Quotes from James Gunn

I saw 'Fifth Element' once when it first came out and never thought much of it.

Writing a comic book series, you're so reliant on whoever the artist is. It truly is collaboration.

I always felt restrained by lower-budget films. I enjoyed making them, and I felt fulfilled, but I really did always want to make bigger movies.

'Monty Python And The Holy Grail' is a hugely important movie to me. I remember watching it for the first time on cable when I was about 13 years old.

By isolating the issues of race, gender, sexual orientation, climate change, environment, governance, economics, catastrophe and whatever other problems the present embodies or the future may bring, science fiction can do what Dickens and Sinclair did: make real the consequences of social injustice or human folly.

If I get a gig or I don't get a gig, I really have never, ever, ever cared.

My life isn't just one genre. It's a romance one minute, an action movie the next - it's actually rarely, rarely an action film, to be frank.

When 'Blade Runner' came out, and especially, even actually when 'Alien' came out, it kind of changed how all science fiction movies were designed after that. And that was a really great thing. Now we're watching a lot of movies that are Xeroxes of Xeroxes of Xeroxes of Xeroxes of 'Blade Runner.'

The movies I like watching the most are these sort of cinema verite, handheld films where you really get gritty with people. But I also have this strange affinity for old Rock Hudson/Doris Day movies and things that sort of pop out where you see the frames, where you have these 2D animation moments and split-screens and things like that.

There will be a 'Guardians 3,' that's for sure. We're trying to figure it out. I'm trying to figure out what I want to do. Really, that's all it is.

Scooby's the greatest cartoon character ever. He isn't cute like Mickey or smart like Bugs or fearless like Woody and Buzz - he's a talking dog who's more human than I am. It's his humanity and imperfections that make him special.

My favorite dark comedy, which is also one of my favorite films of all time, is 'After Hours.' I've seen 'After Hours' as much as almost any film I've ever seen in my life; I've watched it dozens of times, and I still watch it once a year. I still get a thrill out of it every time I see it.

That is who my people are - the oddballs, the rebels, and the geeks. That's what I am, so it's what I naturally feel connected to.

Money doesn't buy happiness, but it does buy happier.

I love the attention and I hate the attention, you know? It's not always good for your soul.

The majority of my life is 'Guardians,' but being able to clean my brain a little bit by doing something totally different like 'Belko' was incredibly helpful to the creative process.

When I got hired to do 'Guardians,' it was the dream of a lifetime for me. This is what I've been working towards. I've always wanted to create a space adventure, and especially a space adventure with a raccoon. Now that I'm finally able to do it, I created exactly the movie I wanted to make.

I have to say, I feel a weird sort of calling in filmmaking that I didn't feel with other things. I feel like there are things in life you want to do, and then things you are called to do, and hopefully you can allow yourself to want to do whatever you're called to do.

Let's face it: there's still a certain amount of racism in human beings, so that shows up in Hollywood.

Let me tell you one thing: there is no more cutthroat place to be than an independent film. Disney is a cakewalk after that - that is no lie.

Science fiction writers aren't in the prediction business; they're in the speculation business, using 'hasn't happened' or 'hasn't happened yet' to create entertaining scenarios that may or may not anticipate future realities.

I like to be able to feel as many parts of myself while watching a movie at one time. I think that's what 'Super' is - it's funny, but it's also sad. It's very touching in certain ways, and it's also got a very dark sense of humor. So it's allowed to go anywhere.

I've always believed in the power of rational thinking and behavior as the savior of the world, and science fiction as a powerful medium to encourage that, which explains my signature line, 'Let's save the world through science fiction.'

Movies aren't machines. They interact with our brains.