Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

There's more than one moment in this film when you might feel a little lost, wondering just what it is the director is trying to say. It is absolutely not about redemption, but it is, and it's more about perception of truth than it is about how art mirrors life… but then it isn't. The DVD features an introduction from the director about his intentions and if it weren't for this primer to what follows, the movie may play for you like just another independent flick about Hollywood.Escaping from prison Cameron (Steve Railsback) dodges a car heading toward him on a bridge causing the car to plummet into the water below drowning the driver. When Cameron discovers that he has stumbled into a movie being made by Eli Cross (Peter O'Toole), he immediately attempts escape but is stopped when Cross offers the con protection if he'll be a stunt man in the picture. Cameron still plans to leave until he meets Nina Franklin (Barbara Hershey), the lead actress in the film. Cameron falls for Nina immediately and she makes him feel good while Cross gets him to go to greater and greater lengths to get Cameron to perform dangerous stunts for his camera. When Nina and Cameron try to escape together they plan for her to hide in the trunk of the car that Cameron will drive off of a bridge in a dangerous stunt for Cross to film, but when the momentous day arrives will they be able to go through with it? I'm not sure I hold with Director Richard Rush's ideas voiced by his alter ego Peter O'Toole's Eli Cross who on the one hand seeks out great realism with Cameron's true Vietnam experiences and their affect on his movie, while philosophizing about truth versus movie magic. It's clear that Cross is a ruthless task master when it comes to getting his picture made, and this aspect of the Hollywood industry we understand.This is possibly Steve Railsback's only shining moment as a rising Hollywood star. His only other most popular film role was as Charles Mason in Helter Skelter and it's kind of too bad that he hasn't gotten better roles. The Stunt Man is a special case because it puts Railsback in scenes against two really fine actors. In scenes with Peter O'Toole Steve Railsback utilizes his Actors Studio training well to deliver the truth of character and scene, with Barbara Hershey Steve Railsback reveals a particularly sensitive side to his persona that very nearly makes him palatable to the mainstream taste.The quality of the script for The Stunt Man clearly sets it apart from other movies like it. Writing credits for the film go to Lawrence B. Marcus and Richard Rush for adapting the Paul Brodeur novel. The action keeps pushing and pulling us in different directions, and as we recover we find that we are viewing the film story from a variety of angles. Some valuable time is consumed as we learn, along with the main character Cameron, what stunt men do, and it is this process that relates the idea that filmmaking is like life- there are those who direct, and those who act, and those who do the stunt work.Where the film is weakest is in relying on Railsback's Cameron to deliver the angst and betrayal of the U.S. Government on the people via the Vietnam War. If this movie is about that, and we are pointed to the comparison repeatedly through the World War 1 art direction of the movie within the film, then a more direct bond should have been made. There are some great scenes of excellent stunt work that develop the story but logically stop the action for anyone who has worked on a film.It's still an exciting picture to watch and one that for filmmakers and cineastes will continue to bring a wealth of ideas and possible themes. The stellar cast shines and in many ways makes this movie a pleasure to watch.

I will right off admit that this film is not my type of thing. I watched it because I'm a huge fan of Peter O'Toole's. I found it difficult to follow and disjointed despite some really fascinating scenes and some very good acting.Steve Railsback plays a Vietnam vet named Cameron who escapes the police after he is caught for attempted murder. He crosses a bridge and dodges away from an old car that is out of control. The car disappears. Later on, he encounters a film about World War I being shot on the beach. The director is Eli Cross (O'Toole) who offers Cameron a job as a stunt man. It turns out that the stunt man was in the old car and drove the car off of the bridge as part of a scene being filmed, and drowned. The police are sniffing around, so O'Toole introduces Cameron as Burt, the missing stunt man, and the rest of the cast and crew play along.Cameron learns a lot about stunts (as do we) and he falls for the film's leading lady (Barbara Hershey) who at one time was involved with Eli. Cameron over time becomes increasingly paranoid and believes that the manipulative, kind of crazy Eli wants to kill him.O'Toole, Railsback, and Hershey are all excellent -- we first see Hershey in an old lady mask and clothing. Throughout the film, she is beautiful, silly, and flighty as Nina Franklin, and intense and committed as the character Nina plays. O'Toole is madcap, and doesn't seem to care what happens to anyone as long as he gets the shot he wants, and one can see how Cameron would be unclear about his motives.The print I saw didn't look particularly good - I wonder about the budget for this film. I think a good deal of the budget went to O'Toole and some of those amazing stunts, as the film has a lot of TV actors in it -- all good, but TV actors nevertheless: Alex Rocco, Sharon Farrell, Allen Garfield.This film is a little hard to follow, but it's a good one about the value of perception and how it can change from person to person. Also, the ending is very satisfying.

A convict named Cameron (Steve Railsback) is being chases by the police. He inadvertently stumbles upon a stunt being done for a movie--and the stuntman dies. The crazy director Eli Cross (Peter O'Toole) makes believe that the stuntman didn't die and passes off Cameron as him. Cameron goes along with it and becomes the official stuntman for the movie. What follows is a frustrating and decidedly unfunny black comedy.I caught this back in 1980 and couldn't make heads or tails out of it. Critics were raving about it nonstop but I thought it was pointless and quite dull. I (sort of) get it now. It's a VERY surreal black comedy about a bunch of people making a movie about WW1 and being ruled over by a mad director who will do ANYTHING to get it done. Some people may find jokes about people being killed or wounded hysterically funny but I didn't. Also the movie is constantly playing with the viewers mind--fantasy and reality keep intermixing in the film. You think you're seeing something real...but it turns out to be fake. This happens nonstop throughout the film! It's kind of fun at first but then it just gets annoying. Acting doesn't help. Railsback (who can be good) is dreadful here. He has just one look and uses it throughout the entire picture! I didn't have a clue on how to take his character. His big speech towards the end is more funny than shocking. Hershey (another one who can be good) is ALSO terrible! Was she taking acting tips from Railsback? She's all over the place here. The script is lousy. Nobody talks like a real person here. I was always aware I was listening to a script--NOT dialogue.There are only two bright lights here: the action sequences are fast, furious and lots of fun. And O'Toole takes his meaty role and runs with it. He was justly nominated for an Academy Award for this. He's WAY over the top but it fits the surreal material like a glove. He's just incredible but he's the only thing worth seeing here. Everything else is just horrible. The total adoration of this picture is beyond me. I give it a 2 and that's just for O'Toole's brilliant performance.

Right from the opening it had me taken in. The music, the shots, the action.The whole film is so taut, everything is so finely honed. It's a film about films, so it can't get away with any sloppiness. And it doesn't, it's perfect.The human side of it is touching, with the love story and the personal conflicts etc ... but the best part is the "tricks" this film plays, on its characters, but also on the audience. With Peter O'Toole as the great puppet-master, hovering in and out of shots dangling from a crane like the God he emulates.The 'stunt' sequences are legendary. I have purchased this film and it will be watched many times. To be honest I'm surprised that it has gone out of mass consumption, even after 27 years.Watch it. It ROCKS.