10 Things You Didn’t Know About Free Fire
Free Fire is a 2016 film that flew under the radar in a year where most of the big action movies starred someone wearing superhero tights or flew around in a spaceship. Unlike those massive Disney money makers, Free Fire had an excellent script, practical effects, and actors not phoning it in for paycheck. It also had a gun battle that lasted almost an hour! If you haven’t seen Free Fire than I’d suggest you find it, and when you’re done check back in to read these 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Free Fire.
1- Get Your hair did: It took Sharlto Copley 10.5 hours to get his hair done. Was it worth it? Absolutely!
2- Armie of one: Armie Hammer had just come from filming Birth of a Nation so he still had his scruffy 1800’s beard.
3- Wired stunts: Ben Wheatley had to be talked into the stunt with the exploding tanks blowing Cillian Murphy and Armie Hammer into the air. He wasn’t a big fan of wired stunts but after seeing the test footage of it he agreed to put it in the film.
4- Get lit: Sharlto Copley did the fire stunt himself. It was done on the last day of shooting…just in case.
5- Smashing: The head squish trick was done after actor Jack Reynor requested it. They took an old Penn and Teller trick where you weigh down part of the vehicle and then use light, rubber wheels to make it look like you’re driving over something. Ben Wheatley did the stunt to ensure it was safe for the actors.
6- Grit: Ben Wheatley did a lot of research on actual gunfights and wanted to make a film showing the dirty, gritty, realistic style of a real gun fight. I guess that’s why they shoot so much at each other while rarely hitting anyone.
7- Work horse: There were hundreds of storyboards and Ben Wheatley was editing the film in real time while the actors were on set. It’s a great idea for the actors to see it in real time but it was hell for Wheatley.
8- Bald: Jack Reynor has a shaved head and wears a wig throughout the film.
9- Proper planning: The filmmakers had a scale miniature set built and every single scene was plotted out so that the gun fights would make sense. Talk about a painstaking, and time consuming process.
10- Bang bang: Free Fire has the longest gunfight in cinema history. From the start to finish it is approximately 55 mins!
