Re: [MV] Movie Stunt HMV

From: chance wolf (timberwolf@wheeldog.net)
Date: Sun Jan 14 2001 - 12:15:03 PST


> Can't remember the James Bond movie name or the correct T designation
> for the Russian Tank.But the Tank speeding through Moscow,fish
> tailing,was spectacular.Well filmed and original, impressive to see.

That was incredible.

> Seems the A Team used up a lot of M38A1's.Always noticed the newer CJ's
> didn't flip or get banged up.Kind of like once you saw a M38A1 coming
> you knew what was to happen next.

There are shows like that which have a number of 'blown up' vehicles waiting
in the wings to sub for the actual ones doing the driving on a regular
basis. We have an M38A1 that went 150 ft. in the air after being 'blown up
by a mine' which we've rented out since to play, well...something blown up
by a mine. When you look at those old shows, and I think "A-Team" and "Tour
of Duty" both did it, you'll see one type of vehicle driving along -
usually a dolled up CJ or an M151 or whatever, and when it gets all blowed
up, the next scene is of a jeep smouldering in a ditch looking the worse for
wear - with a glassless split windshield and military spoked steering-wheel!
Aargh.

One of the worst ones in recent memory was an episode of "Tour of Duty."
What happened was that they were shooting in Hawaii with the generous
assistance of Uncle Sam in the form of the Western Command, and they were
given every possible courtesy from helicopters to an endless supply of
M151A2's they could do whatever they wanted with. So, the producers decide
that they can save money by shifting the program to the Mainland, and in
doing so, drop the support of the U.S. Army. You can see the difference
because the vehicles suddenly change from relatively correct to positively
outrageous in some circumstances, including my personal favourite episode
with a couple of arrogant motor pool jockeys 'racing' a couple of the
regular cast through the swamp in some sort of grudge-match - and using
bloody CJ-5's with gaping, empty apertures where they took all the obviously
civvy stuff off. Ug-ly.

>Yes I agree, some MV's were like old
> friends showing up in different shows.Each studio seemed to have it's
> collection.Good topic,anyone have experiences,MGM,had a few vehicles
> when they got rid of that lot.Didn't they do Combat?Remember the Half
> Track with the sides cut to look German?How about the HVSS Sherman they
> trotted out for a Panther,where are they today?Who supplied M.A.S.H....?

I don't deal much with California, but I know the studios themselves used to
maintain a pool of vehicles that migrated from production to production,
including a favourite WC-56 3/4 ton Command Car that used to make the odd
appearance on "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." M*A*S*H was shot in the California
desert, and I'm almost certain those vehicles were owned by the production
company as opposed to those of private suppliers under contract, but it can
sometimes wind up a mix of both. "Dark Angel" running currently on FOX uses
some of their own production vehicles, some of ours under long-term
contract, and still others on a day-call basis.

One of the films that led directly to the purchase of my first MV, an
M37CDN, was "Battle for the Planet of the Apes" which, if you recall, had a
denouement involving sick, radiation-scarred survivors of the atomic
holocaust attacking the Ape settlement with an assortment of vehicles
including a pretty rough looking CCKW. I was watching the thing with a
friend, (who called the CC a "Diamond-T" in error), and thought that I
should get 'something like that'. Heh. Coincidentally, our Gov't was
cashiering the M135CDN fleet, and though I must've crawled over fifty of the
things in various lots, I opted for the M37 as being a bit more practical.

Andy Hill
MVPA 9211
Vancouver, B.C.



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