Legendary stunt man Sonny Hooper remains one of the top men in his field, but due to too many stressful impacts to the spine and the need to pop painkillers several times a day, he knows he should get out of the industry before he ends up permanently disabled.
Practical Effects
Pre-CGI destruction porn—every flipped car is real metal screaming.
Stunts
The climactic river jump that nearly killed the actual stunt team.
Acting
Burt and Sally's electric chemistry, third film together that year.
Director
Hal Needham
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Director Hal Needham was Reynolds' actual stunt double for years and based Hooper on his own injuries, including a compressed spine from a Cannonball Run wreck.
This basically invented the 'stuntman as romantic hero' genre that led to Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood—Rick Dalton's entire existence owes Hooper a beer.
US
