Stunts › Sequences › The Revenant (2015) ›
Horseback cliff-edge fall
Glass rides his horse off a 50-foot tree-lined cliff edge and lands in a pine grove below. Practical horse-fall stunt + pine-cushion landing rig + ILM CG horse for the in-air mid-flight beats. Stunt rider performed the take-off; Mark Mottram doubled DiCaprio for the on-ground aftermath.
Rigging
Equipment + technique
high-fall
Pine-cushion landing rig 50ft below the cliff edge; trained stunt horse performed the take-off jump under wrangler supervision.
Safety
Officer + bulletins
Bulletins observed
Rigging glossary
3 rigs used in this sequence
Each entry explains how the rig works mechanically and the safety bulletin that governs it. Click through for the full glossary detail.
descender
High-fall airbag
The standard catch for free-falls above roughly 25 feet. A pneumatic bag whose deflation curve absorbs vertical energy progressively rather than abruptly.
descender
Decelerator
The hydraulic ratchet rig used to arrest a high-fall in the last 6 to 10 feet, replacing or augmenting an airbag for daylight exterior work where the bag would be visible to camera.
descender
Pole-cat (telescoping ejector pole)
A pneumatically-actuated telescoping pole used to launch a performer or stunt dummy through a window, off a rooftop, or into a fall in a controllable arc.
References
Further reading
- The Making of The RevenantJonny Elwynarticle