Stunts (1977)

One of my all time favorites.

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

With All Due Respect to the Stuntman Profession and the Death Defying Daring-Do, this Movie is a Bland, but sometimes Realistic Tribute.The Subject is usually better in a Documentary Format and it is a Noble Try to make it into an Action-Drama, but at least in this one, it comes off as Cheesy and Surprisingly Ineffective and the Drama here is just Awful.Awful Writing, Awful Music, Awful Mystery. What saves the Movie from being Worthless is the On Screen setting up of the various Stunts with attention to Details about the Methods and Machines used to Pull Off the Magic.These Scenes are well Photographed and Clearly Presented and the Mechanics behind the Stunts is Informative and Invites Viewer Curiosity. But other than that the Movie Strains to be a Movie and is as Intriguing as an Average TV Episode of an Average TV Show.Robert Forster, Joanne Cassidy, and some Real Stunt Men make every Effort to Entertain but are Betrayed by a Boring Script and a General Feeling of just Going Through the Motions. It's Baffling Lack of Energy and Suspense has to be Laid at the Feet of the Writer and the Director who Produce a Movie Homage about Movie Stuntmen and if the Movie Itself was a Stunt, Everyone would call for a Do Over.

"Stunts" is a combination of action movie and murder mystery that works well both ways: there are some truly impressive stunts (duh!), but the mystery plot ain't bad, either (I was almost certain about the person who was behind the killings based on Roger Ebert's "Law Of Economy Of Characters"....I was wrong). The actors give understated performances and create believable characters. Joanna Cassidy, in one of her first roles, has the one big physical and emotional outburst in a bar, showing hints of the talent that has kept her career going for more than four decades. The efforts of many real-life stuntmen (like Gary Davis, who plays Robert Forster's brother) guarantee the stunts' authenticity and legitimacy. **1/2 out of 4.

In the late 70s and early 80s, action films didn't rely on CGI to wow the audiences; stunts were what packed in the crowds—real stunts performed by real stuntmen.Anything with cars flying 30 feet through the air would be guaranteed to fill the theatres and the limits were pushed by these 'fall guys' as to what they would do in order to impress. Stunts—AKA 'Who Is Killing the Stuntmen?' AKA 'The Deadly Game' (UK video title)—tells of one such guy, Glen Wilson (Robert Forster), who becomes involved in the making of a movie after his brother mysteriously dies performing a stunt. Suspecting foul play, he searches for clues between filming, aided by a feisty female reporter (Fiona Lewis).Director Mark L. Lester, who later helmed the 80s 'classics' Class of 1984 and Commando, packs the film with all manner of death defying feats, but struggles to make anything special from the run-of-the-mill script. Despite a good performance from the ever-reliable Forster and good support from a raft B-movie regulars (including the great Richard Lynch), the result feels very much like a made-for-TV movie, and lacks the grittiness I was hoping for.Stunts is enjoyable on a nostalgic level (if you love the vibe of 70s flicks, then there is some fun to be had from the movie's general atmosphere), and it does contain a few fairly impressive action sequences, but I found that, even at a running time of less than an hour and a half, the film only just managed to keep my attention.

This neat little sleeper of a movie, which is a pre-cursor to the more mainstream THE STUNTMAN, grabs you from the first few minutes and takes you on a wild ride right up to the end. When stuntman Greg Wilson (Gary Davis) meets a grisly end while on location with a film company, his brother Glen (Robert Forster) shows up to complete the film in his place, and find out what really happened.Several more stuntmen meet their demise and it's really looking bad for the Special Effects man Pete Lustig (Richard Lynch). Lustig is a strange fellow to be sure, but is he capable of cold-blooded murder? The surviving stuntmen seem to think so as the bodies continue to pile up.Meanwhile reporter BJ Parswell (Fiona Lewis) arrives to do a story on the mysterious deaths and finds herself right in the middle of it all. The action-packed ending will have you on the edge of your seat as the killer is finally revealed.I liked this film, it wasn't as good as THE STUNTMAN, but not bad either. Forster, who resembles Robert Blake, is great as tough guy Glen. You find yourself rooting for him to find the real killer. Lynch does a fine job as the creepy, lone-wolf Lustig, yet he has such a sad, puppy-dog quality to him that you find yourself hoping he's not the one. It's hard to hate someone who seems so lonely and left out. And Lewis is superb as the bitchy reporter who turns out to be pretty nice and who ends up helping to solve the mystery.