An early role of his before
Indiana Jones was in
Steptoe and Son episode "The Seven Steptoerai". The Armstrong doubled for
Harrison Ford in the first three
Indiana Jones films,
Timothy Dalton for
Flash Gordon,
George Lazenby for the Swiss Alps skiing scenes in the Bond film ''
On Her Majesty's Secret Service, and Christopher Reeve in Superman and Superman II. Reportedly, Armstrong looked so much like Harrison Ford that the crewmembers on the films were constantly mistaking him for Ford. This proved useful when Ford injured his back and had to sit out for filming crucial action sequences in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and Armstrong filled in for him. The stunt where he jumps from a horse onto a German tank in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade'' was voted one of the top-10 film stunts of all time by a panel of experts and Sky Movies viewers in the UK in 2002. On a private photograph taken on the film set, Ford wrote to Armstrong, "If you learn to talk, I'm in deep trouble!" Armstrong was unable to work on the fourth
Indiana Jones film,
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, due to commitments to
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. He had discussed, though, possible action sequences with
Steven Spielberg during production of
War of the Worlds. Armstrong is a famed stunt coordinator and action unit director, notable for (amongst others) the action sequences of several
James Bond films,
War of the Worlds and
I Am Legend. Armstrong was also the opening scene director on
Terminator 2: Judgment Day. In 1993, Armstrong made his directorial debut with action film
Joshua Tree (or
Army of One), starring
Dolph Lundgren,
George Segal,
Kristian Alfonso, and
Ken Foree. He was the subject of
This Is Your Life in 2003, when he was surprised by
Michael Aspel at
Pinewood Studios. In 2012, Armstrong was
second unit director for
The Amazing Spider-Man. In 2013, he signed on to direct
Left Behind, a remake of the series that got released in 2014. His next directorial effort was the true story
A Sunday Horse. He also worked on the 2022
Amazon Prime Video series
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power as second unit director and action director. Armstrong is a long-serving member of the
British Stunt Register. == Awards ==