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Why Hollywood stuntmen think The Matrix changed everything
Matrix producer Joel Silver changed the rules of the game and made Hollywood stunt history when he traveled to China to beg reluctant action director Yuen Wo-Ping to choreograph the fighting for the film, according to an informal poll by author Kevin Conley.
Conley, who went behind the scenes with the stunt performers who make sure our favorite stars don't break their necks to research his book The Full Burn: On the Set, at the Bar, Behind the Wheel, and Over the Edge With Hollywood Stuntmen, wrote in Salon that "Wo-Ping set ridiculous demands in the hopes that Silver would just go away: a huge budget, a ridiculous salary, and six months of training with the actors and stuntmen. Much to his surprise, Silver agreed to everything, and when the series became a blockbuster, the practice of hiring stuntmen for lengthy training and rehearsal periods took off."
Other flicks admired by Hollywood stuntmen include Crank, the three installments of the Bourne trilogy and the Thai action movie Ong-Bak.
By Bernie at 10:23 AM ON 07/06/09
That's all good, except why have there been so many accidents and deaths in recent years under some big productions? Daniel Craig suffered injuries while shooting "Quantam of Solace". Bryan Singer's Valkyrie had extras getting into an accident during a shoot. Nick Cage's filming in New York suffered car crashes. The list goes on. So far the only Hollywood productions that haven't suffered stunt accidents did theirs 'old school' like "Death Proof" and the 2004 "Punisher".
By R. Caine at 11:18 AM ON 07/06/09
What do you mean "in recent years," Bernie? Stunt accidents and fatalities have been occurring practically since they started utilizing stunt doubles. Training extensively isn't going to guarantee that accidents won't occur, nor will not doing so.
By ELAshley at 12:06 PM ON 07/06/09
No, no guarantee at all, but I can see where six months of training could help in lowering the odds.
By Wulfe at 12:11 PM ON 07/06/09
The extra training may reduce the odds, but the directors may also then expect higher returns and call for more dangerous stunts that change the safety equation.
By Chris "Coach K" Kincey at 2:22 PM ON 07/06/09
Uh, in case no one has noticed, action in movies is ever more climatic. They push, and push and push the envelope as far as it can go - so something is bound to break.
It is the uber-sydrome - this can be seen in the porn industry. What else can they possibily do?
I'm surprised there aren't more accidents.
By IsoTek at 3:42 PM ON 07/06/09
Training alone will not always cut down on accidents. Film Execs, Producers and sometimes Directors need to be mindful that actors and stuntmen are not machines that can labor without downtime. The "time is money" and "hurry up and wait" reality of moviemaking combined with the ever increasing physical demands of some roles often makes the executives and studios pressure the creative staff into silly and sometimes dangerous lapses in saftey and judgement. Movies are made so quickly today (in comparison to 20-40 years ago) that accidents are bound to happen and in certain instances it's a miracle more or severe accidents didn't happen. When studios stop being pennywise and learn to give more leeway in filming so that everything is not so rushed, the accidents will go down considerably.
By Bernie at 7:07 AM ON 07/07/09
What I meant, RCaine, is why does Hollywood still experience accidents and deaths in their productions of these stuntmen train so hard?
By TheDude at 8:45 AM ON 08/23/09
The amount of deaths in Hollywood productions is close to non-existent. Try to find one in the past five years. Compare this to logging, or ocean fishing, or coal mining, and you begin to see that stuntmen have succeeded: they try to create the illusion of danger. Some of the most violent films actually are models of workplace safety.
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TheDude:
The amount of deaths in Hollywood productions is close to non-existent. Try to find one in the past five years. Com...More »