MovieChat Forums > Used Cars (1980) Discussion > Kurt Russell's stunts

Kurt Russell's stunts

posted 13 years ago by ebright99
5 replies | jump to latest

During the desert chase it sure looks like Kurt did many of his own stunts; standing on the hood of a car without any safety precautions. Is that really him? I guess they don't make 'em like they used to.

[–] onleft23 13 years ago

it sure looked like him at least once the camera angle
changes from sideshot to front w/o a splice (least that i caught)
and it's kr on the hood and the car seems to be going at a fairly
good clip

a couple others you kinda can tell it's a stunt double tho

but that one shot alone earns my props for sure

[–] Jimbo_BSD 11 years ago

I just watched it. It isn't Russell jumping from car to car of course. That part is a stunt man. But it is clearly him standing on the roof and climbing down to the hood and standing up. It's a pretty ballsy stunt because there are a lot of other cars following them.

The stunt man was fantastic. Jumping from one moving car to another is crazy. That's the one thing I miss about old movies vs. today. The stunt work isn't the same. Nowadays with corporations owing all the studios and lawyers being lawyers, filmmakers aren't able to take those same risks.

[–] robocat893 9 years ago

Nowadays with corporations owing all the studios and lawyers being lawyers, filmmakers aren't able to take those same risks.

Tom Cruise has always performed most of his own stunts usually without any safety equipment. There is an interesting featurette included in the Knight and Day DVD showing some of the insane stunts that Cruise did for that movie and is worth a look. It's been said that if his acting career didn't take off he could have been a very successful stuntman.

I do however agree with your above statement because most highly paid movie stars are not going to be able to perform their own stunts even if they want to because of liability issues with the studios.

Who understands Chinese? I don't understand Chinese.

[–] jp3183 9 years ago

Tom Cruise can do whatever he wants b/c he's one of the most successful Hollywood stars of all time. The studios have to listen to him. Even Jackie Chan isn't allowed to do every stunt in Hollywood b/c most of his success is from the Hong Kong film industry where he can risk life & limb anytime, anywhere, and anyway he wants: https://youtu.be/Z1PCtIaM_GQ

[–] 9 years ago

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