Putting the most talented stunt driving team and one of the lightest, best handling cars together was always going to result in something spectacular, but what Remy and his team did with the Mini Coopers in The Italian Job was above and beyond what anyone expected. Remy got on incredibly well with the production team and everyone liked him. Director Peter Collinson and Producer Michael Deeley respected Remy totally and together the three of them devised the Mini Cooper chase scene together with Douglas Slocombe, Director of Photography. The decision was made that Remy would be in total charge of the stunt driving. Remy would often put forward inspired ideas that the production team initially had thought impossible and eventually Remy Julienne L'Equipe had doubled the amount of stunts that they were initially contracted to do.
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Transcript
Putting the most talented stunt driving team and one of the lightest, best handling cars
together was always going to result in something spectacular, but what Remy and his team
did with the Mini Coopers in The Italian Job was above and beyond what anyone expected.
Remy got on incredibly well with the production team and everyone liked him. Director
Peter Collinson and Producer Michael Deeley respected Remy totally and together the
three of them devised the Mini Cooper chase scene together with Douglas Slocombe,
Director of Photography. The decision was made that Remy would be in total charge of the
stunt driving. Remy would often put forward inspired ideas that the production team
initially had thought impossible and eventually Remy Julienne L'Equipe had doubled the
amount of stunts that they were initially contracted to do.
Remy and his team proved addictive to watch; even when most of the acting cast weren't
needed they would all turn up on location to watch the Coopers do their thing. Let‟s not
forget that the action was two-fold on this production. Remy was responsible for all the
vehicular action and British stuntman Derek Ware, who also plays Rozzer in the film, was
responsible for all the other action.
So let‟s breakdown the action, starting with Camp Freddie and two heavies arriving at
Charlie‟s London apartment to discover a domestic dispute going on.
Nearest to us, in the shot on the left, is legendary British stuntman Nosher Powell, who
was regularly cast as a heavy in many British films and television shows at that time. He is
also the father of two leading British stunt co-ordinators and second unit directors Greg
Powell and Gary Powell. Both responsible for the action of many high profile blockbusters
including Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings and James Bond.
The training sessions shown for the Mini drivers were at the Crystal Palace race track
in Sydenham, South London. Here we see the red mini cooper being put through its paces.
A car roll at 40mph. A mini being such a small stocky vehicle makes the ferocity of this roll
looks far worse than that of a standard 4 door saloon. You must also note the safety
measures put in place for a stunt like this. Nowadays the driver would be wearing fire
retardant clothing a five point racing harness, a neck support to prevent spinal damage
during the stunt and the car would be fitted with a full roll cage to prevent the vehicle
crushing the driver inside. As we can see from the final shot the car is fitted with a roll
cage, but little else is there to give the driver peace of mind. I‟m surprised we don‟t see