Richard Rush's brilliant 1980 backstage drama of illusion, reality, and moviemaking sleight of hand earned three Oscar nominations and universally glowing reviews, but it was barely seen during its initial release and only became a cult classic after it arrived on home video. An intense Steve Railsback stars as the haunted Cameron, a Vietnam vet on the run from his ghosts and a mysterious crime. Wanted by the police, fugitive Cameron winds up being sheltered by megalomaniac movie director Eli Cross (Peter O'Toole), who hires Cameron as a stunt man replacement (his predecessor died when his car crashed over a bridge during the production of Eli's new film). As Cameron finds himself falling in love with leading lady Nina Franklin (Barbara Hershey), he also tries to understand the alternately charismatic, sincere, manipulative, and monstrous Cross, but ultimately starts to lose his ability to distinguish between artifice and truth, and finally becomes convinced that Cross is out to kill him. The Stunt Man serves up a whirlwind mind-game while exploring the nature of trust in the ambiguous realm between art and life. Debuting on Blu-ray, extras include a cast and crew audio commentary, Rush's feature-length documentary on the film's dramatic history, new interviews, a Q&A from a special screening, and deleted scenes. Highly recommended. (S. Axmaker)
The Stunt Man
Severin, 131 min., R, Blu-ray: $29.98 October 10, 2011
The Stunt Man
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