Everything is possible in the movies – flying cars, killing giants, not dying after a helicopter explosion, the list goes on. The movies can be so awesome we sometimes forget that real people are behind its making. And sometimes, real people have to risk their lives for the sake of that perfect scene. Put together by Redditor FatherUzzi, here are 9 horrible movie set accidents you might not know about.
1. Now You See Me
Isla Fisher, during her water chamber escape scene in Now You See Me nearly drowned after having a tough time unlocking her shackles. She was under water for three minutes!
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2. The Expendables 2
One stuntman was killed and another was left in critical condition after a rubber boat explosion scene went awry. The man who was in critical condition required five hours of operation to get him back in stable condition.
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3. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I
Daniel Radcliffe’s stunt double, David Holmes, injured his neck on the set and was paralyzed. He was working on a flying stunt for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 back in 2009, and he was thrown against a wall, which fractured his neck and left him paralyzed from the neck down with limited mobility in his arms and hands at the too-young age of 25.
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4. The Hangover Part II
Scott McLean, a stuntman for The Hangover Part II, suffered permanent brain and physical injuries while filming a scene that involved moving taxis. For the scene, he was leaning out of the window and his head collided with another oncoming car. He sued Warner Bros. for unspecified damages.
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5. The Dark Knight
During a scene where they were filming a moving stunt car, cameraman Conway Wickliffe was killed as his vehicle missed a 90-degree turn and crashed into a tree.
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6. The Crow
When you’re Bruce Lee’s son, you are almost automatically going to be a bad-ass. However, Brandon Lee tragically passed in what was likely the most well-documented movie-set accident ever. A slug was misplaced during a scene where Lee’s character gets shot and it led to Lee dying in a devastating mistake on set.
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7. XXX
First of all, this movie had a pretty ridiculous title. This was right around the time that Vin Diesel was blowing up. His stunt double, Harry L. O’Connor, was filming a scene where he had to rappel down a line and land on a submarine…. he slammed into a bridge at high speed. He died on impact, but they left the scene in the movie (without the death) to pay tribute to O’Connor’s last work.
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8. Top Gun
Art Scholl was a stunt pilot from Top Gun who died during the filming of a stunt where the camera was in the plane getting footage. He lost control of the plane and crashed into the Pacific Ocean. His body and the plane were never found.
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9. Twilight Zone: The Movie
During a scene that was based around a Vietnam battle, a helicopter accident occurred that led to the decapitation of Vic Morrow and child actors My-ca Dinh Le and Renee Shin-Yi Chen. The director John Landis was sent to trial for the event, but the jury, who witnessed the footage, found that Landis was innocent.
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Credit: Imgur/FatherUzzi