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40 Behind-the-Scenes Accidents That Turned Into Disasters (or Eureka Moments)

What doesn’t kill you makes you look like a brilliant director

40 Behind-the-Scenes Accidents That Turned Into Disasters (or Eureka Moments)

April 29, 2024

Sometimes, if a director stays loose, an oopsie-daisy behind the scenes can turn their film into a timeless masterpiece. Of course, sometimes the goof-up is so bad that the entire production becomes unsalvageable.

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Behind-The-Scenes Accidents 1971 A Clockwork Orange Those eye contraptions in the iconic scenes sure do look painful, right? Malcolm McDowell ended up with scratched corneas and horrifying pain. His eyes were anesthetized for the scene, but the lid-locks kept sliding off his eyelids. Stanley Kubrick, of course, just asked him when he could do the next shot. CRACKED.COM — Source

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Behind-The-Scenes Accidents 2002 xXx Vin Diesel's stunt double, Harry L. O'Connor, had to rappel down a parasail line into a submarine, but crashed into a bridge and died instantly. O'Connor had already done the stunt on the first take, which was left in the film. The movie still sucks, though. CRACKED.COM — Source

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Behind-The-Scenes Accidents 1983 Twilight Zone: The Movie Actor Vic Morrow and two illegally-hired children (seven-year-old Муса Dinh Le and six-year-old Renee Shin-Yi Chen) died when a helicopter came crashing down on them, knocked out of the air by pyrotechnic effects. The whole thing was irresponsibly planned, and it's hard to understand that director John Landis was ever acquitted. CRACKED.COM — Source

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Behind-The-Scenes Accidents 1960 Spartacus During a fight scene left in the movie, Kirk Douglas forces the head of a slave trainer played by Charles McGraw into a soup cauldron. Не then pulls him out and smashes him again, only this time McGraw's jaw hit the cauldron's edge way too hard. Don't be fooled by the goofy sound: the jaw was actually broken. CRACKED.COM — Source

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Behind-The-Scenes Accidents 1986 Armour of God Jackie Chan considers this his worst on-set injury ever. Не was supposed to jump over a wall and into a tree branch, but the branch gave out, and he fell 15 feet head first onto a rock. Не punctured his skull and got a piece of it lodged into his brain, and now wears a plastic plug over the hole. CRACKED.COM — Source

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Behind-The-Scenes Accidents 1914 Across the Border In one of the first filming accidents ever, a boat with actress Grace McHugh capsized, and cameraman Owen Carter jumped into the river in an attempt to save her. Не ended up dragging her into quicksand, and the crew saw them disappear. Their bodies were found days later. CRACKED.COM — Source

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Behind-The-Scenes Accidents 1939 The Wizard of Oz Margaret Hamilton does not get nearly enough love for her portrayal of the Wicked Witch of the West. During one scene, a pyrotechnic device went off too soon, and she was left with severe burns on her face and right hand. Luckily, she got treatment on time. CRACKED.COM — Source

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The Crow

Behind-The-Scenes Accidents 1994 The Crow After the firearms specialist was sent home early, a blank round was shot at Brandon Lee from a distance of 12-15 feet. The problem is that the blank round (powder, no bullet) was inserted over a previous dummy round (bullet, no powder). The resulting combination equaled an actual shot, which mortally wounded Lee in the abdomen. CRACKED.COM — Source

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Roar

Behind-The-Scenes Accidents 1981 Roar Hey, let's shoot a comedy about a guy living with a bunch of lions and tigers. What could possibly go wrong? Injuries during the two-year shoot are estimated to be between 50 and 100, and future Speed director Jan de Bont had his scalp torn by a lion, requiring 220 stitches. CRACKED.COM — Source

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Behind-The-Scenes Accidents 1993 Sliver This forgotten erotic thriller was supposed to end with a helicopter crash in an Hawaiian volcano, but shooting the scene resulted in an actual helicopter crash. Two crew members got to safety with minor injuries, but the third one spent two days trapped in the volcano, inhaling poisonous fumes. CRACKED.COM — Source

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Behind-The-Scenes Accidents Midnight Rider: The Gregg Allman Story You haven't seen this film because it was canceled, and the reason is horrifying. The producers and director ordered a shoot on an active railroad in Savannah, Georgia, without the proper permission. Second assistant camerawoman Sarah Jones was killed by a freight train, and other crew members were injured. Criminal charges were of course filed. CRACKED.COM — Source

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Behind-The-Scenes Accidents 2004 Kill Bill: Volume 2 Quentin Tarantino made Uma Thurman drive recklessly through a dirt road, which resulted in her crashing and getting injuries to her neck and knees. Moreover, the stunt team was kept off the set during that day (and Tarantino is the one spitting on Thurman's face for yet another scene). Can't wait for his edgy new film about him just going to therapy. CRACKED.COM — Source

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Behind-The-Scenes Accidents 1970 EART Catch-22 Cameraman John Jordan had his leg amputated after an accident while filming the 1967 Bond film You Only Live Twice, so you'd think safety would become a priority. As the second unit director for this 1970 anti- war satire, however, he refused to wear safety gear, and died after being sucked out of a flying plane. CRACKED.COM — Source

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Behind-The-Scenes Accidents 1989 The Abyss It can never be said enough: James Cameron is a maniac. During an underwater sequence, Ed Harris yelled cut! when he ran out of air, but the crew only gave him oxygen after he almost drowned. Later that day he broke down in his car, and refuses to talk about the incident. CRACKED.COM — Source

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Behind-The-Scenes Accidents Rust This suspended production was cursed. Alec Baldwin accidentally fired a live round from an unchecked prop revolver, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza. Weeks later, while closing down the sets, a prop technician was bitten by a brown recluse spider, and barely avoided amputation. CRACKED.COM — Source

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Behind-The-Scenes Accidents 1970 Golden Eagle Mitr Chaibancha was a huge Thai movie star, and his last film ends with his actual death. The last day of shooting had Chaibancha's masked vigilante character Red Eagle flying into the sunset hanging from a helicopter rope. But he didn't held on to it properly, and fell to his death. CRACKED.COM — Source

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Behind-The-Scenes Accidents 2004 The Passion of the Christ Former respected thespian and current QAnon wacko Jim Caviezel pretty much went through JC's ordeal. Не ended up with whip gashes and hypothermia, and carrying the cross dislocated his shoulder. Не was even struck by lighting-which was clearly God telling him, you're not gonna disrespect my son by becoming a QAnon wacko, right? CRACKED.COM — Source

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Behind-The-Scenes Accidents 1928 Noah's Ark For the climactic flooding scene, non-existing regulations meant that the extras weren't properly informed of what was going to happen - which was an onrushing 600,000 gallons of water. Three extras drowned, one had to have his leg amputated, and 35 ambulances were needed. CRACKED.COM — Source

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You can strip this one down and sell it for parts

Behind-The-Scenes Accidents 1989 Back to the Future Part II The hoverboard stunt where Griff's gang flies through the front window of the clock tower was poorly planned, but the stunt crew's concerns were ignored. The result? A stunt woman dropped 30 feet onto concrete, breaking her face and right arm, and had to go through five reconstructive surgeries. CRACKED.COM — Source

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The Last Temptation of Christ

40 Behind-the-Scenes Accidents That Turned Into Disasters (or Eureka Moments) — Source

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James Franco needed that headband to cover a head injury. PINEAPPLE EXPRESS GRAGKED.COM Franco ran into a tree a little too convincingly, and needed a headband to cover the wound. — Source

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40 Behind-the-Scenes Accidents That Turned Into Disasters (or Eureka Moments) — Source

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A broken mic cable created the lightsaber sound. STAR WARS CRACKED.COM Sound designer Ben Burtt walked past his TV holding a mic with an exposed wire. That wire picked up the tube's hum, and the iconic KZSSH!! was born. — Source

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Casino Royale

Daniel Craig bellyflopped onto a sandbar. CASINO ROYALE GRACKED.COM Craig was supposed to dive in and swim away, but immediately bumped into a sandbar. This is him emerging, defeated by the sea, to wade back to shore. — Source

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Being John Malkovich

A drunken extra hucked a beer can at Malkovich's bean. BEING JOHN MALKOVICH CRACKED.COM Some extras got ripped and decided to do a drive-by while the scene was live. Malkovich's reaction (pissed off) is genuine. — Source

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Hooper escaped because of some choice B-roll footage. JAWS CRACKED.COM An actual wild shark visciously attacked the cage while no one was inside. So they rewrote the script to let Hooper get away. — Source

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A crewmember knocked over the bookcase. GHOSTBUSTERS CRACKED.COM A falling bookshelf should have been a disaster, but Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd turned it into comedy gold. — Source

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The pyrotechnics malfunctioned. THE WIZARD OF OZ CRACKED.COM You can see the red smoke appear before the Wicked Witch actually leaves. When they tried a re-take, everything went wrong and the actress got 2nd degree burns on her face. — Source

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Christopher Guest used a real sword. THE PRINCESS BRIDE CRACKED.COM They didn't have a prop sword handy, so Cary Elwes told Guest to give him a tap with a real sword... then he woke up in a hospital, getting stitches. — Source

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Luca Brasi's actor was an actual nervous mafioso. THE GODFATHER CRACKED.COM Lenny Montana was a mafia arsonist who was cast because he was huge. Не actually couldn't get his line out, which Coppola used to his advantage. — Source

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Honey Bunny messes up a line. PULP FICTION CRACKED.COM The line that kicks off the robbery is slightly different at the end of the film, a mistake that Tarantino let slide, because it subtley highlights how the scene is no longer from Pumpkin and Honey Bunny's POV. — Source

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A director forgot to yell cut! THE GRADUATE CRACKED.COM An inexperienced editor was filling in for this scene, and just ...forgot to end it, falling ass-backwards into a moment of cinematic genius. — Source

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Don Corleone's cat was purring too loudly. THE GODFATHER CRACKED.COM They almost had to use subtitles. The cat wasn't in the novel or the script in the first place - it was just a cute stray that Coppola found. — Source

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True Lies

Jamie Lee Curtis lost her grip. TRUE LIES CRACKED.COM Her pratfall during her seductive dance was real; you can even see Arnold move to help her. — Source

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An extra misjudged the doorway. STAR WARS: A NEW HOPE CRACKED.COM DEOS This one slipped past George Lucas, but after it became a hit with fans, he added a hollow thud to the DVD re-release. — Source

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Matt Dillon actually fell on his ass. THE OUTSIDERS CRACKED.COM When Dallas falls out of his chair in his skeazy attempt to flirt with Cherry, the whole cast is genuinely cracking up. — Source

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Idris Elba gave Chris Pine a black eye. STAR TREK BEYOND CRACKED.COM Elba was exhausted while filming a fight scene, and accidentally landed a punch, hard. — Source

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Chris Pratt dropped the ball. GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY CRACKED.COM Even though it was perfectly in character, Pratt wasn't supposed to drop the orb upon presenting it to the Collector. — Source

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Daryl Hannah shattered her elbow. BLADE RUNNER When Pris mets Sebastian for the first time, Hannah slips and fals into a van, breaking a window and her own elbow. In eight places. — Source

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40 Behind-the-Scenes Accidents That Turned Into Disasters (or Eureka Moments) — Source

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