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Brian Smrz

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Brian Smrz
Born1959 or 1960 (age 64–65)
NationalityAmerican
Occupation(s)Stunt coordinator, second-unit director, director

Brian Smrz (/smɜːrʃ/; born c. 1960), also Brian Delaney Smrz, is a Hollywood stunt coordinator and second unit director of projects such as Mission: Impossible 2, Live Free or Die Hard, Taxi, Eagle Eye, Night at the Museum, Windtalkers, Iron Man 3, and Superman Returns, among others.[1] He is also the director of Hero Wanted, starring Cuba Gooding, Jr. and Ray Liotta and of 24 Hours to Live, starring Ethan Hawke and Xu Qing. He won the Taurus Award twice and was nominated for a third time.

Career

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Smrz has worked as a stunt performer and stunt coordinator on Hollywood films since 1981. In more recent years, he has acted as second unit director and director on projects such as Hero Wanted, Fantastic Four, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, The Predator, and Face/Off. He has worked on several of director John Woo's American films, including Windtalkers, Paycheck and Mission: Impossible 2.[2]

Smrz shared a Taurus Award for stuntwork on Mission: Impossible 2[3] and Live Free or Die Hard.[4] He was also nominated for Taxi. In an otherwise negative review of Taxi, Variety praised Smrz's stunts.[5]

Hero Wanted is his directorial debut. It is a crime drama/action film starring Cuba Gooding, Jr., Ray Liotta and Norman Reedus.[6] Shooting occurred in Sofia and Bulgaria with a crew composed mostly of Bulgarians.[7]

Personal life

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Smrz is from Strafford, Pennsylvania and was the brother of the stuntman Brett Smrz, who died while performing a stunt jump off a building.[8] Smrz was hospitalized after a stunt went wrong in 1992 on Cyborg 2. The incident was investigated by the Screen Actors Guild.[9]

Filmography

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Year Title Stunt coordinator Second unit director Director
2000 Mission: Impossible II Yes Yes John Woo
2001 Vanilla Sky Yes No Cameron Crowe
2002 Windtalkers Yes Yes John Woo
Signs Yes No M. Night Shyamalan
Minority Report Yes Yes Steven Spielberg
2003 X2 No Yes Bryan Singer
Paycheck No Yes John Woo
2004 Taxi Yes Yes Tim Story
2005 Fantastic Four No Yes
2006 Superman Returns No Yes Bryan Singer
Night at the Museum No Yes Shawn Levy
2007 Live Free or Die Hard Yes Yes Len Wiseman
2008 Eagle Eye No Yes D.J. Caruso
2009 Surrogates No Yes Jonathan Mostow
X-Men Origins: Wolverine Yes No Gavin Hood
Whiteout No Yes Dominic Sena
2010 Knight and Day No Yes James Mangold
2011 The Hangover Part II No Yes Todd Phillips
X-Men: First Class No Yes Matthew Vaughn
Rise of the Planet of the Apes No Yes Matt Reeves
2012 This Means War No Yes McG
2013 Iron Man 3 No Yes Shane Black
2014 X-Men: Days of Future Past No Yes Bryan Singer
2015 Fantastic Four No Yes Josh Trank
2016 X-Men: Apocalypse No Yes Bryan Singer
2017 The Predator Yes Yes Shane Black
2019 Dark Phoenix No Yes Simon Kinberg
2020 Loves and Monsters No Yes Michael Matthews
2021 Venom: Let There Be Carnage No Yes Andy Serkis
Ghostbusters: Afterlife No Yes Jason Reitman
2022 The Adam Project Yes Yes Shawn Levy
2023 Expend4bles No Yes Scott Waugh
2024 Venom: The Last Dance No Yes Kelly Marcel

References

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  1. ^ Brian Smrz moviefone.Retrieved on August 9, 2023
  2. ^ Harris, Dana (June 22, 2004). "Smrz takes helm for 'Loyalty'". Variety. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
  3. ^ Dore, Shalini (May 23, 2001). "Kudos for crashes". Variety. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
  4. ^ "2008 Taurus World Stunt Awards". Taurus World Stunt Awards. 2008. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
  5. ^ Koehler, Robert (October 5, 2004). "Taxi". Variety. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
  6. ^ Total Film (Mar 15, 2007). "Hero Wanted: Cuba Gooding Jr and Ray Liotta Answer". Total Film. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
  7. ^ Schwinke, Theodore (June 27, 2007). "On location: Hero Wanted". Screen Daily. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
  8. ^ Gordon, Suzanne (October 6, 1986). "A Stunt Man's Closing Fall: He Died Fulfilling A Dream". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on February 16, 2015. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
  9. ^ "TERMINAL ISLAND: Misdirected Explosion Hospitalizes 6 Stuntmen". Los Angeles Times. October 21, 1992. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
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