The Stunt Man (1980) User Reviews

O'Toole Shines as Ruthless Director

[dglink · 7/10 · 26 December 2016]

Movies about movies have a special fascination, and, despite some flaws, "The Stunt Man" is no exception. Arrested for an unnamed offense, Cameron, a crazy-eyed young man played by Steve Railsback, escapes custody and encounters a film company on location. The crew is on a beach shooting a World War I battle that involves dozens of extras, vintage biplanes, and explosions. Aided by the film's director, who does not want to admit that he has lost a stunt man in a tragic car stunt, Cameron becomes the stunt man and is goaded into performing daring and dangerous stunts of his own. In an Academy Award nominated performance, Peter O'Toole plays the determined Eli Cross, the movie-in-the-movie's ruthless manipulative director. Cross stops at nothing to get footage in the can, irregardless of the consequences, even the death of a stunt man. When not jumping from buildings or hanging from ledges, Cameron becomes involved with the film's female star, Nina Franklin, played by Barbara Hershey, whose history with Cross further complicates things.

The screenplay by Lawrence B. Marcus and Richard Rush was adapted from a novel by Paul Brodeur, and both the screenplay and Richard Rush's direction, like O'Toole, received Oscar nominations. While much of the film's fun comes from the action and the stunts performed for the movie within the movie, O'Toole's delicious performance as the flamboyant philosophical director is also a major draw, although the supporting cast is also fine, with Alan Garfield and Alex Rocco deserving mention.

The mystery of Cameron's crime and the cause of the stunt man's death plunge into a river are slowly revealed, but character is emphasized over plot and the romance consumes much screen time. Thus, the film is often slow, overlong, and not as clever as Rush wanted it to be. Judicious editing could have tightened the film and improved the pace. However, while "The Stunt Man" is fairly entertaining, O'Toole's star performance remains the film's major asset and chief draw.

"I am the movies!"

[PredragReviews · 8/10 · 12 July 2016]

This is a work of art about the creation of a work of art. The work in this case happens to be a movie, and as with all great works of art, there is one obsessed, cruel, megalomaniacal genius at the helm. Eli Cross (Peter O'Toole) is the most vivid depiction of a Hollywood director ever captured on film. He is a true patriarch, playing father/lover/drill sergeant to his cast and crew, and they all love/hate/fear him for it. Anyone who's ever been near an actual film set can tell you how accurate the character is. But what makes this film just about the last word on the subject is Richard Rush's brilliant blurring of fantasy and reality. That, after all, is the main occupation of those who toil in the "Dream Factory" of show biz. This was director Richard Rush's dream project and it took him nine years to get it on the screen.

Although it seems nasty, the movie is wonderfully light-hearted and the outrageous stunt scenes are backed up by a joyous score by Dominic Frontiere. A long scene with Cameron running over a rooftop, as biplanes attack and enemy soldiers give chase, is the stuff of legend. There is a great comic sense of humor in watching them trip over each other, fall off and get blown up. The performances are uniformly excellent. O'Toole is truly magnetic here, and you can see that he was hammered in some scenes and still pulls it off. Now that's a pro drinker! Railsback is perfect, and Hershey is mighty alluring indeed. This is the inside look at film-making that Hollywood doesn't want us to see: the egos, the drugs (watch the t-shirts and background scenes), the general insular idiocy of it all, and mainly the non-stop irony. Yes, "The Stunt Man" is a deceptively-accurate look into what the most highly acclaimed directors do to get the most out of their cast & crew.

Overall rating: 8 out of 10.

Bizarre

[blanche-2 · 6/10 · 26 April 2011]

I will right off admit that this film is not my type of thing. I watched it because I'm a huge fan of Peter O'Toole's. I found it difficult to follow and disjointed despite some really fascinating scenes and some very good acting.

Steve Railsback plays a Vietnam vet named Cameron who escapes the police after he is caught for attempted murder. He crosses a bridge and dodges away from an old car that is out of control. The car disappears. Later on, he encounters a film about World War I being shot on the beach. The director is Eli Cross (O'Toole) who offers Cameron a job as a stunt man. It turns out that the stunt man was in the old car and drove the car off of the bridge as part of a scene being filmed, and drowned. The police are sniffing around, so O'Toole introduces Cameron as Burt, the missing stunt man, and the rest of the cast and crew play along.

Cameron learns a lot about stunts (as do we) and he falls for the film's leading lady (Barbara Hershey) who at one time was involved with Eli. Cameron over time becomes increasingly paranoid and believes that the manipulative, kind of crazy Eli wants to kill him.

O'Toole, Railsback, and Hershey are all excellent -- we first see Hershey in an old lady mask and clothing. Throughout the film, she is beautiful, silly, and flighty as Nina Franklin, and intense and committed as the character Nina plays. O'Toole is madcap, and doesn't seem to care what happens to anyone as long as he gets the shot he wants, and one can see how Cameron would be unclear about his motives.

The print I saw didn't look particularly good - I wonder about the budget for this film. I think a good deal of the budget went to O'Toole and some of those amazing stunts, as the film has a lot of TV actors in it -- all good, but TV actors nevertheless: Alex Rocco, Sharon Farrell, Allen Garfield.

This film is a little hard to follow, but it's a good one about the value of perception and how it can change from person to person. Also, the ending is very satisfying.

Strange film....

[Camera-Obscura · 15 September 2006]

When I first saw THE STUNT MAN, I was very enthusiastic about the film and raved about it to anyone who might be interested. I've watched it twice with some friends since, but they weren't very enthusiastic about it, so I can imagine that for many people it won't pay off. It's an ingeniously constructed film that takes some patience and attention to watch. Made by the erratic Richard Rush, this was his pet project for nine years. Although the direction is fine, it's mostly a virtuoso piece of scripting (credited to Rush and Lawrence B. Marcus, based on Paul Brodeur's novel) that makes this such a special film.

A short plot outline: Fugitive Cameron (Railsback) stumbles onto a movie set where megalomaniac director Eli Cross (O'Toole) promises to hide from the police if he replaces his ace stunt man, who got killed earlier on the set in a freak accident while filming a scene. Is Eli trying to capture Cameron's death on film while he is performing a stunt? Reality and imagination soon blur when Cameron grows increasingly paranoid because Eli Cross doesn't let anything or anybody get in the way of shooting his masterpiece the way he wants. He doesn't seem to care about human life, as long as his movie is shot in the way he wants it.

Railsback is an odd choice for the main role but apparently the makers wanted a "low-key" actor for the main part. Barbara Hershey gives a great performance but without Peter O'Toole's tour-de-force performance, I doubt if the film would have worked as well as it did, especially with such a challenging and multi-layered script. He delivers his lines with such vigor that you cannot look away, a grand performance by perhaps my favorite actor off all time. Such a pity that his (later) career mainly consisted of mediocre films at best and some disastrous ones, sadly... I cannot imagine this kind of film being made in Hollywood today and even back then it might be called a small miracle it got made in the first place, let alone released (in fact, it sat on the shelf for two years before release). Perhaps it's all a little too ambitious at times but with a cast like this and such a dazzling script, it's definitely worth the effort.

The DVD-release by Anchor Bay comes with an extra disc loaded with extra's. Lots of interviews, including one with O'Toole and a very peculiar - almost two-hour (!) - documentary about the making of the film, presented by Rush himself, almost worth seeing in itself.

Camera Obscura - 8/10

A true original comedy that wouldn't get made today.

[Pinback-4 · 9/10 · 27 August 1999]

This is a very funny and entertaining movie that doesn't fit into any one category. It's about a slightly crazed movie director who is making a WW1 movie in Southern California who hires a fugitive to replace his top stuntman. Peter O'Toole gives perhaps his best performance ever as the egomaniacal filmmaker who will do anything, perhaps even murder someone, in order to protect his artistic vision. The underrated Steve Railsback is good also as the paranoid Vietnam vet turned fugitive from the law. The action scenes are very funny and well-done, especially the rooftop chase. The music score is appropriately clever and matches what's happening on screen. Real-life stunt man Chuck Bail has a good part as a stunt coordinator who shows Railsback the ropes. The editing techniques help blur the line between reality and make-believe. The film is a bit too long, though, and some key scenes go on longer than necessary. These are minor complaints, however, because a film like this doesn't get made very often anymore.

What is real?

[Mr-Fusion · 7/10 · 3 February 2015]

There's questioning one's reality and then there's bending it through a prism six ways from Sunday. "The Stuntman" is the latter, which shrouds itself in questions and stymies you at every turn. Mostly, this is a well-constructed film and the mystery keeps you actively involved. It's fascinating how many layers this thing has. But even if you're not game for this sort of side-winding, it does have Peter O'Toole, which is a joyride unto himself. His megalomaniacal director is larger than life and might just be an evil genius. But he absolutely owns this movie, and it's a ferocious performance to beat them all. Amazing stuff.

7/10

Colors splash and re-arrange the sky, and reality...is yours to deny

[CuriosityKilledShawn · 10/10 · 12 September 2006]

It's called 'subjective reality', children. The fact that the truth depends on the angle you happen to be watching from gives us all our unique, if skewed and unfair, perception on life. We're all puppets in someone else's dastardly play and we never know when that person, that entity, that divine being will cut our strings.

This was director Richard Rush's dream project and it took him nine years to get it on the screen. And, of course, it would! It's multi-layered, original, funny and packed full of story and circumstance that makes you think. Why would any studio want to touch it? Fox even sat on it for two years before giving it a limited release. Even on its umpteenth viewing it delivers again and again, offering new angles and subtle clues.

The viewpoint of this metafictional masterpiece is Cameron (Steve Railsback), a Vietnam vet on the run from the law. He stumbles onto the set of a WWI movie and accidentally kills a stunt driver. The director of the movie is the eccentric and megalomaniacal Eli Cross (Peter O'Toole, in one of his best ever performances), who takes Cameron under his wing and protects him from John Law, as long as he keeps his mouth shut about the accident.

Cameron practices to be a stunt man and takes the place of the man he killed. But as the movie shoot becomes more elaborate and dangerous, he falls in love with the leading lady (Barbara Hershey) and starts to suspect that Eli is trying to capture his death on film.

Although it seems nasty, the movie is wonderfully light-hearted and the outrageous stunt scenes are backed up by an awesome score by Dominic Frontiere. I've been humming that theme since I was 12-years-old when I taped it off Channel 4 in December 1992. I didn't quite get it back then, but I nearly wore out that VHS watching it over and over. A long scene with Cameron running over a rooftop, as biplanes attack and enemy soldiers give chase, is pure joy. There is a great comic sense of humor in watching them trip over each other, fall off, and get blown up.

John Law do not back down on their suspicion of Eli and, through half-heard conversations and eavesdropping, Cameron's paranoia becomes increasingly justified. Because the movie is seen through his eyes we never quite know what is going on with Eli. Is he a madman, or just a crafty director? Would you believe that Peter O'Toole based his performance on his experiences with David Lean? Why he never won an Oscar (it went to Robert DeNiro for Raging Bull)- is beyond me. He truly gives the performance of his career, far exceeding even Laurence of Arabia. It also sucks that Rush never won for Director, or Adapted Screenplay. Had he been awarded the golden statuette, maybe he would have received more recognition. He's clearly a better filmmaker than most of today's hack artists.

You simply have to see The Stunt Man. It's an overlooked gem and, despite the wide praise it received, it has never really reached a large audience. Now is definitely the time to rediscover this forgotten classic.

Lights, Camera, FRANTIC! A truly dizzying movie-buff experience.

[ozjeppe · 7/10 · 22 July 2010]

Lights, camera, FRANTIC! I saw this for the first time in a theater in 1981, so it was certainly time for a re-visit: A fugitive (and Vietnam vet, á la the 1980's formula character trait picks) from the law, stumbles upon a movie shoot and inadvertently kills its stunt man. The ruthlessly manic director agrees to shield him from the police - ONLY if he agrees to step in as the stunt man's replacement to finish the film! For any movie buff, this set-up is enough to make you drool and rub your hands together in delight.

An absolute one-of-a-kind mix of sarcastic satire, dizzying action plus one of the best movie-within-a-movie gimmicks ever: An overblown WW1 war/romance epic! Top production of course, energetically unpredictable story twists and a lively soundtrack that is SO unforgettable, that I could hum its two main themes in my head even before I put the disc in... almost 30 years later! Also formidably cast, with an indelible performance of a lifetime from O'Toole. The downside though, when there is so much brain in a film like this, is the lack of heart (and subtlety) among the cold-blooded and hard-skinned cynicism, as I really don't feel much for its characters - memorable as they may be - afterward.

7 out of 10 from Ozjeppe

I'm gonna get caught gushing!

[youremythrill · 9/10 · 30 March 2001]

One of my favorite movies of all time. Must admit that I'm a bit biased since Peter O'Toole's one of my favorite actors of all time. This movie has NEVER gotten the attention that it deserves. Maybe that's, in part, due to the difficulties involved in categorizing it. I don't even know in which section of the video store I'd start looking.

Peter O'Toole is so swell in it. I love that enigmatic character, movie director Eli Cross! Like the movie (and O'Toole, for that matter), he's so hard to cubbyhole. You like him, but you don't trust him. Like Cameron/Lucky (Steve Railsback's escaped convict character) does, you NEED to know exactly where his motives lie ... all in good time. You know Cross'll do whatever's necessary to get "the shot", but he's still got a conscience ... right? Would Cameron have been better off (read safer) just staying in jail ... hmmm?

All the action in the film circles around this question and while the viewer (and Cameron) decide what to make of Eli, it's a fun trip through the world of filmmaking (how realistic a trip, I've no idea). Great performances by O'Toole and Railsback, along with Barbara Hershey, Allen Garfield, Alex Rocco and Sharon Ferrell add so much to the suspense.

See this movie. You can feel how much fun it was for the cast to make. Look at Eli's devilish grin as he tries to soothe Lucky's worries. Try to imagine how many other movies have you sympathizing for an escaped convict. And don't worry if you don't know what to make of mad genius filmmaker Eli Cross because nobody else does either, and if they do, they ain't talkin' ... that might spoil the movie!

Less interesting twenty years on

[allyjack · 7/10 · 18 August 1999]

(WARNING - CONTAINS MILD SPOILER) The movie ends in manic laughter and a fight about the fee for the last stunt (O'Toole's side of which is yelled from a feverishly whirling helicopter); an image that - summing the whole thing up - evokes the chaos and conflict of real war, transposed into a setting of much more trivial battles and easy myth-making potential. The movie is a rather flatly functional rendering of an intriguing concept, with O'Toole less entertaining than memory suggested as a dictatorial but essentially benevolent colonial tyrant whose excesses must somehow be assimilated by the Vietnam vet for his ultimate healing. The movie plays with the audience, blurring the process of movie-making into an unbroken cavalcade of derring-do; the relationships are just as broad and cartoonish; it doesn't have much texture (partly because of Railsback's rather empty work) until the late stages, where the underlying theme comes to prominence and events incline in a cathartic direction. But even then it lacks definition, being open to charges of exploiting the Vietnam theme for easy gravity.

One Long Stunt

[simonrosenbaum · 1/10 · 17 August 2005]

It seems this is regarded as one of the best films of the eighties, if that's true then it has dated very very badly. Basically all the film is for a very long 125 mins is one stunt scene after another, which I admit are cleverly orchestrated but it doesn't a make a good film. The way it's directed so you don't know if it's real or not isn't fair to the audience and gets extremely irritating very quickly. Even the acting O'Toole included seems way too erratic to be believable. I'm sure if your a stunt man or in the industry you might enjoy it but I thought it self-indulgent and tedious. It might just be one of the worst films not just of the eighties. (1/10)

Multilayered

[rmax304823 · 9/10 · 23 June 2002]

I won't carry on about the plot of this marvelous flick since it's already been adequately limned, but do let me emphasize a few points that have been kind of grayed out in other comments. The score by Frontiere is outstanding, from the up-tempo opening blast to the final credits. It's not only unnerving but vertigo inducing, so it supplements the plot perfectly. The photography is outstanding as well, the colors appallingly vivid, as in an MGM cartoon, which in this context is most apt. (It is a mystery/comedy/thriller/philosophical disquisition, after all.) The Hotel Coronado in San Diego has never looked quite so palatial, not even in "Some Like it Hot."

Rush's direction boggles the mind, to coin a phrase. The film begins with a helicopter. A hand pops out of the helicopter and drops a half-eaten apple. The apple bounces on the hood of a parked car. We follow without comment the apple, the line of events, and it turns out to be what gets the story moving.

There are multiple very strange touches throughout. As a movie star myself, having been a faceless extra in half a dozen films, I have to add that movies are simply not shot this way. An expensive and dangerous (and ultimately lethal) stunt is performed as we enter the actual narrative and there is only one camera rolling -- and that in a helicopter so far away that its engine can't be heard? But it doesn't really matter. The movie plays tricks all along with the difference between "reality" and "illusion," an old game into which it's difficult to inject more life, as this movie manages to do.

At one point, Railsback is told to perform a short if dangerous stunt, leaping from one roof to another. He does so, but the stunt escalates. Not only escalates but goes on and on, with Railsback unexpectedly crashing through ceilings and floors in a shower of glass before winding up in the midst of drunken, partying enemies who shout at him and laughingly lift his body above their heads and pass him around the room. It will shock you almost as much as it shocked him. O'Toole asks him after this long gag what it is he wants. Says Railsback: "Not to think I'm going crazy."

The smallest parts are done well. A very authentic-looking German soldier with a cheery old face and big white mustache is loading his rifle for a scene in which he and his comrades are going to fire at Railsback. "I hope those are blanks," Railsback tells him. "It doesn't say so on the box," replies the soldier with a friendly tone and a big smile.

Let me mention Eli Cross, the director, played by O'Toole. At one level this movie is made, through his character, into an examination of God, and his whimsical sense of responsibility towards the human beings whose lives he controls. "Eli Cross"? I mean -- okay -- Elihu, the crucifixion -- the whole JudeoChristian tradition is embodied in that cognomen. Cross has a habit of riding around the sky in a giant crane whose seat drops unexpectedly out of space and into the middle of peoples' conversations. Before the shooting of the final stunt, Cross raises his hand, looking at the horizon, and says something like, "I hereby decree that no cloud shall pass before that sun." And while shooting another scene, the cameraman calls "Cut." Cross pauses, then asks, "WHO called cut?" The cameraman explains that there were only a few seconds of film left on the reel so they had to cut at that point. Cross, like the angry God of the Old Testament, shouts that, "NOBODY cuts a scene except ME!" After chewing the cameraman out thoroughly, he fires him on the spot. You see, if a movie is supposed to resemble life, then ending a scene suddenly ends the filmic exposure of the two human conversants and only -- well, you get the picture. A lot of this rather obvious theological stuff seems to have gotten by unrecognized or at any rate uncommented upon. It doesn't need to be dwelt on.

There are already so many layers to this film that the viewer can afford to be only half aware of any one of them at a given moment. It stands by itself as a kind of very strange comedy. I didn't find Railsback's background as a Vietnam vet put on very thickly, by the way. It would be nice if God really were as accessible as Peter O'Toole is in this movie. All you would have to do to find salvation is jump through some well-defined hoops. As it is, though, I for one find myself muddling through from one day to the next simply hoping not to step on too many toes. Gimme a fiery hoop or a dive off a bridge any day. Just as long as my scene isn't cut too quickly.

Not As Great As I Remember It But Still Good

[jjwl · 7/10 · 18 July 2006]

I first saw this film upon theatrical release in 1980, and watched it a second time with friends as soon as it was released on video. Unfortunately, it is not nearly as great as I remember it, but it is still a cut above most films from its era or present day.

The concept has a lot of potential but for various reasons, it does not reach its potential. Sir Peter O'Toole is brilliant of course, and always a joy to watch on film. I think the only classical actor who can touch him today is equally regal Sir Ian McKellen. Barbara Hershey is excellent as well.

Jason

Don't believe them ...

[martinoldsberg · 2/10 · 26 March 2010]

This film seems to have generated quite a few positive comments. That says something, but not something good (cf H L Mencken on public taste). Disregard that praise, is my sincere advice. This is a stupid, poorly acted and generally lousy film, with a paper thin premise that implodes immediately.

The actor Steve Railsback could be a candidate for some kind of All Time Bad, and he's got company here.

Also, production qualities are generally of the B-movie standard. But if you like that and have a somewhat undeveloped aesthetic sensibility and the feeling that you're going to live for 300 years, go ahead.

Interesting and entertaining all is not always what it seems

[pweddell · 21 February 2004]

Peter O'Toole gives a marvellous performance as a film director in this film which looks (to an extent) behind the scenes of movie making. I originally saw this one Sunday afternoon at the cinema and I remember how enthralled I was. There were a few surprises when something turned out to be something else like a model maybe. But it wasn't until I got the DVD that I realised there were many layers to the film.

The director had great difficulty with the studios in various stages of making the movie and although it was originally intended as an anti-Vietnam film, that had to be changed as production got further away from the war years. So although it may have lost something along the way it gained other things in the process. To my mind this makes it a stronger and more intriguing film.

If you watch the documentary that accompanies the DVD a lot is explained which you don't actually realise whilst watching the movie. Watch the film again and you will probably have a renewed interest. You will probably see it a little differently. It's not an Academy Award winner (and I don't think it should have been). But it's a drama, a romance, a comedy and a lot more besides. It has its fans and friends as well as detractors. I liked it and still see it as good fun.

The best film of the 1980's.

[captnemo · 10/10 · 3 April 2000]

I was prepared to dislike this film when I heard that it was going to replace the incredible "Empire Strikes Back." What I got was shock. Here was something different, something innovative in style and technique, something amazing. Vader and his gang were soon forgotten as I got caught up in the suspense (Will Cameron survive?), the comedy, the incredible dialogue, and one of the best soundtracks ever put on film. I fell in love with Barbara Hershey all over again after too long an absence. O'Toole was Oscar-worthy, and robbed of one. Richard Rush pulled a one-of-a-kind out of his hat, ala "Citizen Kane." He has never been near this level before or since. This must be watched several times in order to see and hear everything. There are so many subtle touches that are brilliant that I still find them 20 years and 30+ viewings later. A must for anyone who wants to know good film great. No doubt about this one. A "10" out of "10." No film was better(or as good) in the 1980's (or 90's for that matter.)

One of the weirdest, most idiosyncratic films of the 1980s

[gridoon2024 · 6/10 · 5 October 2020]

A reality vs. illusion puzzler that is occasionally mind-bending and features some incredible stunts, but is also overextended (like a 130-minute episode of "The Twilight Zone") and indulgent in its eccentricity. A perfect part for Peter O'Toole, and just looking at Barbara Hershey's face is a great pleasure. **1/2 out of 4.

a comedy with some ideas

[hbs · 9/10 · 11 January 2002]

This movie is a slightly surreal comedy about moviemaking. It's told with the perspective (if not always from the point of view) of a young fugitive who wanders onto the set and gets hired due to various complications. The movie people all seem larger than life to the fugitive, and since he's a little paranoid anyway, their motives seem complex and suspect. Peter O'Toole gives his usual performance, and he's perfect here as the flamboyant director (he must have had a great time sending up some blowhards of his past with this role). Steven Railsback does his usual disoriented guy on the edge, and he does it with a rather touchingly naive quality this time. Barbara Hershey is the leading lady love interest, delivers an intelligent and understated performance, and is appropriately bewitchingly beautiful.

Roger Ebert didn't like this movie, but he got confused into thinking that it was something deeper than a comedy. It's about as deep as "Get Shorty", but with a completely different feel.

The movie holds up pretty well, although the special effects look a little clunky sometimes, and I remember thinking they were pretty good when I saw the movie in its initial release. But the clunkiness isn't really distracting, and since the movie's attempts to "deceive" are all firmly tongue-in-cheek, it doesn't hurt.

Sometimes a brilliant blend of action, comedy, romance and thriller. Sometimes a muddle.

[Sergeant_Tibbs · 7/10 · 10 July 2013]

I love movies about movies and The Stunt Man is a very entertaining addition to that sub-genre. I had the misconception that Peter O'Toole was the protagonist (given his nomination), but instead he plays the eccentric director who drives the real protagonist's story. He's definitely the highlight of the film and his character holds the whole movie together. Getting actors in the moment is something I've learned recently and the film is entirely about this director's struggle to get his actors in the moment. It's a concept that's fascinating to watch. With its blend of genres of action, comedy, romance and thriller, it can end up a muddle, especially with things I can't tell are plot holes or not. This mixture in tone gets to a point where its repetitive score is either a blessing or irritating depending on the scene. Unfortunately the film is let down by its lead character and performance who is ironically rarely believable and too bland to be relatable. But the film does have that 70s aesthetic of excess and grain borrowed from All That Jazz that I love.

7/10

A brilliant and mesmerizing cinematic masterpiece

[Woodyanders · 9/10 · 16 September 2008]

Troubled and paranoid fugitive Vietnam veteran Cameron (a fine and intense performance by Steve Railsback) seeks refuge on the set of a lavish World War I picture that's being directed by cruel and crazed, yet cunning and charismatic megalomaniac director Eli Cross (superbly played with lip-smacking pompous aplomb by Peter O'Toole). Cross makes Cameron replace a previous stuntman who drowned when a car gag went awry due to Cameron's interference. Cameron soon suspects that Eli may be trying to kill him so he can capture his death on celluloid for the sake of realism. Director Richard Rush, who also co-wrote the ingenious script with Lawrence B. Marcus, offers a fresh, inspired and arresting mix of comedy, drama, action, thriller, and romance while also delivering a rich and provocative existential meditation on illusion versus reality and a fascinating glimpse at all the chaos, tension, madness and arduous labor that goes into making a movie. The exciting and elaborate stunt set pieces are simply amazing. Mario Tosi's gleaming, polished cinematography and Dominic Frontiere's jaunty, rousing score are likewise excellent and impressive. This film further benefits from first-rate acting by the uniformly stellar cast: Railsback and O'Toole are both fabulous in their juicy lead parts; they receive bang-up support from Barbara Hershey as radiant, ravishing actress Nina Franklin, Allen Garfield as harried, neurotic screenwriter Sam, Adam Roarke as humble actor Raymond Bailey, Sharon Farrell as sweet, sassy make-up girl Denise, Chuck Bail as amiable stunt coordinator Chuck Barton, Philip Bruns as smarmy producer Ace, and Alex Rocco as huffy police chief Jake. Dusty Springfield sings the lovely theme song "Bits & Pieces." A marvelously offbeat and original one-of-a-kind knockout that's wholly deserving of its cult status.

movie within the movie

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 14 July 2022]

Cameron (Steve Railsback) is a fugitive on the run. He comes upon a WWI battle scene being filmed on the beach. He befriends leading lady Nina Franklin (Barbara Hershey) and the director, Eli Cross (Peter O'Toole). Cross gives him the job as lead stunt man after an accident with the last one.

This is trying to be a fun take on Hollywood production. I love the behind the scene stuff with the movie in the movie. The beach scene suggests a brutal realistic portrayal of war. On the other hand, the chaotic action at Hotel del Coronado points to a more slapstick Keystone Cops movie. It should be more consistent. Nevertheless, I like a lot of the action. As for the leads, two out of three ain't bad. O'Toole is superb. Cameron does come alive in his final argument with Eli. Also, I would like Cameron to be completely innocent. He's a troubled character in the center.

What a Lame-A$$ Movie

[farzhan · 3/10 · 12 August 2005]

I can't believe there are so many people who love this film. I thought there were no genuinely likable or compelling characters. Railsback's character has got to be one of the most annoying in film history. How could a film star fall for him?, especially after his psychotic storytelling episode. The plot twists were so obviously contrived and pathetically manipulative. I couldn't have cared less about the final scenes which others read so much into. And now some filler--I rented the 2 disc set from the library(free thank god); documentary was pretty good, learned a few things about movie distribution; Rush was so proud of his film, I laughed a lot at the absurdness of the praise and pride. Summation--Unrealistic Peace of Crap Movie with terrible music--Have a Nice Day

"How Tall is King Kong?"

[Rodrigo_Amaro · 10/10 · 2 August 2011]

It has to be the best quote in the whole movie because not only it defines the whole thing but it's also one of the most funniest (specially when it is said at the ending). The height of 1933's King Kong (3'6) is mentioned in "The Stunt Man" as a representation of how manipulative and incredible movies are. It also represents the audience's manipulation in terms of believing in what they're seeing as real when in fact it's not. Everybody knows King Kong as something monstrous, gigantic but very few know that the real thing was a small toy made to look bigger thankfully to special effects.

But what's have to do with the story of a Vietnam War veteran running away from police, who happens to stumble on a film set to be later get invited by the film director to replace a dead stunt man? Everything! The fugitive Cameron (played by a sexy Steve Railsback) while learning to be a stunt gets fooled over and over by the director Eli Cross (a dynamic Peter O'Toole - Oscar nominated for this role), who puts the poor man in the most audacious, risky and dangerous stunts in a World War I film. Along with the filming, there's a romantic story involving an actress (Barbara Hershey) involved with both director and stunt man, and of course, the police hunt for the man and a investigation of what really happen with the original stunt guy.

Then, just like Kong, there's the manipulation of "The Stunt Man" on us, audience, when we think that all what's happening with Cameron is real until someone yell 'Cut', and the background is revealed, cameras and people start to show up. Here's one example: Cameron is running away from villains, being chased over rooftops, stairs, bullets flying over his head, explosions, the fear we see in his eyes are very real but then we know it's a planned stunt. This screenplay strategy works but not that much if we consider that most of the time Cameron is performing all the stunts in one long shot where he falls and runs and jumps, I mean, Eli's team is filming like five or six sequences continuously, which is quite impossible to be done in films. It's visually impressive to see all that but not much believable.

Even so, this is a very funny and interesting film that show the magic of movies being made. It was a dream project for director Richard Rush that took nine years to be finally made and it worth all the while, guarantying a Oscar nomination for him as Best Director. The performances fit the film perfectly with the highlights on O'Toole making of Eli an egomaniacal film director who believes to be an God who controls everything and everyone, without caring about anything although he's impressed by the mysterious Cameron. Railsback is very memorable and a little sinister as the fugitive/stunt man who gets astonished with the film he became part of and the salary offered, but he doesn't realize how naive he was and how deceivable Eli was.

Fugitive on the run, filmmaking of a big budget film, romance, action, comedy, lots of humor, this film in no way could go wrong. Here's an very enjoyable and underrated classic of the 1980's. 10/10

Entertaining, but

[elision10 · 7/10 · 5 June 2021]

I'm one of those people who has to have the movie explained to me when I walk out of the theater. Even so, I think more than a few people will have trouble following the twists and turns of what exactly is going on, or who is feeling what. Some of it is unnecessarily manic, like the scene near the end when the lead finally reveals the charge of attempted murder he is accused of. Other parts seem forced -- how can the lead be so upset the director slept with the "girlfriend" the lead himself had only met a few days/hours before?

That all said, the stunt scenes -- there are a lot of them --,are lots of fun and makes this too-long movie (over two hours) move more quickly. Second, it's an excellent vehicle for O'Toole, who is always commanding and interesting here. In the wrong hands the role could have been just that of another overwrought director. I won't call O'Toole's performance brilliant, but it is certainly intriguing, and makes up for (mostly) uninteresting performances of the other important characters.

Quite Possibly the Worst Movie I've Ever Seen

[hollyberryholly · 1/10 · 17 July 2005]

I saw this movie last night at my husband's insistence - he saw it years ago and bought it online. 30 minutes into the movie, I was still asking, "So what's going on here?" "Huh?" "Whaa...?" "I don't get it." My bathroom break didn't even require putting the DVD on "pause." It takes about the first hour of the movie to figure out the plot, and by that point, I just didn't care. I'm not sure what the writers were thinking, but it couldn't have been anything about making a coherent story that viewers could follow, and invest themselves in.

Peter O'Toole is wasted in this movie. I wonder what he was thinking; maybe he needed some cash.

Barbara Hershey was in about every third movie during this time period, and plays about the same character in each one.

I last saw "Helter Skelter" starring Steve Railsback 15-20 years ago, and the moment I saw him the "The Stunt Man," he was immediately recognizable. Apparently he has only the one facial expression: freaky. Even during love scenes, he looks freaked out. There is no tenderness; when he smiles, it never reaches his eyes. That was apropos for "Helter Skelter," but perhaps not for this movie.

During the first few minutes, I wondered if I wasn't seeing some odd re-tread of "First Blood." Where's Rambo when you need him?

In short, don't waste your time. If you want to see freaked-out Railsback, watch "Helter Skelter" - it's a better movie, and is actually based on a true story. If you're looking for a misunderstood Vietnam Vet, "First Blood" has a coherent message, and besides, Stallone is a lot cuter (just my opinion). If you want to see O'Toole's acting chops, there are many great films to choose from. Just not this one.