Everybody wants a piece of the action

July 6th, 2009 at 08:32am Will Pfeifer

Over at Slate.com, Kevin Conley has come up with a smart angle on the usual summer action movie story. He’s asked a group of stunt professionals (who, after all, have a unique and uniquely close-up perspective) to pick their top action movies. Some have great stunts, some changed the business, and some are just favorites. But whatever the criteria, it’s a pretty interesting list with even more interesting insights. Here, for example, is why THE MATRIX earned a spot…

As (the stunt workers) explain it, producer Joel Silver traveled to China to beg a reluctant Yuen Wo-Ping, the action director for such kung fu classics as IRON MONKEY and FIST OF LEGEND, to choreograph the fighting in this movie, and Wo-Ping set ridiculous demands in the hopes that Silver would just go away: a huge budget, a ridiculous salary, and six months of training with the actors and stuntmen. Much to his surprise, Silver agreed to everything, and when the series became a blockbuster, the practice of hiring stuntmen for lengthy training and rehearsal periods took off.

And yes, there are You Tube links to most of the clips. Here, for example, is some impressive driving from the German TV series ALARM FUR COBRA 11…

Entry Filed under: Action!