Overview
A thrilling mix of danger and comedy unfolds on a chaotic movie set.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Moderate
- witty
- paranoid
- kinetic
- movie night
- cinephile gathering
What critics said
Critics broadly praised the film as an unusually entertaining, clever meta-thriller, especially highlighting Peter O'Toole's performance and kinetic filmmaking.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The protagonist hides among moviemakers while the director turns the film set into an unstable mixture of performance and real peril.
Eli Cross aids and endangers Cameron while orchestrating increasingly hazardous stunt situations.
Scenes repeatedly merge the movie being shot with the protagonist's actual danger and subjective uncertainty.
The stuntman's work foregrounds real-looking hazards, kinetic set pieces, and the bodily risk behind cinematic illusion.
Films like The Stunt Man, and why
The Player
shared meta-cinematic setting, psychological gamesmanship, and witty thriller energy
Adaptation.
shared film-within-film reflexivity, unstable reality, and escalating suspense
The Prestige
shared dangerous performance, theatrical deception, and charismatic manipulation
8½
shared self-aware filmmaking, surreal tonal shifts, and paranoid ambiguity
Movie Details
- Director
- Richard Rush
- Release Date
- 1980-11-03
- Runtime
- 131 min
- Rating
- 6.6 / 10 (175)
Cast
- Peter O'Toole
- Steve Railsback
- Barbara Hershey
- Allen Garfield
- Alex Rocco
- Sharon Farrell
- Adam Roarke
- Philip Bruns
- Charles Bail
- John Garwood
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Amazon Prime Video, Peacock Premium, Britbox Apple TV channel, Night Flight Plus, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Peacock Premium Plus, Shout! Factory Amazon Channel
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is The Stunt Man about?
- A fugitive infiltrates a film set and becomes the pawn of a brilliant director whose stunts may be more dangerous than fiction.
- What is The Stunt Man like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Stunt Man as brisk, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is The Stunt Man violent?
- Somewhat. Ember rates the violence in The Stunt Man as moderate.
- What did critics think of The Stunt Man?
- Critics broadly praised the film as an unusually entertaining, clever meta-thriller, especially highlighting Peter O'Toole's performance and kinetic filmmaking.
- Which films are like The Stunt Man?
- Films with a similar feel include The Player, Adaptation., The Prestige, and 8½.
- How long is The Stunt Man?
- The Stunt Man runs 131 minutes.
- Where can I watch The Stunt Man?
- In United States, The Stunt Man streams on Amazon Prime Video, Peacock Premium, Britbox Apple TV channel, Night Flight Plus, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Peacock Premium Plus, Shout! Factory Amazon Channel.
