How John Wick and Ballerina Celebrate Stuntwork | The Backdrop
Added 2025-06-17 15:02:12 +0000 UTCThis week's episode of The Backdrop is now available!
Comments
Really interesting video essay. Thanks!
Danno Peterson
2025-06-18 18:17:17 +0000 UTCI love this new focus on physical stuntwork and I’m so happy to hear it will be recognised at the Oscars shortly. I think between John Wick and Fury Road, it was shown that an audience appreciates an action set piece just as well as a quip-filled beamfest because if it looks real, the rest of the film becomes more believable and people can get very invested. I forget exactly who, but there’s a story that a student once asked his martial arts master who he would most fear if they were to learn martial arts. The expected answer is always something like a soldier or a bodybuilder but the answer given? A Ballerina.
Tim Wilson
2025-06-18 12:43:41 +0000 UTCI yearn for the rewind
HardRevenge
2025-06-17 17:06:25 +0000 UTCI wish I had more of an eye for good stunt performances. I liked the Ballerina just fine but I couldn't get into the nitty gritty of the actual skill behind it if I wanted to. Generally I have a great amount of respect for physical performance but I'm not actually qualified to speak on it. Also, side note about the Mission Impossible thing, as much as I agree that moving away from Hunt's personal life as a focus into the stunts was a good idea, I can't help but find his love of sleight of hand tricks to be charming like in the first movie. It's a small touch but it would've been cool to see him practicing or performing small magic tricks during the "intermission" scenes in the Mission Impossible movies
Ryallen
2025-06-17 15:16:30 +0000 UTC
