Here is the list for the Best Movie Stunts for the Decade 1970-1979 as listed in the book, 100 Years of the Best Movie Stunts!
1970 – They Call Me Trinity
The Spaghetti Western and Spaghetti Western Comedies were starting to come into their own and a string of “Trinity” films starring Terence Hill and Bud Spencer would arise. They became worldwide stars and did all their own fighting in their films. These are great fun![fliiby]https://flii.by/file/fpsa9cotxhr/[/fliiby]
1971 – The Big Boss
Bruce Lee would become a bonafide sensation after his first film and there really was no one quite like him. He had the skills and a way about him that everyone after him tried to copy. Martial Arts got it’s very own movie genre after this.
1972 – The Poseidon Adventure
Another new genre, would be this sub-category inside the action genre, that became the disaster film. This one has a very good fall into a ballroom skylight done by a non-stuntman at the time, Ernie Orsatti. He would go on to become a stuntman after this, he found he had a knack for it.[fliiby]https://flii.by/file/bz58ysivo4q/[/fliiby]
1973 – Live and Let Die
James Bond would appear this decade a record 4 times! This is the first on the list with a speedboat jump over land by Jerry Comeaux of 110 feet, which made it into the Guinness Book of World Records.
1974 – The Man With The Golden Gun
This one had a great car jump stunt that is a breath-taking, “I can’t believe I saw that” …mathematical stunt devised by Raymond McHenry at Cornell University and performed by Bumps Willard.
1975 – The Man Who Would Be King
Joe Powell would perform a jump from a rope bridge between two ravines 100 feet into a pile of boxes that would lead legendary Director John Huston to say, ” That’s the damnest stunt I’ve ever seen.”
1976 – Gator
This would be the start of a great collaboration between Hal Needham and Burt Reynolds. Hal Needham would body double Burt in this film and there’s a nifty car flip at the end of the movie with Hal in the truck bed.
1977 – The Spy Who Loved Me
This is a bond film with one of the most extensive pre-credit sequences than all the previous films and right before they go to the opening song and credits, they have a fantastic ski-stunt by Rick Sylvester right off a mountain and then slowly fall until finally has a parachute open. Really great opening.
1978 – Hooper
Hal Needham directed Burt Reynolds this time in a movie inspired by and about stuntmen! Can’t name just one stunt to highlight in this film as it’s just chocked full of them, but if I had to, A. J. Bakunas has a world record breaking jump from a helicopter into an airbag (232 feet!).
1979 – Moonraker
BJ Worth and Jake Lombard fight over a parachute in this Bond entry and it’s fun to watch. I would definitely include all the camera men who had to jump and film the sequence which included 88 jumps over all.
Check out our new Book, 100 Years of the Best Movie Stunts!
