Spider-Man 3 (2007) – Sandman (Thomas Hayden Church, Spider-Man (Baxter Humby)

Did
you know that some of the greatest special effects have been achieved
by using amputees? Almost 2 million Americans have experienced
amputations or are born with limb difference. Another 28 million people
in America are at risk for amputation. Some say they are incapable of a
normal life but, in fact, they inspire us all with their courage and
skill. There are many jobs they can do but one of the most surprising
is on a Hollywood film set.

Here six great examples of movies that have
hired amputees for their special effects with amazing results. They are
an inspiration for us all.

1. Spider-Man 3 (2007)

When martial arts expert Baxter Humby was born, his umbilical cord was
wrapped around his hand. So, the doctors had to amputate his hand.
Growing up he never saw his missing hand as a setback and pursued
sports, running and other physical activities. He became a world
champion Muy Thai kickboxer known as “The One Armed Bandit.” As a
child, Humby dreamed of being Spider-Man because he believed in his
credo that “we are all given a gift and with great power comes great
responsibility.” When Sam Raimi was looking to film a fight between
Sandman (Thomas Haden Church) and Spider-Man (Tobey Maguire) they
wanted to have his hand get stuck in Marko’s chest without using CGI.

So, they hired Humby. He lived out his dream and Raimi got his effect.
It’s a win-win and inspiring to see how he lived out his dream.

2. Silent Running (1972)

 The movie Silent Running had
Freeman Lowell (Bruce Dern) as a resident botanist and ecologist who
tries to save the last of Earth’s plants from destruction. His only
companions on the ship are three robot drones that he nicknames Hewey,
Dewey and Louie. They only had $1 million for special effects and
needed the drones to be foolproof and act human. When Doug Trumbull was
trying to come up with the effects he was inspired by a 1932 horror
film named Freaks that starred a man with a deformity. He told Castle of Frankenstein
magazine, “Well, there’s one little fellow; he’s very handsome, and
neat — he’s dressed in a tuxedo and a bow tie. Only, from the waist
down, he isn’t there. So, here’s this remarkable, beautiful guy, with
this amazing agility, leaping and running on his hands through the
room, jumping up on chairs, etc. And not once did you feel horrified.
You’re amazed and respectful at his adjustment. That impression stayed
with me when it came time to cast the drones. I knew what I wanted.”
The studio fought against the idea and tried to force them to use
little people or children, but they insisted on his original vision.

So
they hired people missing legs to wear the suits. Dewey was played by
15-year-old Mark Persons. Huey was played by 20-year-old Steve Brown
and 16-year-old Chery Sparks. Louie was played by 16-year-old Larry
Whisenhunt. Whisenhunt was the only one that had an amputation from
jumping off a train, while the others were born with congenital
defects. While Esquire magazine wrote
an article criticizing them for casting the disabled for special
effects Trumbull called it “cold” saying, “So, we used amputees. So
what? They’re people. That’s a horrible cliche, but it’s true. They’re
human beings.” Using humans in the suit led to wonderfully improvised
moments like robots tapping their foot while waiting or  banging
on each other to get their attention. In the end the performance was
flawless and the actors “loved it” and “made a lot of money”.

3. Predator 2 (1990)

R. David Smith was born missing his left arm just below the elbow and grew up with a learning disability, but created “Stunts Ability”
which teaches limb deficient and other people with disabilities how to
work in the movie industry. His first big movie role was as a stuntman
on the Predator sequel. In
one scene, to prevent the creature’s arm bomb from going off, Danny
Glover cuts off the hand of the alien who’s hanging off the side of a
building. When the Predator goes crashing through the window Smith
actually broke his back. He healed up and kept right on working. Now that’s inspiring.

4. A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)

 On the movie A.I. Artificial Intelligence director
Steve Spielberg wanted to use as much practical, or on-set special
effects, as he could. So, when he scenes of broken robots at the “Flesh
Fair” he hired a number of amputees to play different roles. One actor
that he hired was R. David Smith who played the Welder Robot,
whose arm can become a welding tool. Smith said, “Stan Winston, who
designed the robot characters in `A.I.,’ knew they were looking for
amputees to do stunts,” Smith said. “We helped casting director Sandy
Alessi put together 130 amputees from around the country, and they
picked eight out of that group. It was a great opportunity for people
from Stunts-Ability to appear in a [Steven] Spielberg movie, and have
lots of people see what we can do. [Stunt coordinator] Doug Coleman had
no problem using us in situations where they normally would put
able-bodied guys.”

Stan Winston was overjoyed with the results and said, “It was such a
pleasure to work with these actors with special abilities. What some
saw as disadvantages physically became advantages for the roles they
played. These were some of the most inspiring actors on the set and it
was a joy to work with them.”

5. Starship Troopers (1997)

Amputees are often used for war movies to show casualties and Starship Troopers
is no exception. Casey Pieretti was hired to do a scene where the bug
bites off a soldier’s legs. Casey was in college on a basketball
scholarship when a drunk driver hit him. After the accident, he lost
his right leg. After several months of recovery he decided not to let
his accident destroy his life.

“My first big movie was Starship Troopers,” recalled Pieretti.
“The only reason they hired me was because I was an amputee. On that
shoot, I doubled a two-legged actor until the scene where that
two-legged actor had his leg torn off. It was a very physical shoot —
lots of running, always on your feet, shooting 12 hours each day–and I
was able to keep up with everyone the whole time. In the four weeks
leading up to that dismemberment scene, they noticed that I was able to
be a stuntman as well. When I completed the scene and they didn’t need
the one-legged guy anymore, a couple of scenes came up where they had
questions that I was able to answer for them, so I ended up staying for
the rest of the shoot.”

6. The Thing (1982)

 In the 1980’s horror movie remake of the 50’s classic, there’s a scene
where the chest cavity of Norris (Charles Hallahan) turns into a mouth
and bites off the arms of Dr. Copper (Richard Dysart). To achieve the
effect they made a dummy body out of fibreglass and covered in foam
latex skin. Hallahan (Norris) lay underneath the table except for his
head and shoulders. An unnamed double-amputee extra wore fake arms that
were scored to break off. The effect is terrifying.

Which is the most surprising example of using amputees in special effects? Do you find it disturbing or inspiring?

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