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Comment by xnx | Hacker News Reader

Can anyone confirm that the helicopter flying over the underpass was actual flying and not VFX or a chopper on a trailer?

There are claims that the stunt pilot flew under (twice!), but it seems like no amount of skill could avoid weird uncontrollable effects from rotor wash.

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https://nedhardy.com/2023/02/12/terminator-2-helicopter/

It's interesting the bridge blocking the rotors didn't make it fall... maybe it's like a pressurized zone of air/ground effect... it's not a perfect vacuum

It's confirmed in the DVD commentary. The stunt pilot had to do it at a high enough speed that it would "outrun" the rotor wash.

I’m pretty sure the PPV feature the back in 1992 said it was real, and if not that, one of the documentaries on the Laserdiscs or DVDs. Nearly everything, besides the T-1000 morphing was practical. They blew up the front face of a building, jumped a motorcycles (with rigging), jumped through candy glass, and much more.

I saw claims for that in multiple sources. I think they initially wanted to do CG but it was too hard back then so the pilot did it anyway.

It seems so weird that there's no "behind the scenes" type footage.

The link in this thread says the camera team refused to participate so the shot in the film was just James Cameron holding a camera in the back of a truck. Nobody else around to film BTS footage.

After the Twilight Zone tragedy, I wouldn’t get involved in such shenanigans either!

James Cameron claims it’s real. But I think that doesn’t exclude filming slow and speeding up later.

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