8 Famous Movie Scenes That Were Hell To Film

8. The Helicopter Scene - Apocalypse Now

There's a certain irony to the fact that many consider Apocalypse Now to be one of the most authentic depictions of armed conflict ever seen on the big screen, because most of the cast and crew likened the entire 68-week shoot to fighting in a war.

That scene where the squadron of helicopters looms large while Ride of the Valkyries blares out and is about as iconic as they come, and it's been imitated countless times by everything from Zack Snyder's Watchmen to Kong: Skull Island.

The reason this sequence caused director Francis Ford Coppola such a headache is because Phillipino dictator Ferdinand Marcos kept stealing the choppers. Well, technically they belonged to him and were on loan with the production crew, but he swiftly took them back at one point to crush an attempted coup.

The Marcos government also provided pilots to fly the helicopters and was quick to recall them when they were needed in battle. This caused Coppola yet more woes while filming the scene, as their replacements did not know the flight patterns.

In fairness, any scene from Apocalypse Now could have made this list as its production was also marred by Martin Sheen's heart attack, rogue tigers breaking loose on set, a typhoon and the theft of the entire payroll.

Is it any wonder Coppola threw away the Oscars he won for his Vietnam War epic?