Sometimes, in order to get the best shot or scene for a movie, actors and crew members have to put their life at risk for the movie. Most of the time, there are a ton of safety precautions designed for every movie but, that doesn’t mean everything will go smoothly.
Here are 9 cases of horrible accidents that occurred on a movie or TV set.
1. Now You See Me
In the movie ‘Now You See Me’, Isla Fisher, nearly drowned. During her water chamber escape scene she had a tough time unlocking her shackles and was underwater for three minutes.
2. The Expendables 2
One stuntman was killed and another was left in critical condition after a rubber boat explosion went wrong. The man who was in critical condition required five hours of surgery to get him back to normal.
3. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Daniel Radcliffe’s stunt double, David Holmes, injured his neck on the set and was paraylzed. He was working on a flying stunt scene for ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1’ in 2009. 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 age of 25.
4. The Hangover Part 2
A stuntman for ‘The Hangover Part II’ suffered permanent brain damage 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 would later sue Warner Bros. for personal injury damages.
5. The Dark Knight
During a scene where they were filming a moving stunt car, a cameraman was killed as his vehicle missed a 90-degree turn and crashed into a tree.
6. Twilight Zone: The Movie
During a scene that was based on 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 jury found Landis innocent.
7. The Crow
Bruce Lee’s son was tragically killed in a movie-accident for ‘The Crow’. A bullet was misplaced during a scene where Lee’s chracter gets shot and it led to Lee dying a slow and agonizing death on set.
8. XXX
Vin Diesel’s stunt double, Harry L. O’Connor, was filming a scene where he had to rappel down a line and land on a submarine. Instead, O’Connor slammed into a bridge at high speed. He died on impact, but they left the scene in the movie to pay tribute to O’Connor’s last work.
9. 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 cashed into the Pacific Ocean. His body and the plane were never found.
10. Midnight Rider
Camera assistant, Sarah Jones was killed on the movie ‘Midnight Rider’. According to reports, the production went onto the bridge thinking the tracks would be unused for the rest of the day, The production placed a hospital bed on the railroad tracks for a dream scene. While shooting the scene, an oncoming train blew its whistle. The crew was warned that if they heard a train whistle, they would have a minute to clear. But, the train was heading down the tracks faster than expected and the crew did not have time to clear people from the bridge or the bed from the tracks.
The train struck the bed, sending pieces of metal flying in all directions. Sarah Jones was hit by a peices of metal and knocked into the path of the train. She was struck by the train and killed. Other crew members required hospitalization.