"Death is not terrible, the terrible thing is that it has not really lived", the movie "Extreme Thief" begins with it, and it is also practiced in filming.
In fact, "Extreme Thief" is a remake of the 1991 film "Breaking Point" starring Keanu Reeves, and the director at the time took many long shots using Steadicam to show the thrill of extreme sports.
It is precisely this innovation that makes this film one of the top ten extreme challenge films in American history.
So in order to surpass the previous work, the director of "Extreme Thief" insisted on live shooting, completed the filming in 10 regions of the world such as Germany and Switzerland, and all the extreme sports in the film, including surfing, rock climbing, skiing, etc., were completed by live-action stunts, and even three stunts died when challenging extreme sports.
It lasted three years, cost 150 million US dollars, and presented a thrilling scene and a breathtaking famous scene under the thrilling situation, and finally gained 7 points on Douban, and even some insiders commented that it was "almost about to burst into tears".
The plot of this film is not complicated, mainly about a young FBI agent undercover in a criminal gang who loves extreme sports, and in the process of interacting with these people, they collide with friendships.
In the end, in order to pursue himself, he chose to give up everything he had and turned around and threw himself into the eight peak sports of the extreme sports world.
But it is not easy to show these eight sports realistically through the lens language, and most of the thrilling actions of most films on the market are completed by using green screen cutouts and special effects, after all, not everyone has the desperate spirit of Jackie Chan.
But "Extreme Thief" director Eriksson Cole has accumulated a lot of extreme action shooting experience through the "Fast and Furious 1" photography experience, and for the sake of realism, the director has tied a small camera to the head and body of the stuntman.
When they were filming the footage of the cliff, the photographer personally went into battle directly against the climbing rope, and the actors also made various thrilling movements without fear of danger.
The scene is set in Venezuela's Angel Falls, a 975-meter-high waterfall known as the world's largest waterfall, with all the staff relying on a single rope to keep themselves safe.
The motocross section at the beginning of the film is selected in Utah, and the famous off-road racing driver Steve bluntly said that this route has never been visited, and it can be said that it is "off-road riding on the edge of the highest and grass-free mountain range".
These thrilling shots are not a small part of the whole film, on the contrary, the whole film is accompanied by risks and excitement.
There is a scene of wingsuit flying in the film, in order to achieve the shooting effect and protect the safety of the actors, the crew tested more than 60 times in two weeks to finally shoot the desired effect.
The stunt doubles were trained for a long time before the film began, and the group flight training exceeded 500 times.
Wingsuit flying has long been considered the craziest extreme challenge in the extreme challenge circle, and since the birth of the sport, 30% of the challengers have died, and even the creators of the wingsuit flying costume died of a mistake during a flight in 1998.
Until 2012, fewer than 600 people around the world dared to challenge the sport.
In order to reflect the excitement of sports, the crew arranged the filming in the valley of the Wallenstadt region of Switzerland, which is famous for its length and is already a great challenge for the challenger's flight.
The plot is about 4 challengers deep in the valley, will fly at a speed of 145 miles per hour, the film crew had to bring a shooting device, while maintaining the same speed as the filmed person, but also to complete this difficult shooting work.
In addition, the stuntmen themselves are also tied to the camera, in order to obtain the first perspective of the characters, their glasses are also embedded with sights, which also has a certain impact on the flight itself.
Even Jonathan Fordre, the world's top professional wingsuit flyer, said it was an "impossible task."
When shooting extreme surfing, in order to find the perfect big wave, the crew deliberately waited for a year, and finally set the scene on the outer barrier reef of Hawaii's great white shark.
In addition to the regular shooting, the crew used helicopters, aerial photography, underwater shooting, etc., which were all shot without any safety facilities.
As you can see from the film footage, the huge wave is 70 meters high, and its strong water pressure slaps on the body of professional surfer Rory Tang, causing him to suffer a severe head injury, and the blood scabs and bruises on his face have not dissipated for a long time.
Recalling the shoot, he said: "It was probably my worst experience of being knocked over by the waves, but I consider myself very lucky!" "
Unfortunately, the three stand-ins of the crew died due to filming, and they did not have the opportunity to see the final film results.
Although the film was made by foreign directors, China was actually involved in the production, and the origin of the filming was a conversation between Chinese producer Wu Bing and the director of the original "Breaking Point".
At that time, director Catherine Bigelow proposed to Wu Bing, "You are an athlete, and you like to challenge and surpass yourself so much, why don't you remake this movie?" "
This is the current "Extreme Thief", Wu Bing also jokingly called herself "the woman behind "Extreme Thief".
Director Erikson Cole himself is a fan of the original "Breaking Point", and he is grateful that he has the opportunity to direct the new film.
In homage to the original, he expanded the scale of the shoot, "all the stuntmen and directors are real athletes".
After a long search, the protagonist finally fell on australian actor Luke Bracey, because he liked to watch Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan movies, so he liked to make action movies, and has been taking the tough guy route since the film.
In addition, the crew chose him also to take into account his status as a surfer.
"I've been lucky enough to grow up on the coast of Australia and be able to surf every day, and I feel at ease in the water, where your troubles are gone."
Surfing experience alone wasn't enough to deal with the characters in Extreme Thief, who spent a few months learning extreme sports like motorcycle and rock climbing before filming began, doing what he could to make himself look more professional.
For him, the biggest difficulty in filming is not to get sick, because the protagonist must be strong in the film and cannot be defeated by illness, so he can only "keep the physical fitness level in a very 'hi' state for a long time."
Even if he adjusts himself to the best, extreme sports still come with risks.
While filming at Angel Falls, he had a very exciting chase scene, and when he just climbed to the top of the cliff, he immediately shouted "Turn on the camera!" If I fall, I hope to be photographed."
However, he is very grateful for the experience, "this is the biggest challenge to his motor skills, fortunately, I finally completed the action in the film."
It is precisely because of the cruelty of the challenge that he is willing to accept it and regard it as one of his favorite movies, if it is too simple, there will be no such shock.
And he is the epitome of the entire crew of the creative staff, for this film, their lives are hanging on the line, just to be able to show the core idea of the film, that is, to respect nature and integrate into nature.
One of the lead actors recalled "The Thief" and said, "During filming, we recorded the world's largest wave in Hawaii in 2013, filming an avalanche in Italy, filming a wingsuit flight scene, and also filming the most beautiful canyon in Wallenstadt, Switzerland, making this film feel like a lifetime." "
They were lucky enough to finally finish this film that confronts death despite many dangers.
And everyone who watched the movie exclaimed, "Oh my God, this is so exciting."
Some media commented that "the tenderness and violence, loyalty and betrayal of 'Extreme Thief' show the reverence for extreme sports, even faith, but the values conveyed by the film to the audience".
And that's exactly what the film was meant to do—"reverence for nature." "