65's Intense Stunts Were Mostly Made Up On The Fly

Did you happen to catch cinema's most prestigious event this past weekend? I'm referring, of course, to the release of the dinosaur-themed thriller "65," from writers and directors Scott Beck and Bryan Woods ("A Quiet Place"). The very solid B-movie (you can find /Film's review by Sarah Milner here) certainly delivered on its premise, which transported Adam Driver and young actor Ariana Greenblatt to the Earth, 65 million years in the past. To say anything else would ruin too many of the surprises for those who have yet to enjoy it for themselves, but rest assured that the film pays off on all the dino-heavy spectacle that any fan could possibly ask for.

Impressively, the film's relatively stripped-down filmmaking meant that audiences needed something altogether more tactile than could be provided by, say, the wildly expensive "Jurassic World" movies. As Beck and Woods have previously discussed in an interview with /Film's BJ Colangelo, their approach involved small-scale action and more creative, outside-the-box thinking. Take the various stunt work performed by both Driver and Greenblatt, for instance. Stranded on the planet with only their wits and a few weapons to help them survive, the story puts them through the wringer and, frequently, as a target of a bunch of hungry prehistoric creatures.

But in order to sell viewers on the threats they face, the actors needed to undergo some rigorous stunt work. And, by all accounts, many of those moments were largely improvised on the day of filming.

Believe it or not, Earth 65 million years ago was a pretty inhospitable place. On top of all the ravenous dinosaurs roaming around, the setting itself poses a unique threat to our main duo in "65." Dense jungles, sheer cliffs, and even quicksand all threaten to bring Driver's rugged Mills and Greenblatt's helpless Koa to an early end. In a recent interview with Polygon, Greenblatt explained how much of their rigorous stunt work on set while navigating such terrain and the dinos living in it came about, saying, "The stunts were pretty spontaneous."

One such sequence involved a prehistoric creature attacking the pair and dragging Koa away for its next meal. Usually, this would involve the painstaking use of safety rigs and other equipment ... but, at Greenblatt's insistence, the filmmakers eventually abandoned that for a more novel approach:

"That was a very last-minute one. And I was like, 'Okay, let's just do it.' [...] We tried it a few times, and it just looked too good. I was like, 'This needs to look way more painful and way more rough.' So they took the safety rig off and they just started dragging me fully!"

While the filming of this scene was undoubtedly monitored with the actor's safety as a top priority and ideally supplemented by other safety equipment, such improvisation led to a much more convincing and visceral scene that had Mills (and, more importantly, viewers) frightened for the character's life. A little flexibility goes a long way, apparently, and the final result certainly speaks for itself.

"65" is currently playing in theaters.