08/03/2026
It's funny the different reactions I get from people when I tell them that I buy/sell DVD's and Blu-ray's. I think my "favourite" (sarcasm) reaction is when someone "asks", "Oh, do people still watch those things?"
Well, last night I did something that shows one reason why DVD's and Blu-ray's are great. Two nights ago I watched the classic 1980 movie, "The Stuntman". Last night however I watched one of the special features on the DVD entitled, "The Sinister Saga of Making 'The Stunt Man'". Wow, and did I learn so much.
To say that this movie had a hard time making it to the big screen is an understatement. Studios didn't want it because it doesn't fit nicely into a genre. And of course, studios don't want to be shown to be wrong so many actually actively attempted to sabotage the release.
How about this interesting factoid. The 1978 movie "Hooper" was written and produced when a studio executive read and rejected "The Stuntman" but then went on to have someone write a version of the movie that fit better to what the studio wanted. The producers of "Hooper" actually approached Richard Rush (Producer & Director of the Stuntman) to see if they could use the name. Talk about balls!
How about this interesting factoid. Richard Rush's favourite scene in the movie actually never made it into the final cut. Preview audiences found that this extra scene diminished their opinion of Barbara Hershey's character and by extension the movie. I don't know the year that Rush did the documentary about "The Stuntman" but in it he hoped that more modern audiences wouldn't have the same reaction and this cut scene could someday get added back in. Just for the record, I have now seen the cut scene, and (1) I understand why it needed to be cut,(2) I think it does add a lot to the movie, and (3) I think it should be added back in.
As someone who loves the stories behind the movie this was awesome. Oh, and remember, I was only able to watch this because I was watching on the DVD. I'm not sure any streaming services would be playing the extra feature. In fact, do any streaming service actually carry "The Stuntman"
