IN an age when Hollywood blockbusters are judged on their CGI, the stuntmen are fighting back.
Bruce Willis's latest action flick, A Good Day To Die Hard, has more car crashes than a rainy Grand Prix, and all of them done for real by brave – or stupid – people, paid to put their lives on the line in the name of cinema.
In fact, it seems the more advanced the CGI, the more important stuntmen and women have become.
It's one of the many reasons fans hated films like the The Phantom Menace and Green Lantern. They looked fake with cartoon explosions and scenes of crayoned-in destruction after another, and hardly any human faces to tie it all together.
Viewers want to see the whites of the eyes. They don't want to watch pile-ups from a distance, they want to be in the car with the actor as they tear through cities, leaving a path of demolition behind them.
LARRY Rippenkroeger reveals the secrets behind the biggest stunt in A Good Day to Die Hard
Larry Rippenkroeger is Bruce Willis' stunt double and really got to show off his skills while making A Good Day To Die Hard, which had a £70million budget.
"I'm most proud of the scene where I span around in the Unimog", he says, referring to the set piece that sees him dodging a missile by pulling a 360 in a vehicle designed to do anything but that.
"I loved what we call the 'step ladder' as well. I drove across the roof of countless cars to beat the Moscow traffic and get John McClane (Willis's character) out of trouble.
"It was tough because a few inches to the left or right and I'd have fallen off the roof and crashed down onto the road.
"It's something that's never been done before in a film. We really pushed it with that one."
If you've ever dreamed of getting out of a gridlock by taking desperate measures, you'll envy Larry in his 4x4.
Rippenkroeger fell 25ft onto the pavement during the making of the last Die Hard film. He smashed up his skull, taking months to recover.
Double life ... Larry with Alex King
"I had a slight fear of heights after that, but I just had to get back out there and jump off some more buildings to get over it," he says.
"The main thing was I'd waited so long for Bruce to do another Die Hard film and then I went and had an accident. I was just disappointed I couldn't finish the movie."
Willis did visit him in hospital regularly, and covered all costs of Larry's family staying in a hotel while he was recovering.
Rippenkroeger, a former jet-ski champion and speedway rider, has been Willis' double for 10 years, working on Surrogates, The Whole Nine Yards and Hostage among others with the star.
He's also doubled for James Caan in the past — The Godfather actor, not the Dragons' Den entrepreneur.
"Word went out in Hollywood that Bruce wanted a new stunt double," he says, explaining how he came to work with the actor.
"His people had me shave my head to see if I looked like him, they liked what I could do and we've been together ever since."
He reveals a stuntman's bread and butter is taking a punch, or at least making it look like they're being smacked around, while on an average day on set, he might pretend to get shot two or three times, drive a car into a wall or fall down a flight of stairs.
He said: "All that stuff's easy for me now. And it's fun. The hardest thing is when the director wants me to deliver a line.
"I might be able to sell a stunt, but acting? No that's the really difficult part."
- A Good Day to Die Hard is out now on DigitalHD, Blu-ray and DVD.
Source : http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/film/4969346/bruce-willis-a-good-day-to-die-hard-stunt-double-interview.html
