The simple trampoline is a seriously underutilized prop in the area of cinematic fight scenes. You don't typically see Bruce Willis vaulting over the heads of astonished terrorists, or pirate captains doing a mid-air Salchow while twirling a cutlass. But damn it, we should see that.
A rare trampoline-augmented duel to the death appears in the outstanding Vincent Price vehicle Theater of Blood (1973), a gory revenge tale of a hammy classical actor (Price) murdering his critics one by one. He catches up with one of his victims at a gymnasium, where the critic puts on a fencing mask and prepares for a little bit of recreational swashbuckling. Price suits up in fencing gear himself and poses as the critic's opponent, his identity hidden by the mesh face mask. The two cross swords and, as the battle becomes more heated and flamboyant, the victim starts to suspect that something is amiss. Blades whiz and clang as the confines of the duel expand to include the entire gym, and the combatants jockey for position. While the critic urges his unknown assailant to be sensible, Price sneers haughtily, revealing his intentions and his identity. At one point, the duelists actually find themselves on trampolines, desperately thrusting and parrying while bouncing up and down, occasionally leaping from one trampoline to another.
The scene is an incredible must-see, and is played for suspense even during the silliest moments. After such a triumphant introduction, you'd think that dozens of cinematic trampoline sword duels would follow, but no, the trend never took off.
Except in Turkey. The Turkish film industry, then going through a veritable renaissance of wonderfully ridiculous action films, embraced the trampoline wholeheartedly. Let Hong Kong dangle its action heroes on wires; the Turkish film star would save the day with an enthusiastic bounce. Turkish superstar Cüneyt Arkin added trampoline bouncing to his impressive repertoire of tricks, and the results were unforgettable. In Lion Man (1975), Arkin plays the title character, a son of a deposed monarch, raised by lions after his parents were killed by a villainous crown-stealer. Lion Man's superhuman strength allows him to propel himself through the air as though he were receiving assistance from some just-out-of-camera-range gym equipment.
Most of the really good trampoline stuff is saved for the film's second half, when Lion Man confronts the evil despot in his castle, which strongly resembles a gymnasium with lots of torches and tinfoil shields attached to the walls. Horizontal bars and gymnastic rings give Lion Man something to twirl around while kicking evil guardsmen in the head, so for a minute it looks like the film is giving up completely on the pretence that this place is a castle instead of a gym. We never see the trampolines, but we assume that they are there when we see Lion Man traverse a 25-metre distance in two bounds. This is the same scene in which the villain's son turns out to be Lion Man's long-lost half-brother, who immediately joins the good guys and bounces around just as vigorously as his feral sibling. Classic stuff!
