Meaning stunts or feats you'd initially assume are done with special effects, but later learn are just raw talent. A few of my more favorite ones I recently learned about include:
- A stunt helicopter pilot actually flying underneath an overpass in Terminator 2
- Sigourney Weaver actually making the no-look over-the-shoulder basketball shot in Alien Resurrection
- Michelle Pfeiffer actually whipping the heads off of four mannequins in Batman Returns
So what are yours?
by -Khlerik-
9 Comments
True!
I wouldn’t say “surprised” as it was obvious it was happening in real life but the crocodile pit escape by James Bond in *Live And Let Die* has to be one of the most eye-popping stunts I’ve ever seen. And then, when the BluRay of the film came out and we got to see the various attempts made before nailing that scene… holy fucking shit…!
[LIVE AND LET DIE (1973) Crocodile Jump Attempts (Behind the Scenes) (youtube.com)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bM_AN_gTMnA)
I have one, but it’s more negative than your examples.
There’s a big nighttime car chase in BvS involving the Batmobile. For the longest time, I thought the Batmobile was fully CGI, but it isn’t. It’s actually a fully functional vehicle with a real person driving it, which is cool as hell.
The problem is that the lighting of the entire movie, and this scene in particular, is so oppressively awful and dark that you can’t make out any fine details at all, so real props end up looking fake. What is the point in putting all the extra effort to shoot a real chase with a real Batmobile that you built from the ground up if you’re just going to drown the entire scene in black so the viewer can’t make it out anyway? So stupid, it makes me angry.
Jackie Chan almost died while filming Armour of God(fell out of tree and cracked his skull open and a piece of his skull almost penetrated his brain)
Also, fun fact: Jackie Chan does all his own stunts
Tobey McGuire catching all the food on MJs tray in Spiderman
I wouldn’t say “surprised,” but I’m amazed by all of Tom Cruise’s big stunts in the Mission Impossible films.
The body waxing scene in 40 Year Old Virgin.
Pretty much the whole movie [Roar](https://youtu.be/cny_D50Rr44), where Tippi Hedren and her family lived and worked with untrained lions and tigers, making the whole film feel like some crazed fever dream. It’s insane watching it.
Michelle Pfeiffer actually putting a live bird in her mouth in Batman Returns.