THE MOST INFLUENTIAL SKYDIVING MOVIES IN HISTORY

There have been many movies made about skydiving, but few motivated people to come to the dropzone in droves like our list. For you skydiving movie purists… DropZone and Cutaway didn’t make the list (sorry) as the cheese factor was over the top! (Blasphemy!) We’ve put Fandango in at 6 as an honorable mention because it’s a classic, but it may have scared people more than got them to a dropzone!

1. Point Break (1991) – The heyday of skydiving was definitely in the early 90s. ESPN featured skysurfing on the X-Games, the World Free Fall Convention began in 1990 and Point Break came out in 1991. The movie showcased jumpers enjoying five minute long, conversation filled free falls (that happens right?). Yet, despite its liberal use of poetic license, Point Breakcaptured the imaginations of future skydivers everywhere resulting in a surge of new memberships with the USPA.

Point Break Trivia:

• Patrick Swayze was an accomplished skydiver and took part in the big skydiving scene. Swayze did 55 stunt jumps for the film.
• Patrick’s brother Don Swayze had over 500 jumps and was a regular jumper at Perris Valley Skydiving in California.
• The two primary freefall cameramen were Tom Sanders and Ray Cottingham.
• The famous speedster was filmed above Lake Powell, Utah.
• Matthew Broderick was originally offered the role of Johnny Utah. Others who auditioned were Johnny Depp and Charlie Sheen.
• Willem Dafoe turned down the role of Johnny Utah.

2. Gypsy Moths (1969) – Starring Burt Lancaster, Gene Hackman and Scott Wilson, this movie highlighted skydiving in its earliest of days as it became more commercialized. Interestingly, this movie showcased the earliest blueprints of wing suit flying. The movie was well ahead of its time and brought many to the sport in its earliest of days.

Gypsy Moths Trivia:

• The skydiving equipment the Gypsy Moths use in the film was sport parachuting state-of-the-art for the late 1960’s. The three jumpers’ gear consisted of Para-Commander main parachutes in “Piggyback” containers and harnesses made by the Pioneer Parachute Company, Pioneer jumpsuits, Bell helmets, Altimaster wrist altimeters, and French-designed and manufactured “Paraboots”. The goggles they wore were a commercially-available type identical to the Polaroid M-1944 military goggle, their light gloves a commonly-available work or trucker’s driving glove.

3. James Bond – One of the biggest movie franchises in the world, skydiving has been showcased in lots of Bond movies through the decades and inspired thousands of people to become skydivers. Here are a few movie titles and video clips of these epic skydiving scenes.

• Moonraker (1979 – Roger Moore as Bond)
• The Spy Who Loved Me (1977 – Roger Moore as Bond)
• Octopussy (1983 – Roger Moore as Bond)
• A View to a Kill (1985 – Roger Moore as Bond)
• The Living Daylights (1987 – Timothy Dalton)
• License to Kill (1989 Timothy Dalton as Bond)
• GoldenEye (1995 – Pierce Brosnan as Bond)
• Tomorrow Never Dies (1997 – Pierce Brosnan as Bond)
• Die Another Day (2002 – Pierce Brosnan as Bond)

There are so many great skydiving clips, we may have missed a couple – if we did, let us know and we’ll add it to the list!

James Bond Trivia

• BJ Worth of the World Team played many of the stunt double roles for the skydiving scenes in many of the Bond movies.
• BJ was featured in People Magazine on September 4, 1989 for his many stunt roles. Read it here.
• 80 jumps were made to complete the amazing skydiving scene in Moonraker (1979)
• BJ Worth came up with the idea for the BASE jump off of the Eiffel Tower – he took a three second delay before deployment.
• BJ Worth was the first person to jump on every single continent in the world.

4. Honeymoon in Vegas – The Flying Elvises featured in this film captured the imaginations of thousands and would become a demonstration jump favorite!

Honeymoon in Vegas Trivia

• Little Elvis was played by a 5-year old Bruno Mars (AKA Peter Gene “Bruno” Hernandez).

5. The Bucket List: What did we call our ‘bucket list’ before the movie came out? I think it was “Things I Must Do Before I Die List.” Needless to say, having Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman jump in the opening scene of the movie brought people to skydiving centers in droves! Check out the clip… love the drogue-less tandems and conversations in free fall!

HONORABLE MENTION – FANDANGO

Truman Sparks is a legend and Fandango captured the barnstorming, safety-lacking days of the sport from back in the era of the 60s / 70s. Hilarity to the max… anyone can skydive…right?