Stuntmen React to Bad and Great Hollywood Stunts

September 18, 2019 8:07 AM

Behind the scenes discussion of the making of iconic Hollywood stunts featuring stuntmen Eric Linden (Avengers, Daredevil) and Guix Dasilva (Black Panther) with Corridor Digital (Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.)
posted by roaring beast (21 comments total)

Watching the bits about Civil War made me realize that modern filmmaking does stuntmen a disservice... When I see stuff like the tunnel fight, I assume it's really good compositing and CG creation mixed with some live action for closeups etc. I had no idea they actually did all that crazy shit with towing people behind cars. Wild.
posted by selfnoise at 8:17 AM on September 18, 2019 [6 favorites]

the fun these guys are having watching this, it's infectious.

also: Nerf bathroom
posted by chavenet at 8:20 AM on September 18, 2019 [3 favorites]

I can't keep watching these, because I'm at work and that would be bad, but I watched a few minutes of the first one, and these guys are really fun.
posted by jacquilynne at 8:37 AM on September 18, 2019

The Civil War clips are insane. I would have laid money down that the shot of Black Panther landing and running from that wall scrape was 100% CGI because it was so ridiculously graceful.
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 9:13 AM on September 18, 2019

Yeah, these have made me appreciate that it doesn't really matter that much what the subject is, listening to people who have passion and expertise talk about their thing is simply fascinating.
posted by bjrubble at 9:33 AM on September 18, 2019 [3 favorites]

Huh, I skimmed this and these are the kind of movies I don't really watch and it seems too bad that you can't tell the practical stunts from the cgi. For instance that whole halo jump thing tom cruise did I never would have suspected that it involved a halo jump, especially after watching it.
posted by Pembquist at 10:02 AM on September 18, 2019

I actually stumbled across these videos a few weeks back via a rare instance of the YouTube recommendation algorithm not actively attempting to radicalize me and I just love the wonkery, and learning how they blend practical with the digital. Cool to learn that Keanu Reeves does a lot of his own stunt work, including some serious driving.
posted by Fish Sauce at 10:19 AM on September 18, 2019

These guys are having a ton of fun and I love it. Great for sharing. Thanks.
posted by Fizz at 10:45 AM on September 18, 2019

These are great. The last one is the one explaining how they did the Black Panther scenes in Winter Soldier, if people are as curious as I was about that.
posted by LobsterMitten at 10:52 AM on September 18, 2019

The magic carpet and Nerf bathroom bits were really neat to see! I hope one day stunt people get an Oscar of their own; the job seems to involve a lot of technical expertise, years of bruises, and incredible hard work.
posted by tautological at 3:44 PM on September 18, 2019 [1 favorite]

"I know Jackie Chan cites Buster Keaton a lot as one of his biggest inspirations…"

Shows a clip of Jackie Chan doing a stunt based on Harold Lloyd's clock scene from Safety Last! Then shows Harold Lloyd doing the clock stunt from Safety Last!

(╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻
posted by Omon Ra at 3:46 PM on September 18, 2019 [2 favorites]

...do they do one for Mad Max: Fury Road?
posted by nonasuch at 6:36 PM on September 18, 2019

Also that bank vault car chase thing is really something -- video 3, starting around the 9 minute mark.

This channel has a lot of interesting stuff - their commentary on good/bad CGI is so much about the physics of light, very informative and clear.
posted by LobsterMitten at 6:51 PM on September 18, 2019

This is fun. It's good that the reactions are both "Oh and then... BOOSH!!!" but also, "Now, when you do a throw like this the real danger is to your hip, so your padding is here..."
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 7:04 PM on September 18, 2019 [1 favorite]

Holy shit that magic carpet bit with Black Panther. I can't believe that shit was real and not CGI.
posted by jacquilynne at 8:44 PM on September 18, 2019

It's gotta be frustrating when the stunt you worked on for a month is so crazy people just assume it's CGI.
posted by gottabefunky at 10:50 PM on September 18, 2019

That's either the most frustrating thing or the pinnacle of achievement: "we just did a thing that no one even believes is humanly possible".
posted by jacquilynne at 6:38 AM on September 19, 2019

I love how the Black Panther one is full of the stunt guy responding "we practiced that for a month" when asked how something was safely and realistically achieved
posted by RustyBrooks at 9:29 AM on September 19, 2019

That's either the most frustrating thing or the pinnacle of achievement: "we just did a thing that no one even believes is humanly possible".

That puts me in mind of a bit I heard once, might have been Penn, but I'm really not sure. The gist of it was that magic tricks can work because no one can believe that someone would be willing to put in the ridiculous amount of work needed--either in practice or in making a prop. I suppose the same applies to movie magic as well, and since everyone knows there are all sorts of tricks the filmmakers can use as a shortcut, it can be even harder to appreciate it when it's real...well, more real.
posted by Four Ds at 9:53 AM on September 19, 2019

Ooo, just watched last week "The Fall" about silent film stunt men.
From IMD:
" In a hospital on the outskirts of 1920s Los Angeles, an injured stuntman begins to tell a fellow patient, a little girl with a broken arm, a fantastic story of five mythical heroes. Thanks to his fractured state of mind and her vivid imagination, the line between fiction and reality blurs as the tale advances.
Director: Tarsem Singh (as Tarsem) "
Check it out - at the library.
posted by Mesaverdian at 12:05 PM on September 19, 2019

I really like the idea of these, but the editing makes them unwatchable for me. I feel like I'm watching an animated gif half the time, I don't know.
posted by ODiV at 6:47 PM on September 19, 2019