Movie-action scenes are as choreographed as "Swan Lake," but the exceptional ones that make it real — Buster Keaton standing stock still as the side of a house falls on him in "Steamboat Bill Jr., Jackie Chan sliding 30 meters down a pole in a shopping mall in "Police Story" — linger on in memory and legend.
But thinking more about sky-high payouts to injured actors than the glories of death-defying realism, Hollywood makes action movies now with armies of stunt coordinators and special-effects technicians, whose falls and fights will never bring insurance-adjustors calling.
Bucking this trend, Thai stuntman Tony Jaa starred in a 2003 action film, "Ong Bak," and proudly proclaimed that he used no wires, CG or any other artifice whatsoever. Jaa's stunning, neck-risking performance, modeled on his idol Bruce Lee, made "Ong Bak" an international hit — and inspired other filmmakers to try something similar.