Can you believe the Royal Gorge Bridge turns 90 years old this year? It has certainly contributed its fair share of history during that time! That history includes being featured in a few movies such as Fast Getaway from 1991. The reason I’ve chosen to talk about this specific movie is because here in our collection at the museum and showcased in our new exhibit about the bridge is a VHS tape of the movie. And today is VCR Day!
VCR stands for “videocassette recorder”, which records analog video and audio, while VHS stands for Video Home System. Obviously, a VCR is needed to watch a VHS. This technology boomed in the in the mid-1970s and had continued success through the ‘80s and ‘90s until DVD (Digital Versatile Disc or Digital Video Disc) took over the market.
A scene from Fast Getaway was filmed at the Royal Gorge Bridge in 1990. The film features Leo Rossi and Corey Haim as a father-son bank-robbing duo. An escape scene was filmed off the bridge with a free-fall. Two stuntmen, Kenny Bates and Bernie Pock, filmed the 1,000-foot drop which stopped just above the Arkansas River according to an article in the Cañon City Daily Record on June 1, 1990. Both men were veteran stuntmen, and although it was nerve-racking, Bates said there is no difference between a 100-foot drop and a 1,000-foot drop other than the time you have to think about it.
The drop scene with stuntmen was filmed on a separate day than the scene with Haim and Rossi on the bridge. During the days of filming, the bridge had to close periodically to allow for shooting. While many county residents appeared to watch the filming, some tourists who showed up unaware of the movie were angered by the inconvenience of the bridge being closed for portions of the day.
If you would like to see our copy of the movie in our exhibit about the bridge, and all the other exciting artifacts on display, stop by our exhibit opening today, Friday, June 7 between 4-6 PM! Help us celebrate the opening of our new exhibit, “Suspended Through Time: 90th Anniversary of the Royal Gorge Bridge”!
The information presented in this article is compiled using research conducted by the Royal Gorge Regional Museum and History Center.