The Academy Awards have made a huge step forward with the announcement that it will finally feature a category for Best Stunt Design. According to Variety, this award will be given out starting with the movies released in 2027 competing in the 2028 Oscars. However, one can’t help but wonder which films could’ve received a golden statue for their stunt work had it been available decades prior.
Countless movies feature breathtaking stunts that were executed thanks to hard work, planning, and risk during production. Some of the performers even lost their lives trying to pull off stunts for films. It’s a shame stunt teams never won Oscars for their work sooner. But to commemorate the Oscars finally adding a category for them, here’s a look back at the top films that deserved to win the Academy Award for Best Stunt Design.
The Fall Guy (2024)
Since The Fall Guy shows a stunt performer becoming a real-life action hero, director David Leitch and his team clearly did everything they could to make Ryan Gosling’s protagonist shine. The film thus went all out with its daring and stylish practical stunts, with Gosling’s character performing such mind-blowing falls, car chases, and fight scenes with more than their fair share of explosions. All in all, The Fall Guy showed audiences why stunt performers are the unsung heroes of movie productions, with the new Oscar category giving them more of the recognition they deserve.
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
Terminator 2: Judgment Day is famous for delivering explosive, high-concept stunts that left the original film in the dust. Such memorable scenes include the T-1000 chasing John Connor in a trench with a big rig truck and under a highway in a helicopter. Though Terminator 2 featured revolutionary VFX for its time with its shapeshifting villain, director James Cameron went all-out with the practical effects to create such realistic and heart-pounding sequences that hold up even today.
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
George Miller’s magnum opus revolutionized action movies in 2015 with its bevy of practical stunts. Since it is essentially a two-hour-long chase across the Wasteland, Mad Max: Fury Road hardly slows down as Max, Furiosa, and their allies take on dozens of marauders in classic cars, monster trucks, BMX bikes, and big rigs. Much of the film’s action takes place on real, moving vehicles, with actual collisions and explosions occurring on-screen. Released at a time when blockbusters overloaded on CGI, this ambitious and meticulously bombastic blockbuster set a new standard for practical stunts and visuals.
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
With its many creative and thrilling action scenes, Raiders of the Lost Ark set off one of the most popular movie franchises ever. Audiences fell in love with Indiana Jones as he embarked on a globe-trotting adventure, which saw him fighting Nazis, riding horses, climbing onto moving cars, and swinging over gaps with his trusty whip. However, the most remarkable scene of them all showed Indy running away from a giant boulder, hooking viewers in the film’s first few minutes.
Ben-Hur (1959)
Though Ben-Hur isn’t a traditional action film, one of the most iconic stunts in cinema history came in the form of the protagonist’s thrilling chariot race against Messala in 1959’s Ben-Hur. Filmed in an age without CGI, this 15-minute race still keeps viewers on the edge of their seats as contestants are thrust into the air or trampled by their own steeds. Such a spectacular sequence has been replicated in several films in the decades since its release, singlehandedly cementing Ben-Hur as an eternal classic.
Police Story (1985)
Jackie Chan became famous for doing his own stunts in his films, many of which deserve awards for his gymnastic achievements. Arguably, the actor’s most impressive work in this field can be found in Police Story, which he also co-wrote and directed. Along with presenting some incredible kung fu fighting, Chan famously slid down a pole covered with shining string lights down several stories without any wires or even a safety net. Film School Rejects claimed he walked away from this stunt with second-degree burns, as the string light bulbs had unintentionally heated the pole. At another point in the film, Chan also climbed onto a moving bus with just an umbrella in this film in a scene reminiscent of Buster Keaton, encapsulating the timelessness of the former’s practical stunt work.
John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023)
As the apex of the Baba Yaga’s ultraviolent odyssey, John Wick: Chapter 4 presents many of the best stunts in a franchise already renowned for its stunning action scenes. As usual, John Wick presents his trademark brand of gun-fu as he takes down hordes of armed assassins. On top of that, the film features memorable scenes of Wick taking down a maze full of mercenaries with a fire-breathing shotgun and rolling down several flights of stairs. Whether or not this movie ends up being Wick’s final adventure, all these stunts ensured that he went out on a high note.
Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018)
The Mission: Impossible franchise is chock full of scenes featuring Tom Cruise performing death-defying stunts, and they have grown more outrageous over time. However, these stunts all came to a head in Mission: Impossible – Fallout. This spy blockbuster showed Cruise hanging from a helicopter, jumping across rooftops, and getting beat up in a bathroom. Cruise even performs a HALO jump in one of the most mind-blowing continuous shots ever made, showing that no cinematic stunt was impossible in this franchise.
The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
Director Christopher Nolan is famous for shooting his blockbusters practically, and the Dark Knight Trilogy is a prime example of this. In particular, The Dark Knight Rises wrapped up Batman’s saga with the franchise’s biggest stunts. The film’s first scene showed Bane dropping a plane out of the sky, much of which showed real stunt performers going from one plane to the other in midair. The movie also delivers plenty of excitement with sprawling chase scenes through the streets and skies of Gotham City, making The Dark Knight Rises a thrill ride all the way through.
The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
One can’t talk about cinematic stunts without bringing up James Bond. Agent 007 has been responsible for many incredible feats as an action star in movies. But in the 60+ years he’s appeared on film, his most remarkable stunts were featured in Roger Moore’s The Spy Who Loved Me. The film opens with an unforgettable ski chase down the Austrian slopes, with his parachute ride off the mountain pulling the audience into the rest of the film. With explosive showdowns and high-speed car chases galore, this whole film delivered stunts that were simply extraordinary.
