Larry Chen Larry@larrychenphoto.com
Recoil 4
Rigid Industries
“Recoil 4”, a seven-minute cinematic thrill ride through the streets of Havana, Cuba, was just released and is available at www.youtube.com/toyotires. Produced by Sweatpants Media and presented by Toyo Tires, the storyline features World Champion off-road racer, “Ballistic” BJ Baldwin racing in his 850-horsepower trophy truck from an all-night dominos game to meet up with his race team on the opposite side of the island. The epic action scenes, including the longest residential jump in a Trophy Truck at 191 feet, are real and shot exclusively in the island nation that has been closed to American filmmakers for decades.
While the rest of Hollywood uses green screens, cranes and cars on rails to replicate jaw-dropping stunts, all six massive stunts in “Recoil” are real and the collaborative result of BJ working with legendary freestyle motocross and Nitro Circus star turned filmmaker Andy Bell. Bell challenged Baldwin’s courage and the laws of gravity daily to execute jumps previously reserved only for motorcycles.
“We scouted the stunts believing if we could pull it off on a motorcycle, we could challenge BJ’s manhood enough that he would try them,” said Bell. “BJ pushed that truck beyond what anyone else would dream of doing and it resulted in some of the most intense action Cuba has seen in decades.”
Among the outrageous stunts Baldwin performed was a record breaking, 191-foot jump down a narrow residential street, a 110-foot jump across a downed bridge and a triple-step-down stair gap with a 20- foot vertical drop in Old Havana.
“It’s one thing to rip across desert terrain in Baja, it’s a completely other beast to fly through the streets of Havana at 100 mph,” said Baldwin. “There’s simply no discreet way to launch a million dollar, 6,000 pound trophy truck down a residential street that typically is reserved for vintage 1950’s era sedans. We blew the locals’ minds. They had no clue a truck could fly.”
Shooting in the secluded island nation in only five days was challenging. But with the support of local government officials along with sponsors Toyo Tires, Monster Energy, Rigid Industries and King Shocks, the resulting film is nothing short of incredible.