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From brutal injuries to explosive tempers, some movie magic comes at a high cost! Join us as we reveal the shocking behind-the-scenes drama that plagued Hollywood's most iconic moments. From Kubrick's 127 takes on Duvall in The Shining to real-life danger in Jaws, these scenes pushed cast and crew to their breaking points!
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00:00And are you concerned about me?
00:02Of course I am!
00:04Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at the movie scenes that took far more trial and error than anyone expected.
00:11I cast you out!
00:15Number 20. Kenyon Chase. Mad Max Fury Road.
00:19This stunning sequence marked a significant turn in action filmmaking, but behind the scenes, things were far from easy.
00:30As detailed in the book, Blood, Sweat, and Chrome, Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy clashed hard during the grueling shoot in the desert.
00:41Hardy repeatedly arrived late to set, stalling production, and causing Theron to confront him.
00:46Hey. What's your name? What do I call you?
00:54Does it matter?
00:55He reacted angrily, reportedly charging toward her, leaving Theron shaken enough to request female producer Denise D'Novi's presence for safety.
01:04Looking back, Theron claimed,
01:06We were either fighting, or we were icing each other. I don't know which one is worse.
01:10Meanwhile, Hardy acknowledged his behavior, admitting,
01:13I was in over my head in many ways, and what she needed was a better, perhaps more experienced partner in me.
01:19Number 19. Bear Attack. The Revenant.
01:29It may look real, but that's not an actual bear that DiCaprio's fighting.
01:33In reality, stuntman Glenn Ennis wore a heavy blue bear suit, but filming was punishingly realistic, as the actor was quite literally mauled and manhandled.
01:41Director Alejandro G. Inaritu demanded absolute realism,
01:52which meant DiCaprio was dragged, slammed, and yanked by wire rigs to simulate a real bear attack in the cold, wet forest in Squamish, British Columbia.
02:01Considering how things were pushed to their limits,
02:11it's no wonder the film ended up earning Oscars for Best Actor, Cinematography, and Direction.
02:16Speaking to Global News, Ennis remarked in the experience, saying,
02:20It was hard, sweaty work for me, and now that it's turned into what it's turned into, I'm incredibly proud of the work.
02:25Number 18. Omaha Beach Landing. Saving Private Ryan.
02:37Director Steven Spielberg considered most World War II films to be too sanitized,
02:41and set out to accurately depict the horrors of Omaha Beach.
02:46Clear the room! 30 seconds!
02:50Shooting took over four weeks, costing over $70 million.
02:53Spielberg hired around 30 people with missing limbs, and paralysis, to portray the wounded with uncomfortable authenticity.
03:00Filmed on an Irish beach, the mayhem involved relentless explosions, choking smoke, and cameras thrust amongst the chaos.
03:14One extra's foot was unfortunately run over by a car, but was thankfully the only serious incident.
03:19Tom Hanks and the main cast slept under canvas, and ate rations to be trained as soldiers.
03:25As associate producer Mark Huffman recalled,
03:27Most of the explosive charges on that beach were real, so when they went off, the beach shook.
03:32That's quite a view.
03:35Yes, it is.
03:37Number 17. Bridge Destruction. The Bridge on the River Kwai.
03:41Back when studios relied on miniatures for cinematography, director David Lean dared to be different,
03:46building an entire 425-foot bridge above the Sri Lankan River, just to blow it up.
03:52Colonel Green has given me the Kwai bridge. I'm going to take a team in and blow it up.
03:57Lucky you.
03:58Production was fraught with tensions between Lean and Alec Guinness.
04:02However, the bridge destruction brought Lean his biggest headache.
04:05With the train loaded with explosives, and multiple cameras set up all around,
04:10Lean realized cameraman Freddy Ford had failed to retreat in time.
04:17Left with no option, he was forced to abort the blast,
04:20sending the train derailing off the tracks, but no explosion on film.
04:24The crew spent the night repairing the locomotive,
04:26trying all over again the next day to record the now legendary sequence.
04:29Number 16. The Whole Movie. 12 Angry Men.
04:47It's hard to pick one scene when nearly the entire film unfolds in a single location.
04:51Director Sidney Lumet essentially trapped the cast in a cramped jury room,
04:55creating a sense of claustrophobia, desperation, and emotional pressure.
04:59Okay, gentlemen, if I can have your attention.
05:03You fellas can handle this thing any way that you want to.
05:05I'm, you know, I'm not going to make any rules.
05:08To heighten the effect, Lumet filmed continuous long shots,
05:11including an uninterrupted seven-minute take,
05:13keeping the camera at eye level,
05:15and gradually tightening the framing of the walls.
05:17This technique conveyed the mounting sense of tension
05:20and frustration with each passing minute.
05:22What's the matter with you guys?
05:25You all know he's guilty. He's got to burn.
05:27You're letting him slip through our fingers.
05:28Slip through our fingers? Are you his executioner?
05:32I'm one of them!
05:33The director revealed his strategy in his book, Making Movies, writing,
05:37Not only were the walls closing in, the ceiling was as well.
05:40The sense of increasing claustrophobia did a lot to raise the tension of the last part of the movie.
05:44I'm telling you, I've got all the facts here.
05:47Number 15. Cleopatra's Entrance in Rome.
05:51Cleopatra.
05:51Boasting a budget of $31 million,
05:54Cleopatra was the most expensive movie ever made at the time,
05:57with a significant chunk going into this scene.
05:59And even more than six decades after its release,
06:02it never fails to take our breath away.
06:04Planned months in advance,
06:05the staggering scale has everything from lavish costumes,
06:09extravagant set design,
06:10and thousands of background actors.
06:12Coordinating the crowd,
06:14keeping track of costumes,
06:15and designing set pieces all contributed to the film's ballooning budget,
06:19becoming a logistical nightmare.
06:23Your queen has conquered the people in Rome.
06:26Of course, Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor's infamous affair also became common knowledge,
06:30casting a wide shadow of scandal and speculation over an already chaotic shoot.
06:35You take so much of me with you so far.
06:39Remember, remember, they'll want you to forget, please.
06:42Forget?
06:44How?
06:46I can never be more far away from you than this.
06:51Number 14. The Shower.
06:54Psycho.
06:55One of the most famous scenes of all time,
06:57Marion Crane's shocking murder became the gold standard against which every plot twist has been measured.
07:05Janet Leigh spent an entire week in the shower,
07:15due to Alfred Hitchcock's painstaking attention to detail.
07:18Hitchcock used 70 camera setups for 45 seconds of footage.
07:27After Leigh became unavailable during post-production,
07:30the director had Vera Miles stand in to reshoot certain angles for previews.
07:34The scene underwent an arduous censorship process,
07:37as Hitchcock battled board censors over the violence and flashes of skin on display.
07:41The scene reportedly spooked Leigh so much,
07:44that the actress only showered with all the windows and doors open from then on out.
07:55Number 13. You Can't Handle the Truth.
07:58A Few Good Men.
07:59Despite limited screen time,
08:01Jack Nicholson became the most memorable part of this classic legal drama.
08:05Do you solemnly swear that the testimony you will give in this general court-martial
08:08will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?
08:12Yes, I do.
08:13Nicholson and Tom Cruise had no on-set conflict,
08:15but the pressure behind their iconic showdown was huge
08:18because of how many people witnessed it.
08:20Speaking at the British Film Institute,
08:22Cruise recalled spectators packing into the rafters,
08:24saying,
08:25The town knew that we were shooting it,
08:27and they would come just to see the scene,
08:29to see us go at it.
08:30Colonel, at the time of this meeting,
08:31you gave Lieutenant Kendrick an order, is that right?
08:33I told Kendrick to tell his men that Santiago wasn't to be touched.
08:38After no while,
08:38remember the tension starting even earlier at the table read,
08:41when Nicholson first transformed into Colonel Jessup.
08:44The shift was so powerful,
08:46that every actor sat up straight,
08:47thinking,
08:48We're really doing this,
08:49as the intensity escalated to an almost otherworldly level.
08:52You want answers?
08:53I think I'm entitled to it.
08:54You want answers!
08:56I want the truth!
08:57You can't handle the truth!
08:59Number 12.
09:00Opening Battle.
09:01Gladiator.
09:02The opening battle in Germania sets the stage for Ridley Scott's Oscar-winning epic,
09:07and filming came with a whole lot of hurdles.
09:09Atres!
09:10Atres!
09:13Three weeks from now,
09:15I will be harvesting my crops.
09:18Imagine where you will be,
09:20and it will be so.
09:22Shot at Bourne Wood in Surrey, England,
09:24there was only one way to depict the widespread destruction,
09:27burning the forest down.
09:29Scott was granted permission to film the sequence,
09:31since the Forestry Commission was set to remove a section of the forest anyway.
09:37And so,
09:40every flame,
09:41cloud of smoke,
09:42and flying debris is all real,
09:44forcing the crew to navigate a battlefield
09:46that recreates the chaos of ancient warfare.
09:48The film's grueling production had its impact,
09:51with everyone from stunt people,
09:53to lead star Russell Crowe sustaining injuries,
09:55for what remains one of the most demanding sequences ever shot on film.
09:58Number 11,
10:08The Desert,
10:09Ishtar.
10:10Among the biggest box office disasters ever made,
10:13Ishtar suffered an infamously botched production.
10:16I don't think it's smart to keep walking out here in the desert.
10:18We'll be there in a minute.
10:19If you're tired,
10:20ride the camel.
10:21Columbia Pictures chose Morocco to spend its non-repatriable funds,
10:25leaving director Elaine May no choice but to shoot all the film's desert scenes in the Sahara.
10:30The harsh climate took its toll on May,
10:32who,
10:33along with dealing with poor infrastructure and a lack of basic necessities,
10:36had frequent tensions with producer star Warren Beatty.
10:39What have you done?
10:40What have I done?
10:41Yes.
10:41Are you blaming this on me?
10:42Yes, I am.
10:43On me?
10:44On you.
10:44According to production designer Paul Silbert,
10:46May threatened to walk out at one point,
10:48reportedly shouting at Beatty,
10:50You want it done?
10:51You shoot it.
10:51Ultimately,
10:53differences in creative vision and their inability to adapt
10:56turned the desert into the backdrop for one of cinema's greatest failures.
11:00Oh, gee.
11:02Number 10.
11:03Mass Ceremony.
11:05Eyes Wide Shut.
11:06The Mass Ceremony is the centerpiece of Stanley Kubrick's erotic psychological drama,
11:10but the director openly dreaded shooting it.
11:13Good evenings.
11:15Good evening.
11:16Constant delays led to repeated castings
11:18and months-long rehearsals that ranged from odd to totally bizarre.
11:22Oh, look, look.
11:25Yeah, that's 16.
11:26Let's go with the crew.
11:27Oh, that's 16.
11:31As several members of the crew told news outlet Vulture,
11:34Kubrick's unflinching perfectionism pushed performers to their limits.
11:38Many spent hours kneeling, twisting, and saddled in costume,
11:42leaving them with injured legs and bruised knees.
11:45Some balked at the nudity and opted out,
11:47while others pushed through.
11:48At one point, a missing light halted filming for hours,
11:52and Kubrick refused to shoot until it was fixed.
11:54Performer Abigail Good thought Kubrick probably drove people mad,
11:58but he was one of those annoying people who's always right.
12:01Gentlemen.
12:03Please.
12:04Number 9.
12:05Surprise Gift for Jack Waltz.
12:07The Godfather.
12:08Easily one of cinema's most unforgettable scenes,
12:10Jack Waltz gets the shock of his life the morning after refusing The Godfather's request.
12:14If you thought the moment is disturbingly real,
12:23then you're not imagining it,
12:25because that's a real head you're looking at.
12:27The animal in question was already marked for slaughter,
12:29and director Francis Ford Coppola acquired the head from a New Jersey dog food supplier.
12:34The use of this very real prop caused controversy even at the time.
12:37Still, no one was more stunned than actor John Marley,
12:41who allegedly had no idea that the rubber head he'd rehearsed with had been swapped out.
12:45The result?
12:46The most realistic, blood-curdling scream arguably ever heard on film.
12:53Number 8.
12:55Sinking Ship Sequence.
12:56Titanic.
12:57James Cameron's hard-hitting directorial style on Titanic
13:00garnered him the title of the scariest man in Hollywood.
13:03One particular moment unexpectedly put Kate Winslet in peril.
13:23In a 1997 interview with the LA Times,
13:26the actress recalled being submerged by rushing water
13:28when her coat was caught in a metal gate,
13:30saying,
13:31I had to sort of shimmy out of the coat to get free.
13:34I had no breath left.
13:35I thought I'd burst.
13:36Winslet also sustained bruises on her arms,
13:39and a chipped elbow during the extended sinking sequence.
13:42While she never complained on set,
13:43she didn't appreciate Cameron's lack of concern.
13:46Further adding that,
13:47looking back,
13:48I can't believe I allowed that to be done to me.
13:50Ready?
13:51Ready?
13:53Now!
13:53Number 7.
14:00Wicked Witch on Fire.
14:02The Wizard of Oz.
14:03At the time of its release,
14:05The Wizard of Oz amazed viewers with groundbreaking effects.
14:08I thought you said she was dead.
14:10That was her sister,
14:11the Wicked Witch of the East.
14:12Margaret Hamilton's Wicked Witch
14:13is forever embedded in pop culture history,
14:16but her performance came with a heavy price.
14:18Well, my little pretty,
14:19I can cause accidents too.
14:21During a second take for her escape from Munchkinland,
14:24Hamilton was supposed to drop through a hidden elevator
14:26while fire and smoke simulated her disappearance.
14:29However,
14:30a botched pyrotechnic ended up igniting
14:32the flammable green paint on her hands and face,
14:35giving Hamilton third-degree burns instead.
14:37Requiring as many as three months to recover,
14:40the actress refused to work around open flames ever again.
14:43The film may be an all-time classic,
14:45but Hamilton's ordeal was sadly
14:46just one of several health-related hazards
14:48the cast had to face.
14:49I'll get you, my pretty,
14:52and your little dog too.
15:03Number 6.
15:04Ship Hauling Sequence
15:05Fitzcarraldo
15:06This adventure epic centers around
15:08transporting a massive steamship
15:10over a jungle ridge.
15:12Director Werner Herzog
15:13wanted a completely real shoot.
15:15And so, an actual 320-ton steamship was pushed across the steep Amazon terrain for a scene that
15:35served as the film's main event. As expected, things were far from smooth. The main sequence
15:40was riddled with problems, ranging from rain, broken machinery, illness, mudslides, and the
15:46overworked crew enduring extreme exhaustion. With the ship haul lasting for months, workers
15:50were under constant strain and pressure while dealing with dangerous conditions. For his part,
15:55Herzog showed no regrets, proclaiming himself the conquistador of the useless for pulling off
16:00a stunt he believed no one would ever accomplish again.
16:10Number 5. Bird Attack. The Birds. Alfred Hitchcock delivered an all-time shocker with the climatic
16:25sequence in The Birds.
16:32Here, Tippi Hedren is subjected to a relentless assault by a swarm of birds, and the terror
16:37on her face is far more than just acting. In her memoir, Hedren claimed that Hitchcock
16:42opted out of using mechanical birds at the last minute, making her spend five whole days
16:46with ravens, pigeons, and crows being tossed at her without mercy.
16:50By the fifth day, Hedren was reduced to tears after a bird pecked her dangerously close to
17:02her eye. So as incredible as the scene is, it's hard to look past the disturbing lengths it took
17:07to achieve.
17:08Number 4. Reagan's Levitation. The Exorcist.
17:12Long shrouded with rumors of a cursed production, The Exorcist had several ill-fated incidents,
17:17including illnesses, a mysterious set fire, and cast members nursing lifelong injuries.
17:21It's the power of Christ that compels you. The power of Christ compels you.
17:28But the most notorious one remains tied to the levitation scene, mainly because of how
17:33much Linda Blair went through at such a young age. Wearing an 80-pound bodysuit, the actress
17:38was strapped to a mechanical rig that lifted her, flung her around, and slammed her according
17:43to the scene's demands. The harness's unpredictability and the crew's inability to properly control
17:51the force of its movements left Blair with chronic pain for years. Looking back, she
17:56admitted, the back injury was far more serious than I ever imagined and really affected my
18:00health negatively for a long time.
18:03Number 3. The First Shark Attack. Jaws.
18:07Long and inexperienced, Steven Spielberg insisted on filming in the open sea, a move he came
18:12to regret.
18:13What's your name again?
18:14Chrissy.
18:15Where are we going?
18:18Swimming.
18:19Controlling the mechanical shark was an absolute nightmare, as the ocean's currents
18:23invaded the scene's planned execution. Saltwater caused the shark to malfunction, inflating
18:28the budget even further, as the crew tried to figure out how to deal with it.
18:31Susan Baklini, who portrayed the victim Chrissy, was pulled in multiple directions by ten men
18:45on either side, which Spielberg called one of the most dangerous sequences he's directed.
18:50But all his troubles turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as Spielberg claimed, the shark
18:54not working was a godsend. It made me become more like Alfred Hitchcock than Ray Harryhausen.
18:59Number 2. The Hotel Room. Apocalypse Now.
19:03From destroyed sets, to Marlon Brando's erratic behavior, Francis Ford Coppola's war epic was
19:08plagued with problems from the get-go.
19:10Saigon.
19:12I'm still only in Saigon.
19:19Martin Sheen's personal issues added another layer of conflict, culminating in a heart attack
19:23later in production. But the first sign of trouble appeared during the hotel room scene.
19:28Spiraling under his real-life alcohol use disorder, Sheen refused to wrap up in case,
19:32as he put it, something might happen.
19:34I'm here a week now.
19:36Waiting for a mission.
19:41Repelled by his own reflection, he punched the mirror in disgust, cutting his hand.
19:46Unable to control Sheen, Coppola let the moment play out, capturing all his over-the-top
19:50antics on film. Years later, the actor voiced embarrassment with his behavior, saying,
19:55I never wanted to watch it. I wasn't very proud of it. I was crazy.
20:00Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get notified
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20:14Number 1. The Staircase. The Shining.
20:19Reportedly requiring a mind-boggling 127 takes, the staircase scene remains one of the most contentious
20:25aspects of The Shining's production.
20:27Has it ever occurred to you what would happen to my future if I were to fail to live up to
20:32my responsibilities? Has it ever occurred to you? Has it?
20:35Stay away from me.
20:37Why?
20:38After Shelley Duvall reached her breaking point, as Kubrick refused to relent, demanding she
20:43continue filming until she was exhausted and visibly in a state of panic. Decades later,
20:48at the age of 71, Duvall revisited the scene in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter,
20:52and broke down in tears.
20:53I'm not gonna hurt you.
20:56Stay away from me! Stay away from me! Please!
21:02Stop swinging the bat.
21:04Stay away from me!
21:05When asked why it stirred up so much emotion, she explained,
21:08Because we filmed that for about three weeks. Every day, it was very hard.
21:12Although Duvall praised both Nicholson and Kubrick for how well the scene turned out,
21:16the toll it had on her remains a source of controversy.
21:19Stay away from me!
21:20Give me the bat.
21:21Ah! God damn!
21:28Which of these film facts took you by surprise? Let us know in the comments.
21:31Let us know in the comments.
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