As a kid I loved movies and I also loved to get into fake fights with my friends and jump my stingray bike over anything that was in the way. So naturally I had a good time writing this list. Sadly with the advancement of Special effects (CGI) Future memorable stunts are becoming more infrequent. Just keep in mind all of you Listversers that the criteria for this list is “most memorable” and is not the degree of difficulty of the stunt.
This French futuristic film is not well known but has received quite a bit of attention because of the great stunt work and for it’s depiction of parkour which means the aim of moving from one point to another as quickly as possible, using only the abilities of the human body.
Butch Cassidy: Then you jump first.
Sundance Kid: No, I said.
Butch Cassidy: What’s the matter with you?
Sundance Kid: I can’t swim.
Butch Cassidy: Are you crazy? The fall will probably kill you.
Even though Newman and Reford’s stuntmen did the river jump off of a construction crane at the studio’s Century Ranch by Century Lake it is still a memorable stunt. The crane was obscured by a matte painting of the cliffs.
OK… I don’t care how many times they tested & measured this out it still took a lot of guts for Buster Keaton to stand in that one spot and wait for a house to collapse around him.
This is a very short clip so even if you are at work or (on your lunch break of course) with slow Internet speed you can at lest see this one before you go home and watch the rest.
I knew if I didn’t include this in the list I would be tarred & feathered. How can anybody forget this famous 65-foot jump for freedom over a barbed-wire fence? This might not look like much after we are so accustomed to daredevil jumps over busses and cars on those sissy bikes but keep in mind this stunt was done on a 400- pound ’62 Triumph. The stunt man was Bud Ekins. Elkins & McQueen both shared a passion for motorcycle racing and were good friends.
When making a stunt list you have to include Jackie Chan. I was never a fan of your typical martial arts film but Jackie Chan approaches his films with more of a tongue and cheek attitude so I do enjoy some of his movies. Chan actually paid homage to Harold Lloyd ala hanging on a clock in a movie called Project A and also paid homage to Buster Keaton ala a house collapsing around him (see 8) in the move Project A II. This is a pretty neat stunt at the end of this clip by Chan from the movie Police Story.
One of John Wayne’s first movies featured some of the most dangerous stunt sequences ever filmed. I can’t imagine anyone attempting these stunts today. This guy positions himself while being dragged going full speed hanging onto the front horse of the stagecoach and then lets go and somehow is not trampled to death and then manages to go directly between the stagecoach wheels as it passes over him. He also doubled for Wayne where he is jumping from horse to horse. These stunts were performed by Yakima Canutt, one of the greatest and most respected stuntmen to this day.
So many Bond Stunts so little time. Here is my favorite. This stunt combines down hill skiing, bullets flying out of ski poles and a Union Jack parachute. I ask you what could be more Bondish and memorable than that?
Harold Lloyd was famous for doing his own stunts. In this very famous scene he climbs & hangs on a building with some funny interferences along the way and with only 3 fingers on his right hand to boot. Harold Lloyd was a true original. Unfortunately the person who loaded this clip on to youtube has disabled embedding (I have no idea why some people do this – it is incredibly annoying!) To watch the clip, go here [opens in a new window].
This is one of my favorite chase sequences with some great stunts along the way.
The famous under the truck stunt was performed by Vic Armstrong and was inspired by Stunt man Yakima Canutt. (See 5) Believe it or not Spielberg did not direct this particular scene. The second unit just followed his storyboard but he did direct the close-ups of Harrison Ford later on.
I just had to put Ben Hur in the number one spot. This stunt occurs about half way through the famous Chariot race when Judah Ben Hur is forced to the inside part of the track and has no place to go but strait towards the wreckage of a downed chariot. The stunt was performed by Joe Canutt who is launched over the front of his chariot and just barely hangs on to the front as he climbs back up. This was not planned when they designed the stunt which makes this stunt even cooler and more memorable.
Contributor: Blogball
Got to remember the ladies and give an honourable mention to Kill Bill’s Zoe Bell (Xena, Catwomen & latterly Death Proof).
Perfect list. This is one where I’d actually seen all o them before, so it made a better impression. Great, great job.
Rusty: indeed! And she is a kiwi too!
warrrreagl: I must confess that I have not seen a few of them – but I will definitely check out the French one (number 10).
While your criteria is “most memorable”, number 9 stunt is neither memorable nor difficult.
Now this is STUNT
Great list jfrater. I will have to check out the few movies on here I haven’t yet seen.
I’m surprised not to see the famous fight scene from The Protector on here though.
number ten should have ranked much higher (imo).unbelievable stunts.
I agree with Rusty, Zoe doing Ship’s Mast was pretty cool.
What about Sharky’s Machine?
Wiki: “At 220 feet, the stunt from Atlanta’s Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel still holds up as the highest free-fall stunt ever performed from a building for a commercially-released film. The stuntman was the legendary Dar Robinson.”
BTW, a Sharky’s Machine remake is in production and schedulked for release this year.
The problem with Sharky’s Machine is that the half of the stunt is a dummy and the viewer can tell it’s a dummy.
Dar Robinson should be on the list for another stunt though. In the movie “Stick” he used the first “Decelerator Cable” in a movie. They filmed the stunt from the top down so when the stuntman let go of the balcony you see below him and there isn’t an air mat and you see people running away. Remember this was before CGI and when they showed the stunt on the trailer for TV, I ***** my pants!
Great list. Finally a movie list where I’ve seen most of the films!
I think there are two types of stunts:
(a) The ones that look amazing in film thanks to expensive rigs, camera placement, editing, and visual effects; and
(b) The ones where actors actually risk their lives and look impressive without the need for camera angle tricks or editing. In other words, real life-defying stunts.
I personally prefer the second type, because you’re impressed solely by the fact that they must calculate their moves exactly or they’ll get hurt or even die; whereas in the first case, stuntmen replace the actual actors, there’s less risk, and you’re impressed because of the visuals of the film rather than the stunt itself.
That’s why I love Jackie Chan and Buster Keaton. They never used stuntmen to replace them, and yet they’ve risked their lives in impressive ways. (Thus I would complain about them not being higher… but I’m not going to!
)
While Steamboat Bill Jr.’s scene is a timeless classic, I think the (very long) stunts in the train from The General are also memorable, funny, and very exciting.
Honorable Mention: In the original (black and white)version of “The Thing”. They had a fire gag where they through gasoline on the thing a couple of times in a small room and they don’t cut between the throws. That stunt for an old movie was way before its time.
What about the sinking of the USS Nevada in Tora Tora Tora?
Forget number 9 – add something for transporter series!
Yeah, Indiana Jones better have been on here, or I would have been *****ed.
Great List! Nothing like sweaty palm vertigo first thing in the morning. The Harold Lloyd clip gets me every time.
I agree with Kreachure, I prefer the ones where the bodies actually take the beatings. I read/saw somewhere that Jackie Chan actually got zapped and broke some vertebrae at the end of that particular action sequence.
Rusty; Great job mentioning Zoe Bell. I was very impressed with her in the Grindhouse feature Death Proof. Her acting was pretty OK too. She is buff, I have like a girl crush.
look at the indian in the background of number 5 between 6:30 and 6:50
I think these are fine so I cant protest their inclusion, but I think Rusty got it right with his comment. There have been so many fine stunts by females perhaps someone should do up a list. (maybe if no one mentions wanting to do one by the end of the day, I could)
I loved Michelle Yeoh in SuperCop (Police Story 3)and
Zoe Bell is amazing in Death Proof, and if you get the dvd watch the special features, it just furthured my appreciation for what Tarantino does.
You should have just done all of Buster Keaton’s stunts together and then made him number one!
Thanks for the comments everybody. I guess I really should have included a woman on the list. Now I feel like a chauvinist pig.
For what it’s worth I thought about including Corrie Jansen. She did a 182 feet leap off of a cliff, in the movie Conan the Barbarian (freefall record for a woman) But I didn’t know about her until I started researching all of these other stunts so I didn’t think it was memorable enough. My apologies to the ladies.
While the stunts using horses may seem dangerous for the humans, it is nothing compared to what the horses had to endure, including losing their lives.
Really predictable list. Just because some movies are considered classics by the largely biased movie journalism industry, doesn’t mean the stunts in them are classic.
Death Proof should definetly be in here.
Zoe Bell is cool and all, but she is annoying as all hell.
I almost walked out of Death Proof when she didnt die
Hey, where’s that free running chase between Craig & Sébastien Foucan in Casino Royale?
Great list. Thanks for mentioning DISTRICT 13. I loved that opening chase scene, it should get you off the hook with flgh #24, who just cited another great example of parkour.
I’ve got no argument with Blogball’s #1 stunt, although you could make a case that the 1925 version was better. The producer paid the winners of the chariot race cash incentives and one stuntman wasn’t as lucky as the guy in the ’58 version.
Romerozombie, I was going for most memorable. So if the movie is memorable the stunt incorporated into it has a better chance to be memorable as well. If a professional stunt person mad a list of the best stunts I’m sure it would be different than this one. I made the list from the average movegoer’s point of view.
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@ Romerozombie #22 :
When I saw the title for this list, I immediately thought of the chariot scene in Ben Hur…
I would say that the title “Memorable” fits quite well.
The movie’s greatness can impact a particular stunt scene’s memorability, I believe.
What about james bond live and let die when he jumped the boat over land for a world record. When I think movie stunts this is what I think of.
I thought the ship’s mast scene from Death Proof was really memorable. These you can’t watch a movie WIHTOUT CGI and special effects, so DR was really refreshing, and for that reason memorable for me.
How do you not have ‘Hooper’ on this list? the collapsing smoke stack miss alone was worthy.
WHOA WHOA WHOA!!! Where is the Barrel-roll from “Man with the Golden Gun”. They had just one shot with that and it was the first movie EVER to do that type of stunt. It was amazing, and it was over a river.
this is list fails for not having ANY tony jaa movies, all his stuff is 100% stunts and definately the best action stunts done in modern day, id like to see any of the ppl on this list SLIDE under a moving truck or dive thru a roll of barb wire
I think the differnce between not showing martial artits as much as, they are actually well trained in the way of doing said stunts. Not to say they are not amazing at all, because tony jaa movies are actually damn good stunt wise.
though i think of it as a larger accomplisment for someone who is an actor who is not formally trained to take hits/falls/rough and tumble, etc, to be in their own stunts, why they are higher on the list.
Cool! I was actually thinking of D B13! when I clicked on the feed!! The story is kind of dumb but the action sequences make up for it! JF make sure you watch it, in French if you can understand!
Mmm… am I crazy, or was there a scene in one of the Rush Hour movies where Jackie Chan slides down a line of lights just like that? Are the Rush Hour movies American Police Story knockoffs? Or was it just a stunt they wanted to do again cause it looks cool and they figured English speaking audiences wouldn’t know? Or am I nuts and there isn’t a stunt like that at all in Rush Hour…
ive only seen the ben hur stunt and thats only because of school
What about the chase in the opening of Casino Royale?
District B13!!!
I love that movie!
Oh man, the subtitles on the French version are so funny.
Relatively new but that Thai kick boxer from Ong Bak should be here.
revolver: I’ll agree with that, Tony Jaa’s fight scenes are amazing. On one of the other lists there’s that scene where he runs up the stairs beating up everything. None of them are real stunts though, more just incredible feats of human strength and agility.
This is a real stunt!
7: The Great Escape is a movie that everyone should see at some stage.
3: Wow, simply amazing.
2: Indie’s way and attitude to dealing with germans was one of the things that made him cool and it comes across well in his action sequences
Great list. You can actually see a stuntman get killed in that chariot race in Ben Hur. I used to hear that his family allowed them to keep it in.
flywheel: that is an urban legend
Snopes clears it up here:
http://www.snopes.com/movies/films/benhur.asp
If you want stunt death, goes for Howard Hugh’s Hell’s Angels.
How about the world record bunjee jump off the dam ledge in that bond movie, was it “the world is not enough” or “goldeneye”?
Jackie Chan is the master of stunts, not for doing the stunts but for coordinating them. He is the stunt director for most of his movies. That fight scene in Shanghai Noon with the boxes and the umbrella, very fun, very creative, very cool.
I believe at least one Bruce Lee fight need to be in there as well.
Those are really great stunts. I especially love that scene from the Spy Who Loved Me.
should be more jackie here, hist stunts are always “real”.
that parkour scene is amazing. the two that i would add have already been mentioned, tony jaa in his race up the stairs kicking everything’s ass on the way, and the chase scene from the beginning of casino royale.
i have never really liked chan because i didn’t like all the tongue in cheek stuff. however, that clip above is amazing. wow, that guy is talented.
The French move at #10 is produced and co-written by acclaimed filmmaker Luc Bessonl andisted on Netflix as “District B13″. It’s also available for rental…after I’m done with it.
District B13 is an awesome movie! I’d watch it again just to see him move like that!
Jackie Chan is always great.
I believe the Stagecoach stunt (#5) was recreated in the Mel Gibson movie, Maverick.
I agree with anybody who said that Tony Jaa stunts could have been included on this list.
Great list, btw.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110478/trivia
second from the bottom.
The Stagecoach stunt (#5) was recreated in the Mel Gibson movie Maverick.
From imdb.com: In the stagecoach chase sequence, stuntman ‘Mic Rodgers ‘ (double for ‘Mel Gibson’ ) had to go under the coach and get up at the back. This is a direct nod to Yakima Canutt’s similar stunt in Stagecoach (1939). Coincidentally, second unit director ‘Terry Leonard’ , a former stuntman himself, performed this in the truck chase in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981).
Great list, btw.
Anyone else notice the wilhelm scream in the Raiders of the Lost Ark clip?
Ummm – i’m pretty sure that that account of the “Sharky’s Machine” high-fall gag is wrong; according to reports at the time and an acquaintance who knew the head of the crew handling the sirbag rigging for it, the gag was actually doneout the back of the Regency Hyatt hotel, across the street.
There’s no place to rig an airbag at the Peachtree Plaza, really.
Whle Robinson’s cable-rig gag in “Stick” *is* impressive, the fall that opens “Lethal Weapon” is, to me, a lot more memorable, with the camera following the stuntwoman down until just a fraction of a second before she lands on the parked car below; and it’s not a matte effect. There was a canvas painted with the cars stretched over the air bag, which the camera saw as if the actual cars were thee.
As to vehicle stunts, the final jump in “Gone in 60 Seconds” (the original) is incredible (and left director/star/stuntman “Toby” Halicki with compressed vertebrae that affected the way he walked the rest of his life), but the unplanned – and potentially tragic – moment in the same film where one of the drivers misses his mark and the resulting contact between vehicles sends Halicki in “Eleanr” straight into a real light pole – at about the 6:40 mark in this clip: http://youtube.com/watch?v=_YDpgFKcUeM
According to his wife, Halicki was knocked unconscious, and his first words on regaining consciousness were “Did we get coverage?”
What about Rollerball (the origonal 1975 version, not that other piece of crap).
Come on, the stunts were so good, that this was the first film ever to include the stunt people in the credits…
Nice list for the 65+ year old crowd. Just so you know, not all movies made within the last 25 years suck.
This list blows.
A good stunt has to be part of the story, not just an effect that makes you say “wow”. For that reason, I would include the freeway chase sequence in “To Live And Die In LA,” which shows how desperate not only Chance is, but the criminals he is willing to cross the line to catch.
Buster Keaton is the man! You could make an entire top ten list just of his awesome stunts!
great list!