I have admired Matt Damon’s acting skills ever since I saw him in “Good Will Hunting” which he co-write and co-starred with BFF Ben Affleck in 1997.
You might have read my recent post on Denzel Washington, who stars in “The Book of Eli” and got some serious fight training from Dan Inosanto and stunt coordinator-extraordinaire, Jeff Imada.
Jeff Imada is also the guy responsible for hypnotizing movie audiences worldwide into believing that Matt Damon actually is Jason Bourne in the Bourne Trilogy.
I just stumbled across the trailer of a very soon to be released movie, starring Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear, called “Green Zone“.
The movie was inspired by the book “Imperial Life in The Emerald City: Inside Iraq’s Green Zone” written by Rajiv Chandrasekran, who looked at civilian leadership during the U.S. American reconstruction in Iraq.
The book concentrates on the actions of the Coalition Provisional Authority inside the Green Zone in Baghdad. Emphasis is put on how the occupation was handled from the time from the end of the invasion till the official transfer of power to the Iraqis and the increasing insurgency in Iraq.
Of course, as with just about every book, Hollywood has to do what it does best, namely to make it appealing on the Big Screen.
And that’s where I was asking myself, so who makes Matt Damon look real tough in “Green Zone“?
I was elated to find out that the guy responsible for coordinating the stunts and fight choreography is an established stunt player himself. He is fellow martial artist Markos (or Mark) Rounthwaite, 5th degree Tae Kwon Do black belt from New Zealand, aka Mr. Stunts.
Mark was a member of the highly accomplished stunt teams in such successful productions as Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of theCrystal Skull, The Bourne Ultimatum, Casino Royale and King Kong.
You have already noticed that I like to credit people who bring out the best in other people and that of course means stunt players, stunt coordinators and fight choreographers, because these are the ones who help make the stars look better than they actually might be.
From what I can tell from the trailer, the movie “Green Zone” sure looks like a lot of suspense and exciting action scenes. I am hopeful that the movie actually lives up to the expectations that we as viewers have when we see these jaw-dropping action scenes in trailers.
Haka is considered the traditional dance form of New Zealand’s Maori.
Usually a group performs this posture dance which contains vigorous movements and stamping of the feet accompanied by shouting.
The All Blacks rugby union team has made a certain type of haka very popular.
However, this might have led to certain misconceptions.
I found out that haka are not exclusively war dances and they aren’t performed only by men. Sometimes they are performed by women, mixed groups, and some even by children.
In these cases, they are performed for amusement, as a hearty welcome to distinguished guests, or to acknowledge great achievements or occasions.
War haka (peruperu) were originally performed by warriors before a battle, proclaiming their strength and prowess in order to intimidate the opposition.
Haka has become an integral part of official welcome ceremonies for distinguished visitors such as foreign dignitaries.
According to reports the first New Zealand rugby team to tour overseas, namely in Australia in 1884, performed “a Maori war cry” or haka before each of its matches and it has been a tradition ever since.
Enjoy the video with the All Blacks and their version of haka:
