Plane’s Gerard Butler and Mike Colter explain the gnarly stunts

The movie is now available PlanePromises more than the tin says, as the tin is only half the truth. Plane and there’s actually much more to the movie than that.

PlaneGerard Butler, an actor and certified Hollywood gunner, plays Brodie Torrance. He is a pilot who’s worst-case scenario day starts with a crash, and ends in a fight with separatists from the Philippines that he and his passengers face through the jungle on an island. Louis Gaspare is his assistant (Luke Cage’s Mike Colter), an accused murderer who was being transported on the ill-fated flight. These are all obvious signs of Con Air to the whole thing, but finally Colter gets the down-and-dirty action movie he deserves, and with an ol’ reliable like Butler as an anchor.

PlaneThis movie isn’t for those who love tightly-wound drama and Shakespearean-level soliquizing. But it’s a hell of a good time at the movies because Butler and Colter hit the marks and sell the hits. This is the art of action acting, and they do it very well. How do you make a movie like this? Polygon asked the pair to explain what’s required to make a movie like PlaneStart.

What makes plane action seem legit?

Gerard Butler: The whole aircraft was built and then hung on the gimbal. It tossed us around, and we dipped. It was almost like we would fall over. A cameraman actually fell on the railings at one point. It was too violent for him to be free. I think that gives the audience the sense that they’re really with us in this cockpit.

Mike Colter: To Gerry’s point, a lot of the anxiety that you feel is because of how [director] Jean-François [Richet] shot it, but also all the cast members buying into this idea that we’re going to die. We’re responding to this shifting, unpredictable quality that the gimbal is giving us. Lily [Krug]Kelly [Gale]Joey [Slotnik]Otis [Winston]Danielle [Pineda]All these men, all flight attendants, everyone was selling the fear.

You can use a sledgehammer to take out an action movie star!

Photo: Kenneth Rexach/Lionsgate

Colter: How does smashing a guy’s head like a watermelon feel? That was awesome. However, have you ever held one? It’s really heavy. And I don’t know that I’ve ever used it to hit anything other than a couple of rocks.

Butler: You don’t remember?

Colter: When you pick it up, you go “This is going to bludgeon someone to death.” You realize how blunt-force this thing is — it is lethal! It’s easy to grab it and swing it. They must have both fake and real sledgehammers. A fake sledgehammer can be hard to look authentic. So I elected to use the real one as much as I could, because you can’t fake the heaviness of it. Then it became obvious, after contact, that the fake one was indeed mine.

Butler: Assumed to be

Colter: The weight when you swing it, you gotta make sure it doesn’t hit the person’s head. I remember it was really hard to stop it, and so it was really difficult to make it look like it’s gonna hit, so look — somehow we got it done. This was it. [stunt coordinator James M.] Churchman’s idea. The kill should be very quiet. What’s the best way to do this? Sledgehammer.

How to fire loud and cumbersome guns while looking good.

Butler: This kind of thing requires training. You will learn from the very best. Often it’s, like, special forces. Mike, it was important to be able to recognize what you were doing.

Colter: It’s all about earplugs. Earplugs play a key role. This is an extremely loud piece of equipment. If you have earplugs, it’s half the battle. The kicking and the recoil is something you get used to after a while and if you’ve done it enough you get comfortable, but listen, no one picks up a weapon and just starts letting it fly without earplugs.

Butler: I have done so many takes surrounded by gunfire and then realized at the start of that take I didn’t have my earplugs in and you have to do a whole take and it feels like that one alone has taken away 10% of my hearing. One set was in. London Has FallenIt was like an explosion. I could hear it for the next two months. The problem is you don’t want to go, “Cut! Stop!” I literally have lost easily 30% of my hearing from this stuff.

Colter: Gerry says he doesn’t hear me because of this. He’s laying the groundwork.

What is the best way to fight with meaning?

Photo: Kenneth Rexach/Lionsgate

Butler: The movie’s first fight was, well, kinda like a real one.

Colter: Yeah, the other guy was a local and really didn’t like Gerry’s movies. The other guy showed up at the set, and then you two started fighting. We recorded that.

Butler. The end brought us together as friends. But no, part of what’s cool about this movie is we’re not dealing with superheroes. We’re dealing with regular people in incredible circumstances. So when I’m in that moment fighting, I remember that everybody’s life depends on me surviving. I’m not just fighting for me, I’m fighting for the lives of all the passengers. So it’s desperate and it’s messy and it’s exhausting. We did this all at once, which is unusual as we usually break down that material. So it WasIt’s messy, but it works! Was exhausting. And a lot of the time was literally just pushing with strength and to me that’s a lot more believable than a stunt — punch, kick. It’s a great fight.

How to make an action film that is truly outstanding instead of one that is just fine

Butler: It’s the difference It is reallyBelieve in the story. It is a passion project. Not wanting to feel embarrassed by the film’s release! You don’t want anyone thinking, “Oh, that moment’s convenient,” “That moment’s not truthful,” “That moment’s not funny.” So we pin down all these moments, and make them as exciting, as entertaining, as moving, as surprising as possible, and ultimately, something people can relate to. Every moment gets grounded. You make these situations seem absurd, but they are as real as you can.

PlaneThis film is playing now in cinemas