Kobe Bryant played the last game of his long-ass career with the Los Angeles Lakers last week. He’ll probably best be remembered for jumping over a speeding Aston Martin, which many have tried, but few have successfully done. Well, freerunner, gymnast and stuntman Damien Walters – whose film credits movie credits include Captain America, Skyfall and Assassin’s Creed – just upped the ante by doing a backflip over a speeding Formula E car with his back to the speeding vehicle and I don’t Kobe, Steve Rogers, or James Bond will be re-creating.
When I first saw the headline I was like, “Great, another lame CGI-laden commercial from Powerade.” Remember those? Michael Vick throwing a football out 100+ yards? Riiiiight. But, after watching this, I’m 99% convinced it’s real. Then again, we could all be living in The Matrix, so who knows.
Formula E calls this stunt the “perfect synchronization of highly-tuned man and machine: The Leap Of Faith”.
Here’s the 360 degree version in which you can ride on board with stunt driver, as he navigates the Formula E car directly at Damien at 100 kph (approximately 62 miles per hour).
While the feat doesn’t seem as impressive from the first angle they showed – kind of over Damien’s shoulder – the side angle demonstrates just how fast 60+ mph is, which is scary considering I see a speed limit sign as a bare minimum.
Now, that I think about it, those Formula E cars are so low to the ground, you’ve have to be Pablo Sandoval or Present Day Charles Barkley to get clipped by one. I really hope this doesn’t take off like parkour where the next fifteen hundred films feature a scene with it.
Via The Verge