The Stunts of Ford v Ferrari Look and Feel Real, Because They Are

Directed by James Mangold and starring Christian Bale and Matt Damon as leads (Ken Miles and Caroll Shelby, respectively), the film is already getting plenty of buzz. On one hand, it’s a movie about racing – one that tells an iconic story of overcoming adversity, a tale of success like no other. On the other hand, it stars 2 of the most appreciated actors of our generation.

Everyone loves a good underdog story, particularly when it’s told with help from chameleon Christian Bale. The man has only stopped short of selling his soul to the devil in order to offer a convincing portrayal of a character. Famously Method, he’s done anything from losing weight until skeletal to packing plenty of muscle to fit a Batman suit.

For all his merits, Bale is still just an actor. With Ford v Ferrari, Mangold set out to make a racing movie different than other racing movies: one that felt real, because that was the only in which he could do justice to the story. In order for the movie to feel real, it had to be just that.

So, instead of stunt drivers and barely-functional stunt cars, Mangold hired race stunt drivers, who drove actual race cars. Ford GT40s, Shelby Cobras, rebodied Porsche 911s, Corvettes speeding at 185 mph for takes: their only modifications were in order to allow for the placing of camera rigs. Robert Nagle served as stunt coordinator and consultant, and his main priority was to make all racing sequences feel as real possible.

Aside from the challenges of recreating the locations of all races, the cars and time-stamped outfits, and keeping continuity within the same scene, Nagle had a much bigger obstacle to overcome: to render credible action without help from CGI. The eye can tell the difference between computer-generated images and real action, he says in an interview with MotorTrend, so they decided to go for pure, unadulterated action.

Sure, it was still choreographed and undertaken with more caution than an actual race, but it was real. It required making quick decisions at incredible speeds, it was occasionally unpredictable and, yes, there were some instances when it led to unscripted crashes. But it was the real thing.

“That's the realism I wanted and the realism James Mangold wanted. If we want a scene to look fast, it's better if we drive fast. The biggest difference, and a plus for us, is that there weren't any electronic safety devices making the cars try to save themselves,” Nagle explains.

“They were pure cars; everything that happened with them was up to the driver. And that's why I recruited the drivers I did: I knew they would be more capable of handling that,” he adds.

Derek Hill, winner of Daytona 24 Hour and Sebring 12 Hour, was one of them. Tanner Foust, rallycross and drift racing champion, was another. Christian Bale was a third.

Indeed, you read that right. For this movie, Bale was sent to the prestigious Bob Bondurant High Performance Driving School, where he learned what it takes to be a race driver, both physically and mentally. Nagle says the idea was his own, but Bale was down with it from the start. Naturally, he didn’t drive in the more high-risk sequences, where his place was filled in by a professional race driver, but he still spent plenty time at the wheel.

Nagle says he’s the “most talented” actor he’s ever worked with, and the most surprising one as well. That’s because Bale would always push himself, overcoming his own limitations.

Still, the stunts of Ford v Ferrari are the merit of Hollywood’s unsung heroes, the stunt drivers – this time, experienced racers. They helped elevate the film to what critics call the first movie about racing that actually has a human, beating heart, a compelling story and outstanding filmmaking.