Brian Smrz

{{Infobox person

| name = Brian Smrz

| birth_date = {{Birth based on age as of date|32|1992|10|21}}

| nationality = American

| occupation = Stunt coordinator, second-unit director, director

}}

Brian Smrz ({{IPAc-en|s|m|ɜːr|ʃ}}; born {{circa|1960}}), also Brian Delaney Smrz, is a Hollywood stunt coordinator and second unit director of projects such as Mission: Impossible 2, Live Free or Die Hard, Taxi, Eagle Eye, Night at the Museum, Windtalkers, Iron Man 3, and Superman Returns, among others.[https://www.moviefone.com/celebrity/brian-smrz/1871638/main/ Brian Smrz] moviefone.Retrieved on August 9, 2023 He is also the director of Hero Wanted, starring Cuba Gooding, Jr. and Ray Liotta and of 24 Hours to Live, starring Ethan Hawke and Xu Qing. He won the Taurus Award twice and was nominated for a third time.

Career

Smrz has worked as a stunt performer and stunt coordinator on Hollywood films since 1981. In more recent years, he has acted as second unit director and director on projects such as Hero Wanted, Fantastic Four, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, The Predator, and Face/Off. He has worked on several of director John Woo's American films, including Windtalkers, Paycheck and Mission: Impossible 2.{{cite journal|last=Harris|first=Dana|title=Smrz takes helm for 'Loyalty'|journal=Variety|date=June 22, 2004|url=https://variety.com/2004/film/news/smrz-takes-helm-for-loyalty-1117906872/|accessdate=14 July 2013}}

Smrz shared a Taurus Award for stuntwork on Mission: Impossible 2{{cite journal|last=Dore|first=Shalini|title=Kudos for crashes|journal=Variety|date=May 23, 2001|url=https://variety.com/2001/scene/vpage/kudos-for-crashes-1117799973/|accessdate=14 July 2013}} and Live Free or Die Hard.{{cite web|title=2008 Taurus World Stunt Awards|url=http://www.taurusworldstuntawards.com/index.php?id=111|work=Taurus World Stunt Awards|accessdate=14 July 2013|year=2008}} He was also nominated for Taxi. In an otherwise negative review of Taxi, Variety praised Smrz's stunts.{{cite journal|last=Koehler|first=Robert|title=Taxi|journal=Variety|date=October 5, 2004|url=https://variety.com/2004/film/reviews/taxi-3-1200530499/|accessdate=14 July 2013}}

Hero Wanted is his directorial debut. It is a crime drama/action film starring Cuba Gooding, Jr., Ray Liotta and Norman Reedus.{{cite journal|title=Hero Wanted: Cuba Gooding Jr and Ray Liotta Answer|journal=Total Film|date=Mar 15, 2007|url=http://www.totalfilm.com/news/hero-wanted-cuba-gooding-jr-and-ray-liotta-answer|accessdate=14 July 2013|author=Total Film}} Shooting occurred in Sofia and Bulgaria with a crew composed mostly of Bulgarians.{{cite web|last=Schwinke|first=Theodore|title=On location: Hero Wanted|url=http://www.screendaily.com/on-location-hero-wanted/4033385.article|work=Screen Daily|accessdate=14 July 2013|date=June 27, 2007}}

Personal life

Smrz is from Strafford, Pennsylvania and was the brother of the stuntman Brett Smrz, who died while performing a stunt jump off a building.{{cite news|last=Gordon|first=Suzanne|title=A Stunt Man's Closing Fall: He Died Fulfilling A Dream|url=http://articles.philly.com/1986-10-06/news/26061731_1_mission-furniture-manufacturing-brian-smrz-air-bag|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150216192945/http://articles.philly.com/1986-10-06/news/26061731_1_mission-furniture-manufacturing-brian-smrz-air-bag|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 16, 2015|accessdate=14 July 2013|newspaper=The Philadelphia Inquirer|date=October 6, 1986}} Smrz was hospitalized after a stunt went wrong in 1992 on Cyborg 2. The incident was investigated by the Screen Actors Guild.{{cite news|title=TERMINAL ISLAND: Misdirected Explosion Hospitalizes 6 Stuntmen|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-10-21-me-541-story.html|access-date=14 July 2013|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=October 21, 1992}}

Filmography

class="wikitable sortable"
Year ! Title ! width="65"\| Stunt coordinator ! width="65"\| Second unit director ! Director
2000 \| Mission: Impossible II \| {{yes}} \| {{yes}} \| John Woo
2001 \| Vanilla Sky \| {{yes}} \| {{no}} \| Cameron Crowe
rowspan="3"\| 2002 \| Windtalkers \| {{yes}} \| {{yes}} \| John Woo
Signs \| {{yes}} \| {{no}} \| M. Night Shyamalan
Minority Report \| {{yes}} \| {{yes}} \| Steven Spielberg
rowspan="2"\| 2003 \| X2 \| {{no}} \| {{yes}} \| Bryan Singer
Paycheck \| {{no}} \| {{yes}} \| John Woo
2004 \| Taxi \| {{yes}} \| {{yes}} \| rowspan="2"\| Tim Story
2005 \| Fantastic Four \| {{no}} \| {{yes}}
rowspan="2"\| 2006 \| Superman Returns \| {{no}} \| {{yes}} \| Bryan Singer
Night at the Museum \| {{no}} \| {{yes}} \| Shawn Levy
2007 \| Live Free or Die Hard \| {{yes}} \| {{yes}} \| Len Wiseman
2008 \| Eagle Eye \| {{no}} \| {{yes}} \| D.J. Caruso
rowspan="3" \| 2009 \| Surrogates \| {{no}} \| {{yes}} \| Jonathan Mostow
X-Men Origins: Wolverine \| {{yes}} \| {{no}} \| Gavin Hood
Whiteout \| {{no}} \| {{yes}} \| Dominic Sena
2010 \| Knight and Day \| {{no}} \| {{yes}} \| James Mangold
rowspan="3"\| 2011 \| The Hangover Part II \| {{no}} \| {{yes}} \| Todd Phillips
X-Men: First Class \| {{no}} \| {{yes}} \| Matthew Vaughn
Rise of the Planet of the Apes \| {{no}} \| {{yes}} \| Matt Reeves
2012 \| This Means War \| {{no}} \| {{yes}} \| McG
2013 \| Iron Man 3 \| {{no}} \| {{yes}} \| Shane Black
2014 \| X-Men: Days of Future Past \| {{no}} \| {{yes}} \| Bryan Singer
2015 \| Fantastic Four \| {{no}} \| {{yes}} \| Josh Trank
2016 \| X-Men: Apocalypse \| {{no}} \| {{yes}} \| Bryan Singer
2017 \| The Predator \| {{yes}} \| {{yes}} \| Shane Black
2019 \| Dark Phoenix \| {{no}} \| {{yes}} \| Simon Kinberg
2020 \| Loves and Monsters \| {{no}} \| {{yes}} \| Michael Matthews
rowspan="2"\| 2021 \| Venom: Let There Be Carnage \| {{no}} \| {{yes}} \| Andy Serkis
Ghostbusters: Afterlife \| {{no}} \| {{yes}} \| Jason Reitman
2022 \| The Adam Project \| {{yes}} \| {{yes}} \| Shawn Levy
2023 \| Shazam! Fury of the Gods \| {{no}} \| {{yes}} \| David F. Sandberg
2023 \| Expend4bles \| {{no}} \| {{yes}} \| Scott Waugh
2024 \| Venom: The Last Dance \| {{no}} \| {{yes}} \| Kelly Marcel

class="wikitable sortable"

Year

! Title

! width="65"| Stunt coordinator

! width="65"| Second unit director

! Director

2000

| Mission: Impossible II

| {{yes}}

| John Woo

2001

| Vanilla Sky