"I like high impact movies."

"I don't want to be made pacified or made comfortable. I like stuff that gets your adrenaline going."

"Right now, there's the illusion of order and civilization, but there's a tremendous amount of economic tension in this country and the educational system is constantly eroding."

"Character and emotionality don't always have to be relegated to quieter, more simple constructs."

"Our film examines the heroism, courage and prowess of the Soviet submarine force in ways never seen before."

"When he brought it to me four years ago, Rodney King had just arrived, I was involved in the clean-up of L.A. and I guess it was part of my experience."

"I did a pilot for Anything But Love in 1988 that didn't sell."

"One of the elements in the film that really fascinated me was not to look at the world in bi-polar terms of us vs them or east vs west, which was a by-product of the Cold War."

"I don't believe in censorship in any form."

"When I made my first film, I didn't think of it as directing, so it wasn't like I set out to become a director."

"My movement from painting to film was a very conscious one."

"When James Cameron brought me the script, which I developed with both Cameron and Jay Cocks, I wanted to make it a thriller, an action film, but with a conscience, and I found that it had elements of social realism."

"One should make morals judgements for oneself."

"If there's specific resistance to women making movies, I just choose to ignore that as an obstacle for two reasons: I can't change my gender, and I refuse to stop making movies."

"I think violence in a cinematic context can be, if handled in a certain way, very seductive."

"There should be more women directing; I think there's just not the awareness that it's really possible."

"Whereas painting is a more rarefied art form, with a limited audience, I recognized film as this extraordinary social tool that could reach tremendous numbers of people."

"You never think the universe will reward your first choice - it just doesn't work like that."

"On the other hand, I believe there's hope, because the breakdown and the repair are happening simultaneously."