hooper

Director: hal needham

Actor: burt reynolds,jan-michael vincent,sally field,brian keith

Data Published: Fri Jul 28 1978

Genres: Action,Comedy

Key Words: stuntman,stunt,director,brief female frontal nudity,cowboy hat

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077696/

WIKI: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hooper_(film)

Description: Hooper is a movie starring Burt Reynolds, Jan-Michael Vincent, and Sally Field. Hollywood aging stuntman Sonny Hooper wants to prove that he's still got what it takes to be a great professional in this risky and under-recognized...

Plot: Sonny Hooper (Burt Reynolds), known in the film as "The Greatest Stuntman Alive", is the stunt coordinator on an action film, The Spy Who Laughed at Danger, directed by Roger Deal (Robert Klein). Hooper's antics and wisecracks are a trial for the egotistical director and his officious but cowardly assistant, Tony (Alfie Wise). Years of physical abuse on and off the job are fast catching up with Hooper; the numerous stunts (referred to in the movie business as "gags") and his use of alcohol and painkillers are beginning to take their toll. Sonny lives with his girlfriend Gwen Doyle (Sally Field) whose father Jocko (Brian Keith) is a retired stuntman. Hooper is dragooned by a friend into performing at a charity show, where he meets Delmore "Ski" Shidski (Jan-Michael Vincent), a newcomer who makes his entrance with a spectacular stunt. Sonny and Ski become friends after a barroom brawl with a pack of rowdy policemen. He invites Ski to work with him on the film. They begin a friendly rivalry in which the spectacle and danger of their stunts escalates. After a freefall from a record 224 feet, Sonny becomes more aware of his own mortality. He secretly consults with his doctor, who warns Sonny that one more bad fall could render him quadriplegic, telling him, "If you were a horse, I'd shoot you." Unhappy with the writer's ending to the film, Roger decides to add a climactic earthquake as the finale, complete with explosions, fires and numerous car crashes. Sonny and Ski would race through the carnage to a nearby gorge, where the bridge explodes before they can cross it. Roger's concept has the duo rappelling down one side of the gorge and up the other to safety, but Ski proposes they jump a car over the gorge. When someone points out that no car could jump the 335 foot gap, Hooper suggests that a rocket-powered car could make it. Roger loves the idea, and he ignores warnings that Sonny and Ski might not survive the landing even if the car lands on its wheels. Max Berns, the movie's producer and a longtime friend of Hooper's, warns Roger that the film is already over budget and can't afford the $100,000 Hooper wants to perform the rocket car jump. Roger tells Max he wants his ending, including the rocket car jump; he doesn't care what else has to be cut as long as he gets that gag. Tony, sent to negotiate a lower price for the stunt, is taken on a wild ride in a tuned-up stunt car by Hooper, who refuses to lower the price for the gag. Tony agrees to pay him and Ski the $100,000 due to the danger involved in jumping a car 335 feet and an uncertain landing. Jocko suffers a stroke, but he denies the gravity of his condition. Seeing the elder stuntman in the hospital motivates Sonny to promise Gwen that he will quit the business after the film wraps. Sonny learns from his friend and assistant, Cully (James Best), that Roger is downsizing the crew to pay for the final gag. Cully, unaware that Hooper has kept the rocket car stunt and his health status secret from Gwen, speaks openly about both in front of her. She is horrified. Hooper later tells Roger that he is backing out of the gag, but Max convinces him to reconsider—no qualified stuntman is available, or willing, to replace him. Gwen threatens to leave Sonny if he agrees to do the gag. Sonny reluctantly decides that he has cost too many people their jobs, and he must go through with it. Sonny and Ski perform the first part of the gag perfectly. Arriving at the bridge, they find that they have lost fuel pressure in the rocket engine; it's below the minimum needed to make the jump. The two stuntmen argue as Roger rails at them over the radio, and decide to attempt the jump anyway. The rocket car clears the gorge but overshoots the prepared landing area and lands hard on the far side. Ski emerges from the car on his own, but the impact was more of a shock to Sonny's system. Gwen tearfully pushes her way through the gathering crowd as the chief engineer extracts Sonny from the rocket car. Sonny slowly comes out of his daze and takes Gwen in his arms. As Sonny, Ski, Gwen, Cully and Jocko view the bridge lying in the river and the gorge the rocket car had jumped, Roger comes up to them and asks to speak to Hooper. He wants to apologize to the stuntman for the grief he gave him during filming, but comes across as an egomaniac justifying himiself. Sonny's response is to knock Roger out with a single punch. He, Gwen, Ski, Cully and Jocko then triumphantly walk off the set.