Not Only Mission Impossible: 5 of the Most Dangerous Movies Ever Made

Computer graphics are increasingly replacing real stunts in movies, making live performances even more valuable. Actors and stuntmen are willing to break their arms and legs, smash their foreheads, just so viewers can get their share of adrenaline.

Crazy stunts are honed for weeks for a few moments on screen, and we watch in awe, not thinking about the work behind it.

1. Cliffhanger, 1993

One of the scenes from this movie entered the Guinness Book of World Records as the most risky and expensive stunt in movie history – stuntman Simon Crane was paid one million dollars for it.

Crane walked on a rope between two airplanes. They were flying at a tremendous speed. During the stunt, a gust of wind almost pulled Crane into the engine. But luckily everything worked out.

2. Atomic Blonde, 2017

Against the backdrop of large-scale, technologically advanced scenes, an ordinary fight in a movie might seem too simple. But the fight on the stairs in Atomic Blonde is actually a work of art.

The movie was directed by David Leitch, a former stunt double for Brad Pitt, and Sam Hargrave, the future creator of Extraction, worked on the stunts.

Together they came up with the idea of doing this fight in one long shot, and the scene lasts about ten minutes. One can only marvel at how the actors and stuntmen stayed alive while throwing each other down stairs.

3. Three Ages, 1923

Buster Keaton can be considered one of the fathers of stunts. Many of the comedian's films are built around him calmly doing something extremely dangerous.

In Three Ages, Keaton's character leaps from one building to another, flies three stories through soft canopies, clings to a pipe, and then flies into a window. And there are no graphics or stunt doubles here – just various fragments spliced together. And it was filmed 100 years ago.

4. Ben-Hur, 1959

The 1959 film is not the first, but the most famous adaptation of Lew Wallace's novel of the same name. The movie won 11 Oscars, including one for best special effects.

This movie featured one of the most dangerous stunts, which almost cost the stuntman his life. During the race, the car in which the stunt double of the leading actor was riding crashed into the wreckage of another car.

The stuntman was thrown so high that he almost fell onto the horses. These shots were left in the movie so you can see for yourself how dangerous everything looks.

5. Death Proof, 2007

Quentin Tarantino invited real stunt performer Zoe Bell to play the role of the stunt woman in the second half of the movie. The director also wanted to hire a stunt double for her, but she refused.

As a result, Tarantino filmed one of the most dangerous car chases in cinema: the villain's car rams the girls' car while Bell's character hangs on the hood.

Of course, the filmmakers could have put the car on a platform or somehow tricked the viewer. But it would not have been as dynamic. So they actually tied Bell to the car and accelerated to a tremendous speed.