Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

A Masterpiece!

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

This is a work of art about the creation of a work of art. The work in this case happens to be a movie, and as with all great works of art, there is one obsessed, cruel, megalomaniacal genius at the helm. Eli Cross (Peter O'Toole) is the most vivid depiction of a Hollywood director ever captured on film. He is a true patriarch, playing father/lover/drill sergeant to his cast and crew, and they all love/hate/fear him for it. Anyone who's ever been near an actual film set can tell you how accurate the character is. But what makes this film just about the last word on the subject is Richard Rush's brilliant blurring of fantasy and reality. That, after all, is the main occupation of those who toil in the "Dream Factory" of show biz. This was director Richard Rush's dream project and it took him nine years to get it on the screen.Although it seems nasty, the movie is wonderfully light-hearted and the outrageous stunt scenes are backed up by a joyous score by Dominic Frontiere. A long scene with Cameron running over a rooftop, as biplanes attack and enemy soldiers give chase, is the stuff of legend. There is a great comic sense of humor in watching them trip over each other, fall off and get blown up. The performances are uniformly excellent. O'Toole is truly magnetic here, and you can see that he was hammered in some scenes and still pulls it off. Now that's a pro drinker! Railsback is perfect, and Hershey is mighty alluring indeed. This is the inside look at film-making that Hollywood doesn't want us to see: the egos, the drugs (watch the t-shirts and background scenes), the general insular idiocy of it all, and mainly the non-stop irony. Yes, "The Stunt Man" is a deceptively-accurate look into what the most highly acclaimed directors do to get the most out of their cast & crew.Overall rating: 8 out of 10.

There's more than one moment in this film when you might feel a little lost, wondering just what it is the director is trying to say. It is absolutely not about redemption, but it is, and it's more about perception of truth than it is about how art mirrors life… but then it isn't. The DVD features an introduction from the director about his intentions and if it weren't for this primer to what follows, the movie may play for you like just another independent flick about Hollywood.Escaping from prison Cameron (Steve Railsback) dodges a car heading toward him on a bridge causing the car to plummet into the water below drowning the driver. When Cameron discovers that he has stumbled into a movie being made by Eli Cross (Peter O'Toole), he immediately attempts escape but is stopped when Cross offers the con protection if he'll be a stunt man in the picture. Cameron still plans to leave until he meets Nina Franklin (Barbara Hershey), the lead actress in the film. Cameron falls for Nina immediately and she makes him feel good while Cross gets him to go to greater and greater lengths to get Cameron to perform dangerous stunts for his camera. When Nina and Cameron try to escape together they plan for her to hide in the trunk of the car that Cameron will drive off of a bridge in a dangerous stunt for Cross to film, but when the momentous day arrives will they be able to go through with it? I'm not sure I hold with Director Richard Rush's ideas voiced by his alter ego Peter O'Toole's Eli Cross who on the one hand seeks out great realism with Cameron's true Vietnam experiences and their affect on his movie, while philosophizing about truth versus movie magic. It's clear that Cross is a ruthless task master when it comes to getting his picture made, and this aspect of the Hollywood industry we understand.This is possibly Steve Railsback's only shining moment as a rising Hollywood star. His only other most popular film role was as Charles Mason in Helter Skelter and it's kind of too bad that he hasn't gotten better roles. The Stunt Man is a special case because it puts Railsback in scenes against two really fine actors. In scenes with Peter O'Toole Steve Railsback utilizes his Actors Studio training well to deliver the truth of character and scene, with Barbara Hershey Steve Railsback reveals a particularly sensitive side to his persona that very nearly makes him palatable to the mainstream taste.The quality of the script for The Stunt Man clearly sets it apart from other movies like it. Writing credits for the film go to Lawrence B. Marcus and Richard Rush for adapting the Paul Brodeur novel. The action keeps pushing and pulling us in different directions, and as we recover we find that we are viewing the film story from a variety of angles. Some valuable time is consumed as we learn, along with the main character Cameron, what stunt men do, and it is this process that relates the idea that filmmaking is like life- there are those who direct, and those who act, and those who do the stunt work.Where the film is weakest is in relying on Railsback's Cameron to deliver the angst and betrayal of the U.S. Government on the people via the Vietnam War. If this movie is about that, and we are pointed to the comparison repeatedly through the World War 1 art direction of the movie within the film, then a more direct bond should have been made. There are some great scenes of excellent stunt work that develop the story but logically stop the action for anyone who has worked on a film.It's still an exciting picture to watch and one that for filmmakers and cineastes will continue to bring a wealth of ideas and possible themes. The stellar cast shines and in many ways makes this movie a pleasure to watch.

Peter o Toole is spectacular in this film. It is about a Vietnam veteran (Steve Railsback) who accidentally murders the stunt man of a film being directed by Toole. Toole hires the veteran as the stunt man. But the veteran fears that Toole is trying to murder him, even as he falls in love with Toole's girlfriend (the gorgeous Barbara Hershey). This film has some of the coolest non-special effects action I've ever seen. The back ground score by Dominic Lapierre is used to great effect.It was my father's favorite film when he was in college. He recently got the DVD imported. It really is a rollicking film. The first few scenes and the title sequence are simply to die for. Great buy.

This film works tremendously on all levels. It is a highly intelligent story about what is or is not real, while at the same time it is a fast-moving and spectacular stuntfest, with much clever and funny dialogue. Steve Railsback plays Cameron, who pretends to be a deceased stuntman who was a stand-in for an actor playing a First World War pilot. So one man (Railsback) is playing another (Cameron) playing another (deceased stuntman) playing another (actor in WW1 film) playing another (WW1 pilot): no wonder that in the world of the film set Cameron has trouble working out what is or not real! I have seen this film probably ten times, and every time I see something I missed before. It is absolutely enthralling, and though it has always had good reviews, it somehow always gets missed when lists of all-time great films are compiled. It is one of those movies which has many fans, and I always recommend it as a must-see, but most people just don't seem to 'get' this film, so it has not got as much recognition as it deserves.