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mc-edit t1_j9k87h3 wrote

Just watched it. Not a doctor, so I don’t know, but that fall looked rough. The stiff arms seemed to happen really fast, but maybe that’s normal. I hope they were ok.

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jimboknows6916 OP t1_j9k8yl5 wrote

thats what i thought too.

i figured if it was a stunt fall (which i am sure it was), there would have been some protections in place to make sure the head didnt slam onto concrete.

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mc-edit t1_j9ka9ya wrote

We rewatched Back to the Future a couple nights ago with our kids and the part where Marty’s grandfather hits him with the car and you see and hear Marty’s head hit the rough road surface … it gave me chills. I don’t like that sound. I was trying to figure out how they did it. The medium shot is certainly Michael J. Fox’s double. But the close-up is all Fox. They either used a semi-soft surface made to look like road, or maybe some kind of plate in his hair or under a wig. Or Fox just let his head hit the payment, which seems unlikely. Whatever protections should have been in place for Raising Hope must have worked for *Back to the Future.”

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Maninhartsford t1_j9kdplt wrote

I believe in the commentary - which I listened to quite a while ago, mind you - he drops his head onto a safety mat painted to match the road and the sound is an egg hitting a table.

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mc-edit t1_j9ke04a wrote

Oh thank you! 38 years later and I can rest easy for poor Michael J. Fox’s head. The hairs on my neck are still going to stand up when I see that scene though.

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kirby2000 t1_j9o4f2k wrote

If that makes you cringe, you won't like the scene where he is dragged by a rope on his neck in the 3rd movie.

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mc-edit t1_j9omq03 wrote

I saw the third movie in theaters as a kid. I’ll be ok. Something about his head on the pavement has always made me recoil. I’m blaming the sound, which someone else said was the sound of a cracking egg.

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jimboknows6916 OP t1_j9kb18t wrote

oh MANNNNN. i know that scene very well, as BTTF is one of my favorite movies ever and it gets me every time. the sound when his skull hits the pavement is bone chilling for me.

I guess back in the 80s it was a little more "put some ice on it and laugh at the stars circling around his head" and now its more - yikes thats a brain injury, but it still gets me pretty bad.

EDIT: to be clear, im talking about him hitting his head on the pavement in the movie, not the stuntman.

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testingtor t1_j9keemm wrote

The sound was added in post-production. He landed on a mat.

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jimboknows6916 OP t1_j9kk4cb wrote

knowing that will have zero effect on my reaction lol

(but it is still good to know, thanks)

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