STUNTS

US, 1977, 89 minutes, Colour.
Robert Forster, Fiona Lewis, Ray Sharkey, Joanna Cassidy, Bruce Glover, Richard Lynch.
Directed by Mark L. Lester.

Before computer graphics there were stunts. Peter O’ Toole appeared in Richard Rush’s film The Stunt Man and there was an Australian documentary with Grant Page about stunts.

This is a straightforward film with a touch of the murder mystery. Robert Forster portrays a stunt man who takes the place of his brother in the making of a film – his brother had mysteriously died during a stunt. There are scenes of film-making as well as stunt work itself. It fits into the action genre so popular in the 1970s. The director is Mark L. Lester who made exploitational films as well as The Class of 1984 and Commando, with Arnold Schwarzenegger.

1. An entertaining thriller? The focus on film-making and especially stunt work? Murder mystery? How well did those ingredients blend for popular entertainment?

2. How well did the film use the conventions of a film about movie-making - situation, language, spectacular sequences? The conventions of the murder mystery and detection? Revenge? The convention of the newspaper reporter and the variation with the woman psychologist?

3. Colour photography, vocations? Music? How important were the special effects and the great deal of attention given to the various stunts especially with the cars, the scaling of walls etc.? (and the way that these were worked into the plot especially for the attempts on the hero’s life, the wrong people being killed?

4. How plausible was the plot? the part about the film-making and the personalities involved, the difficulties, the hopes for a successful film? Stardom for leading ladies, the skill of the stunt men? The emotional tangles that ensue? The arrival of the psychologist and her study of the stunt men for her article? The background of the murder mystery? Were they sufficient for the purposes of this kind of entertainment?

6. How interesting a character was the hero? His strengths and weaknesses of character, his personality? his skill at his work, friendships? Emotional and romantic situations? hostility to the reporter and his later reliance on her? His confrontation with the film people? The revelation of the truth about the murders?

7. The contrast with the lady journalist? Her educational background, her curiosity, her manner of interview? Her attitude towards the thrills? Her becoming involved in the plot, emotional involvement? A credible kind of character - or at least sufficient for this kind of film?

8. The supporting characters: the film director, the leading lady and the background of promotion, stardom? The follow stuntmen and their role in their work? The revelation of emotional entanglements violence and death?

9. The impact on the audience of seeing the background of the stunt work? As it finally finished up in the film, the risks for the people doing it? The thrills and excitement for the people involved, for the spectators?

10. Which were the most memorable sequences - in terms of stunts, for the development of the plot?

11. How well did the film present conventional themes of good and evil, heroes and heroines, violence? Vicarious excitement? The film’s comment on the making of films and movie-makers? An enjoyable thriller?