Spiro Razatos is an American stunt coordinator, second unit director, film director, and actor, who has been active in films for close to four decades. He is best known for being second unit director (alongside Jack Gill) on the Fast and Furious series starting with Fast Five (2011).[1]

Spiro Razatos
Born
Spiro Raki Razatos

(1960-08-01) August 1, 1960 (age 64)
NationalityAmerican
Occupation(s)Stunt coordinator, Second unit film director
Known forStunt work
Notable workFast & Furious film series

Life and career

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Born and raised in Denver, Colorado in 1960, Razatos stated that seeing Shaft (1973) in theaters for the first time inspired him to pursue a career in stunts.[2]

Razatos also served as second unit director and stunt coordinator on Captain America: Civil War alongside Chad Stahelski and David Leitch.[3]

Some of his other work includes The Expendables (2010), Kong: Skull Island (2017), The Gray Man (2022), Venom (2018), and Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014).[4] He has also directed the 1991 Corey Haim and Cynthia Rothrock action film Fast Getaway, the 1994 direct-to-video horror film Class of 1999 II: The Substitute, and five episodes of the television series Team Knight Rider.

In addition to his work in Hollywood, he's also worked in Indian Cinema, beginning with Jawan (2023) and is set to work on the upcoming sequel to 2019's War.[5]

Filmography

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As Second unit director/Stunt coordinator

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Year Title Stunt coordinator Second unit director Director
2023 Jawan No Action unit director Atlee
Fast X Yes Yes Louis Leterrier
Murder Mystery 2 No Yes Jeremy Garelick
2022 The Gray Man No Yes Anthony and Joe Russo
2021 F9: The Fast Saga Yes Yes Justin Lin
2020 Bad Boys For Life Uncredited Yes Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah
2019 21 Bridges Yes Yes Brian Kirk
2018 Venom Yes Yes Ruben Fleischer
2017 Transformers: The Last Knight No Yes Michael Bay
The Fate of the Furious Yes Yes F. Gary Gray
Kong: Skull Island Yes Yes Jordan Vogt-Roberts
2016 Monster Trucks Yes Yes Chris Wedge
Captain America: Civil War Yes Yes Anthony and Joe Russo
2015 Furious 7 Yes Yes James Wan
2014 Captain America: The Winter Soldier Yes Yes Anthony and Joe Russo
2013 Fast & Furious 6 Yes Yes Justin Lin
2012 Total Recall Yes Yes Len Wiseman
The Factory Yes No Morgan O'Neill
2011 X-Men: First Class No Yes Matthew Vaughn
Fast Five Yes Yes Justin Lin
2010 The Expendables Yes Yes Sylvester Stallone
2008 Death Race Uncredited Yes Paul W.S. Anderson
Vantage Point Yes Uncredited Pete Travis
2006 Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby Yes Yes Adam McKay
2004 Resident Evil: Apocalypse No Yes Alexander Witt
2003 21 Grams Yes Yes Alejandro González Iñárritu
Bad Boys II No Yes Michael Bay
2002 The 4th Tenor Yes No Harry Basil
2001 Driven Yes Yes Renny Harlin
Training Day Yes No Antoine Fuqua
2000 Scream 3 Yes No Wes Craven
3000 Miles to Graceland No Yes Demian Lichtenstein
1999 Three Kings Yes No David O. Russell
1995 Lawnmower Man 2: Beyond Cyberspace Yes Yes Farhad Mann
Money Train Yes No Joseph Ruben
Timemaster Yes Yes James Glickenhaus
1994 Beverly Hills Cop III Yes No John Landis
1993 Grumpy Old Men Yes No Donald Petrie
1992 Maniac Cop 3 Yes Yes William Lustig
Batman Returns Yes No Tim Burton
1990 Darkman Yes No Sam Raimi
Maniac Cop 2 Yes Yes William Lustig
1989 Crack House Yes Yes Michael Fischa
1988 Maniac Cop Yes Yes William Lustig
1987 My Best Friend Is a Vampire Yes Yes Jimmy Huston

As director

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Year Title Notes
1997–1998 Team Knight Rider Television series; 5 episodes
1994 Class of 1999 II: The Substitute
1991 Fast Getaway Directorial debut[6]

References

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  1. ^ "Fast Five" (PDF). Official Fast Five website. Universal Pictures. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 16, 2011. Retrieved May 2, 2024.
  2. ^ Stunts age 10 to 15- Spiro Razatos. YouTube. MuglyWigums. October 22, 2008. Retrieved August 30, 2024.
  3. ^ Hayes, Britt (April 26, 2016). "'Captain America: Civil War' Had a Little Help From the Directors of 'John Wick'". ScreenCrush. Archived from the original on February 17, 2017. Retrieved May 2, 2024.
  4. ^ "Meet Spiro Razatos, action director of Shah Rukh's Jawan, man behind award-winning stunts of Expendables, Fast & Furious". Daily News and Analysis. July 25, 2023. Retrieved August 28, 2024.
  5. ^ Shah, Jigar (April 19, 2024). "Captain America's action director Spiro Razatos roped in Hrithik Roshan and Jr NTR's War 2- Exclusive". Times of India. Retrieved August 28, 2024.
  6. ^ "Reviews: Fast Getaway". TV Guide. Retrieved March 29, 2024.