Plane Escape – The Dark Knight Rises
We’ve seen our fair share of prison breakouts in the past, but we haven’t seen too many that take place  at nearly 10,000 feet in the air. This is a stunning opening set piece which brilliantly introduces us to Bane by using a hostage situation that turns into a breakout from CIA custody. It is breathtakingly exciting and, as far as I can tell, all done in camera, which makes it even more impressive.
The high octane, in the air stunt work is simply sublime and by achieving the scene in camera, it brings across Nolan’s strive towards making it as realistic and physical as possible.
The scene is composed mostly in wide shots to truly show that this is happening above ground and while the planes are moving. Very few directors and stunt crews would have the balls or the patience to do something like this and it is a great credit to the stunt coordinators who got it to work.
This alone is the reason why stunt coordinators should get the Oscar category they have been trying to get for years. It’s such a well executed scene and it truly is exhilarating. For me, it’s one of the best stunt scenes I’ve witnessed in a very, very long time.
