Joe Rogan Experience #2114 - Zack Snyder

Zack Snyder 0:00 (drumbeats) Joe Rogan podcast, check it out. The Joe Rogan Experience.

Joe Rogan 0:06 Train by day, Joe Rogan podcast by night, all day. (instrumental music) We're up. What's going on, man? How are you?

Zack Snyder 0:14 I'm good. I'm-

Joe Rogan 0:14 Welcome aboard. Thank you for being here.

Zack Snyder 0:16 No, thanks for having me.

Joe Rogan 0:17 My pleasure. You, you made two of my all-time favorite movies.

Zack Snyder 0:22 Right.

Joe Rogan 0:22 The Watchmen-

Zack Snyder 0:23 Okay.

Joe Rogan 0:23 ... which I fucking love.

Zack Snyder 0:24 Okay, awesome.

Joe Rogan 0:25 And 300.

Zack Snyder 0:26 Okay, awesome.

Joe Rogan 0:26 Those are two ... I have like a top 20 list, I've never like formally put together a top 20 list, but those are in there-

Zack Snyder 0:32 Oh, that's cool.

Joe Rogan 0:32 ... for sure.

Zack Snyder 0:32 Well, uh, first of all, I appreciate that 'cause, uh, you know, 300 was a complete labor of love and an insane ... Like, you know, 300 was ... I wa- I, I was a Frank Miller fan for a long time, right? And I, I thought the fr- I thought I would do another. I thought I would do Dark Knight Returns, frankly. That was the movie I wanted. I still wanna do it. I, I always tell everyone, like, Dark Knight Returns. If I could do Dark Knight Returns, I'd be done with comic book movies.

Joe Rogan 1:00 Really?

Zack Snyder 1:00 'Cause ... Well, because, like, if you've done Watchmen. Oh, sorry, I'm banging the mic.

Joe Rogan 1:04 That's okay.

Zack Snyder 1:04 If, if, if you do Watchmen and Dark Knight Returns, like, for me, your g- your g- your legacy is set.

Joe Rogan 1:11 Mm-hmm.

Zack Snyder 1:12 So, like Batman v Superman literally steals a lot of Dark Knight Returns. I'm not gonna say it didn't, it did. But it's still not Dark Knight Returns, so-

Joe Rogan 1:21 Hm.

Zack Snyder 1:22 ... I think that's still out there, but I always ... You know, for a long time, I had that. I had 300, like, on my coffee table at my house when I was making TV commercials, you know, and I'd have my friends over. I'd be like, "I'm gonna make this one day. It's gonna look exactly like this comic book."

Joe Rogan 1:36 (laughs)

Zack Snyder 1:36 And they'd be like, "Yeah, yeah." You're- (laughs) "Sure it is." And, uh, yeah, I was having a, a general meeting with Gianni Nunnari, who was one of the producers, and he was asking me about what I like, and he had that graphic novel in his office.

Joe Rogan 1:52 Oh, wow.

Zack Snyder 1:52 Like, on his table, and I went, "Well, okay, you know what? If I could do anything, that book right there, I would make that." And he goes, "Well, what do you mean? How would you make it?" And I literally just opened it up, and I go, "We'd make ... We'd film this. We'd film these pictures. It would look like this." And he goes, "Okay, that's cool. Like, so you're saying you would just shoot the movie and it would look like this graphic novel?" I go, "That's what I'm saying." And I think ... And that's what ... But, but at the time, we couldn't sell it. We tried. We went around town with it. We tried to ... I literally ... We went to all the studios. Um, you know, they were all kind of, um, kind of like, "Yeah, sword and sandals? Eh."

Joe Rogan 2:34 Wasn't it the same time that Troy was being made?

Zack Snyder 2:36 It was exactly the same time as Troy, and when we went to Warner Brothers originally with it, they, they literally were like, "We have, we have Troy, so why would we want this?" "We have Brad Pitt. Like, literally Brad Pitt is in our movie. What are you ... " I go, "We're gonna do something crazy. We're not even gonna shoot it outside." (laughs) And they were like, "What? Okay, you're nuts."

Joe Rogan 2:57 (laughs)

Zack Snyder 2:58 And I go, "Yeah, we're not gonna go for one shot outside." We ended up going for one shot outside for this when the Persian messengers are coming, that super high-speed shot where the horses are kinda coming over the hill. We shot that outside because we just couldn't (laughs) get the horses going fast enough in the ... It's the shot right before this, I think.

Joe Rogan 3:15 Oh, I missed the shot.

Zack Snyder 3:15 Oh, no, it's this one. That's it. It's that shot. So that shot was the, the horses. That was a high-speed shot we did with PhotoSonics outside, but that was it. That's like the only shot outside. Everything else is on stage.

Joe Rogan 3:26 'Cause you couldn't get the horses to run fast enough inside.

Zack Snyder 3:26 'Cause we couldn't get the horses fast enough inside, yeah.

Joe Rogan 3:28 Yeah.

Zack Snyder 3:28 And we ... And it, it was too expensive. That was a low-budget movie, you know, and we couldn't get-

Joe Rogan 3:31 300 was a low-budget movie?

Zack Snyder 3:33 Yeah, 'cause we ... I mean, we shot it all on stage, 60 days. Like, that's like why there's no director's cut of, of Watch- of 300 is because we've ... Every frame of film, we shot this in the, the shot-

Joe Rogan 3:45 You shot that movie in 60 days?

Zack Snyder 3:47 60 days, yeah. It was-

Joe Rogan 3:48 Wow.

Zack Snyder 3:48 ... it was crazy, yeah. It was-

Joe Rogan 3:49 That's insane.

Zack Snyder 3:50 It was ... We were just ... We ... It almost killed us, but it was, it was g- it was fun. But yeah, so when we took it to Warner Brothers, they were like, you know, finally ... Well, what happened was, I did Dawn of the Dead, and then from Dawn of the Dead, uh, I ca- I was supposed to do I Am Legend, right? And I Am Legend was this movie that was at Warner Brothers that they were like, "What do you think?" And then for some ... There was some kinda crazy mix-up, and they ended up giving that movie to someone else. And then I think they felt bad or whatever, and they said, "Well, what, what do you wanna do?" And I said, "Well, I really still wanna do 300." (laughs) And so we sa- we shot that test shot. There's a ... I think it's on the DVD. There's a test shot we did, and they said, "Okay, if you can make the movie look like that, go, go, go, go do it."

Joe Rogan 4:36 Was that one of the first movies that was ever shot in front of a green screen?

Zack Snyder 4:39 (coughs)

Joe Rogan 4:39 Like, basically most of the movie except that one scene.

Zack Snyder 4:42 (coughs) Sorry. Yeah, I don't think it was like ... Look, green screen photography was like a well-known way to make a movie, visual effects and all that.

Joe Rogan 4:49 A whole movie?

Zack Snyder 4:50 Yeah, I don't know about a whole movie. That, that, that was weird. Uh, uh, I always say, like, they go like, "Well, what innovations? Like, what ..." And I always go like, "It's basically the same technology that the weatherman uses."

Joe Rogan 5:00 (laughs)

Zack Snyder 5:00 You know, like when, (laughs) you know when he stands in front of the green screen and says like, "Oh, the front's coming in from the north." You know, it's literally, yeah, it's literally the same ... It's literally the same technology, you know, as a, as a ... 'Cause look, that g- easily you could put like the weather behind that guy right there-

Joe Rogan 5:17 Mm-hmm.

Zack Snyder 5:17 ... and it'd be the same. That's, uh, that's Eli. That's my son. Uh-

Joe Rogan 5:21 Oh, wow.

Zack Snyder 5:21 He's now making movies. He was the second unit director on Rebel Moon.

Joe Rogan 5:25 Oh, that's so cool.

Zack Snyder 5:25 (laughs) Yeah, he's ... He also plays the young Rorschach in, uh, in, um-

Joe Rogan 5:30 Watchmen?

Zack Snyder 5:31 In Watchmen.

Joe Rogan 5:31 Really?

Zack Snyder 5:31 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 5:31 Wow.

Zack Snyder 5:32 Like the ba- the baby Rorschach, yeah. 'Cause like e- e- you put your kid in a movie, and I always was like, "Oh, let, let's have Eli do that 'cause it's easier, you know." And like, he has to, like, beat the other kid up. Just Eli's better 'cause like I don't have to talk to like some, you know, other ... 'Cause like actually there's a scene in Watchmen, you know, where he bites the kid's face.

Joe Rogan 5:48 Mm-hmm.

Zack Snyder 5:49 And he pulls the flesh off the face, and I go, I ... "You know what? Let's just get E- E to do it." 'Cause then I could just be like, "Okay, E, bite this. Now pull it, or like rip it off."

Joe Rogan 5:57 Right.

Zack Snyder 5:58 The only troubling part of that is that there was a scene that we did, um, in that movie where the ... You know, because Rorschach's mom was a prostitute, right?... so there's that scene where Rorschach's mom, in the flashback's like, "I should have had that abortion!" Right? And she slaps him in the face, right? Because, 'cause he hears, "Mom, is he hurting you?" Like, 'cause she's having sex with some, some John in there, and then she opens the door and she's like, you know. He's like, "Is he hurting you?" "I should have had that abortion!" Slapped him. And I had wanted the mother to be topless in that scene, and they were like, "Nah, like, you can't have..." And it's cool because his mother was visiting set that day and his mom, um, was there, and she was like, "Oh, you're putting our son in a movie." Like, we weren't together at the time, um, his mom and I, but she, we were really close friends. But (laughs) like she was an actress, and I said... And they went, "The only way that the woman can be topless is if it was actually his mom." And I was like, "Uh!" I go, "Denise."

Joe Rogan 7:03 (laughs)

Zack Snyder 7:03 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 7:03 And she was like, "You're..."

Zack Snyder 7:04 No chance. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 7:06 (laughs) Imagine asking your ex-wife-

Zack Snyder 7:09 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 7:09 ... to play a terrible prostitute who slaps their son and says, "I wish I had an abortion." Holy shit.

Zack Snyder 7:15 I go, "Come on, it's for the drama. It's not like..." (gags)

Joe Rogan 7:18 Oh my God.

Zack Snyder 7:19 I know. And she was like, "You are insane." And I was like, "Come on, it would've been awesome."

Joe Rogan 7:22 It's the least slightly insane. (laughs)

Zack Snyder 7:24 Yeah, a little bit.

Joe Rogan 7:24 But that would be the only way to do it.

Zack Snyder 7:26 (laughs) Yeah.

Joe Rogan 7:26 Could you see-

Zack Snyder 7:27 With the boobs on her?

Joe Rogan 7:28 ... CGI boobs on her?

Zack Snyder 7:28 Yeah. That, that's cool. At the time, probably. Now I think we could.

Joe Rogan 7:32 Yeah.

Zack Snyder 7:32 Now I think we could have. Yeah, I think we could have. If I, if I had wanted to do it now, I think that's how you would do it. You'd do it, like, with, like, some sort of chest rig and they would paint 'em out and then re- redo the boobs. That'd be, that's a good idea, actually.

Joe Rogan 7:44 How much-

Zack Snyder 7:44 I'll go back in.

Joe Rogan 7:46 How much of any-

Zack Snyder 7:46 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 7:47 ... CGI was used on their bodies in 300?

Zack Snyder 7:49 Zero CGI on the body.

Joe Rogan 7:51 Really?

Zack Snyder 7:51 Really ze-

Joe Rogan 7:51 'Cause-

Zack Snyder 7:51 We didn't have the money, honestly.

Joe Rogan 7:53 So many people-

Zack Snyder 7:54 I know, it's-

Joe Rogan 7:54 ... talk so much shit.

Zack Snyder 7:56 Shit! I swear to God, I'm like... You know, you get, you need Mark Twight on this show, and then Mark'll tell you, uh, you know, Mark is, Mark trained the guys. Mark's like this amazing... He's like, uh, he, I, I've known Mark for years, and he wa- he's an incredible alpine climber. He's like this, he's just like this insane... He can shoot, he can fuckin', he can do anything that anyone can do. And like, when I asked him to train the guys, he's like, "This sounds like Hollywood bullshit." Like, train actors for a movie? Like, they're all fakers, they're all liars. And I was like, "Look, you, you will make them honest." And so he's like, "All right." So he started training everybody. Yeah, there's Mark right there. And, um, the, his gym was called Jim Jones, right? Like, just as an example of like how hard he is. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 8:40 (laughs)

Zack Snyder 8:40 Um, but yeah. And so like, you know, he had trained all these SEALs and, you know, basically, th- it was basically the same thing that he was doing with the SEALs, he did with these actors. And, uh, you can-

Joe Rogan 8:54 So a prerequisite had to be, though-

Zack Snyder 8:55 You can imagine. It-

Joe Rogan 8:56 It had to be in some form of shape.

Zack Snyder 8:57 You had to be in some shape. Some-

Joe Rogan 8:59 Yeah.

Zack Snyder 8:59 ... sh- teeny bit of shape. Uh, a couple guys came to us that were, you know, pure actors. Um, but 90%, you know, had, um, had some, had some shape, but yeah.

Joe Rogan 9:11 How much time did you have to work with them?

Zack Snyder 9:13 I'm trying to remember. Uh, normally what I like is at least five weeks. I l- I like five weeks, and I'll take more if you'll give it to me.

Joe Rogan 9:23 Sure, for a film, but I mean-

Zack Snyder 9:24 For a film.

Joe Rogan 9:25 ... to prepare physically.

Zack Snyder 9:27 Y- I, I'm talking about before the film starts. At two months or three months I like, before the film starts, of, of-

Joe Rogan 9:34 Th- that-

Zack Snyder 9:34 ... training.

Joe Rogan 9:35 That's enough time to get them into that-

Zack Snyder 9:36 It's not.

Joe Rogan 9:36 ... kinda 300 shape?

Zack Snyder 9:37 It, it, it never is. These guys trained doubly as hard, and they knew. A lot of them were athletes anyway, so they came in with, like... And Jerry had had more time. Um, and Jerry trained with his own guy. Jerry didn't, uh, train with Mark. Uh, but like, yeah, so, you know, it depends. Like, you know, when, w- Henry Cavill, um, Mark trained Henry for, um, for Superman, and, uh, that was a ver- that was a real, um, that was longer. I think that was three months or four months. Um, but yeah, it's not, it's never enough time, because you just can't get it.

Joe Rogan 10:11 Right.

Zack Snyder 10:11 And on a, like, actors, you know, they just... Ideally, you know, you'd have a, a, you know, half a year. Six months would be perfect, really.

Joe Rogan 10:20 At least.

Zack Snyder 10:21 That, yeah. I mean, just to get you, you know, visibly... You know, I always say the one thing is like, I always say the one thing about, um, movies is that, and the thing about Mark that I love was that he, he went to psychological war with the actors in the best possible way. You know, like, he, what he was looking for... He would always say, "I'm gonna put you in your pain cave, and you're gonna find out a lot about yourself when you're in there," right? "And then when you come out of the workout, you know, you're gonna, you're gonna grow." You know? "I'm gonna grow you here." And, uh, se- some people (laughs) , some people just don't, they don't like that.

Joe Rogan 11:01 (laughs)

Zack Snyder 11:01 You know? They don't... Especially people who haven't, like, you know, if-

Joe Rogan 11:04 Yeah.

Zack Snyder 11:04 ... fitness isn't like a lifestyle that they've chosen, you know?

Joe Rogan 11:07 No, that's a journey that you have to be really dedicated to go down. If you're just a kind of a casual and someone comes along and says, "I wanna put you in the pain cave," you're like, "Um, not interested in that."

Zack Snyder 11:18 Yeah. I, I think it works with actors because he makes it part of the crucible of the performance.

Joe Rogan 11:23 Mm.

Zack Snyder 11:24 You know? And I think if you can d- connect it to the performance-

Joe Rogan 11:27 Yeah.

Zack Snyder 11:27 ... it makes the training mean something. You know, I was always, I've always been like a sort of bodybuilding fan, like in the '80s. I, I trained with this guy, um, in the '80s who was just like a teacher that lived, you know? This guy Jim Arden who lived in Greenwich, Connecticut, where I grew up. He was a teacher at this school called Greenwich Country Day, which was near the boarding school that I went to. And I was like, you know, everyone expected me to be like, uh, I, I, I played soccer, I was like an athlete, I was a really... But then I sorta got into, like, weight training, and I was like, "That's what I wanna do." Everyone thought I was insane. But like, you know, it, uh, and I think it was, it was my meeting Jim and Jim being like... 'Cause Jim had this...... in the basement of Grunge Country Day, there was, like, this weirdo, Jim. And like, you know, Chris Dickerson and, like, you know, Mike Katz, all these like crazy '80s bodybuilders would show up and train with him. And it was like this weird ... I'd be like, "This is awesome." And like, we went to the Olympia, like he took us to the Olympia in New York City. I don't ... What year was that? Like '82 or '3. I forget what year. But anyway, it was just really cool, and I was just in this ... And then, of course, I was like, you know, Schwarzenegger. I read his, like, book, Education of a Bodybuilder. You know, it's a weirdo book. I didn't re-

Joe Rogan 12:39 So, did you get involved in bodybuilding yourself?

Zack Snyder 12:41 I mean, I trained with Jim 'cause I thought like, "Okay, yeah, maybe I'll be a bodybuilder one day. That'd be cool." Like, you know. But, of course, like, I was also painting and I, I remember when I, when I was a senior in high school, after I graduated, I went to London for a year, to art school, to paint. And I lost like 40 pounds of muscle in th- um, in that year. Just (laughs) like literally, I was in like the best shape of my life, went to England to be a painter. And like literally just ate baked beans on toast for a year, and like starved to death. Uh.

Joe Rogan 13:11 Oh, wow.

Zack Snyder 13:11 But I was like, "This is amazing." You know, like, "I'm an artist." You know, but it was, it was definitely, it definitely put a, put a, uh ... But I always had the like, but I always had that aesthetic, you know, bug in my head. And now I have ... My trainer now is this guy, Alessandro. He trained everyone for Rebel Moon, and he's like this, he's like six- in his early 60s, Italian, was a bodybuilder. Was a powerlifter, became a bodybuilder. And he's like, you know, he's just like this Ita- he's a hard Italian. No bullshit. Like, you know. It was cool because on the, during the, during the training for Rebel Moon, one of the actors was like, "I have an idea for a workout. Do you wanna hear it?" And he's like, "I have an idea for a movie."

Joe Rogan 13:50 (laughs)

Zack Snyder 13:51 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 13:54 Stay in your lane.

Zack Snyder 13:55 Exactly.

Joe Rogan 13:56 (laughs)

Zack Snyder 13:56 He's like ... Or like the guys at the gym, like, 'cause you know he used to like judge bodybuilding competitions and, you know, has his pro card and everything. Was like a real bodybuilder. And they'd say like, "Hey, can you come and look at me? You know, I, I have a contest coming up in the bathroom." And he, they go in there and the guy'd take his shirt off and he'd be like, "How long 'til the competition?" And they'd go ... he'd be like, "I got two months 'til the competition." And Alessandro'd be like, "I think next year, for you, is gonna be better." (laughs)

Joe Rogan 14:20 Wow.

Zack Snyder 14:20 You know, it's like, oh. No, and he has no problem with saying, you know, like, "I think I need to lose like 40 pounds." "More like 80." (laughs)

Joe Rogan 14:27 (laughs) Jesus.

Zack Snyder 14:27 He's like, he's hard. But he's, but he's awesome. He like, no bullshit. Like he's all ... I, I, I, I think he's ... And like, you know, he trained the guys for Rebel Moon, and he's like a pure aesthetic-

Joe Rogan 14:37 Mm-hmm.

Zack Snyder 14:37 ... trainer.

Joe Rogan 14:38 Right.

Zack Snyder 14:38 Like pure aesthetic, you know. He, he-

Joe Rogan 14:40 Just going for a look.

Zack Snyder 14:40 He's seen everything, you know.

Joe Rogan 14:41 Yeah.

Zack Snyder 14:41 And he'd just like, "Okay, you know, your abs could be sharper, you know."

Joe Rogan 14:46 Yeah. That's a weird thing.

Zack Snyder 14:47 Yeah. It's like a whole thing, you know.

Joe Rogan 14:49 Yeah.

Zack Snyder 14:49 It's like, just like-

Joe Rogan 14:50 It is a whole thing.

Zack Snyder 14:50 It's like a whole thing. Yeah.

Joe Rogan 14:51 Yeah. I had Ronnie Coleman on.

Zack Snyder 14:53 Oh, yeah.

Joe Rogan 14:53 And, uh-

Zack Snyder 14:53 Exactly.

Joe Rogan 14:54 You know, Ronnie Coleman, at one point in time, was the freak of all freaks.

Zack Snyder 14:57 Oh, he is-

Joe Rogan 14:58 Yeah.

Zack Snyder 14:58 ... hands down, like no one's ever gonna be better. Like he-

Joe Rogan 15:01 He's the freak of all freaks.

Zack Snyder 15:02 Yeah. Like he, just like the way his muscles attach-

Joe Rogan 15:04 Yeah.

Zack Snyder 15:04 ... is like crazy. Like you can't.

Joe Rogan 15:06 Well, he was probably one of the strongest bodybuilders ever.

Zack Snyder 15:09 Unbelievably strong.

Joe Rogan 15:09 And that's part of the, the reason why he looked the way he looked. He didn't look just big. He looked super powerful. Just like preposterously powerful.

Zack Snyder 15:18 Well, also the thing about Ronnie Coleman, like, you know, he ... You see like guys that are s- just incredibly swole, where they can't ... Like their muscle bound. Like they can't-

Joe Rogan 15:26 Mm-hmm.

Zack Snyder 15:26 And he could like always just like, he could just like touch his, like back of his head.

Joe Rogan 15:30 Look at him.

Zack Snyder 15:30 Just-

Joe Rogan 15:30 Look at him back in his prime, dude.

Zack Snyder 15:31 ... unbelievable. Unbelievable.

Joe Rogan 15:32 Look at that picture.

Zack Snyder 15:33 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 15:33 That is so insane.

Zack Snyder 15:34 Yeah. It's ... Alessandro, um, was in a competition with him, Night of the Champions, I think, in San Francisco, and he said like, he goes, "I come from Italy. I like, I, I'm in my first competi- I like pull a card and I'm like, realize like, I'm next to Co- Ronnie Coleman and me." I'm like, he's like, "Great. This is fucking perfect."

Joe Rogan 15:52 (laughs)

Zack Snyder 15:52 And he goes like, "The guy ..." You know, like how bodybuilders, like the whole thing is about your skin being super thin, so everything like shows.

Joe Rogan 15:59 Yeah.

Zack Snyder 15:59 He goes, and he, he goes, "I saw him backstage, and I thought, 'You know what? The skin's like not there. It's not gonna happen.'" He goes, "But then like, you know, he like ... so much muscle. He's like pulls, and it's just like ..." (imitates straining) He's like, "Oh my God. Like where, how is it possible that the skin just can't ... the muscle's so thick, it just like pushes all the-"

Joe Rogan 16:19 It stretches all the skin out.

Zack Snyder 16:20 "You see all the striations and everything, like you'd-"

Joe Rogan 16:22 Yeah.

Zack Snyder 16:22 "... do, do..." With him just relaxing, like at backstage, he thought, "Ah, I, you know, I'm more ripped than him." But then like, he's like, "No way."

Joe Rogan 16:28 It's such a weird sport because they're literally on death's door.

Zack Snyder 16:31 Oh, literally. Literally.

Joe Rogan 16:32 They dehydrate themselves to the point where they have kidney failure almost.

Zack Snyder 16:36 Oh, yeah, yeah. The only thing that's, the thing that we can all learn from the bodybuilders is, like I think that just now, in sort of everything that's happening like with longevity and like all this, like the bodybuilders will do stuff to their bodies that nobody else would dare do. They'll do dosages that no one will do. And so like it's cool to, to say like, "Okay, if you wanna know what quadruple the dose of anything does-" (laughs)

Joe Rogan 17:02 Right.

Zack Snyder 17:02 "... just (laughs) ask those guys. They'll tell you." 'Cause I think, like you'd be like, "Okay, you could, this is the most you could take, and then it's toxic. Oh, cool. I'll take triple that and see what happens."

Joe Rogan 17:11 Yeah.

Zack Snyder 17:11 You know, 'cause they just, they're all searching for like the magic bullet, you know.

Joe Rogan 17:14 It's kind of amazing how few of them have died.

Zack Snyder 17:17 I- well, and also they do die all the time, so it's not.

Joe Rogan 17:20 They do die.

Zack Snyder 17:20 It's not, yeah. They do.

Joe Rogan 17:20 But it's not like they, you would expect to kill all of them.

Zack Snyder 17:23 No, you would think every single one of them.

Joe Rogan 17:24 Like Dorian Yates is in great shape.

Zack Snyder 17:25 Like how can you be there? Yeah. And how can you have been on the edge of it for so long?

Joe Rogan 17:29 Yeah. How could you be ... Yeah. Well, he's-

Zack Snyder 17:31 The body's incredible. That's what you learn. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 17:32 He's really suffered, unfortunately, Ronnie. But I think he's-

Zack Snyder 17:35 Oh, yeah, Ronnie has.

Joe Rogan 17:35 ... suffered from surgery.

Zack Snyder 17:37 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 17:37 I think the surgery got him. You know, there's so many guys who get back surgery. And back then, stem cells weren't available and people weren't aware that there's other ways to fix your back. The doctors just wanna go in there and start fusing disks, and it scares the shit out of me now.

Zack Snyder 17:51 No, no, yeah, you-

Joe Rogan 17:51 Everybody that I know that's had that done has had real problems afterwards. It puts extra pressure on the above and below disks as well, 'cause it's an, uh, uh, it's an unnatural sort of unit now. Instead of having three pieces, you now have one.

Zack Snyder 18:05 Sure.

Joe Rogan 18:05 You know?

Zack Snyder 18:05 No, it's crazy.

Joe Rogan 18:06 It's, it can be a real problem. It can be a real problem for people.

Zack Snyder 18:09 Yeah. And I, and I, and I think that healing-... the, the science behind healing is, it, uh, you know, it's changing so much.

Joe Rogan 18:15 Leaps and bounds.

Zack Snyder 18:15 Leaps and bounds.

Joe Rogan 18:16 Yeah.

Zack Snyder 18:16 And I think that that ... Really, that's where the future is for ... In my, uh, in my opinion, like, how, how we learn to heal is really how we learn to, like, really stay, you know, active and, like-

Joe Rogan 18:27 Yeah.

Zack Snyder 18:27 ... getting stuff done for longer. Because, like, you know-

Joe Rogan 18:29 Yeah.

Zack Snyder 18:29 ... recovery is the whole thing, you know.

Joe Rogan 18:31 Oh, 100%. Recovery's the wh- And also being cognizant of what your little issues are and not letting them get chronic. When I was young, I was just too much of a meathead. And I just-

Zack Snyder 18:41 I- Ignore her, ignore her. Yeah. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 18:42 ... worked through pain. And also, when you're doing jujitsu, you're always in pain. So I was just like, "Just work through the pain." But then I started developing some, like, real chronic problems. And, um, it wasn't until I started doing stem cells and then starting un- to understand, like, you can't ... You can, but it's not wise, to just go and only do jujitsu. You really-

Zack Snyder 19:04 Correct.

Joe Rogan 19:04 ... you should be doing maintenance weightlifting that's designed to strengthen your joints. And so-

Zack Snyder 19:10 100%.

Joe Rogan 19:10 ... I really started doing that, and that made a giant difference too. And it, instead of just thinking of it as a workout, it's always like, "Okay, is your car ready to get on the track?" No, it's not. You need to change your tires. No, it's not. Your suspension's off.

Zack Snyder 19:22 Sure.

Joe Rogan 19:22 No, it's not. You need more gas. Whatever the fuck it is.

Zack Snyder 19:24 Sure, absolutely.

Joe Rogan 19:25 Treat your body like that. Don't just say, "I'm fucking tough."

Zack Snyder 19:28 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 19:28 "I'm gonna show up with the flu-"

Zack Snyder 19:30 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 19:30 "... and I'm gonna go seven rounds." No.

Zack Snyder 19:32 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 19:32 Don't do that. That's stupid, that's stupid. Every time I've ever done that, it's set me way back.

Zack Snyder 19:37 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 19:37 It's never helped me. Never one time that I was like, "Push through the pain," has it ever been good. Not a single fucking time. So now, at 56, now I'm smart enough to go, "Okay, don't do chin-ups. You're getting tendonitis in your left elbow. Stop. You know where this goes. It's right here. You hit it the same spot every time."

Zack Snyder 19:55 Every time.

Joe Rogan 19:55 "Let's start doing some wrist curls."

Zack Snyder 19:57 Every time.

Joe Rogan 19:57 "Let's start do- let's work the legs."

Zack Snyder 19:58 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 19:58 "Let's do a bunch of other shit."

Zack Snyder 20:00 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 20:00 "Let's do heavy bag rounds. Stop. Stop doing the chin-ups."

Zack Snyder 20:02 You can do a pull-down too, by the way. It's fine.

Joe Rogan 20:04 Yeah, there's different stuff you could do-

Zack Snyder 20:06 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 20:06 ... that doesn't pull on that very specific tendon, but, you know, overuse injuries, those kind of things. So, when you're doing a film like 300 and you're getting these guys prepped for this, h- ... Are you telling them what to eat? Are you-

Zack Snyder 20:22 Yeah, yeah.

Joe Rogan 20:22 Do you have a, a, a nutritionist that's-

Zack Snyder 20:24 Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's, it's awesome. If I ever put you in a movie, the cool thing is is you sh- ... You show up, you work out, they hand you food. They, like, massage you. It's, like, the greatest.

Joe Rogan 20:35 Oh, that's great.

Zack Snyder 20:36 It's the greatest.

Joe Rogan 20:36 They treat them like pro athletes?

Zack Snyder 20:37 Yeah, like pro athletes.

Joe Rogan 20:38 Oh, that's awesome.

Zack Snyder 20:38 You're just a pro athlete, and you're, like, in training camp, you know.

Joe Rogan 20:41 Dude, I just watched 300 again this summer 'cause my family and I went to, uh, went to Greece.

Zack Snyder 20:46 Oh, cool.

Joe Rogan 20:46 And so we were like-

Zack Snyder 20:47 Cool.

Joe Rogan 20:47 ... "Let's watch 300."

Zack Snyder 20:48 Yeah. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 20:48 And my 13-year-old had never seen Greek, 300 before, and she was like, "Holy shit."

Zack Snyder 20:52 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 20:52 I was like, "Yeah. That's a fucking movie."

Zack Snyder 20:55 (laughs) We were just in Greece this summer too, and it was cool 'cause we were, like, in Athens, and we were walking up to the Parthenon, and I noticed, like, all the gift shops, they had, like, Spartan shit in them, right?

Joe Rogan 21:05 Mm-hmm.

Zack Snyder 21:06 And, uh-

Joe Rogan 21:07 Yeah.

Zack Snyder 21:07 ... I go ... I said to the guide, I go, "I'm sorry about that." And she goes, "What are you talking about?"

Joe Rogan 21:11 (laughs)

Zack Snyder 21:13 (laughs) And I go, "I apologize for all this Spartan stuff in here." And she goes, "Yeah, it's that fucking movie 300." (laughs)

Joe Rogan 21:20 (laughs)

Zack Snyder 21:20 (laughs) And I said-

Joe Rogan 21:21 Did she know that you made it?

Zack Snyder 21:22 No, no.

Joe Rogan 21:23 (laughs)

Zack Snyder 21:23 (laughs) No, no.

Joe Rogan 21:23 (laughs)

Zack Snyder 21:24 And then I said ... I go, "Yeah," that's why I said, "I'm sorry. I made that movie." And she goes, "What do you mean, you made it?"

Joe Rogan 21:28 (laughs)

Zack Snyder 21:28 And I was like, "Yeah, I, I-"

Joe Rogan 21:29 "That's my movie."

Zack Snyder 21:30 "... that's my movie." And she goes, "No." And I go, "Yeah." And then she was like, "That's awesome." (laughs)

Joe Rogan 21:39 (laughs) Now she likes you.

Zack Snyder 21:40 Yeah, it was cool.

Joe Rogan 21:40 That's funny.

Zack Snyder 21:41 It was a cool swing, but it was, uh, it was-

Joe Rogan 21:42 Well, it's a fucking awesome movie, man.

Zack Snyder 21:44 That's cool. I appreciate that.

Joe Rogan 21:45 If you don't like 300, you can go eat shit.

Zack Snyder 21:47 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 21:47 Um, if anybody who didn't enjoy that m- ... What do you, uh, hate fun?

Zack Snyder 21:50 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 21:50 D- do you hate-

Zack Snyder 21:51 Well, the thing is, like, also I met a lotta, like, a lotta SEALs, a lotta, like, first responders. As you can imagine, really, really ... You know, I've seen a lot of Spartan tattoos-

Joe Rogan 22:03 Oh, yeah.

Zack Snyder 22:03 ... you know, 'cause of that. You know, and I, and I'm, and I'm proud that, uh, you know, that they find some sort of, like, inspiration-

Joe Rogan 22:09 Dude, Leonidas is-

Zack Snyder 22:11 ... you know, from that, yeah.

Joe Rogan 22:11 ... what every man wants to be.

Zack Snyder 22:12 (laughs) It's true. Yeah. You know, it's, it's, it's a, it is-

Joe Rogan 22:16 He was perfect.

Zack Snyder 22:17 He, he, he knew where ... Like, look, h- you know, he knew where his ... Uh, he knew who to look to-

Joe Rogan 22:23 Yeah.

Zack Snyder 22:23 ... to, uh, to find out whether to burn the whole thing down.

Joe Rogan 22:26 Yeah.

Zack Snyder 22:26 (laughs) And, uh, you know, she gave him the okay, and ...

Joe Rogan 22:29 It was also the movie was, uh, brutally representative of all b- of both ... It was, it was both, like, mythical and beautiful and magical, but also very tied into the ethics of the Spartans and how absolutely brutal their world was, and how they just accepted things in a way that's just, like, wow.

Zack Snyder 22:53 Yeah, that's a thing that people are always, like, you know, with me ... I mean, they ask me, like, "What about the morality of the movie? What do you think of it?" And I go, like, "Sparta is also another planet." Like if you-

Joe Rogan 23:04 Yeah.

Zack Snyder 23:04 Like, we can't ... We would not make it.

Joe Rogan 23:06 Right, right.

Zack Snyder 23:06 (laughs) Like, to say, like, "Oh, yeah, I'm cool, like, with the Spartans." I mean, they would've chucked me off the cliff, like, day one. You know, it's not like, uh-

Joe Rogan 23:13 It's hard for us to imagine-

Zack Snyder 23:14 ... a ... It's a cool thing to imagine.

Joe Rogan 23:15 Yeah.

Zack Snyder 23:15 Like, you wanna, like, say, "Yeah, I'm, I'm with the Spartans in this."

Joe Rogan 23:18 Yeah.

Zack Snyder 23:18 But, like, you know, they, they were, they were a brutal people, like-

Joe Rogan 23:23 From the jump.

Zack Snyder 23:23 They were a tool.

Joe Rogan 23:24 Yes.

Zack Snyder 23:24 They were a tool.

Joe Rogan 23:25 Yes.

Zack Snyder 23:25 Like, we have democracy maybe because they existed, but they weren't necessarily democratic. They didn't ...

Joe Rogan 23:32 Right.

Zack Snyder 23:32 There was no voting on whether or not we would, like, go in and die. Like, that was just, like, (laughs) what they wanted, you know. That was in their, like-

Joe Rogan 23:40 This-

Zack Snyder 23:40 ... you know, in their basic genetic makeup, or in their philosiph- philosophical makeup was like, "Okay, a beautiful death. If I can get one of those, I'm good."

Joe Rogan 23:50 Yeah.

Zack Snyder 23:50 "I'm good. And I won't give it to you, you gotta take it."

Joe Rogan 23:52 Right.

Zack Snyder 23:53 But yeah, that's, that, that, that's a ... I love that, like, Fassbender when he's, like, looking down and he says that whole thing about, like, "You know what's awesome is that with all the world's armies, you know, there's gotta be one guy down there at that fucking place that can kill me th- and do it right."

Joe Rogan 24:10 Yeah.

Zack Snyder 24:10 You know?

Joe Rogan 24:10 Yeah.

Zack Snyder 24:11 And they're like, "Are you serious? Like, that's what's turning you on? You're excited about the fact that the guy that kills me might be down there?" Like, that's-

Joe Rogan 24:18 But it's also-

Zack Snyder 24:18 ... crazy.

Joe Rogan 24:18 ... I think when we look at things like that and we put ourselves in the mindset of someone who lived so many years ago, like that, there's this-... there's this understanding that human beings are capable of fitting into a bunch of different bizarre groups. V- a bunch of different strange cultures can rise, and when you have a particularly barbaric time in history, and you have this group of people in Athens that are literally changing the world through democracy, and through the Eleusinian mysteries, and all the shit that they were doing where people are traveling from all over the globe to come to this one spot. And then you got these fucking savages. These people are the savages of savages-

Zack Snyder 25:06 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 25:06 ... the Spartans.

Zack Snyder 25:07 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 25:07 They're the, like ... If you think about i- o- if, if someone says, like, "What kind of a warrior would you want to be?"

Zack Snyder 25:13 Right.

Joe Rogan 25:13 If you're a little kid, "I want to be a Spartan."

Zack Snyder 25:15 Yeah, of course. It's why-

Joe Rogan 25:15 It's like, they were the craziest.

Zack Snyder 25:16 ... all these sports teams have Spartans as their-

Joe Rogan 25:18 Right.

Zack Snyder 25:18 ... like, mascots, you know?

Joe Rogan 25:19 Yeah. And to imagine that there was a group of people that existed, a culture that existed, that was completely warlike and had these tenets that were just unbendable.

Zack Snyder 25:30 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 25:30 And from the time you were a child, they tested you.

Zack Snyder 25:34 Yeah, that's it.

Joe Rogan 25:34 And if you, if you fucked up, if you failed, if you fell apart, if you quit, you were chucked out.

Zack Snyder 25:39 Yeah, the Krypteia, like, they, they, you know, that, that whole thing, like, where they, they would send you ... Like, around seven, you'd go, in the agoge, you'd go, like, into the wilderness, and you're basically living among other kids that were between, like, seven and 13. And you just were, like, wild. And they ... And th- and the, and the, the, the sort of elite of those groups were called the Krypteia. And the Krypteia would come down and just kill Helots whenever they wanted. Like, they were encouraged. The Helots were that slave, the slave class that the, that the Spartans sort of, that maintained Spartan society. And these guys, these kids ... Imagine, like, if you lived (laughs) you know, in, like, in the hills, you knew there was just, like, this 13-year-old gang of 13-year-olds that were gonna just come down and murder you at any moment.

Joe Rogan 26:22 And they were encouraged to murder you.

Zack Snyder 26:22 And they were encouraged to do it, because they, like ... And also, the Helots were fine. If the Helots killed them, that was fine, because that meant they, that they weren't good enough anyway. And then they would have this, like ... They did this ritual with this, like, table of cheese, where, like, all these Spartan warriors would stand around the table. And all the 13-year-olds who were ready to, like, transition into becoming true Spartans, you'd have to, like, try and get and pull a piece of cheese off this stone table. And the, and the Spartan warriors who guarded the table could do anything to stop you.

Joe Rogan 26:52 Oh, God.

Zack Snyder 26:52 And it was just, like, just beating the crap out of these 13-year-olds when they ... And finally, like, you know, if you got it, then you were, you were given to a, a Spartan soldier who raised you. And basically, the idea was that you ... He was your lover, he was your teacher, he was everything to you. Because the Spartans believed that ... You know, really, they believed that y- you, you would die for your, your brother if you were also lovers. You know, they thought-

Joe Rogan 27:19 Right.

Zack Snyder 27:19 ... they thought that, like, "If you are confused about why we're fighting, fight for that guy, who's not only-"

Joe Rogan 27:25 Right.

Zack Snyder 27:25 "... your best buddy, but, like ..." Uh, there's, like, a story, I guess, where they were like, "The Spart ... When the Persians first came, they sent a scout over. And th- and they looked down at the Spartans right, the night before the big battle." And he goes ... He went back, and he goes, "They were all, like, having sex with each other. It was, like, a weird ..." Like, they're-

Joe Rogan 27:41 (laughs)

Zack Snyder 27:41 They're like, "It's n- we're, we're gonna be good." And th- and th- there was this, one of the Spartans kings was ... The old Spartan king was now working with the Persians, and said, like, "Oh, no, we're fucked. They're saying goodbye to each other. Do you know, like, do you know what that means? Like, we're completely screwed. Like, they're gonna ... (laughs) Like, we're gonna get murdered tomorrow." You know? Like ... And, and they were like, "You're, you're nuts. You don't know what you're talking about." Like, "They're a bunch of softies. Like, let's go get 'em."

Joe Rogan 28:06 (laughs) What if that's the key to the, to being the g- the absolute greatest army? You have to be gay.

Zack Snyder 28:12 Yeah, I-

Joe Rogan 28:12 You have to be gay.

Zack Snyder 28:13 Well, uh, there's precedent, so I don't know.

Joe Rogan 28:15 There is precedent.

Zack Snyder 28:16 Yeah, so-

Joe Rogan 28:16 Right?

Zack Snyder 28:16 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 28:17 Like, imagine if that was applied today.

Zack Snyder 28:20 Yeah, could be amazing.

Joe Rogan 28:21 Yeah. But, well, that would be a real problem.

Zack Snyder 28:23 We'll see, we'll see.

Joe Rogan 28:23 Fa- the family structure. (laughs)

Zack Snyder 28:25 (laughs) We'll see what they say. Yeah. Well, and I, I ... By the way, in the end, the Spartans had a real problem, because they couldn't ... We talk ... There's this really crazy thing, like, where on their wedding night, they would have to shave the head of your bride and dress her like a man, and she would fight you, because there was no ...

Joe Rogan 28:40 That was the only way they got hard?

Zack Snyder 28:41 That was the only way they could get it, yeah, get aroused.

Joe Rogan 28:43 Oh my God. That's-

Zack Snyder 28:43 Because, like, they needed, like-

Joe Rogan 28:45 ... so (laughs) weird.

Zack Snyder 28:45 Like, unless they got, like, unless they got, like, a bloody lip, you know, they were, like, not ... It wasn't gonna happen.

Joe Rogan 28:50 Wow.

Zack Snyder 28:50 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 28:50 That's so insane.

Zack Snyder 28:51 Isn't that crazy?

Joe Rogan 28:52 That's so insane.

Zack Snyder 28:52 So, like, you can imagine that it was hard to, like, keep the ... You know, generate enough offspring, you know-

Joe Rogan 28:58 Right.

Zack Snyder 28:59 ... with that. Like, you had an awesome army.

Joe Rogan 29:01 Right.

Zack Snyder 29:02 They were fucking the best. But, like, you, your ... As far as your procreation was going, it wasn't awesome.

Joe Rogan 29:07 God, imagine being a woman back then too.

Zack Snyder 29:09 Well, they had to run the whole show, because-

Joe Rogan 29:11 Right.

Zack Snyder 29:11 ... basically, the guys were just training. So they-

Joe Rogan 29:14 Right.

Zack Snyder 29:14 All the commerce and, like, the deals they were making to, like, you know, "Okay, we're gonna make a good trade deal with this ..." Th- that was all done by the women, because, like, the-

Joe Rogan 29:23 Mm-hmm.

Zack Snyder 29:23 ... the guys were like, "No, we're gotta, we gotta fucking work out." (laughs)

Joe Rogan 29:28 (laughs)

Zack Snyder 29:28 It's kinda awesome in some ways. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 29:29 It's kinda awesome, but it's kinda crazy.

Zack Snyder 29:31 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 29:31 And it's kinda crazy in that it requires you to be gay to be the greatest army, because that's the one element. How much do you love this person beside you?

Zack Snyder 29:41 Yeah, you gotta love 'em with everything.

Joe Rogan 29:42 Yeah.

Zack Snyder 29:42 You gotta love 'em with everything.

Joe Rogan 29:42 I mean, imagine the difference between you being with some random stranger on the street and a bunch of thugs attack the random stranger, how you would treat it versus if they attacked your wife.

Zack Snyder 29:53 Your loved one. Yeah. You-

Joe Rogan 29:54 Yeah.

Zack Snyder 29:54 ... do anything. You'd fight-

Joe Rogan 29:55 It's different.

Zack Snyder 29:56 It's totally different. I did that in, in Rebel Moon. There's a bit where I put that ... There's a part where, um, Sofia's character says, like, that ... They basically say, "They encouraged me to find a lover in the military academy." Because when the politics of war became too abstract, like, "Okay, take that beach," or, like, "Climb that mountain." Y- a lot of times, you know, a soldier's like, "Wh- why?" Like, there's no why. But, like, if you're ... But if you have a lover who's next to you, who's-... your life. And if they get killed or they're in danger, you're, you get, you know-

Joe Rogan 30:34 Yeah.

Zack Snyder 30:35 ... you're gonna be back on the-

Joe Rogan 30:36 It's different.

Zack Snyder 30:36 You're back on it, yeah. And I think that it's an interesting... We don't, of course, in our modern society, we don't play with that aspect of, you know, in war. We try not to anyway. We seem not to. But you know, like, with using f- the relationship to create a bond. So it, it's an int- I mean, like, you know, there's-

Joe Rogan 30:56 There's kind of-

Zack Snyder 30:56 ... there's camaraderie, brotherhood.

Joe Rogan 30:58 Sure.

Zack Snyder 30:58 Of course. But that-

Joe Rogan 30:59 But they've replaced that-

Zack Snyder 31:00 ... it's extreme.

Joe Rogan 31:00 ... aspect of it with technology.

Zack Snyder 31:02 Yeah, a little bit. Which-

Joe Rogan 31:03 Yeah. Which is interesting, because-

Zack Snyder 31:04 And maybe that's, maybe that's good, but-

Joe Rogan 31:06 Maybe it is good.

Zack Snyder 31:07 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 31:07 But I mean, I could imagine a world in the future where things go totally sideways, where we go back to that.

Zack Snyder 31:11 Yeah. Absolutely. We'll make a movie about it. That sounds good.

Joe Rogan 31:13 (laughs) I mean, that's, that is a possible future dystopian movie.

Zack Snyder 31:18 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 31:18 Like, in a new Sparta. The Spartas of the, you know, 2059.

Zack Snyder 31:22 Well, uh, as soon as, like, you know, what, what is that Einstein thing? You know, if World War III is fought with nuclear weapons, World War IV will be fought with rocks? (laughs)

Joe Rogan 31:28 Yeah.

Zack Snyder 31:29 Sti- sticks and rocks, you know? So it's like a-

Joe Rogan 31:31 Yeah. Well, if it's world war that does it, it's probably gonna wipe out the whole race. But if it's something else, there, there could be a, th- uh, like, everyone thinks of dystopia as being something man-created, which is real possible. But it's also possible we get hit by an asteroid.

Zack Snyder 31:44 Oh, yeah. Absolutely.

Joe Rogan 31:44 That's more possible, I think. That's, that's more likely. I think, I think we could fuck up and nuke each other, but it's probably not gonna happen. 'Cause people have been really good about it since 1947.

Zack Snyder 31:55 Yeah, yeah, yeah (laughs) . They've been pretty-

Joe Rogan 31:57 It's nice. Congra- thank you everybody-

Zack Snyder 31:58 Yeah, good work, guys.

Joe Rogan 31:59 ... we're 45, I guess?

Zack Snyder 32:00 Yeah, good work. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 32:00 But there's a, there's a giant difference between, uh, things that you can control and things you can't control. With, through diplomacy and people aging out, it's possible that we could never have a nuclear war. It's not possible we're not gonna get hit.

Zack Snyder 32:14 Oh, yeah, no. That's why-

Joe Rogan 32:15 Yeah.

Zack Snyder 32:15 ... I mean, like, I v- I'm very, I, I very much encourage any, um, (clicks tongue) NASA programs that are l- you know, with their, they got their telescopes pointed in-

Joe Rogan 32:24 Mm-hmm.

Zack Snyder 32:24 ... into the stars. They're like, "Oh, here comes one."

Joe Rogan 32:26 Yeah.

Zack Snyder 32:26 "And let's see if we can go get it." You know?

Joe Rogan 32:27 Yeah. Yeah.

Zack Snyder 32:28 Nudge it. Nudge it.

Joe Rogan 32:29 They're close, they're close to being able to do that. Neil deGrasse Tyson said they're about a decade away from being able to deflect asteroids.

Zack Snyder 32:35 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 32:35 Th- this-

Zack Snyder 32:36 That'll be a big deal.

Joe Rogan 32:36 Yeah. Th- but the hope is, in that decade, that we don't miss one.

Zack Snyder 32:40 We don't get hit. Or-

Joe Rogan 32:41 We don't miss one. 'Cause some of them come in from behind the sun.

Zack Snyder 32:43 Oh, yeah, yeah. No. They're like, "Oh, yeah, we don't, oh." Woop.

Joe Rogan 32:45 Yeah. Yeah.

Zack Snyder 32:46 Yeah. That's not cool.

Joe Rogan 32:47 I don't know.

Zack Snyder 32:47 I don't like that.

Joe Rogan 32:48 It's like, there's so much weirdness in space anyway. There's solar flares that could take out our whole grid and kill all our communication systems. And they just random...

Zack Snyder 32:57 And also, the thing is like, we don't know, like, say you ha- say w- we had one of those, like, 300 years ago.

Joe Rogan 33:02 Mm-hmm.

Zack Snyder 33:02 Which, in cosmic time, is not that long ago.

Joe Rogan 33:05 It's nothing.

Zack Snyder 33:05 It's nothing. W- and we didn't have the infrastructure to know that it would happen. Like, we were just a bunch of guys hanging out.

Joe Rogan 33:11 Right.

Zack Snyder 33:11 So like, we were just like, "Whoa, that's a weird, like, the aurora borealis is pretty strong today."

Joe Rogan 33:15 Yeah.

Zack Snyder 33:15 "Yeah, that's cool."

Joe Rogan 33:16 Yeah.

Zack Snyder 33:16 But now, we're like, "Oh, shit, our computers are fried." So it's like a d- a whole different m- yeah, it's a whole different-

Joe Rogan 33:20 Well, it's also now-

Zack Snyder 33:21 ... mistakes are different, you know?

Joe Rogan 33:22 ... we have the ability to go and look at the data that they had from a couple hundred years ago and say, "It appears that there was an event."

Zack Snyder 33:30 (laughs) Yes. Exactly.

Joe Rogan 33:30 And, uh, the event, if it happened today, we would be fucked.

Zack Snyder 33:34 Right. The same exact thing, yeah.

Joe Rogan 33:34 And we did not prepare for this event when we were constructing all this equipment.

Zack Snyder 33:38 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 33:38 We didn't-

Zack Snyder 33:39 Well, because we g- we-

Joe Rogan 33:40 Yeah.

Zack Snyder 33:40 ... e- because also, the equipment got built, it didn't get b- it got built over time. It was like a slow, you know, w- this made this and this made that.

Joe Rogan 33:48 Right. Exactly.

Zack Snyder 33:48 And we relied on this, so now we may have this. Yeah. Like, we don't, we built, like, our house of cards, like, pretty, pretty-

Joe Rogan 33:54 Yeah.

Zack Snyder 33:54 ... pretty, uh, quickly, too. And like-

Joe Rogan 33:56 And the foundation's the weakest part. (laughs)

Zack Snyder 33:58 It doesn't exist. I don't think there is a foundation. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 34:00 (laughs) Because it's all dependent upon the grid.

Zack Snyder 34:03 I really don't think there is. I really don't think there is a foundation.

Joe Rogan 34:04 Well, the bu- dup- fa-

Zack Snyder 34:05 It's cool.

Joe Rogan 34:05 ... the foundation is what powers it. And it's all dependent upon a grid.

Zack Snyder 34:08 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 34:08 And the grid's very vulnerable. Physically vulnerable, it's vulnerable to s- cyber attacks. It's-

Zack Snyder 34:14 I like that also, we were like, we thought we were geniuses by putting all that online.

Joe Rogan 34:17 Yeah.

Zack Snyder 34:17 You know? Like, "Oh, yeah, we'll make the grid automated."

Joe Rogan 34:19 Yeah.

Zack Snyder 34:19 No, don't do that. It's much better when there was just a guy throwing switches, you know?

Joe Rogan 34:23 Yeah. Way better.

Zack Snyder 34:23 It's like he's not gonna (laughs) , he's not gonna, you can't do anything to him.

Joe Rogan 34:26 Just guard that guy.

Zack Snyder 34:27 Yeah, guard that guy.

Joe Rogan 34:28 Yeah.

Zack Snyder 34:28 Give him a lot of money. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 34:29 I love that expression, "in the cloud". Bitch, where is this cloud?

Zack Snyder 34:33 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 34:33 That cloud is in fucking Cleveland.

Zack Snyder 34:35 (laughs) That's not cool.

Joe Rogan 34:35 What are you talking about? There's no cloud.

Zack Snyder 34:37 Cloud is not cool.

Joe Rogan 34:38 That's such a lie. Stop calling it the cloud. That's a dirty lie. "Oh, it's in the cloud."

Zack Snyder 34:43 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 34:43 "I can just go get it."

Zack Snyder 34:44 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 34:44 How do you say that? Why don't you say it's in the stars? Why don't you just lie to me and say it's in heaven?

Zack Snyder 34:48 Yeah. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 34:48 Tell me it's in heaven.

Zack Snyder 34:49 Say it died, yeah. It-

Joe Rogan 34:50 All my photos of my baby.

Zack Snyder 34:50 We can resurrect it. Yeah. We can resurrect it.

Joe Rogan 34:52 Yeah. My family, my dog, they're all in heaven.

Zack Snyder 34:54 Prin- print everything. I say print everything. That's my philosophy.

Joe Rogan 34:56 Well, even the-

Zack Snyder 34:57 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 34:57 ... print everything thing. The, the real problem with us is all of our data is in a- on hard drives. All of it.

Zack Snyder 35:04 Yep. Yep.

Joe Rogan 35:05 And there's just paper books, hard drives, and that's it. So if something big happens, everything's useless and we start from scratch.

Zack Snyder 35:12 Yeah. Paper books are, still kinda work, but-

Joe Rogan 35:15 Yeah.

Zack Snyder 35:15 ... a lot of the modern, like, innovations aren't probably even in paper books. They're like-

Joe Rogan 35:20 A lot of them.

Zack Snyder 35:20 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 35:21 A lot of them.

Zack Snyder 35:21 Well, it's funny because, like, the movies, for instance. One of the things is I always archive a film print of all my movies, because the digital storage of movies, if you ask anybody in, even in the, the business, they don't know whether, in 10 years, you'll be able to play a movie that you have now. Like, whether-

Joe Rogan 35:42 Wow.

Zack Snyder 35:42 ... you physically or what or how it degrades. All of those things, they don't know.

Joe Rogan 35:46 That's crazy.

Zack Snyder 35:47 And so I'm like, I, that's why I make film prints, because I'm like, I know that, like, we keep it, that we keep the film prints in the, um, in the, um, (clicks tongue) uh, in this, you know, c- locker. And you can at least...... pry them out and-

Joe Rogan 36:00 Yeah.

Zack Snyder 36:00 ... and always have it. But, like, I just think it's crazy that you- we don't know (laughs) -

Joe Rogan 36:04 (laughs)

Zack Snyder 36:04 ... we don't know whether movies will exist. It's a crazy thing. I'm like-

Joe Rogan 36:07 Don't worry about it, Zach. It's in the cloud.

Zack Snyder 36:09 Yeah. It's so fucking in the cloud.

Joe Rogan 36:11 Coffee. Cheers.

Zack Snyder 36:11 Cheers, brother.

Joe Rogan 36:12 Thanks for doing this, man.

Zack Snyder 36:13 Yeah. No. It's my pleasure.

Joe Rogan 36:14 I really appreciate it.

Zack Snyder 36:14 That's hilarious. (laughs) It's in the cloud. Why are you worried?

Joe Rogan 36:16 Yeah. That's a dirty expression that they sh- they should ban that expression.

Zack Snyder 36:19 They love that expression, though. It's like one of their favorites.

Joe Rogan 36:20 I know, but it's a dirty lie. There's no cloud. Stop saying that.

Zack Snyder 36:23 But it makes people feel safe-

Joe Rogan 36:24 (laughs) It does.

Zack Snyder 36:24 ... because it's like- it makes them feel good because it's like the cloud is so reliable and so, like ... And also a thing you don't need to worry about or understand.

Joe Rogan 36:31 It's also beautiful.

Zack Snyder 36:32 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 36:32 It's fluffy.

Zack Snyder 36:33 Yes.

Joe Rogan 36:33 It's in a blue sky.

Zack Snyder 36:34 And all your info's safe in there.

Joe Rogan 36:35 Yay.

Zack Snyder 36:36 Nothing can hurt it.

Joe Rogan 36:37 Yeah.

Zack Snyder 36:37 Except for everything. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 36:38 It's just horse shit.

Zack Snyder 36:39 It's so-

Joe Rogan 36:40 It's total horse shit. Yeah.

Zack Snyder 36:41 It's so crazy.

Joe Rogan 36:42 It's on hard drives.

Zack Snyder 36:43 It's so crazy.

Joe Rogan 36:44 And if you had to start from scratch, if ... You know, imagine stumbling upon some ancient Egyptian hard drives and go, "Okay, where do we even begin?"

Zack Snyder 36:51 You can't play it.

Joe Rogan 36:52 Yeah.

Zack Snyder 36:52 You can't play it.

Joe Rogan 36:53 What's- what is this?

Zack Snyder 36:53 We might-

Joe Rogan 36:54 Right.

Zack Snyder 36:54 ... you might be looking at it and you don't know.

Joe Rogan 36:55 Yeah. How is it encoded? Uh, what is the equipment I need to- to connect it to in order to i- does it play out loud? Do I see it? What is this?

Zack Snyder 37:05 It's like-

Joe Rogan 37:06 Do I experience it in my head?

Zack Snyder 37:07 It's like when you show your kid a, um, vinyl record, right?

Joe Rogan 37:11 Right.

Zack Snyder 37:11 I'm showing my kids a vinyl record and they're like, "This is incredible. How does it work?" I'm like, "Well, the needle kind of bounces up and down on that- on those grooves. It makes n- sound. It sounds like-"

Joe Rogan 37:21 Yeah.

Zack Snyder 37:21 "... sounds like a song." And they're like, "That's ... How ... That's an insane technology." I'm like, "No, that's not insane technology. Your iPod or your fucking phone, that's insane technology." (laughs)

Joe Rogan 37:30 Yeah.

Zack Snyder 37:30 "That's, that's a thing you can't ... That doesn't even ... You can't explain this to me, okay?"

Joe Rogan 37:34 Yeah.

Zack Snyder 37:34 "I can ... I just explained that to you."

Joe Rogan 37:37 I love the fact that I'm in my car and like, uh, like ... My daughter loves Melanie Martinez. So, she'll ... I'll s- I have no idea what the song is. "Tell me what the song is," and she'll tell me what the song is, and I could say, "Play Melanie Martinez," whatever the song is. And it just-

Zack Snyder 37:53 It plays it.

Joe Rogan 37:53 Instantly plays it.

Zack Snyder 37:55 Unbelievable.

Joe Rogan 37:55 Instantly.

Zack Snyder 37:56 Unbelievable.

Joe Rogan 37:56 And it's coming through the speakers-

Zack Snyder 37:59 It's-

Joe Rogan 37:59 ... and it sounds amazing.

Zack Snyder 38:00 It's-

Joe Rogan 38:00 There's all this sound.

Zack Snyder 38:02 That, that is incredible.

Joe Rogan 38:03 It's bananas.

Zack Snyder 38:03 It is incredible.

Joe Rogan 38:03 It's bananas.

Zack Snyder 38:04 Or you could say like-

Joe Rogan 38:05 It's bananas.

Zack Snyder 38:05 ... "Play Johnny Cash."

Joe Rogan 38:06 Instantly.

Zack Snyder 38:07 Instantly.

Joe Rogan 38:08 Instantly. "Play Hurt."

Zack Snyder 38:09 Yeah. "Play Hurt"-

Joe Rogan 38:10 Yeah.

Zack Snyder 38:10 ... right now.

Joe Rogan 38:10 Instantly.

Zack Snyder 38:11 Instantly.

Joe Rogan 38:11 And it just starts playing it.

Zack Snyder 38:13 And you're like, "Oh, God. Why'd I say that?" (laughs)

Joe Rogan 38:15 Yeah. That's nice.

Zack Snyder 38:16 Why'd I say, "Play Hurt"?

Joe Rogan 38:18 "Play God's Gonna Cut You Down." What a world that we live in. Instantly.

Zack Snyder 38:31 By the way, I was just-

Joe Rogan 38:32 It's incredible.

Zack Snyder 38:32 ... I was just listening to that the other day.

Joe Rogan 38:35 This is gonna get us in trouble with YouTube.

Zack Snyder 38:36 Is it? Oh, sorry.

Joe Rogan 38:37 It's fucking ridiculous.

Zack Snyder 38:38 I did want to show you this picture of Al Sondra's legs.

Guest companion (unidentified) 38:40 You can't even hum this. If you hum it too well, it'll-

Joe Rogan 38:41 We were so much better off when we were trapped in our world- walled garden. (laughs)

Zack Snyder 38:46 Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. We, we got out and now it's, now it's over.

Joe Rogan 38:51 Yeah.

Zack Snyder 38:52 Where is it?

Joe Rogan 38:52 It's fucking nuts, man. It's nuts. I, I think it's beautiful because I love the fact that you can tell me about something and I can get it instantly. Like someone could say, "Oh, my God. You have to see..."

Zack Snyder 39:03 That's Sondra's legs.

Joe Rogan 39:04 Oh, my God.

Zack Snyder 39:05 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 39:06 That's insane. He looks like he's gonna die.

Zack Snyder 39:07 Yeah. And he loves it.

Joe Rogan 39:09 That's par- that's particularly ridiculous.

Guest companion (unidentified) 39:11 (laughs)

Zack Snyder 39:11 Isn't that crazy?

Joe Rogan 39:12 Yeah.

Zack Snyder 39:12 Isn't ... That's awesome.

Joe Rogan 39:13 That guy has no body fat.

Zack Snyder 39:14 Zero body fat.

Joe Rogan 39:14 What is this body fat?

Zack Snyder 39:15 He ... The guy said to him- the guy at the gym said, "Are you 8% body fat?" He goes, "If I was 8% body fat, I'd kill myself." (laughs)

Joe Rogan 39:23 (laughs)

Guest companion (unidentified) 39:23 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 39:23 That's so ridiculous.

Zack Snyder 39:25 (laughs) But that's his thing, though. Like, he literally is like, "I- I'm in space. I'm like a spa-" You know how like we get stuff from the space program?

Joe Rogan 39:32 Uh-huh.

Zack Snyder 39:32 You know, like they've ... Like we figure out how a razor works or like-

Joe Rogan 39:34 Right.

Zack Snyder 39:34 ... we get shaving cream that keeps the hairs from flying off. That's what he is, to me. Like, he's like, "I'm, I'm up here on the ragged edge so I can come- I could give you this information back." Like ... (laughs)

Joe Rogan 39:45 Oh, that's an interesting way of looking at it, right? Like, you do learn health and wellness things from people that are on the fringes in the bodybuilding world.

Zack Snyder 39:52 Yeah. And he's in his 60s, so it's like-

Joe Rogan 39:54 Oh.

Zack Snyder 39:54 You know, you're like, "Okay, this guy can have legs like that in his 60s, so, uh, give me something. Give me-"

Joe Rogan 40:01 (laughs)

Zack Snyder 40:01 "... give me a little, give me a little, uh, you know, of the ... Give me a little of the knowledge."

Joe Rogan 40:05 Yeah.

Zack Snyder 40:05 And he's funny too, because he's like, "Look, I don't have a family. I don't have kids. This is what I do."

Joe Rogan 40:10 Jesus.

Zack Snyder 40:11 You know, "This is what I do."

Joe Rogan 40:12 In his 60s-

Zack Snyder 40:12 I, uh-

Joe Rogan 40:12 ... he's just getting jacked.

Zack Snyder 40:13 I just get jacked, and I like research, I test my body constantly. He's like on the ragged edge with every single, like ... You know, like, he's always making these small adjustments. He goes, "I ate a sesame seed and I saw that I was a little less ripped." You know what-"

Joe Rogan 40:26 What? (laughs)

Zack Snyder 40:28 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 40:28 That's so ridiculous.

Zack Snyder 40:29 You know what I ... 'Cause it's like, oh, he's constantly like, "Zz." You know, like, it's like he's on a razor's edge, you know.

Joe Rogan 40:34 Which is-

Zack Snyder 40:35 Which I love, you know.

Joe Rogan 40:35 People like that are gonna be-

Zack Snyder 40:37 It's extreme.

Joe Rogan 40:37 ... super beneficial to any sort of extreme sport.

Zack Snyder 40:39 Well, that's what I mean. Like, extreme sport. That's what I'm saying-

Joe Rogan 40:41 Yeah.

Zack Snyder 40:41 ... is that like you can ... The little, that, that, those-

Joe Rogan 40:44 Mm-hmm.

Zack Snyder 40:44 ... little pieces of information they tell you about like, "Oh, you know, like, whatever, I'm taking this," or like, "I, I thought about this and I experimented with that," and you're like, "Okay." Like, "Thanks."

Joe Rogan 40:54 Yeah.

Zack Snyder 40:54 "Thanks for that. (laughs) Thanks, thanks for being out there."

Joe Rogan 40:56 Right.

Zack Snyder 40:57 You know, "Thanks for being the oxygen mask, like, up in- on the stratosphere."

Joe Rogan 41:00 Yeah, the possessed mad genius.

Zack Snyder 41:02 Yeah. It's, it's ... They ... By the way, the world is made of that.

Joe Rogan 41:05 Oh, yeah. There's a guy out here in Austin, Texas. His name is John Danaher. He's widely considered to be the greatest jujitsu coach ever.

Zack Snyder 41:14 Oh, really? He's here?

Joe Rogan 41:14 And he's a professor. Uh, he was a professor of philosophy at Columbia.

Zack Snyder 41:19 At school.

Joe Rogan 41:20 And, uh, was spending time as a bouncer and wanted to learn martial arts, got into jujitsu, and became a jujitsu fanatic, to the point where he's teaching it and sleeping on the floors and changing classes.

Zack Snyder 41:31 Did he have a natural gift for it anyway, like it was like a-

Joe Rogan 41:33 Well, he's a very strong guy.

Zack Snyder 41:34 A double, double? Okay.

Joe Rogan 41:35 He's very strong. He played rugby, but rugby destroyed his knee. Fucked his body up but ... Which kept him from, uh, even- ultimately competing, but he's-... just a, a crazy, mad genius that doesn't give a fuck about anything but fighting.

Zack Snyder 41:49 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 41:49 So all he's doing is, like, teaching people how to strangle people during the day and then watching tape. And review- v-reviewing techniques and creating the next, the next, uh, workout schedule. And they work out 365 days a year.

Zack Snyder 42:04 That's awesome.

Joe Rogan 42:05 365 days a year.

Zack Snyder 42:06 Yeah, yeah.

Joe Rogan 42:06 And his number one student is Gordon Ryan, who's widely considered to be the greatest jujitsu athlete of all time-

Zack Snyder 42:12 Sure.

Joe Rogan 42:12 ... without question. That's his belt up there, the Abu Dhabi belt-

Zack Snyder 42:15 Oh, that's awesome. Oh, that's awesome.

Joe Rogan 42:15 ... when he won Abu Dhabi.

Zack Snyder 42:16 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 42:16 But he's his number one student, and they just train 365 days a year. They take no days off. Christmas, fuck you.

Zack Snyder 42:23 Christmas. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 42:24 Your birthday, fuck you.

Zack Snyder 42:25 (laughs) That's cool.

Joe Rogan 42:26 And it's just-

Zack Snyder 42:26 That's cool.

Joe Rogan 42:27 ... y- you've got days where you don't train as hard.

Zack Snyder 42:29 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 42:29 Are you worn out? Well, you're not gonna train as hard today.

Zack Snyder 42:32 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 42:32 And then tomorrow-

Zack Snyder 42:33 Well, it's like you were saying, like, we- yeah. Like, you understand the b- like at that point, you're in a rhythm, you understand your body. You know, like, "Well, okay, I'm hurt today-"

Joe Rogan 42:39 Yeah.

Zack Snyder 42:39 "... I know how to do this." But we're always learning.

Joe Rogan 42:41 Mm-hmm.

Zack Snyder 42:41 We're always gonna ... We're not gonna stop learning.

Joe Rogan 42:43 Yeah.

Zack Snyder 42:43 We're not gonna stop understanding. That's the one thing that's crazy about YouTube too, is that this idea that there's a resource ... You know, like it used to be, to find a technique or to learn something, you had to go to the guy's house-

Joe Rogan 42:55 Mm-hmm.

Zack Snyder 42:55 ... fucking sleep on his porch.

Joe Rogan 42:57 Yeah.

Zack Snyder 42:57 He, he's not gonna fucking train you.

Joe Rogan 42:59 Right.

Zack Snyder 42:59 He's gonna slap you around, like whatever. Where now, like, these kids today, they could ... Like, a lot of their shit, the basic shit, they, they, they can s- ... They're like, "I'm learning this. I can learn something that I had no access to."

Joe Rogan 43:12 Absolutely.

Zack Snyder 43:13 Zero access.

Joe Rogan 43:14 100%.

Zack Snyder 43:14 Which I think is incredible, that-

Joe Rogan 43:15 Ther- I have a folder on my phone that's all jujitsu moves that I didn't know existed.

Zack Snyder 43:20 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 43:20 And I just watch the jujitsu moves. I go, "How is he, how is he doing that left leg in ... Oh, he went with a right arm. Wow." And then I'll, I'll send it to my friend Eddie Bravo, who's a jujitsu instructor. I'll go, "Is this legit?" And he goes, "I'm gonna try this tonight."

Zack Snyder 43:33 (laughs) And see, yeah.

Joe Rogan 43:33 And then we'll, we'll text each other back and forth. So we're j- like, it's a constant new thing.

Zack Snyder 43:38 Sure. That's cool.

Joe Rogan 43:39 There's the basics, but-

Zack Snyder 43:40 Put it in a workshop and let's see what happens, yeah.

Joe Rogan 43:41 ... that kid could be, uh ... Just all you need is a computer that connects to the internet and a friend, and you can get good at jujitsu.

Zack Snyder 43:49 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 43:49 It's better to have private instruction, to-

Zack Snyder 43:51 Of course.

Joe Rogan 43:51 It's better to have a, a co- a coach who, you know, when he's teaching you classes, you've got to make sure this arm is protected, and keep this here. And you have to have the defense, you have to put your hand on the hip. If you don't have something like that, it's gonna take you longer to figure it out. But if you are diligent and you're really dedicated and you have a fucking YouTube connection, you can get good at jujitsu.

Zack Snyder 44:11 Yeah. No, I, I think that-

Joe Rogan 44:11 I, I used to have to go to the mountains.

Zack Snyder 44:13 That's true.

Joe Rogan 44:13 (laughs)

Zack Snyder 44:13 Well, that's what I mean. Like, and that's true of a lot ... That's true of a lot of things now.

Joe Rogan 44:18 Yeah.

Zack Snyder 44:18 Like I ... Look, I just ... I had this, like ... Recently had this crazy Fortnite addiction, right? And I was like-

Joe Rogan 44:22 Oh, no.

Zack Snyder 44:23 Yeah, I started playing-

Joe Rogan 44:24 I can get it.

Zack Snyder 44:25 I, (laughs) I started playing Fortnite with my son, who's 10, and he was like, "Nah." He tapped out immediately. And I was like, "Well, you should come back, 'cause I'm just ... This is kinda cool." So I'm playing and then, like, I f- ... You know, three months later, I'm like, "What the fuck is the matter with me?"

Joe Rogan 44:36 Yeah.

Zack Snyder 44:36 Like, my, my wife is like, "You've got to stop."

Joe Rogan 44:39 (laughs)

Zack Snyder 44:39 "I am done with this. I am done."

Joe Rogan 44:41 Dude-

Zack Snyder 44:41 Right?

Joe Rogan 44:42 ... you and I are the same thing. (laughs)

Zack Snyder 44:43 (laughs) I go, I'm so ... She's like, "I'm so done. You need another fucking hobby."

Joe Rogan 44:46 (laughs)

Zack Snyder 44:46 Right? Like ... And so she's like, "I bought you some clay," right?

Joe Rogan 44:50 Oh.

Zack Snyder 44:50 And so I started doing some pottery, right? And that's where I was like, "Oh, YouTube is insane." Like, 'cause I just in, like, three weeks, I had done, like, all ... So now she's like every e- every search engine is like hand billed pottery, like glazing, firing kilns-

Joe Rogan 45:08 Oh, that's cool.

Zack Snyder 45:09 F- so yeah, so I have like-

Joe Rogan 45:10 Much more productive.

Zack Snyder 45:10 It's mu- ... Well, by the way, I get something at the end. Like-

Joe Rogan 45:13 And you feel better.

Zack Snyder 45:13 I feel so (laughs) much better. (laughs)

Joe Rogan 45:15 Dude the feelings that you get when you play video games-

Zack Snyder 45:17 It's-

Joe Rogan 45:17 ... for 12 hours in a row. You feel terrible when it's over.

Zack Snyder 45:19 You feel sick to your stomach. It's literally true. Like in ... You have something good happen and you're like, "Yeah!" Like, I'm like, "Fuck yes." And my wi- ... I look over and my wife is, like, in the doorway going like ...

Joe Rogan 45:30 What's wrong with you?

Zack Snyder 45:30 "Are you serious right now?"

Joe Rogan 45:31 You're a grown-ass man.

Zack Snyder 45:32 "Should you not be making a movie right now-"

Joe Rogan 45:34 (laughs)

Zack Snyder 45:35 "... or, like, writing something or doing something?"

Joe Rogan 45:37 Well, it's important for people to know-

Zack Snyder 45:39 Like, are you serious?

Joe Rogan 45:39 ... that even people who are successful movie makers are still gonna get addicted to those goddamn things.

Zack Snyder 45:44 No.

Joe Rogan 45:44 They're heroin.

Zack Snyder 45:45 They're too good.

Joe Rogan 45:45 They're so good.

Zack Snyder 45:46 They're so well-made.

Joe Rogan 45:48 We had a giant Quake problem. And, uh, I had a giant Quake problem for years and I quit. And I quit cold turkey, when I realized it was, like, just ... I was playing eight, 10 hours a day.

Zack Snyder 45:57 You can't see the hours.

Joe Rogan 45:59 Yeah.

Zack Snyder 45:59 That's what does it.

Joe Rogan 45:59 They fly by.

Zack Snyder 45:59 When you see the hours, when you see, like, a total number of hours-

Joe Rogan 46:03 Yeah.

Zack Snyder 46:03 ... that you've played, you're like, "Okay, I'm d- I-"

Joe Rogan 46:05 Yeah.

Zack Snyder 46:05 What c- ... I could've written a novel. I literally could've-

Joe Rogan 46:08 I could've done so much.

Zack Snyder 46:08 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 46:08 I could've done so much. So I stopped, but then when we had a new studio in Los Angeles, we had a big warehouse. And we said, "Let's put a fucking LAN in here." So we put in a local area network and bought some gaming computers and set it up for Quake, and instantly-

Zack Snyder 46:23 Back.

Joe Rogan 46:23 ... I was a junkie again.

Zack Snyder 46:24 Back.

Joe Rogan 46:25 Scratching my face.

Zack Snyder 46:26 (laughs) Yes.

Joe Rogan 46:27 I was fucking every day. We were playing three, four hours a day. It was nuts. It was nuts.

Zack Snyder 46:32 It's ... See?

Joe Rogan 46:33 It just gets right into your v- ... It's too good.

Zack Snyder 46:35 It's too good. They're good at it.

Joe Rogan 46:37 And they're ... They're getting better, man.

Zack Snyder 46:37 Well, I saw that you're-

Joe Rogan 46:38 Man.

Zack Snyder 46:38 ... like, your, your-

Joe Rogan 46:39 Racing simulator?

Zack Snyder 46:39 ... racing simulators too.

Joe Rogan 46:40 I haven't even hopped on that yet.

Zack Snyder 46:41 By the way, the, the-

Joe Rogan 46:42 We've had it for over a week. I'm scared of it.

Zack Snyder 46:43 ... problem with it is it's too ... It's like racing.

Joe Rogan 46:46 Yeah.

Zack Snyder 46:46 It's like ... The one thing I did like, I, I, I saw this the other day where they had the F- one of the F1 guys went against, like, some, some kid.

Joe Rogan 46:56 Mm-hmm.

Zack Snyder 46:56 And he beat him. And I was like, "That makes me happy."

Joe Rogan 46:59 On the racing simulator?

Zack Snyder 47:00 On the racing simulator.

Joe Rogan 47:01 Yeah. Well, of course.

Zack Snyder 47:01 And I was like, that made me happy. Well, only just because, you know, you want that skillset. (laughs) You want in your mind that skillset to translate.

Joe Rogan 47:08 Yes.

Zack Snyder 47:09 Like, you're like, "See?"

Joe Rogan 47:10 I was watching this thing-

Zack Snyder 47:11 It still matters.

Joe Rogan 47:12 ... on Formula 1 drivers, like all the different things that they have to be able to do. Their response time is so much faster than anybody else's. They had this thing where they had the lights, and the lights go off, you have to touch the light when it goes off.

Zack Snyder 47:22 Sure.

Joe Rogan 47:22 And the Formula 1 race car drivers were, like, off the charts.

Zack Snyder 47:25 Oh, really?

Joe Rogan 47:26 And they all have-

Zack Snyder 47:26 They're just wired different?

Joe Rogan 47:27 They all have crazy thick necks.

Zack Snyder 47:29 Oh, yeah. From the-

Joe Rogan 47:29 Because it's just ... (imitates engine revving)

Zack Snyder 47:31 And also the helmet's not light, you know?

Joe Rogan 47:32 Yeah.

Zack Snyder 47:32 It's, like, a serious ... Yeah.

Joe Rogan 47:33 That's a fucking serious piece of weight up there-

Zack Snyder 47:35 Yeah, yeah.

Joe Rogan 47:35 ... bouncing your head around.

Zack Snyder 47:36 No, it's fucking crazy.

Joe Rogan 47:37 And you're whipping around the ... Have y- ... And I'm sure you've seen the, the comparison between a GT3 car and then a Formula 1 car on the same track.

Zack Snyder 47:44 Uh, no. No, it's not-

Joe Rogan 47:44 It's wild.

Zack Snyder 47:45 But, but it's ... What is the difference?

Joe Rogan 47:46 The GT3 car looks amazing, and then the Formula 1 car, like, no way. That's not real. Is this real time?

Zack Snyder 47:52 Oh, as far as, like, it being able to stick to the track where, like-

Joe Rogan 47:54 It's so much faster.

Zack Snyder 47:55 It's so much faster, yeah.

Joe Rogan 47:55 It's so much faster. And you're ... The time that you have ... Watch this. So on the left side you have the GT3 cars. These are the o- ... Uh, so these are just GT3 cars?

48:04 No. One is Formula 1.

Zack Snyder 48:05 That's, that's the ...

Joe Rogan 48:06 Oh, the-

Zack Snyder 48:06 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 48:06 The right is the GT3 car.

Zack Snyder 48:08 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 48:08 Left is the left first frame.

48:08 The left is the Formula 1 car. Look how much faster they go.

Zack Snyder 48:10 So yeah, it's gone. Yeah.

Joe Rogan 48:11 They're fucking insane.... I mean, they're so fast, and the way they hug. I went to the, uh, COTA, the Formula 1-

Zack Snyder 48:20 That's crazy.

Joe Rogan 48:20 ... race out here.

Zack Snyder 48:21 Here, yeah.

Joe Rogan 48:21 Yeah. It's insane to see it live.

Zack Snyder 48:23 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 48:24 You see it live, you really appreciate it. It's just like, "Oh my God."

Zack Snyder 48:27 My daughter, Willow, is addicted to Formula 1. She's like... I sent her down two years ago to it, and it was like, uh... Like, you know... Look at that. See?

Joe Rogan 48:34 (laughs)

Narrator 48:35 (car engines roaring)

Joe Rogan 48:36 That sound too-

Zack Snyder 48:37 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 48:37 ... is amazing. Whoo!

Zack Snyder 48:40 Yeah, like the, the GT3s, they look like they're not even moving in comparison.

Joe Rogan 48:44 Yeah, it's not even close.

Zack Snyder 48:45 Yeah. And she... I sent her down because at g- at the time, Formula 1 was... wanted me to... w-we were gonna do a film. I was gonna do, like, a commercial for them, you know? That... And I was in the middle of pitching them, and they were like, "Oh, can we send you down to Austin to the race?" And I said, "You know, I can't 'cause I'm in the middle of this thing, but you can send my daughter." And Willow was like... She has, like, pit access. She was, like, losing her mind. She's calling me every five minutes going like, "Are you insane? Look it. There's, there's like, you know, Hamilton. I can't believe he's right there." And I was like, "Okay, calm down. Don't be a groupie." And like, "I want you to like..." She has, like, a tattoo of, like, Formula 1, like a, like a-

Joe Rogan 49:14 Oh, wow.

Zack Snyder 49:14 ... car. Yeah, she's really into it, but she's really-

Joe Rogan 49:16 Well, I know that Netflix series out here in America made it way more popular-

Zack Snyder 49:21 It blew it. Blew it out. Blew it, yeah.

Joe Rogan 49:21 ... in America. Because it didn't make any sense-

Zack Snyder 49:22 Blew it out.

Joe Rogan 49:23 ... that it was so popular worldwide-

Zack Snyder 49:24 Yeah. I mean-

Joe Rogan 49:25 ... but not popular in a place that's most obsessed with cars?

Zack Snyder 49:28 Yeah, like do you-

Joe Rogan 49:28 It makes no sense.

Zack Snyder 49:29 ... feel like we would just be, like, drinking the Kool-Aid of that so hard?

Joe Rogan 49:32 Well, all th- our thing is just going around in a circle real quick. (laughs) Like, our thing is so silly in comparison. Like NASCAR?

Zack Snyder 49:39 Yeah. No, it-

Joe Rogan 49:39 NASCAR is so silly.

Zack Snyder 49:40 It's crazy. And you'd think that, like, we would dig, like, this kind... All the turns and, like-

Joe Rogan 49:45 Yeah.

Zack Snyder 49:45 ... the insane technology. It's like... Feels like it's right on our wheelhouse. And maybe it... And, and I think it can be. We'll see.

Joe Rogan 49:51 Well, it turns out, it is. It's just got to-

Zack Snyder 49:53 Take something in it.

Joe Rogan 49:53 ... you know?

Zack Snyder 49:54 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 49:54 It's something like... It has something like a Netflix special. It has to happen for it. It's like what happened with the UFC, with The Ultimate Fighter. The UFC was always-

Zack Snyder 50:01 100%.

Joe Rogan 50:01 ... like, crazy exciting, but then The Ultimate Fighter put it on television, and everybody's like, "Wow!"

Zack Snyder 50:05 That's cool.

Joe Rogan 50:06 "This is nuts!"

Zack Snyder 50:06 Yeah. And you get to, like, invest in a personality.

Joe Rogan 50:09 Yes.

Zack Snyder 50:09 You know? That's... I think that's... In the end, Americans love... Th- th- they want the... They wanna hook onto someone and ride 'em, you know?

Joe Rogan 50:17 Yes.

Zack Snyder 50:17 Through the whole thing.

Joe Rogan 50:18 Yes, yes.

Zack Snyder 50:19 Yeah, that's the-

Joe Rogan 50:20 Yeah.

Zack Snyder 50:20 That's the fun.

Joe Rogan 50:21 They, they wanna get connected to that person and root for them and feel the journey. Especially The Ultimate Fighter was such a brilliant idea because you get these guys to live in a house together, and then they're gonna beat the fuck out of each other.

Zack Snyder 50:31 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 50:32 And they know-

Zack Snyder 50:33 And it's really rooted.

Joe Rogan 50:33 They know they're gonna have to fight.

Zack Snyder 50:34 It's really-

Joe Rogan 50:34 So there's all this psychological warfare going on. There's, like, chest pu-puffing, and there's so much weird shit happening.

Zack Snyder 50:40 Yeah. I- i- it's... By the way, it's a great... It's a great show. A- also because, like, the drama... If you have fighting and drama together-

Joe Rogan 50:47 Yeah.

Zack Snyder 50:47 ... it's kind of a... It's kind of, like, an amazing combination.

Joe Rogan 50:50 Right.

Zack Snyder 50:50 You can't, you can't look away, really.

Joe Rogan 50:52 And it's real fighting. I mean-

Zack Snyder 50:53 And it's absolutely real fighting.

Joe Rogan 50:54 Yeah.

Zack Snyder 50:55 Yeah. Like, you know-

Joe Rogan 50:55 Yeah.

Zack Snyder 50:55 ... it's not like fucking around. And these guys are fighters.

Joe Rogan 50:58 Mm-hmm.

Zack Snyder 50:58 You know what I mean? Like, that's the thing. It's not like they... you got a bunch of schmucks and said, "Okay, you guys get in the ring and s-sort of see what you can... See what happens."

Joe Rogan 51:05 Yeah.

Zack Snyder 51:05 Like, these guys suddenly are like, "ka-ka." And you-

Joe Rogan 51:06 And guys have gone from that show to become world champions.

Zack Snyder 51:09 Absolutely.

Joe Rogan 51:09 Which is wild.

Zack Snyder 51:10 That's cool.

Joe Rogan 51:11 Yeah, it's very cool.

Zack Snyder 51:12 That's why... And then you... And you're like, "Oh, yeah, I saw them-"

Joe Rogan 51:14 Mm-hmm.

Zack Snyder 51:14 ... "when they were... when they were just, like, scrapping around the house." You know?

Joe Rogan 51:18 Mm-hmm.

Zack Snyder 51:18 It's, it's cool to see 'em, like, rise like that. It's, uh... It's, it's, it's... It is... It's an amazing show. It's, it's cool.

Joe Rogan 51:24 Well, there's a few things like that, like Formula 1 racing and, and fighting, that... It just has to get in front of enough eyes. It's just we have these things that we've always... Like baseball, that's always been around. If you brought baseball out today-

Zack Snyder 51:36 No chance.

Joe Rogan 51:37 ... baseball- it doesn't-

Zack Snyder 51:37 No chance.

Joe Rogan 51:37 ... have a chance in hell. (laughs)

Zack Snyder 51:39 No chance.

Joe Rogan 51:39 Zero chance.

Zack Snyder 51:40 Golf. Golf, no chance.

Joe Rogan 51:41 I think golf would still make it.

Zack Snyder 51:42 Well, also because it's a ludicrous concept, golf. That's what I love about it. It's like... I... And I... You know, I'm an okay golfer. I've done a lotta golf commercials. My dad's a scratch golfer. He's an amazing golfer.

Joe Rogan 51:52 You've done a lotta golf commercials really?

Zack Snyder 51:53 Well, I go... Yeah, back in the day. You know, like... 'Cause when I got outta college, I did, like, 10 years of, of TV commercials, you know? Uh, and every day, like, all... And I did all... I'd... I've done every... All the brands, every... Like, I've done a bunch of Super Bowl spots. I did the... They, like... Clydesdale 9/11 tribute spot. Like, there's a lot of... All these kinda... For me, there were all these, like, kinda touchstones. But along the way, I did, like, you know, PGA. I did Titleist. I did, like, all these-

Joe Rogan 52:23 Oh.

Zack Snyder 52:23 ... like... You know, I have a tour bag, like, in storage, that says, like, Zack "Daddy" Snyder on it, like, on my-

Joe Rogan 52:28 Nice.

Zack Snyder 52:28 ... tour bag. Yeah. So but, but, like, the guys... Like, you see these, like, incr... I mean, they are... Like, Phil Mickelson is, like, an insane... Like, he, he does this trick where you stand with your hands like this, you know?

Joe Rogan 52:43 Mm-hmm.

Zack Snyder 52:44 And then he's behind you with his pitching wedge, and he takes a full swing and cuts it. If he sculls it, it's gonna cr- crack you in the back of the skull, but it goes over your head and lands in your hands, right?

Joe Rogan 52:54 What?

Guest companion (unidentified) 52:55 He also does it standing right in front of you. I haven't seen the landing in hands one but this... The kind of video where it goes down-

Zack Snyder 52:59 Yeah, it's literally this. Watch.

Joe Rogan 53:00 Right this close?

Guest companion (unidentified) 53:01 He, he's gonna do it, right... He's gonna do it like... (laughs) oh my God. It's like, that's the br-

Joe Rogan 53:10 Oh.

Zack Snyder 53:10 I did a spot with Phil.

Joe Rogan 53:11 Bro, fuck that.

Zack Snyder 53:12 I did a spot with him-

Joe Rogan 53:13 (laughs)

Zack Snyder 53:14 ... where he... I did a spot for h-... I think it was... it was for, um... it was, um, with David Robinson for, um, the PGA Tour, and he, uh... He was sick. He had, like, 100-degree temperature, and, like, what it was was... Basically we did these, though these guys are good, it was, was the name of the campaign. And it was, like, all these football players and, like, golf would be... It was a, it was a ludicrous idea, b- golf would be in these scenarios, and this was basketball. It was like, "One second left." You know? Oh, P- Phil Mickelson comes in to play this basketball game. They're gonna play with a golf ball, and they throw him the ball. The ref throws the golf ball to him, and he's... He catches the ball on his, on his... on the, on the, on the, on the blade of his pitching wedge, traps it on the ground, and then hits... picks it off the, the, um... the, the, the gym floor, you know? And the ball flies up, and then David Robinson dunks it. That was the commercial. So he's sick, and he's like, "Zack, I don't know, man." Oh, also we did a version of it where we had made the floor out of balsa wood so he could take a divot-

Joe Rogan 54:21 ... oh, wow.

Zack Snyder 54:21 And then the PGA was like, "Well, we don't wanna look like it's..." Th- they were kinda mad 'cause they (laughs) were like, "We don't wanna look like we're destroying property." I was like, "Come on, guys, it's like cool." (laughs) Like it's cool that he digs the floor up, right?

Joe Rogan 54:32 Right. They can fix wood.

Zack Snyder 54:33 (laughs) Yeah. It's also not real. (laughs) You know? Like he can't-

Joe Rogan 54:36 Right.

Zack Snyder 54:36 You can't actually do that.

Joe Rogan 54:38 That's funny they were that sensitive.

Zack Snyder 54:38 Uh, but yeah, it was cool they were that sensitive. But, like, Phil comes out and he's like, "Zack, sorry, man, I'm sick. Like, I don't know." Like, I go, "Well, o- uh, let's just try, you know, d- do what you can. And, an- and like, uh, it'll only be a couple shots." And so he's like, "I'll do the best I can." So I, you know, I throw him the ball and he, he just, like, cuts it in the air. And i- (laughs) you know, like, he, he like cuts it in the air and then he vroom, traps it with his club. I'm like, "Holy shit."

Joe Rogan 55:00 (laughs)

Zack Snyder 55:00 And he's like, "How's that?" I'm like, "How's that?" (laughs)

Joe Rogan 55:02 (laughs)

Zack Snyder 55:02 It's like fucking unbelievable. He was like, "I'm sorry." I'm like, "I don't know what you would do different." Like, it's, uh, it is so crazy, so g- so g-

Joe Rogan 55:09 It's interesting when you see wizardry at that level.

Zack Snyder 55:11 Yeah. It i- uh, yeah.

Joe Rogan 55:12 Like, the technique and the perfection of it at that level, you're just like-

Zack Snyder 55:15 It's so incredible, you're like, "Fu-..."

Joe Rogan 55:16 I don't even play golf and I can appreciate it.

Zack Snyder 55:18 Yeah, like John Daly too. Like, we had, I did a spot with John Daly too and he was like, he's ama- he's like comes out, you know? And I guess, th- the tournament before the one we had done, before the shoot that we did, we'd- we'd- we were doing it in, in, um, (clicks tongue) Comiskey Park in Chicago, right? And he was... The idea on that one was like, he's, you know, top of the ninth, two outs, down by three, bases loaded, whatever, whatever. You know, and pitcher... Here comes John Daly, right? And, and so what we did was... So the idea was like, we had this, like, minor league pitcher who was supposed to throw a pitch and he's... You know, we did it with visual effects, he takes the ball out of the air. So what we did was we got this super long tee, right? And we put the ball on it. And I was like, "John, do you think you can... Can you hit a drive with a two-foot tee?" Like, "That sounds crazy." He's like, "Ah, fuck it. Yeah, no problem." (laughs) But like, when he came out, he was mad because he had picked up his ball... Like, you know he got fined by the PGA if you pick up your ball halfway through the tournament. You can't just leave, they don't like that. And I guess he was having a bad round and so he just said, "Fuck it," and he just picked up his ball and walked off. And they were like... So they fined him and he was super mad that he got fined. And so he goes, he goes, "I'm gonna fuck up that jumbotron." (laughs) And I was like, (laughs) I was like, "John, do-..." I go, "I- that's me. I'll have to pay for it. It's not the PGA." And then he was like s- he's like, "Oh man, I'm so sorry." Like, "Okay, I won't hit it. I didn't know." Like, "I thought..." You know? Gi- he's like the sweetest guy. And then he just like, he just cranks this... You... He- he's like our Babe Ruth.

Joe Rogan 56:50 Yeah.

Zack Snyder 56:50 Like he literally... I've done a bunch of spots with him. R- you know like on his wi- like on his back swing, the club head is pointing down at the ground 'cause he's-

Joe Rogan 57:00 Mm-hmm.

Zack Snyder 57:00 ... so twisted. And then he just uncoils and it's just unbelievable the amount of power that the guy... And he hits the ball out of the stadium and it goes... Literally, we had PAs in the parking lot and they're like, "The ball just goes over their heads and like into the freeway." You know? He's just a fricking-

Joe Rogan 57:18 Jamie, do you have that video that I sent you-

Zack Snyder 57:21 He's just a monster.

Joe Rogan 57:21 ... uh, recently of that guy?

Guest companion (unidentified) 57:23 Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah.

Joe Rogan 57:23 This, there's this fucking guy who does this step in move-

Zack Snyder 57:27 Oh, right. Sure.

Joe Rogan 57:28 ... before-

Zack Snyder 57:28 Like the, the, the, the, the Happy Gilroy or the s-

Guest companion (unidentified) 57:31 Well, not-

Zack Snyder 57:31 (laughs)

Joe Rogan 57:31 He-

Guest companion (unidentified) 57:31 Well, not quite that.

Zack Snyder 57:32 Not quite?

Joe Rogan 57:32 Not quite that, but with technique.

Zack Snyder 57:35 Mm.

Joe Rogan 57:35 And it's perfect, and the drive is insane.

Zack Snyder 57:39 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 57:40 And the torque is insane.

Zack Snyder 57:42 Yeah, becau-

Joe Rogan 57:42 Again, this is coming from someone who doesn't know jack shit about golf. Look at this kid.

Zack Snyder 57:45 Jesus!

Guest companion (unidentified) 57:48 (gunshots)

Joe Rogan 57:48 Jesus!

Zack Snyder 57:49 I mean...

Guest companion (unidentified) 57:50 (gunshots)

Zack Snyder 57:52 Jes-

Guest companion (unidentified) 57:52 (gunshots)

Joe Rogan 57:52 That is f- fucking insane.

Zack Snyder 57:54 The fact that he can actually... With that amount of back swing, the fact that he can actually hit the ball cleanly is unbelievable.

Joe Rogan 58:01 Is he from... Is that Chinese?

Guest companion (unidentified) 58:03 Uh, I don't know about... Uh, I don't know.

Zack Snyder 58:05 It looks like Japanese to me.

Joe Rogan 58:06 Is it Japanese?

Zack Snyder 58:07 His writing is Japanese. Isn't it?

Joe Rogan 58:09 So he's Japanese?

Zack Snyder 58:10 Isn't it?

Guest companion (unidentified) 58:10 Could be. There's a lot of... I mean, it's very popular in Japan and Korea.

Joe Rogan 58:12 Let's see. Di-

Zack Snyder 58:12 Who is it?

Guest companion (unidentified) 58:12 Korea.

Joe Rogan 58:12 Yeah, his name is Japanese.

Guest companion (unidentified) 58:15 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 58:15 Oh, that-

Zack Snyder 58:15 Yeah, Korea too, but that's unbelievable.

Joe Rogan 58:17 But that fucking technique is mad! (laughs)

Zack Snyder 58:19 (laughs) That's so cool.

Guest companion (unidentified) 58:19 Wow.

Joe Rogan 58:19 Let me hear that again (laughs) 'cause the sound...

Guest companion (unidentified) 58:21 Whoa.

Zack Snyder 58:21 Yeah, sound is awesome.

Guest companion (unidentified) 58:22 That's where... There... Uh, that could be... There's balls that do that.

Joe Rogan 58:26 Bro, I don't give a fuck what does that.

Guest companion (unidentified) 58:31 (gunshots)

Joe Rogan 58:31 Look at where it ends!

Zack Snyder 58:32 And also like-

Guest companion (unidentified) 58:32 Oh, wow.

Joe Rogan 58:32 The club ends in front of his face!

Zack Snyder 58:34 Yeah.

Joe Rogan 58:35 Past his face! Near his left shoulder!

Zack Snyder 58:37 Jesus! Li... So much whip on the, on the-

Joe Rogan 58:38 It's amazing.

Zack Snyder 58:39 That's crazy. But yeah, it's fun.

Joe Rogan 58:41 That's wild.

Zack Snyder 58:41 But yeah, that... It was fun actually. That time in my life, traveling around and doing all those TV commercials all over the world. Like, I had a crew of guys. It was like me and my boys, um, and we would just like literally go one job, Papua New Guinea, one job, Germany, one job, Mexico, one job, Iceland. Like, over and o-... We were just on the road completely out of our minds and it was just... You know, and like, whatever product we'd be like, "Okay," I'd be pitching... The guys would be like, "What are we doing next?" I'm like, "I don't... I gotta get on a call." We... Like, I have an agency and I get on the call in the hotel room and I pitch them and I'd be, like, be out of my mind, I don't know what I'm saying.

Joe Rogan 59:19 (laughs)

Zack Snyder 59:19 And I'd come out and they'd be like, "How'd it go?" And I, "I think I got it!" And they were like, "How'd you... Did you nail it?" And I was like, "Yeah! I told them it's gonna be like low angles and slow motion and it's fucking cool!" And they were like, "Okay, cool. Let's go." And I, and it was just this... We were just in this machine and, and, and frankly, I learned everything... Like, I spent 10 years... You know like that 10,000 hours thing?

Joe Rogan 59:38 Mm-hmm.

Zack Snyder 59:38 It literally... I spent 10 years with every production problem 'cause I was a director of photography. I was a DP and the director in, you know, we were a pretty small show, you know? But we had giant clients, anything you can think of. So then when I went to make a movie, it wasn't like there was no... There was no thing I hadn't seen, you know?

Joe Rogan 1:00:03 Right.

Zack Snyder 1:00:03 It wasn't like I stepped onto set like, "Oh, I'm a first time director." Everyone's like, "Oh, this guy's a first time director." Like, "What's his..." You know, "What's he gonna say?" And I'd be like-

Joe Rogan 1:00:11 Right.

Zack Snyder 1:00:11 There... There was like... The tools were my tools, you know what I mean? Like, I was very comfortable with the tool set that I had in front of me.

Joe Rogan 1:00:20 Mm-hmm.

Zack Snyder 1:00:20 Like, more so than I probably should've been. You know, I remember Matt Lionetti, who was the DP of Dawn of the Dead, that was my first movie, was like halfway through the thing, he's like-... you know, you know what you're doing. Like, you know (laughs) ... you know what I mean? Like, you know what you're doing. Like, he goes, "They can't fire you now." Because, like, we were halfway through. 'Cause, like, I was so diligent, like, on my first movie. I was so scared. You know? Scott Stuber, who, um, was the executive at Netflix, who was my executive on, uh, Army of the Dead, he was the one that hired me to do Dawn. And I was so... I wanted to do such a, like... I wanted to be so conscientious, and I was so scared of, like, going overbudget and not nailing it and making sure it was cool and all that, um, that, like, Matt Lionetti at one point was like, "Look, man, like, you gotta just... Fuck it. You know? You- you're... it's your... Make it cool now. Don't give a fuck. Just make it c-... Do what you think." And it was such great advice, because I think the movie's edge and all the coolness in the movie, and the man comes around and all the, like, weirdness, the whole, like, montage with the Richard Cheese song in the middle, that was all just me going, "All right, good. Thanks, Matt. I'm gonna just go." And he goes, "Good," 'cause like... you know, because otherwise he goes, "You're just gonna make a movie that this zombie movie's gonna disappear."

Joe Rogan 1:01:42 Hmm.

Zack Snyder 1:01:42 You know? Unless you fucking...

Joe Rogan 1:01:43 Add your sauce.

Zack Snyder 1:01:44 Yeah, go... You gotta add your sauce.

Joe Rogan 1:01:46 Yeah.

Zack Snyder 1:01:46 'Cause he goes... otherwise it's like, "Look, another zombie movie," like, who cares?

Joe Rogan 1:01:49 Right.

Zack Snyder 1:01:49 Like, he goes, "You..." he goes, "I know you know what's cool."

Joe Rogan 1:01:53 Well, you made it fun.

Zack Snyder 1:01:54 A- a- and I think that that was the whole thing. For me, it was like, how do you make a B movie that's self-aware that it's a B movie, right?

Joe Rogan 1:02:02 Hmm.

Zack Snyder 1:02:03 And in that self-awareness, it lets you off the hook to enjoy it, because you can still be smart. Like, you deconstructed the genre. You... 'cause, like, I've always been fascinated with genre and the deconstruction of genre. Like, I'm a genre filmmaker. I always say to everybody, like, people are like, "What kind of fil-"... I'm a genre filmmaker, like, and that is to say that, like, in genre though, you can explore, like, philosophy, you can explore, um, mythology especially, which is like... Myth is, like, my main... Like, we make myth, modern myth. Movies are modern myth. Superhero movies are modern myth. Like, is it not the same when you say... Like, we have Superman, right? And Batman or whatever. Are they not the mythic answer to the modern, a lot of modern questions about, like, how we should live? You know, like, you say, "Superman," is he not an, like, an invention, a 20th century invention that says to us, like, all the fucking shit that we run up against, whether it be war or, like, class struggle, or whether it be, you know, uh, you know, inter-, um, relationships between different countries. Does Superman not appear in answer to us primitive brains trying to figure out what the f-... where we are? Like, you make a guy like Superman so he can answer some of those questions. He can represent a point of view that is not helpless in the face of the insanity that is, like, you know, the, the problems of the 20th century. And I think... and Batman in the same way. He's an a- answer to, like, urban... What is urban? The urban jungle needs a myth, you know?

Joe Rogan 1:03:46 Hmm.

Zack Snyder 1:03:46 Just like the ancient jungle needed a myth or the ancient... you know, those all... Like, in those days we'd say, like, "Why is the volcano erupting?" Right? (laughs) But now we say... 'Cause we didn't know, you know? We're just like, "I guess it's... the gods are mad," you know?

Joe Rogan 1:04:02 Right.

Zack Snyder 1:04:02 And s-... but now we have, th-... now the problem is like, "Why am I... (laughs) why do I feel helpless in the face of technology or whatever?"

Joe Rogan 1:04:10 Right.

Zack Snyder 1:04:10 You know? So we need an answer... we need an additional answer, and I think that's what... and that's what I've always... and I feel like genre has allowed me to make those comments, you know?

Joe Rogan 1:04:18 Mm-hmm.

Zack Snyder 1:04:19 And I think... and it... you know, look, the funny thing about, you know, m-... what I always find interesting, you know, the- the- the thing that I always find fascinating about sort of the movies I've made and, and how they've landed on pop culture is that like... I remember, like, in the