In a behind the scene video published by the great Fred North, who was one of the helicopter pilots on Extraction 2, an extremely dangerous stunt is demonstrated. Indeed, Extraction 2 comprises a solid amount of challenging stunts. However, this could end up with a severe injury. Watch it below.
Extraction 2: Pushing the stuntmen to their limits
It’s not a secret that on Extraction 2 the stuntmen were pushed to their limits. The film was very challenging to shoot, as it incorporates minimization of green screen and CGI, to allow pure and real action for the audience. Moreover, add this to the fact that Extraction 2 is based on oners that constitute a very challenging operation needed from directors, camera operators, actors, and of course, stuntmen. In fact, and we emphasized this before, Extraction (2&1) director, San Hargrave, was the stunt double for Marvel’s Captain America. The film shows some crazy stunts. Many of them were performed by jumping from a helicopter on a moving train, without any safety precautions.
We did do many thrilling helicopter scenes in that one, which took months of planning, rehearsing and finally executing our director’s vision, and our writers and producers. Here we landed a helicopter on one skid at 60 miles per hour to drop off 5 “heavily” equipped bad guys so was not an easy one. Our last stunt man did well landing on that train roof with class.
Extraction 2 helicopter pilot – Fred North
Documented by the helicopter pilot
This crazy stunt was documented by one of the best helicopter pilots in the film industry, Fred North. According to North’s Instagram, he was the pilot during the stunt. North has vast and rare experience in flying helicopters in ultra-complex environments and situations. North is the pilot behind blockbusters like Fast & Furious, Transformers, and almost every high-octane action-packed blockbuster you can think of. Read what North says about this specific stunt: “We did do many thrilling helicopter scenes in that one, took months of planning, rehearsing and finally executing our director’s vision, and our writers and producers. Here we landed a helicopter on one skid at 60 miles per hour to drop off 5 “heavily” equipped bad guys so was not an easy one. Our last stunt man did well landing on that train roof with class”. Watch the BTS below:
This could end up in a severe injury
Have a look at the last guy landing on the train —According to North: “He was planned to exit 1 sec earlier”. However, it was a matter of milliseconds that the last guy could not make it. This could lead to severe injury and even death. And it reminds us, how much everything depends on meticulous planning and timing… of milliseconds. The delta from amazing performance to catastrophe is almost zero. Obviously, this stuntman’s professionalism saved his life. And he should receive a lot of recognition for his outstanding performance, which saved the production as well. Let’s know your thoughts about that.
