When it comes to watching stunts - crazy or otherwise - I find myself in the front row perched on the edge of my seat. The one I've played a few dozen times lately on You Tube is Jed Mildon's world first quadruple BMX backflip recently performed in the US.
Four years in the planning, the perilous jump stunt (after a few painful failed attempts by himself and another rider) was finally pulled off. Think about it. Down the ramp going as fast as hell, up another vertical one, then performing not one, two, three - but four backflips before successfully landing back on two wheels again. Unbelievable.
So is this dude - from little old Taupo by the way - crazy or just plain reckless? Crazy yes, but reckless - no. The laws of physics show the stunt could be done - just. Like many such acts, much teamwork planning is done including numerous practice runs and tweaking of the ramps and other equipment. Only a fool would try such a stunt in purely suicidal fashion. Jed Mildon is daring, bordering on crazy - but no fool. He deserves a medal!
No medals though for those who take part in the bizarre yearly festival of bull running in the streets of Pamplona, Spain. Half a dozen terrified bulls are let loose and are taunted by hoards of adrenalin-fuelled men, many of whom are badly injured and sometimes gored to death. The latest fatality, the third in recent weeks, was a French tourist at another festival who somehow got caught up in the stampede. Running the bulls - for the hell of it. Is that dumb or what?
Not so dumb is actor Tom Cruise who does his own film stunts. Like the BMX guy, Cruise and his team don't take risks lightly - but many fans could be forgiven for thinking that the stunt for his latest film is - well, insane. Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation shows Tom Cruise hanging from an Airbus A400 military plane as it takes to the skies. The scene is awfully exciting and it took eight attempts before the film crew got the effect they wanted. Prior to the stunt, Cruise confesses to having been "scared sh--tless", worried that if something had gone wrong during the flight, he would have been in big trouble. It is of some consolation that the actor was actually strapped to the plane by a harness, which meant that if things had really hit the fan, he would not have actually fallen to the ground. Rather, I guess he would have just been vigorously bounced around by the force of the wind during the flight. Go online to see this heart-in-the-mouth video clip, or wait until the film is released at the end of this month. No doubt Tom Cruise, who comments on being "committed to his profession", would be paid a small fortune for such stunts. And so he should - he earns it.
