Re-creating the plunge!
One of the most spectacular movie stunts filmed in Chicago 27 years ago for Steve McQueen’s final film, The Hunter, was restaged this past Sunday when a car smashed through the cables on the 17th floor of Marina City, plunging 180 feet into the center of the Chicago River.
A car falls toward the Chicago River in 1979 for “The Hunter.” (Sun-Times Library)
The re-creation:
This is awesome…how many times can you witness a car fly off the 17th floor of a parking garage and into a river! The car was a 1987 Oldsmobile Cutlass.
As part of the stunt, five city blocks were closed off. Sunday’s event will be part of a million-dollar-plus commercial for Allstate Insurance in which two drivers get into a fender-bender on Wacker Drive after being distracted by the river plunge.
The shoot also borrowed from “The French Connection,” transposing its famous under-the-L-tracks chase to Lake Street between LaSalle and Wabash. Those scenes, filmed Saturday, proved even more challenging than Sunday’s dive, said director Phil Joanou(”The Gridiron Gang”). “The jump was something we had total control over. The really tough part was closing off five city blocks and racing 75 mph under the tracks and making sure that no civilians got out on the street.” [source]
The crew used a pressurized air hose to vault the driverless 1987 Olds Cutlass into the river. Cool! I should’ve been there, taking photos!
