Even in this day and age, when filmmakers can create entire worlds with CGI, there's
nothing quite like a practical, good old-fashioned stunt.
Talented stunt performers risk their lives to get the shots that often wind up being
the highlight of the entire movie.
While correctly executing a stunt rides a fine line between success and disaster, stunt
performers don't always pull off the moment exactly as planned.
Nevertheless, the cameras are rolling and sometimes the footage captured is so exciting
that filmmakers simply have to keep it in the final cut.
Or the stunt ended in actual pain and misery, so more takes weren't possible.
Here are some really scary movie moments where the fear and danger were real.
Die Hard
Part of the charm of Die Hard, and what makes it such a classic, is its premise: John McClane
is a regular cop, rising to the occasion to thwart a massive terrorist plot.
In real life, Bruce Willis was also basically a regular guy, not yet an action movie stud,
best known as the star of the romantic comedy TV series Moonlighting.
"Don't just sit there like a plate of refried beans!
Vacation doesn’t end, it just changes location."
Thanks to Die Hard's action-packed set pieces, stuntmen had to shoulder a lot of the work,
but things didn't always go as planned.
One such moment happened during the scene where McClane leaps across an elevator shaft.
Willis' stunt double was supposed to grab onto a vent, but his hands slipped and he
kept falling down the shaft.
The editor decided to keep that shot in the film, and it works in all kinds of ways.
It makes the viewer jump a little, but it also speaks to McClane's character: He's just
a normal guy screwing up a little while he's trying to save the day.
"Now I know what a TV dinner feels like."
Back to the Future Part II
In one of the most crowd-pleasing scenes in Back to the Future Part II, four members of
Griff's gang chase Marty on hoverboards and end up crashing through the glass front of
the famous Hill Valley courthouse.
As the stunt was planned, all four stunt performers were going to be outfitted in harnesses and
suspended from a crane, which would provide enough momentum to send them crashing through
the glass windows.
Then, a crew member was supposed to press a button on a remote control, sending them
descending to the safety of airbags below.
The cameras rolled, and the stunt performers flew through the air.
But stuntwoman Cheryl Wheeler's rig didn't work correctly.
She flew off-course, and instead of busting through a candy-glass window, she hit a pillar
on the outside of the building.
Adding injury to injury, the crew member then remotely released her, sending her crashing
25 feet onto concrete.
Wheeler was severely injured and sued the studio, but nevertheless, the accident footage
is in the film.
When the gang crashes through the glass doors, Wheeler is visible falling onto the sidewalk.
First Blood
The action in First Blood, the first in Sylvester Stallone's Rambo franchise, is so raw and
visceral that it's sometimes difficult to watch.
Stallone plays a Vietnam vet who gets caught in a war with a small-town police department.
"I didn't come here to rescue Rambo from you.
I came here to rescue you from him."
One scene in particular looks like it must have been painful for Stallone to shoot, and
that's because it was.
While on the run from the military officers charged with capturing and quelling him, Rambo
jumps off a cliff and falls through some trees, coming up hard against some branches.
Stallone performed one take of the scene, and then dutifully did one more.
The director requested another, but Stallone politely declined.
Turns out he'd broken a rib on the second take, leading to some very real cries of anguish.
Maze Runner: The Death Cure
Dylan O'Brien made a name for himself with The Maze Runner, a trilogy of sci-fi films
based on the popular series of dystopian young adult novels.
The actor happily did his own stunts for the films, but on the third day of filming the
third entry, The Death Cure, a scene involving a car went wrong.
O'Brien suffered a concussion, a facial fracture, and brain trauma.
Production shut down for months while he recovered.
When O'Brien returned, director Wes Ball had a delicate question for him: Would it be alright
to use some of the footage from that disastrous day in the film?
Speaking to USA Today, O'Brien recalled,
"My response actually was like, 'I need you to, in a way.
I would be more heartbroken than if it just went to waste.'"
While the injury itself stayed off the silver screen, nobody can deny that O'Brien turned
in some breathtaking stunt work that day.
The Wizard of Oz
The Wizard of Oz is full of dazzling moments, and one of the biggest comes shortly after
Dorothy arrives in the merry old land of Oz, specifically Munchkinland.
Margaret Hamilton, in an unbridled performance as the Wicked Witch of the West, was supposed
to disappear into thin air, thanks to some obscuring smoke and pyrotechnics, as well
as a well-placed trap door.
But when cameras were rolling, the door didn't work properly, meaning Hamilton literally
faced a bunch of fireworks.
She endured such severe burns to her face and hands that she needed six weeks to recover;
even then, she had to wear green gloves on her hands because her skin was still too tender
for makeup.
At the very least, director Victor Fleming told Hamilton that they didn't need to reshoot
the Munchkinland exit scene: the one that led to her injuries looked just fine.