18 Most Insane Film Stunts Ever Performed

12. The Dark Knight - Truck Flip

And back to Christopher Nolan.

When he first suggested the scene, no one thought he meant literally flip a semi. They were thinking use a miniature and paste it onto a shot of the city street. But no, Nolan wanted a real truck. To get flipped. Head over heels.

The stunt coordinators warned him it would have to be absolutely perfect. One tiny bit off to the right and you have the trailer smashing into the front of the buildings. One tiny bit off to the left and you destroy the utilities on the street.

No. Real truck. Real flip.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQTvXskADTs

Not only that, they needed a driver. See that pic above? There was a real guy in there. A living, breathing human being. And he still is! They reinforced the cab with a seriously strong frame, because even Christopher Nolan isn't completely insane.

11. Raiders Of The Lost Ark - Climbing Under The Truck

While not the first instance of this stunt ever being performed, it is likely the best well-known.

The scene features Indiana Jones being at the front of the Nazi-driven truck when he realizes his situation is hopeless there. So he climbs down the front, crawls underneath the the truck as it's being driven, latches onto the back, crawls up that, and attacks again.

This whole sequence was filmed by a second-unit crew (with close-ups of Harrison Ford added later), but the stuntman doing it realized it was so stinking dangerous that he'd do it under one condition: one of his close, trusted friends drive the truck.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GP2y1ddd6w

Fortunately, the scene went off without a hitch, getting all the potentially deadly parts done in one take, allowing the intrepid stuntman to find a different job.