Vic Armstrong - The True Adventures of the Worlds Greatest Stuntman: My Life as Indiana Jones, James Bond, Superman and Other Movie Heroes

My life as INDIANA JONES, JAMES BOND,

SUPERMAN and other movie heroes

with ROBERT SELLERS

Introduction by

TITAN BOOKS

THE TRUE ADVENTURES OF THE WORLDS GREATEST STUNTMAN MY LIFE AS INDIANA JONES, JAMES BOND, SUPERMAN AND OTHER MOVIE HEROES

ISBN: NEEDED

Published by

Titan Books

A division of Titan Publishing Group Ltd.

144 Southwark St.

London

SE1 0UP

First edition: May, 2011

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The True Adventures of the Worlds Greatest Stuntman: My life as Indiana Jones, James Bond, Superman and other movie heroes copyright 2011 Vic Armstrong and Robert Sellers. All rights reserved.

Designed by Martin Stiff

Production by Bob Kelly

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A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

Printed and bound in the USA by RR Donnelley

TO

BOB ARMSTRONG, MY FATHER AND MY FRIEND.

HIS GUIDANCE AND INSPIRATIONAL LESSONS IN LIFE MADE ME WHO I AM TODAY. ANN, MY MOTHER FOR HER LIFELONG SUPPORT. WENDY, MY WIFE FOR HER NEVERENDING LOVE AND PATIENCE. MY BROTHER ANDY AND SISTER DIANA FOR ALWAYS BEING THERE.

BRUCE, NINA, SCOTT, GEORGIE AND ROBERT MY GRANDSON BECAUSE I LOVE THEM.

LORD ATTENBOROUGH

KENNETH BRANAGH

PIERCE BROSNAN

HARRISON FORD

RENNY HARLIN

ANGELINA JOLIE

RAFFAELLA DE LAURENTIIS

SIR CHRISTOPHER LEE

GEORGE LEECH

GEORGE LUCAS

ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER

MARTIN SCORSESE

RICHARD TODD

and MICHAEL G. WILSON & BARBARA BROCCOLI

Steven Spielberg, myself and Harrison on the set of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

By STEVEN SPIELBERG

I have astonishing memories of Vic Armstrong, from the early days of Raiders of the Lost Ark right up to War of the Worlds. What Vic means to me, and to many of my contemporaries, is his capacity to do the impossible. He can make the wildly improbable seem totally credible. He can perform amazing feats, as well as planning them for other people to do safely.

Ill never forget the scene in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, one of the most reckless things he ever did. The scene involved a fantastic leap from a galloping horse onto a speeding tank. Like so much of his work, that seemed totally outrageous at the time, and yet he did it himself with what I call courage, but he would simply say nerve!

There were many more great moments in his work on my movies. But one of the greatest came when Harrison Ford suffered a bad back injury in a big fight scene in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. It put him out of action for three weeks and the picture would have ground to a halt if Vic hadnt stepped forward. He stood in for Harrison and saved the picture from a pretty disastrous shut-down.

And of course hes still at it. He was as cool and indomitable as ever on the very complex War of the Worlds, where the world seemed to be coming to an end with Vics help. I remain deeply impressed by his very British cool a response to any challenge, however difficult or dangerous it might be, that is always casual, easy and amiable. Whatever I ask he sets about it without fuss.

Its no wonder that Vic was given a lifetime achievement award by his peers. He certainly gets another one from me. No CGI can match what Vic can accomplish.

F or several weeks, five or six times a day, I threw myself onto a manure heap. I guess I should elaborate a little. I was training a horse to run and hold a straight line, while I stood up on his back at a gallop, and leapt off. I was measuring how far I could leap, and also testing the horses honesty. I was pretty sure the horse would be reliable, because he was an old friend called Huracn that I had ridden many times before; it was my ability to get the timing right and achieve a constant distance that was the biggest concern.

Cut to two months later and Im suited up in the famous garb of Indiana Jones, battered jacket, fedora and trusty whip at my side, galloping along looking between Huracns ears, judging his speed. I get a sudden flashback to when I was nine years old, perched on the back of Roy, my first racehorse, flying up the gallops at home. I settle Huracn down as we race up a slope to arrive parallel with a rumbling, circa WWI tank. We stay at the same pace as this metal monster, and as close to the edge as possible without slipping into the yawning chasm between us. My heart rate picks up as I start counting the horses stride pattern in my head, one, two, three, four... judging the amount of strides to the position weve agreed is the best spot for the camera to capture the action.

Totally in rhythm, I count the final three, four and in time with the horses stride I kick my feet out of the regular stirrups, pull my knees up to my chin and crouch momentarily on the stunt stirrups, up by the saddle. On the next beat, which is the up stride for Huracn, I straighten my legs from the squat position and kick as hard as I can sideways. Huracn runs straight as an arrow and Im airborne... but in a split second I realise Im in big trouble.

Ive mistimed the jump minutely, not getting all of the impetus I needed, and from being a heroic, dashing figure flying through space, I turn into a Tom & Jerry character, bicycling and clawing my way through the air, trying desperately to clear the gap, the revolving tank tracks and certain injury to land any way I can on the machine. I make it just. Disaster has been averted. But even as Im getting my breath back, its time to dust myself off, catch my horse and go for take two. Welcome to the world of a stuntman.