One of the most rewarding examples of movie magic, stunts represent cinema at its most visceral. Performers have been executing stunts on screen from the very beginning. Edwin S. Porter's 1903 film "The Great Train Robbery," one of cinema's earliest smash hits, includes numerous stunts throughout its 13-minute runtime, including shootouts, explosions, fight scenes, and horseback riding. Though CGI and special effects have become quite advanced since then, the best 21st-century action scenes are still
those that employ practical effects and boots-on-the-ground stunt work.
The lineage of modern stunt performances can be traced back 100 years. Comedians Harold Lloyd and Buster Keaton pioneered daredevil stunt work during the silent era. Historical epics and westerns incited shock and awe in the 1940s and 1950s. The New American Cinema films of the 1970s portrayed gritty action, while Hong Kong cinema exploded in popularity in the 1980s thanks to performers like Jackie Chan and Michelle Yeoh.
Contemporary stunt work from experts like Tom Cruise or directors such as David Leitch has built on this legacy, ensuring audiences still get the same thrill that viewers felt at the turn of the century. We're here to celebrate these feats, so read on to explore our ranking of the 15 greatest stunts of all time.
Read more: The Greatest Character Actors Of All Time, Ranked
The Tanker Chase In Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Though James Cameron's "Terminator" films feature plenty of special effects, the practical stunt work has just as much of an impact. During one electrifying scene, the T-1000 (Robert Patrick) chases the Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger), Sarah (Linda Hamilton), and John (Edward Furlong) in a tanker truck filled with nitrogen.
The gang's stolen pickup truck is no match for the T-1000's behemoth, so the Terminator takes the fight to him. He scurries along the back of the truck and gracefully climbs onto the hood of the tanker, shooting his nemesis to smithereens through the windshield. Seconds later, he flips the tanker over and continues riding it as it swiftly skids down the road.
It's hard to catch every stunt upon first viewing because the scene is so action-packed. But according to Cameron, the transition from the truck to the tanker was the "most dangerous stunt" he had ever filmed. "You either did it right or you were dead," he explained. Thankfully, with no wires there to catch his fall, stuntman Peter Kent executed the stunt perfectly.
The Boulder Escape In Raiders Of The Lost Ark
When George Lucas came up with the idea for "Raiders of the Lost Ark," it was just a series of large-scale action sequences. Though it became slightly more fleshed out, director Steven Spielberg said he was amazed Harrison Ford's stunt team survived. But Ford's team didn't get as much action as they might have hoped, as the actor did as many stunts as he could, including one of the series' most famous moments.
In the movie's iconic opening scene, Indy attempts to steal a golden idol from Peru and is confronted with a series of deadly booby traps. He's chased by a massive boulder that seems likely to crush him at any moment. As it turns out, the boulder chase looks so real because Harrison Ford was literally running away from a massive rock during filming.
Though it wasn't a real boulder, the fake rock still weighed 300 pounds, meaning it would have crushed Ford had it ever caught up to him. And because Spielberg wanted several different shots of the boulder, Ford had to run for his life 10 times in a row. Spielberg later called himself "an idiot for letting him try it."
Zoë Bell Hanging On The Hood Of A Car In Death Proof
Quentin Tarantino's films would be nothing without their incredible stunt work. Thankfully, the director recognizes the importance of stunt performers, which is why he centered his film "Death Proof" on Zoë Bell, Uma Thurman's stunt double in "Kill Bill."
The most jaw-dropping stunt in the film is a 20-minute-long car chase sequence where Bell hangs on the hood of a car the entire time. Bell, playing herself, initially gets on top of the car to practice a new stunt. Though the stunt is already impressive on its own, things take a turn for the worse when a deranged stuntman, Mike (Kurt Russell), starts ramming them with his car.
This goes on for several minutes, and it looks like Bell, who begins holding on with seatbelts but by the end is just hanging on to the hood itself, is going to fall off at any moment. We can see that it's Bell on the car the entire time, making the sequence even more thrilling. It's an incredible showcase of talent from a performer Tarantino has called the greatest stuntwoman in the world.
The Stairwell Fight In Atomic Blonde
As a director who started as a stuntman, David Leitch understands stunt work like few other filmmakers. His film "Atomic Blonde" best illustrates his skill at stunt work and also solidified Charlize Theron as one of today's greatest action stars. Theron plays Lorraine Broughton, a spy operating in Berlin during the fall of the Berlin Wall.
In the film's amazing extended take stairwell fight, Lorraine fends off her attackers for a full 10 minutes. Though she had a double, Theron did much of the stunt work herself after six weeks of intensive training for the film. The scene becomes even more visceral thanks to the makeup team, who came in at predetermined points to add blood, cuts, and bruises to the actors so viewers can witness the physical effects of the fight in real-time. Clever editing conceals the hidden cuts, giving it the appearance of a one-take scene. The result is one of the greatest movie fights of the 21st century.
The Polecats In Mad Max: Fury Road
"Mad Max: Fury Road" features some of the greatest stunt work in the 21st century, and part of the reason the film looks so good –– and so electrifying –– is that it was mostly done with practical effects, meaning it was also quite dangerous to shoot. "I don't understand how they're not still shooting that film, and I don't understand how hundreds of people aren't dead," Steven Soderbergh told The Hollywood Reporter.
All of the sequences with vehicles are spellbinding, but the polecat battle scene is especially impressive. A Cirque du Soleil performer assembled the team for the stunt, which was achieved with 30-foot poles weighted by car engines. In the finished scene, we watch the polecats swing from side to side, touching down on the war rig, all while speeding through the dusty desert. The sequence includes an extraordinary amount of moving parts, all of which had to be executed perfectly -– and simultaneously –- to achieve the incredible result.
Harold Lloyd Hanging From A Clock In Safety Last!
It's a shame that Harold Lloyd isn't as well remembered as his contemporaries Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin, because his work is just as enchanting. His 1923 film "Safety Last!" contains one of the most enduring images of the silent film era. In it, Lloyd hangs from a giant clock on the facade of a skyscraper while traffic bustles below him, part of a plot to earn more money and impress his girlfriend.
Lloyd performed many of the stunts himself, though he used a stunt double for several portions. As with most of his films, Lloyd did the stunts in "Safety Last!" for the sake of humor, though audiences became primed to watch his daredevil acts alongside these comedic highjinks. His striking deed would continue to influence stunt work for decades to come, most notably serving as the inspiration for Jackie Chan's clock stunt in "Project A."
Make 'Em Laugh From Singin' In The Rain
Though most associate stunt work with action films, it can be found in all genres. Take, for example, "Singin' In The Rain," in which Gene Kelly plays Don, a stuntman turned movie star. However, Don's friend Cosmo, played by Donald O'Connor, performs the film's greatest stunts. In "Make 'Em Laugh," the most comedic song in the film, O'Connor performs a series of stunts, gags, and acrobatics as impactful as any action set piece.
In an effort to cheer up Don, Cosmo performs the song with exuberant gusto. He gets hit in the head by planks of wood, runs into walls, and topples over furniture. He falls over at least 20 times in a row, each fall funnier than the last. In the song's gravity-defying and hilarious conclusion, Cosmo runs up a wall and does a backflip twice, but during his third attempt, he launches himself through a wall. Here, O'Connor proves that he's just as good a stuntman as he is a dancer and a singer.
The Brutal Horse Chase In Stagecoach
John Ford's "Stagecoach" directly inspired another revered film. Have you ever heard of Citizen Kane? Orson Welles watched the movie dozens of times, studying it as if he were in school, and one of the things he must have noticed was the stunts. Welles surely took note of the film's most famous stunt, executed by legendary stuntman Yakima Canutt.
During an exciting chase sequence, an Apache (played by a white man in redface) jumps from his horse to the stagecoach horses. Though he sticks the landing, he gets shot and falls between the horses. While he holds on to the yoke for a few seconds, his hands slip, and he gets trampled by all six horses and the stagecoach as they go roaring by.
The latter half of the sequence is filmed in one continuous shot, and at the end, the camera follows Canutt as he rolls over and gets on his knees, showing audiences that a real human being performed that incredible feat. It remains one of the most legendary and oft-imitated stunts in history, and serves as a precursor to the amazing stunt work in road films like the "Mad Max" series.
Michelle Yeoh's Truck To Car Stunt In Police Story 3: Super Cop
Quentin Tarantino famously didn't cast Michelle Yeoh in "Kill Bill" because Uma Thurman kicking her butt wouldn't be believable, and if you watch her work in Hong Kong cinema, you can see why. In "Police Story 3: Super Cop," a stunt gone wrong didn't stop Yeoh from achieving one of her most indelible action sequences.
During the scene in question, Yeoh hangs from the side of a truck as it careens through traffic. After doing an incredibly acrobatic move to get herself on the roof of the truck, she gets shot at and rolls off the roof and onto the hood of Chan Ka-Kui's (Jackie Chan) red sports car.
In the first take, the car windshield didn't break, and Yeoh rolled into the busy road. Though Chan was horrified and wanted to stop for the day, Yeoh decided to try again, and in the second (and final) take, pulled off the dangerous stunt without a hitch.
Tom Cruise Climbing The Burj Khalifa In Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol
For Tom Cruise's inevitable spot on the list, we've selected a "Mission: Impossible" stunt that stands out for its sheer grandeur and visual delight. In "Ghost Protocol," Cruise takes his stunt work to new heights, climbing to the top of the Burj Khalifa -- the tallest building in the world.
While Cruise didn't free climb the tower, the stunt was still quite perilous. The actor spent months training on a glass wall that mimicked the exterior of the building. When they filmed the scene, the cables attached to Cruise had to be placed very carefully so they wouldn't shatter the glass. He was wearing a harness that cut off circulation in his legs. It was shot on an IMAX camera, so Cruise only had 30 minutes to scale the building.
The entire sequence is breathtaking, and while plenty of other Cruise stunts could appear on the list, the jaw-dropping, highly cinematic quality of this one can't be matched.
Buster Keaton's Falling House In Steamboat Bill, Jr.
Nicknamed "The Great Stone Face," silent film star Buster Keaton's stoic countenance provides an amusing contrast to the shocking nature of his stunts. Many of his stunts were intensely physical, like his boulder chase a la "Raiders of the Lost Ark" or the waterfall rescue in "Our Hospitality," but his best-known stunt required no movement at all.
"Steamboat Bill Jr." features Keaton caught in a cyclone, culminating in an unforgettable moment where the entire wall of a house falls on him. He avoids death by standing in the exact spot where the window falls. The stunt features zero sleight of hand – Keaton is really standing in front of a house as it falls on top of him. It wasn't a lightweight structure constructed for the film either, but the real facade of a two-story house. There was no guarantee that the stunt would work, and the margin of error was minuscule, making Keaton's success all the more impressive.
The Ski Jump In The Spy Who Loved Me
The first action sequence in "The Spy Who Loved Me" takes place quite unusually on the ski slopes. The scene's grand finale, which leads directly into the famous Bond opening credits, is arguably the greatest stunt in the entire franchise.
Pursued by bad guys, Roger Moore's Bond skis down the mountain until there's no mountain anymore, at which point he skis off the mountain. The sequence performed by stuntman Rick Sylvester is breathtaking. After Bond skis off the cliff, he falls into the valley below for an interminable 20 seconds before releasing his parachute, fittingly decorated with the Union Jack. The music drops out for those 20 seconds, leaving us only with the sound of wind until the parachute opens and the music returns. Carly Simon's Bond theme, "Nobody Does It Better," feels especially apt here.
The Chariot Race In Ben-Hur
Yakima Canutt continued working his magic for decades after "Stagecoach," wowing audiences once more as the stunt coordinator for "Ben-Hur." The film's chariot race remains one of the greatest spectacles in cinema history. Canutt trained 80 horses, as well as stars Stephen Boyd and Charlton Heston, for the ancient sport, and the race ultimately used 7,000 extras and took three months to film, eating up a significant chunk of the film's then-unprecedented $15 million production cost.
Though an urban legend claims that at least one person died on set, that never happened. However, it wasn't without dangers, as Canutt's stuntman son Joe was thrown off the chariot during one take, thankfully only sustaining minor injuries. Because Joe Canutt caught himself just before falling beneath dozens of hooves, footage of the accident was used in the film, reworked to show Heston's Ben-Hur saving himself from certain death.
An equally captivating stunt, the moment when Messala (Stephen Boyd) falls out of his chariot and holds on before being trampled by another racer's horses, recalls Canutt's earlier work in "Stagecoach." With no special effects available to them, director William Wyler and his team created a set piece that wows viewers in every decade.
Tony Jaa Racing Through The Streets Of Bangkok In Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior
Stunts are the bread of butter of "Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior," as it was marketed as a film that didn't use any CGI or stunt doubles to achieve its thrilling action sequences. "Ong-Bak" stars Tony Jaa, a Thai martial artist, actor, and stuntman often considered one of the greatest martial arts actors of all time. In his breakout role, the actor plays Ting, a Muay Thai specialist and monk-in-training who travels to Bangkok to retrieve a stolen statue.
In one of the film's most impressive sequences, the bad guys chase Ting through the streets of Bangkok, and he traverses the many obstacles in his path in the most bombastic, graceful, and hilarious way possible. He jumps through a small hoop of barbed wire, does the splits mid-air to avoid an array of knives, and overtakes a group of men by running atop their shoulders. The film is filled with other amazing sequences as well, such as several breathtaking boxing scenes, an entertaining tuk-tuk race, and a sequence where Jaa fights someone while his legs are on fire.
"Ong-Bak" brought Muay Thai to audiences around the world and put the Thai action genre on the map, as well as making Jaa a superstar. Watch any scene in "Ong-Bak" and you'll see why.
Jackie Chan's Pole Slide In Police Story
No list of the greatest movie stunts would be complete without Jackie Chan, and in this case, we're placing the legendary martial artist at the top of the list. Sometimes, the greatest stunts are simple and impactful, like Buster Keaton's house falling trick. That's why we've chosen Chan's pole slide in "Police Story" to top this list.
Chan plays Chan Ka-Kui, a Hong Kong cop who goes on the run after being framed for murder. In the famous scene, Chan, surrounded by baddies with nowhere to go, decides to jump and slide down a tall metal pole. He crashes through several strings of lights as he goes, creating dramatic sparks everywhere. He falls through a glass roof and a wooden structure before hitting the ground. In the same take, he immediately gets up and starts fighting after he lands.
The filmmakers must have known the stunt was one of the film's best moments, as we watch Chan slide down the pole three times in a row, though they only filmed one take. While Chan makes it look easy (and not particularly painful, if the speed at which he gets up is any indication), it took a lot out of the actor. Chan was sick and also in the middle of shooting another movie simultaneously. There were no rehearsals or safety mechanisms.
Chan suffered second-degree burns from the heat of the lights, and the fall resulted in a dislocated pelvis and a serious back injury. An extraordinary combination of skill, sacrifice, and dedication, Chan's pole slide blows the competition out of the water.
If you're looking for the easiest way to keep up with all the major movie and TV news, why not sign up to our free newsletter?
Read the original article on SlashFilm.
