Reacher Season 4 Took Inspiration From Christopher Nolan And Steven Spielberg Classics [Set Visit]

At this point, Alan Ritchson and the "Reacher" crew seem to have the show dialed in pretty well. The series is clearly in a groove, with "Reacher" Season 3 breaking a huge Prime Video record. All the production crew has to do is keep delivering more of the same high-octane action fans are used to, and they're always looking for inspiration to elevate the show's combat. As revealed during a recent set visit attended by /Film, "Reacher" Season 4 took particular inspiration from both Steven Spielberg's Indiana Jones movies and the "Dark Knight" trilogy when it came to crafting the fights.

The stunts on "Reacher" are overseen by veteran stunt coordinator Buster Reeves, who, aside from working on the "Bourne" movies and "Game of Thrones," was also one of Christian Bale's stunt doubles on Nolan's "Dark Knight" trilogy. Anyone who remembers when "Batman Begins" debuted in 2005 will remember the buzzword of the era being "grounded." Nolan's more realistic take on the Batman mythos was constantly referred to with this term, which also applied to the "Bourne" movies and their take on the action genre.

For Reeves, however, "grounded" was more than a buzzword. In fact, it's a philosophy he's carried with him from the Nolan years to his work on "Reacher." "That's the one thing I've taken away from the Batman movies," said Reeves. "We are very much like Batman: grounded [...] in terms of the filming process." That means minimal CGI and capturing as much in camera as possible — even if it makes Reeves' life significantly harder.

2008's "The Dark Knight" was arguably the most grounded movie of Nolan's trilogy, putting Batman at the center of a "Heat"-like crime thriller that came to represent the apotheosis of the "superheroes can be serious" movement. Almost 20 years later, "The Dark Knight" is somehow better than you remember, and Buster Reeves was there to help bring Christopher Nolan's influential vision to life. He's carried that experience all the way to "Reacher."

"Doing three films with Chris, I like how he uses CGI to enhance the scene, not to make the scene," explained Reeves. "I think that's what we do very, very well on this show. I don't think I've ever heard anyone on this show in four seasons go, 'Well, we'll fix it in post.' No, they want it [in-camera, on the day]." As Reeves went on to explain, that can make his life harder. "I know the answer every time I ask it. 'So, do you want to do this in parts, or do you want it all in one?' And I go, 'F***, I know what he's going to say.' But it makes my job fun."

For director Sam Hill, the grounded approach extends beyond combat. "Grounded is the secret," he said. "One of the things we talk about is that this is a real world physics show, right? And yes, sometimes the lines are a little bit blurred, but in general, we're trying to create the real world. The second you start having two-dimensional characters, that starts to fall apart. So they need to be human beings." 

The "Dark Knight" trilogy ended at three films, but its legacy lives on. As does the legacy of another larger-than-life hero...

Alan Ritchson felt the combat was all wrong in "Reacher" Season 2, and pushed to improve it in Season 3. But he didn't stop there, encouraging even more innovation in Season 4. Ritchson pointed to a fight from the new episodes that takes place in a bowling alley and took its cues from Dr. Henry Jones Jr. himself. "It's probably one of the most epic fights I have ever shot," said Ritchson, explaining how he and Buster Reeves were "looking for that story within the story" when crafting the choreography. Ritchson continued:

"We [focused on] one of the guns that one of the goons had. What ended up happening is you could see [Reacher] processing in the fight how to get that gun. And as it keeps sort of changing levels and layers and going over the bar and all that, he's maneuvering in such a way to continue. You feel him targeting this thing. We even have these great angles where it's like the old Indiana Jones moments where things [are like], 'There it is. All eyes are on it.'"

According to Ritchson, the seven-minute bowling alley brawl became "the funnest thing in the world, both to shoot and watch," precisely because of the story-within-a-story about the gun. "It was about so much more than just punching each other," he added. "Which is like something I just can't stand." It calls to mind the flying wing fight from "Raiders of the Lost Ark," where both Harrison Ford's already exhausted hero and wrestler Pat Loach do battle while avoiding the spinning propellors of the nearby aircraft. The story within the story and the comedic flourishes are what make it such a legendary showdown that's still influencing the likes of Jack Reacher today.