Ever since the dawn of cinema, stunts have been at the heart of the medium. The very first motion picture, Eadweard Muybridge’s 1878 reel The Horse In Motion, captured a jockey riding a horse at speed — cinema’s first stunt! And ever since then, fearless stunt people have been engaging themselves in the ultimate game of one-upmanship, putting their bodies on the line and minds at work to help make movies soar higher, go faster, hit harder, and be bigger than ever before. Even if the Oscars still aren’t ready to recognise that just yet with a Stunt category, we don’t need an awards ceremony to pay tribute to the crazy folk who do this stuff for real.

To celebrate the stunt community – and mark the release of stunt-tastic action extravaganza The Fall Guy – take a look back over the craziest movie stunts that were actually done for real.