Val, for instance, sports Chinese characters on his jacket, one meaning ‘love’ and one meaning ‘truth,’ that reflect not only his Asian heritage but his character’s Zen approach to life.
In addition to the designs, color was also a key element. We see Monet Mazur’s Shane wearing a tight-fitting, deep blue jacket and pants by FNA that correspond with her cobalt blue Triumph TT600 bike. Ford is dressed in a deep red suit by Bates that mirrors his red Aprilia Mille RSV. These vibrant colors stand out beautifully against the muted colors of the open desert where much of the chase takes place.
By far, the most dramatic look was saved for Jaime Pressly, whose character China was given an dark, intense goth-biker look. With her dramatic make-up, piercings and elaborate tattoos, she unquestionably exemplifies the baddest of the bad girls.
The wardrobe for Ice Cube’s Reaper gang features an added dimension ‘ the filmmakers wanted to blend motorcycle gear with an urban hip-hop element. To establish this, pieces from Vanson Leather and Avirex jackets were mixed with chains and head gear.
The Torque cast wears some of the hippest leatherwear ever seen on screen, provided by top companies including Joe Rocket, Alpine Star, Bates, Schott and FNA. Shoes and gloves were provided by CAT, Triumph, Joe Rocket, SAO and Alpine Star. Of course, cool-looking leathers have some warmer disadvantages. “It was insanely hot ‘ about 107 degrees ‘ and we were wearing full leather suits,” recalls Henderson “The make-up artists are dabbing all the sweat out of your eyes and the reflector boards are in your faces’and there you are, trying to remain composed and cool. It was tough.”
It was decided that no self-respecting biker should be without a tattoo, and head makeup artist Kathleen Crawford and makeup artist Rick Sharp duplicated Beraldo’s designs and applied their works of art using a revolutionary new process only recently developed for the screen. (Actors used to sit for hours at a time while several makeup artist painstakingly stenciled and painted their bodies. While working on Pearl Harbor, make-up artist Christien Tinsley came up with an easy-to-apply, authentic-looking tattoo process that cut the application time down to a fraction of what it once was.) Once the tattoo design is completed, the artwork is transferred onto a clear cellophane material, then sprayed with a medical adhesive called Prosaid and easily and quickly applied with water. The use of the Tinsley transfer saved hundreds of hours in the makeup trailer over the length of the Torque shoot.
As with their wardrobe, each character’s hair style was chosen to accentuate their look. For China, hairstylist Dugg Kirkpatrick gave Pressly jet black hair extensions that were airbrushed at the base and lastly covered with grease. Hernandez’s head was shaved and Lee’s hair was given a Samurai style. Schulze, however, may have ended up with the most memorable look.
“I decided I was just gonna straight up give him a mullet,” says Kahn, “and see if I can make people say, ‘Wow, that mullet’s kind of beautiful and he actually looks pretty cool.'”
According to Kirkpatrick, with the exception of Monet Mazur, whose character Shane’s look is not quite as down-and-dirty, Joseph’s direction was to give the rest of the cast a “greasy, dirty, smelly look.” No matter what the style, the final element to everyone’s look was the addition of a healthy dose of grease.
Torque (2004)
Directed by: Joseph Kahn
Starring: Ice Cube, Matt Schulze, Martin Henderson, Jaime Pressly, Adam Scott, Monet Mazur. Jay Hernandez, Gichi Gamba, Faizon Love, Justina Machado, Hayden McFarland, Christina Milian
Screenplay by: J.P. Donahue, Kevin Polay, Matt Johnson
Production Design by: Peter J. Hampton
Cinematography by: Peter Levy
Film Editing by: David Blackburn, Howard E. Smith
Costume Design by: Elisabetta Beraldo
Set Decoration by: Rand Sagers
Art Direction by: James Shanahan
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for violence, sexuality, language, drug references.
Distributed by: Warner Bros. Pictures
Release Date: January 16, 2004
Visits: 259
