Filmmaker and stuntman Sam Hargrave returned with the sequel to his underrated hit action flick Extraction (2020) on June 16. Improving on its predecessor, Extraction 2 received glowing reviews for its high-octane, edge-of-the-seat action. Hargrave, who was Chris Evans’s Captain America stunt double, delivered on his promise of bigger, and better action on a $65 million budget. During a recent interview, Hargrave and leading man Chris Hemsworth disclosed how gym fails inspired one of the film’s widest action sequences.

In Extraction 2, director Sam Hargrave uses unique filming techniques to make the audience feel part of the action. The one-take scenes in the film follow every punch, kick, or stab, putting the viewer on the edge of their seat. Maybe that’s why the action sequence might give bodybuilding?and fitness enthusiasts like the interviewer some serious PTSD.

Chris Hemsworth uses gym equipment to dispatch bad guys

Recently personal trainer and fitness influencer Tyen Rasif sat with Hargrave and the MCU’s God of Thunder for a conversation about the film. She shared a clip from the interview on social media where she asked the duo about a particular action scene.?“I couldn’t look at the treadmill or the leg press the same way!”?Rasif told Hargrave and Hemsworth.

Her admission made the actor-director duo chuckle. While watching gym equipment being used to beat bad guys scared Rasif, Hemsworth loved filming the sequence. He revealed how he felt about it.?“I love that sequence. Wild and unexpected, and it’s different to anything I’ve ever seen,”?said the 39-year-old actor. Hargrave revealed the inspiration behind it.

“The accidents that you go like, oh that looks painful!”?Hargrave told Tyen Rasif.?“How do we take that and put it into a movie, and it would be interesting to watch?”?said the stuntman and filmmaker. Nearly every fitness enthusiast has seen horrific accidents happen to people overloading the leg press machine and putting the treadmill on a setting they can’t handle.

Hargrave recreated the gym fails, but instead of accidents, Hemsworth character Tyler Rake used them to deliver fatal blows to the bad guys in the film. While Rasif continues being a personal trainer,?“that scene definitely haunted me,”?she told the duo. However, Rasif’s statement is a compliment to how hard Hargrave worked to bring action sequences to life.

Sam Hargrave trains despite being behind the camera

John Wick (2014) became a massive success, revolutionizing modern action cinema. It introduced gritty, realistic combat, called gun-fu, to Hollywood. John Wick director Chad Stahelski was also a stuntman-turned-director. The massive popularity of the franchise inspired Hargrave to make the move to directing.

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However, unlike most directors, Hargrave also shoots his action sequences. Despite staying behind the camera most of the time,?the former stuntman trains regularly. From weight lifting to martial arts, the filmmaker stays in shape to run around with the camera while filming. In fact, Hargrave often shoots those scenes that make the viewer feel part of the action.

How did you react to the gym fight scene in Extraction 2? Are you also scared of the leg-press machine now? Let us know in the comments.

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