A million dollars from Sylvester Stallone’s personal funds were provided to a stuntman in exchange for doing a world record-breaking and enduring stunt.
Upon reflection, it seems that people who are considered stunts don’t receive the respect they deserve. Stunt people are the people on set who are prepared to risk life and limb for that ideal shot, thus chances are that most of the really cool scenes from your favourite blockbuster movies have some sort of stunt person involved.
It should go without saying, then, that the work is dangerous—something Sylvester Stallone is well-versed in. Not only has he frequently performed his own stunts for his films, but he also encountered a problem while acting in Cliffhanger, a 1993 Renny Harlin picture.
One of the film’s most action-packed opening scenes featured a stunt that, if it were produced today, would undoubtedly be entirely computer-generated (annoyingly so)
.Fortunately, though, the choice was made to proceed with it as practically as possible, and the result is very fun to see. In the scene, three suitcases full of rare cash are being taken by John Lithgow’s criminal genius character Eric Qualen and his crew in an attempt to rob $100 million.
Since the robbers and the cargo are ziplining between two moving planes, there is a good chance that there is a good deal of space for error in this action.
However, stuntman Simon Crane was prepared to take on the most costly aerial stunt ever, which involved sliding at 15,000 feet between two planes on a rope. It’s included in the Guinness Book of World Records as well. Because it was so outrageous, the filmmakers were informed that it was illegal to film in Europe and were therefore not permitted to do it.
Crane wasn’t even compensated for risking his life for the stunt because the studio covering the movie wouldn’t approve it due to its extreme risk.
At that point, Stallone intervened. The celebrity allegedly gave Crane a $1 million pay cut as a thank you for his work, putting the money directly in his pocket. And I believe it is fair to say that he was well worth it.
Even if I were a stuntman, I know for a fact that I wouldn’t be pulling off a stunt like that, but I suppose their builds are just different.