The Fall Guy: Every Way the Movie Pays Homage to the 1980s TV Series
As a Gen Xer who grew up fascinated by The Six Million Dollar Man and in turn tuned in for Lee Majors‘ The Fall Guy, I walked into the Ryan Gosling/Emily Blunt movie this weekend with a certain excitement, but also tempered expectations.
As a rule, I don’t read reviews before seeing a movie. But I’d glimpsed enough headlines and social media chatter to know that The Fall Guy was only (very) “loosely” based on the ABC action series that ran for five seasons. I like Gosling, love Blunt and enjoy stunt work, so I decided to take a flyer on this. (Plus, I have about a half-dozen podcast episodes about it waiting in queue, and sometimes I’ll see the “hot” movie just so I can press play.)
If you saw my Facebook update Saturday night (as I said, Gen X here!), I had only one “demand” heading into the Fall Guy movie: I needed to hear the TV series’ theme song, “Unknown Stuntman,” which had been sung by Majors himself and featured cheeky nods to Hollywood’s beautiful leading ladies of the time.
Was my singular wish fulfilled? Modest spoilers for the Fall Guy movie follow….
The Fall Guy stars Gosling as Colt Seavers, a seasoned stunt performer who is doubling for movie star Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), a Matthew McConaughey/Tom Cruise hybrid, when he is greatly injured in a stunt gone wrong. Colt retires from the biz, but 18 months later is asked back to double for Tom in a blockbuster that will make or break the career of first-time director Jody Moreno (Blunt), Colt’s longtime, now-former, sweetheart.
Straight away, the premise is far removed from TV’s The Fall Guy, which starred Majors as a stuntman who moonlights as a bounty hunter — though Majors’ character was also named Colt Seavers. Similarly, Blunt’s character shares a first name with the the TV series’ lead female character, Heather Thomas’ stuntwoman Jody Banks.
To be fair, when Colt is enlisted by Tom’s producer, Gail (Ted Lasso‘s Hannah Waddingham), to investigate a bit of a mystery, some of his tactics echo those employed by Majors’ clever bounty hunter. And Colt’s go-to ride for that escapade is, like his small-screen counterpart’s, a big ol’ pickup truck.
Speaking of Majors, one of the Fall Guy movie’s stealthiest TV Easter eggs comes during a fight scene, when The Six Million Dollar Man‘s bionic power sound effect is very briefly sampled as Colt shoves someone out of the way.
I clapped. In fact, upon hearing that bionic sound effect, I got a very good feeling that I would get the “Unknown Stuntman” — and maybe even more.
Sure enough, as the movie comes to a close and the end credits start to roll, we hear those finger snaps. Followed by… Blake Shelton’s cover of TV’s Fall Guy theme.
Though I had hoped that any such needle drop would retain more of the original lyrics but update the references (a la “I’m not the kind to kiss and tell, but I’ve been seen with ScarJo…”), I took the win.
Then came a mid-credits scene, which my MediaStinger app had advised me to stick around for, and boom, there he was — Lee Majors, making a cameo as the lawman coming to scoop up the Big Bads. What’s more, at Majors’ side was long-ago co-star Heather Thomas.
Did you fall for the big screen’s Fall Guy, if that was your weekend choice of movie?
I absolutely loved this movie and did not know that that was Heather Thomas in the mid credit scene.
Same. She looked strange, I think not so great plastic surgery. Movie was awesome though!
She sounded weird too.
Heather is only 65 years but has clearly had some very, very bad cosmetic surgery over the years. Not that Majors looked too spry himself, but it was good to see both of them.
I thought it was
Excellent movie, just downright fun with the whole cast clearly having a blast.
It plays out like a love letter to the stunt industry too and how they have forever been overlooked by the Academy.
The Easter Eggs are great fun, Jean-Claude steals the show and despite the cringe lyric changes it was so fun hearing a version of the theme.
The Six Million Dollar Man effect isn’t when he shoves a goon though, it’s when he pushes his friend out the way of a shotgun is it not?
Also just wanted to say Teresa Palmer was clearly having a ball in her role as Tom Ryder’s co-star/girlfriend!
Oh, and my screening cheered at a certain boat scene and the music accompaniment!
Oh, maybe re: the shoved. A lot was happening!
Loved the series and now reading this. I want to see the movie!
I only found out about the show because of the movie, it aired way before my time, but I absolutely loved the movie. I’ll be rewatching it many times in the future. I would also love to check out the show, if it can be found somewhere, it look interesting
Come on. No Howie? You can’t do the Fall Guy without Colt, Jody & Howie. Fail!!!!
Loved loved LOVED the film. I watched the show growing up, so memories are a little fuzzy, but I recall Colt was a bounty hunter on the side, so that could be where they go with a sequel. To me, the only flaw during the whole movie was Blake Shelton’s version of the original theme song; they’d have been fine sticking to the original lyrics or even just the original version. If this film doesn’t get stuntmen recognized at the Oscars, nothing will! #sexybacon
All I needed to hear!
And if someone had to cover “Unknown Stuntman,” who else s BUT Blake Shelton?
We can say good things and bad things about this movie. But the bottom line is Ryan Gosling is NOT Colt Seavers.
Using the Fall Guy name is nothing but banking on brand recognition. This ahs nothing to do with the TV show and should have had a different name. And turning a surrogate father / daughter relaitonship into a sweethearts affair is just icky
I agreed this movie is actually very entertaining. It would be awesome if the changed the title and character’s names. Like Cult Seabass in The Foul Guy.
The movie was so much fun. And when the “Fall Guy” theme song played at the end, I shouted, “Yes!” (And then I had to explain to my younger friend why I was so excited, and then explain who Lee Majors is when he showed up on screen.)
Gen X! Brought back some major nostalgia hearing the song and seeing Majors and Thomas. I expect to see a Netflix or other streaming service Fall Guy drop soon.
This was soooooooooooooo bad for countless reasons. Utterly unbelievable she’d go from camera person to director on a big budget film in 2 years. Awful to see grown men cry and Emily do ridiculously strong beat-up scene in the trailer. English agent awful. So many more points. You idiots make trash like this commissioned. Even worse than the last three abominable Ghostbusters films.
Great movie. I loved the fall guy old and new