Epic is the word being used to describe a new Jean-Claude Van Damme video.

The 53-year-old action star does a split between two moving Volvo trucks in a new ad that went up on YouTube on Wednesday and already has been viewed more than 8 million times.

The shot begins on Van Damme's face, pulling out to reveal that he's standing on top of the side view mirrors of two Volvo semis travelling in reverse on an airplane runway in Spain.

As they slowly back up, the trucks move away from each other, spreading the martial artist's legs apart until he is in one of his signature full splits as the trucks continue driving into the sunset.

"I've had my ups and downs. My fair share of bumpy roads and heavy winds. That's what made me what I am today," Van Damme said in a voice-over at the start of the video. "Now I stand here before you, what you see is a body crafted to perfection, a pair of legs engineered to defy the laws of physiques and a mindset to master the most epic of splits."

The film was designed to show the stability of Volvo steering, said Jan-Inge Svensson, the engineer behind the development of the system's software at Volvo Trucks, on the Volvo website. 

"The stability and control are so good that you can reverse a truck over a long distance with very high precision, which is exactly what we've had to do in this film. It had to be perfect - right down to the last centimeter."

Volvo flashes a message that this stunt was executed by "trained professionals in a closed-off area." According to E! News no one was harmed in the making of this commercial.

"It's going to be quite unusual, and the first time we'll ever see anything like it in a movie or a commercial," Van Damme promised in a statement released by Volvo. "Before doing the split between the trucks, I saw the storyboard and thought it looked amazing. It's very majestic and very powerful."

Music video director Andreas Nilsson directed the commercial, using Enya's "Only Time" as the soundtrack.