Mikes Film Talk

Action: Peacock’s ode to stunt guys and gals, has been timed to almost coincide with the release of The Fall Guy movie starring Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt. We also get to see behind the scenes on David Harbour’s Violent Night. *Side note: Harbour’s homicidal Santa can also be watched on Peacock.

You can be forgiven if, like me, you cannot resist the temptation to stop Action midway and watch Violent Night. If you love the movie business or just watching movies, this six part series will show you how those stunts are worked out for feature films.

Violent Night

These six episodes are not divided equally. There are nods to The Fall Guy throughout the Violent Night portion. We watch stunt team 87 North work out the choreography on Harbour’s film. Some of the stunt professionals will be working down under of the Gosling flick.

On Violent Night Mitra Suri, a single mother of two who works in the stunt world is given a chance to act. Looking at her bona fides, she has been given more chances to widen her scope of experience in front of the camera.

It’s not all about the budget

The two different films, VN and TFG are almost like a night and day look at the stunt world. On the first, there are budget constraints. The coordinator and director have to work hard to make the “big” fight really stand out.

The Fall Guy is clearly a Hollywood blockbuster where money is not a problem. Regardless of the available funds stunts are still handled the same way. Stunt guys and gals all seem to be part of the same family. Action focuses on that familial comradery through each episode.

Oscars?

Keanu Reeves, John Wick himself, shares some insights on stunt fighting and Harrison Ford’s definition of action. Reeves who trained like a superman for all the John Wick films, knows stunt professionals. He firmly believes that the profession should be honored by the Academy. These action experts should earn the Oscar like every other actor/director/writer/et al.

He is right.

In this day and age of CG stunts (Roadhouse anyone?) It is definitely more entertaining when the film offers us “analog” stunts. Check out the trailer to Action and learn how these stunt guys and gals work.