Watch Michael B. Jordan Survive a Plane Crash in ‘Without Remorse’

I am a Stefano Sollima and I’m the director of Without Remorse. This sequence comes after the midpoint of the film, when the team is about to parachute to their location. Their plane is shot down and crashes in the ocean. What was important to me was Kelly’s, played by Michael B. Jordan, psychology in such an extreme situation. I wanted to create an intimate relation with the protagonist. So I decided to shoot the whole crash mainly from Kelly’s, Michael’s, point of view, only briefly showing the outside of the plane. The audience needed to be reminded of his determination for revenge. He has to get back the gear to finish the mission. And to shoot this sequence practically, we bought an actual plane, which we cut into pieces. And then we divided the crash sequences into four parts. The first was the crash in the ocean. Outside of the cockpit we built this slide that would release tons of water. And the second part was the rotation. The first class was half-way in a huge tank, and around it we built a rotating mechanism with pistons and motors. That way the entire cast could move while the plane rotated. And the third part was the mechanism that breaks the plane in half. This huge metal rig would split one part of the aisle and then sink it in the tank. At this point, Kelly either aborts the mission or gets the gear. And this is the fourth and final part. Kelley dives in the sinking tail of the plane and uses air pockets to get the oxygen he needs. And this was also all done by Michael himself. He trained for months to be able to hold his breath longer, while swimming and moving in the water in full gear. And this whole cargo scene is all built on Kelly’s breath. The rhythm, the music, the cuts, are all dictated by when Michael would need to get air. I tried to keep these shots on Kelly holding his breath as long as possible, to really have the audience feel his struggle. We need the air like he needs air. High strings creep in every time Kelly’s slowly losing the oxygen in his body. And this sound is released once he refills his lungs. But it’s too late now. And we have the strings back for one last time, the sound of the metal that starts compressing. And we feel his struggle. And then he grabs the last and most important equipment. And finally he gets to the surface, and, at the end, just like Kelly we are finally able to take a breath of relief.