Director: Richard Rush
Screenplay: Lawrence B. Marcus, Richard Rush
Based on a Novel by: Paul Brodeur
Starring: Peter O’Toole, Steve Railsback, Barbara Hershey, Charles (‘Chuck’) Bail, Allen Garfield, Alex Rocco, Sharon Farrell, Adam Roarke, Philip Bruns
Country: USA
Running Time: 130 min
Year: 1980
BBFC Certificate: 15
The Stunt Man had a difficult history. It was a labour of love for writer, director, producer Richard Rush, who was an alumnus of the Roger Corman school of filmmaking. The film was based on Paul Brodeur’s book of the same name, which had attracted the interest of a number of filmmakers when it was released in 1970, including Frederick Wiseman, Arthur Penn and Francois Truffaut.
Columbia Pictures eventually passed the project on to Rush, who wasn’t immediately interested but soon warmed to the idea. He put together a lengthy treatment, and later screenwriter Lawrence B. Marcus worked with him on a script. Rush then spent a torturous 8 years trying to get financing for the project (alongside One Flew Over a Cuckoos Nest, which eventually changed hands). Studios just weren’t interested, feeling it was too unusual and difficult to market.
Eventually, a real estate magnate named Melvin Simon agreed to back the film, and production began. The shoot went well, but Simon showed little interest in the end product, and the finished film had to wait another 2 years before it got a proper release, after only having a handful of single-theatre runs. Even then, despite garnering great critical praise and snagging three major Oscar nominations, The Stunt Man only got a small release.
The film performed better on home video though, and has become somewhat of a cult classic. Now, The Stunt Man is being released on UHD & Blu-ray by Transmission (an offshoot of Radiance Films). I’ve been interested in watching it for a while, so got hold of a screener and my thoughts follow.
The plot, to quote Transmission’s blurb, is as follows: “Cameron (Steve Railsback, Lifeforce) is a man who finds himself unmoored from American life: recently returned from Vietnam, he is now a drifter on the run from the law. While evading police, he stumbles upon the filming of a World War I movie helmed by the megalomaniacal Eli Cross (Peter O’Toole, Lawrence of Arabia). When Cameron discovers that he bears a striking resemblance to the lead actor, he hatches a plan*: to hide from his potential captors by disguising himself as a stunt double and agreeing to perform a series of increasingly dangerous stunts.
But nothing is what it first seems on an Eli Cross set, and as illusion and make-believe start to bleed into one another, Cameron finds himself locked in a battle of wits with a possibly insane genius, and in danger of becoming unmoored not just from society, but from reality itself…”
* I don’t totally agree with this description, as the ruse is actually Eli’s idea.
I enjoyed The Stunt Man quite a lot, though I’m not sure it lived up to the praise that has been heaped on it by fans and its makers, as described in the special features. As a film about filmmaking that captures the warping of reality and fiction that is inherent in the process, it’s very successful. Like most films about filmmaking, it has a love-hate relationship with the craft, both relishing the magic and cynically skewering it.
However, I found that it wasn’t the most subtle of films. Whilst many of the more bombastic aspects fit the subject matter, the film has a tendency to overstate its themes in the dialogue. I could have done with less of that.
Not everything works either. There are some mid-scene tonal shifts that I found quite jarring. A climactic paint pot scene, for instance, wasn’t entirely convincing. It’s a key dramatic moment that begins with high drama, but gets slapstick all of a sudden. I like the idea of humour being used to defuse an emotionally charged outburst, as I find that true to life, but, personally, I didn’t think it was pulled off successfully.
On the whole, the film is effective though, so I don’t want to badmouth it too much. I think I had simply hyped the film a little too much in my head beforehand. Most notably, there are some playful visuals and plenty of camera movement to make for a vibrant, captivating experience. This is further enhanced by a grandly orchestrated but catchy and playful, often circus-like score by Dominic Frontiere.
Most of the cast are excellent too. Peter O’Toole got an Oscar nomination for his performance, and he is a joy to watch, blending charisma and venom to craft a character that demands your attention.
Though O’Toole gets the showier role, Barbara Hershey had a possibly more difficult job to do, with a complicated character whose ‘true’ side is hard to nail down. She steps up though, and performs wonderfully throughout.
Chuck Bail plays Chuck Barton, Eli’s stunt coordinator, and he himself was an actual stuntman and film director. He’s great in the film too, even if he might be playing himself to an extent.
However, I wasn’t a massive fan of the lead, Steve Railsback. Perhaps it’s down to his character being a little dim and purposely less charismatic than the others, but I didn’t find him all that convincing or engaging.
What is impressive in the film is the actual stunt work. There are some positively epic stunt sequences in the film that celebrate the craft, whilst serving the ‘reality versus facade’ theme.
Overall then, whilst I didn’t find The Stunt Man to be quite as ‘mindbending’ or clever as some make out, it’s a lot of fun, and most of the cast are on fine form. It’s well worth watching then, even if it’s not perfect.
Film: 
The Stunt Man is out on 23rd February in a limited edition UHD and region-free Blu-Ray set, released by Transmission (an offshoot of Radiance Films). I watched the UHD, and the film looks fantastic. Colours are rich and bold, there’s a nice grain structure and perfect tonal balance. I’ve used screengrabs from the Blu-ray throughout this review to give you an idea of how it looks, though these have been compressed. You get an option of either the original mono audio or a 5.1 DTS Surround mix. I opted for the former and had no issues.
LIMITED EDITION UHD & BLU-RAY FEATURES
– Brand new 4K restoration from original 35mm camera negative by Radiance Films, presented in Dolby Vision HDR
– 4K UHD and Blu-ray presentation of the feature
– The legendary feature-length making-of documentary directed by Richard Rush: The Sinister Saga of Making The Stunt Man (2001) (114 mins)
– New audio commentary with critics Christina Newland and Monica Castillo
– Archival cast and crew commentary with writer/director Richard Rush and actors Peter O’Toole, Steve Railsback, Barbara Hershey, Alex Rocco, Sharon Farrell and Chuck Bail (2001)
– New interview with Chuck Bail, stuntman and actor (2024)
– Archival interview with Richard Rush (2011)
– Archival interview with Peter O’Toole (2011)
– Archival interview with Steve Railsback and Alex Rocco (2011)
– Archival interview with Barbara Hershey (2011)
– Q+A with Richard Rush, Steve Railsback and Barbara Hershey from a screening at The New Beverly Cinema
– Deleted scenes
– Trailer
– Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
– Option of 5.1 DTS Surround mix or original uncompressed mono audio
– Pull-out poster and six lobby-card style postcards
– Limited edition 40-page perfect-bound book featuring new writing from Adam Nayman and Brandon Streussnig, and an archival interview between Kenneth Turan and Richard Rush
– Limited edition of 5000 copies, presented in rigid box and full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip, leaving packaging free of certificates and markings
There’s a lot to dig into on this disc. Most notably, there’s ‘The Sinister Saga of Making The Stunt Man’, a near two-hour documentary about the making of the film, made by Rush himself. He presents it too, which, when blended with some wacky visual gimmicks and dated VFX, comes across as a weird balance between corny and bizarre. The content, however, is great. Rush tells the story of the making and release of the film in detail, with some of the other cast and crew members chipping in here and there. It’s a little too self-aggrandising for my tastes, but it’s an enjoyable watch nonetheless. The story of the film’s difficult release is particularly interesting, unveiling the complex and depressing politics involved in getting a film shown.
There’s also an introduction to the film available, but this is just the opening few minutes of the documentary.
There are two commentaries on the disc. One features the primary cast and crew. It seems like a mix between a group recording session and some interview inserts, but works very effectively, regardless. They have fun looking back on the production.
The other commentary sees critics Christina Newland and Monica Castillo discuss the film. They analyse it in detail, and it’s a refreshing change to hear the opinions of people who weren’t involved with the film, as the other extras on the disc are cast and crew heavy.
There’s an interview with Rush about his career as a whole, recorded in 2011. This is great, as it covers different ground to the rest of the extras, and his story is eye-opening.
There are also a couple of deleted scenes on the disc. These are well worth a watch, particularly the raucous police station scene.
There’s a Q&A with Rush and some of the lead cast members. This repeats some of the stories heard elsewhere, but there are one or two new nuggets in there.
The same goes for an archival interview with O’Toole. He’s always a delight to listen to, even if his yarns have already been heard (depending on the order in which you watch the extras).
There’s a new interview with Chuck Bail. This is only ten minutes long but packed with fun stories, starting with the development of his career in stunts before moving on to The Stunt Man.
There’s also an interview with Railsbeck and Alex Rocco. This starts out as a bit of a love-in, as the pair became good friends on the shoot. Then we get to hear a lot of the same stories we’ve already heard, though there are some heartfelt moments here and there.
Finally, there’s an interview with Hershey. This is good, but I watched it last, so I’d heard all the stories several times by this point.
I didn’t receive a copy of the booklet or other physical extras to comment on those, unfortunately.
Overall, Transmission have done a great job with this, loading the set with a vast array of extra features. There is a lot of repetition between interviews, documentaries and commentaries, so perhaps it didn’t need everything, but the film’s background is eye-opening, so it makes for fascinating viewing nonetheless.
Disc/package: