The Sinister Saga of Making "The Stunt Man"
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Description
Peter O'Toole puts it succinctly, "The Stunt Man wasn't released, it escaped." Director Richard Rush returns 20 years later to this highly praised 1980 film in this two-hour documentary chronicling the decade-long struggle from creation to distribution. Rush calls Sinister Saga a home movie, and it essentially is with Rush talking to the camera--there is no footage from the film's actual shoot. If you can get by the lack of gloss, you're left with an extremely personal view of the filmmaking, and a behind-the-scenes look that is refreshingly void of studio hype. Included are interviews 20 years later with cast members who fondly remember the film's shoot. It's interesting to note that if The Stunt Man was made 20 years later, it would have never struggled. The film would simply have been relegated to cable or a straight-to-video release. --Doug Thomas
Description
Upon its release in 1980, The Stunt Man became a one-of-a-kind cult sensation, a multiple Oscar nominee and ultimately, one of the most acclaimed motion picture of the decade. But the strange history of the film's embattled development, production and distribution has never been fully revealed... until now.
Director Richard Rush is your guide for this epic story of his ten-year struggle from script to screen to make The Stunt Man on his own uncompromising terms. It's a tale told via rare insights, wild memories and exclusive new interviews with the cast and crew, including stars Barbara Hershey, Steve Railsback and Peter O'Toole. This is a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at on filmmaker's visionary reality.
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3 out of 6 people found the following review helpful:
Informative, but sadly cheesy and annoyingWednesday, January 09, 2002
Richard Rush's "The Stunt Man" is one of the most original, intelligent, and exhilarating films ever made. It also has one of the most fascinating back-stories in movie history, with a tumultuous production and distribution history that rivals "Titanic" and "Citizen Kane".
It's too bad that "The Sinister Saga of Making 'The Stunt Man'" is one of the most agonizingly cheesy documentaries I've ever seen. It resembles a childrens' science television show, with an overuse of annoying and disgustingly "cute" visual gimmicks. It looks like the work of a recent graduate of a community college videography class, with too much time and equipment on their hands. Sadly, the documentary was directed by Rush himself.
So is this documentary worth seeing? Absolutely, if only because the back-story is so compelling. However, Rush could have saved a lot of time and money merely filming himself delivering the same information as a straight lecture. The approach used here is nearly unbearable.
14 out of 14 people found the following review helpful:
True Hollywood story--in epic detail!Sunday, September 23, 2001
I saw this documentary at the 20th anniversary screening of "The Stunt Man" at LA's Egyptian Theatre last year. It is a low-budget DV affair consisting of the director, Richard Rush, describing the endless process of getting the film made and released and the various individuals who tried to prevent him along the way. It is shot as an homage to the visually inventive style of "The Stunt Man", full of camera tricks and transitions. Being a huge fan of the film, I was fascinated; those who are less interested in this sort of story may find it overlong and overblown.
To me, "The Stunt Man" is one of the best (if not the best) films made about the film industry; I've seen it many many times and am delighted that a DVD is finally being released. This documentary is a fine companion piece and true to the hall of mirrors theme, it's a film about making a film about making a film...
"If God could do the tricks we do, he'd be a happy man"