When I worked in small-market television, there were occasions where the entire crew had to be present, but not actually doing anything, in preparation for severe weather or large-scale productions. During one such instance, we would share cautionary tales of TV idiocy past, including a story that my friend Denny told about having to edit a movie to fit a given time slot and cutting out some silly car chase. The response from viewers was unpleasant, as that movie was ‘Bullitt’, and the car chase in question is considered one of the great moments of modern cinema. That sort of traditional stunt work is less common in these days of CGI, but you can still occasionally find a gem like the Ships Mast scene from ‘Death-Proof’ or anything with Burt Reynolds in it. (‘Sharkey’s Machine’ is a terrible movie but still has a favorite stunt moment in it for me.) In fact, the appreciation of the unknown stuntman (Hey Hey!) leads us to today’s well-padded query…
The MS-QOTD (pronounced, as always, “misquoted”) still loves Hal Needham movies because of the mostly needless car jumps, chases and random explosions, like a proto-Michael Bay, only with talent, asking: Which movie or TV moment is your Favorite Stunt?
3 Comments
Most of Jackie Chan movies he made in Hong Kong.
The Man with the Golden Gun has the AMC Hornet doing a barrel roll jump. It’s more than just the over the top stunt, which had been done before. It was also shot and lit beautifully.
My other top choice is the ski jump at the opening of Spy Who Loved Me. In the theater, you could hear a pin drop, then the parachute opened, and the audience exploded with joy.
That was a cool stunt that had an effect beyond the screen. Ska-rew CGI! :)
I concur. The barrel roll in in the 007 movie was great. I was about to post that.
Another that came to mind was Buster Keaton’s stunt in Steamboat Bill Jr where the front of the house fell around him.