I guess if you went into this looking for a docu that fawns over its subjects, this is the one for you. It certainly never addresses any real-life issues involved with being a stuntmen in Hong Kong. They tell you that Hollywood stuntmen are wimps by comparison -- true, but at least in Hollywood stuntmen are treated as PEOPLE, not PROPS in a movie only there to be used and tossed away, broken and damaged. Oh sure, everyone interviewed here claims to absolutely love it, but the docu never asks any of the hard questions, such as:
1) When they're injured, who pays the hospital bills? Answer: No one. The injured stuntman is simply SOL. 2) When they fall during a stunt, where are the doctors to rush in to save their life, if necessary? Answer: There are none. If they die, they die. 3) Why are stuntment treated like cheap prop? Answer: I wish I knew.
Now, you may look at the questions above and dismiss it, but remember that while YOU, the audience, demands bigger and better stunts, these poor saps have to actually do them, and when a stunt misfires, their lives are at stake. Does knowing that really make watching all those Hong Kong movies better? If so, then good for you -- you don't give a crud about these guys, so how nice for you. Me, I'd prefer to know that at least the stuntmen in Hollywood movies have doctors on location in case they get hurt, and if they do get hurt, they'll be taken care off. But hey, that's just me.
This could have been a serious, real documentary, but instead it just looks like a big advertisement for Shou's movie, which we see a lot of in the film. No big questions, no hard questions are asked. It's all fawning over Hong Kong stuntmen.
In journalism, they call this a fluff piece. It's certainly no documentary, that's for sure.
1) When they're injured, who pays the hospital bills? Answer: No one. The injured stuntman is simply SOL. 2) When they fall during a stunt, where are the doctors to rush in to save their life, if necessary? Answer: There are none. If they die, they die. 3) Why are stuntment treated like cheap prop? Answer: I wish I knew.
Now, you may look at the questions above and dismiss it, but remember that while YOU, the audience, demands bigger and better stunts, these poor saps have to actually do them, and when a stunt misfires, their lives are at stake. Does knowing that really make watching all those Hong Kong movies better? If so, then good for you -- you don't give a crud about these guys, so how nice for you. Me, I'd prefer to know that at least the stuntmen in Hollywood movies have doctors on location in case they get hurt, and if they do get hurt, they'll be taken care off. But hey, that's just me.
This could have been a serious, real documentary, but instead it just looks like a big advertisement for Shou's movie, which we see a lot of in the film. No big questions, no hard questions are asked. It's all fawning over Hong Kong stuntmen.
In journalism, they call this a fluff piece. It's certainly no documentary, that's for sure.