I want to do something really fun today. I want to talk about STUNTS. Stunt-work is an incredibly important part of the film-making industry and is designed generally to keep actors safe during movies that require their characters to be in…highly dangerous situations. There are different kinds of stunts: Free falls, car crashed, full body burns, the list goes on. The training and prep required for these stunts can take weeks if not months to plan in advance, especially if you plan on doing them without the use of visual effects or CGI. Stunts have been performed for centuries in stage plays up until Vaudeville entered the picture. Movies and television just took it to another level. Usually, stunt-men do the work, but every once in a while you will have an actor that will do his or her own stunts, much to the chagrin of certain insurance companies. What I want to do, is highlight some of the most spectacular stunts in the modern film era. Most of these need to be practical and done for real. So, let the show begin:
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life: Wingsuit Escape
Yeah, Tomb Raider: Cradle of Life is a movie based on a video-game, but that doesn’t diminish how amazing this stunt is. Skydiving had been around for quite some time, but the use of wingsuits was really developed in the late 90s, so Cradle of Life is one of the first movies to utilize the wingsuit. Obviously, Angelina Jolie and Gerard Butler didn’t make the jump themselves, but regardless, this is awesome. What makes it even more spectacular, is that Hong Kong allowed the film-makers to do this, and the shot lingers on the stunt doubles making their way out to sea. Say what you will about the rest of the film, but the stunt-work in these first Tomb Raider movies were spectacular.
Goldeneye – Dam Bungee Jump
Leave it to a James Bond movie to start a movie off with an incredible spectacular stunt. In Goldeneye, Pierce Brosnan’s first film as the legendary spy, we see the character infiltrating a Soviet base by bungee jumping off the top of a dam. This is awesome because they only did it once. All the cameras were working so we got multiple angles of the jump. This particular stunt is in the Guinness Book of World Records for the highest bungee jump from a structure in a film. Goldeneye has no shortage of amazing stunts, but this bungee jump is a hell of a way to not only start off a movie but a new iteration of James Bond.
Casino Royale – Car Crash
Goldeneye wouldn’t be the only James Bond movie to break records. Oh, no. Casino Royale would set a new Guinness World Records for most barrel rolls in a car. As someone who has been in a rollover, this is not exactly the easiest thing to watch, but I’ll be damned if it wasn’t one of the most spectacular car crashes put on screen.
Raiders of the Lost Ark – Desert Chase
Honestly, I couldn’t pick and choose which stunt in this sequence was better. The whole thing is great. Spielberg and Lucas have gone on record saying that they were inspired by the adventure serials of the 30s and 40s, and this desert chase is basically a 9-minute homage to the stunts that inspired it. I mean, Indy going under the truck and getting dragged behind is clearly a classic stunt that was updated with a more modern approach. The whole sequence is exciting, it’s got humor, and it’s all bolstered by John Williams’ legendary music. This is a desert chase for the ages.
Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol – Burj Khalifa
There truly is something to be said for shooting on location. This little stunt in Mission Impossible 4 takes place on the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. It involves Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt climbing the outside of the Khalifa to reach a server room and back again before an assassin shows up. Say what you will about Tom Cruise, but you can’t fault his dedication to his craft. His willingness to do ALL of his own stunts makes the Mission Impossible movies far more fun and intense, knowing that the stunts are real. Obviously, wires are used to ensure Cruise’s safety, but considering how high up they are, it’s still vertigo-inducing.
Jackie Chan’s Police Story – Pole Stunt
Come on, you didn’t think I’d leave Jackie Chan off this list, did you? I mean, when it comes to doing their own stunts, nobody did it better than Jackie Chan. He obviously took a lot of his physical humor and stunt ideas from the legendary Buster Keaton, but added his own martial arts flair to the action. This stunt involving a pole is perhaps the most infamous of Chan’s stunts. He ended up with second-degree burns on his hands because the pole was unintentionally electrified. Chan has always put his body on the line for our entertainment, even almost at the cost of his own life. I’m honestly amazed he managed to live through some of the things he’s done.
Ben-Hur(1959) – Chariot Race
They really don’t make them like this anymore. Ben-Hur is one of the all-time classic epics from the 50s. It’s a great story, but this chariot race is one of the greatest moments in cinema history. It’s all done for real. An entire track was built specifically for this race. Early on in this clip we see that Charlton Heston’s character’s chariot accidentally hits a fallen rider’s chariot and sends the character over the top and nearly get trampled. This wasn’t actually supposed to happen. It was a “happy” accident that managed to stay in the movie. The whole race is intense and exciting. There was a remake of this film(ironic, because this movie IS a remake) released in 2016, but the chariot race was heavily CGI’d. It didn’t feel right. But this is what most people think of when they hear the word “epic.” It is indeed.
Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior – Stunt Accident
Stunt work is an incredibly dangerous line of work. People have been seriously injured, maimed, and even killed performing stunts. Sometimes, though, like Ben-Hur, some of those accidents manage to make the final cut. With The Road Warrior, stuntman Guy Norris played a biker that got sent flying after colliding with another vehicle. He flew head over heels as planned, but his legs made contact with the buggy, breaking Norris’ femur on impact. He also didn’t land properly, because of that. Best part about this? George Miller ended up patching Guy Norris up, because Miller used to be an ER doctor. Guy Norris has continued to work in the stunt world since then and has teamed up with Miller on multiple projects including Fury Road and Furiosa.
Buster Keaton
There was absolutely no way I was going to do a post about stunts and leave Buster Keaton off of it. No way. Born Joseph Frank Keaton, he was known for his silent movies during the 20s, in which he performed stunts that people still consider to be insane. But it was also his physical comedy that really elevated his performances. I can’t point to a single one that’s better than the other. This man has been the inspiration for so many stuntmen and women including Jackie Chan and Zoe Bell.
Stunts are just a part of the film-making machine, but they help get the audience involved when the know that a character is in danger. As I mentioned earlier, stunt work involves a lot of planning and a lot of risks. Many stuntmen have walked away without a scratch, some have died, and some have been injured to the point of forced retirement. It’s incredibly dangerous, even when you slip on a banana peel, you could land in a way that paralyze you. But even with all the risks involved, stunts help make movies a more immersive and emotional experience. People have wanted the Academy to start rewarding stuntpeople for their contributions. While I think that would be cool, there’s already an awards event that recognizes such work. It’s called the Taurus World Stunt Awards. It is a celebration of the entire stunt industry, both in America and around the world. Check it out.