10 Iconic Movie Scenes You Didn't Realise Happened By Accident
5. 127 Hours - Fake Arm, Real Drama
127 Hours is a masterpiece of suspense. Telling the true story of hiker Aron Ralston's imprisonment when a large boulder pinned his arm in a narrow canyon, it is a harrowing exercise in film-watching, even more so knowing it really happened.
A pivotal point in the movie is when Ralston, played by James Franco, makes the unimaginable decision to sever his own arm and free himself so he can escape. After fashioning a tourniquet from equipment he had with him, he breaks the bones in his arm then slowly amputates the arm so he can pull away.
When the time came to recreate the self-amputation scene, the production crew created a very realistic arm for James Franco to hack through - blood, tendons, muscle and all. It wasn't expected that Franco would be able to get through the prop in one go, so the director's plan was to edit different shots together to get footage that appeared to be one take.
Franco, however, had different plans. He actually did get through arm in one take, losing himself in the role so believably that the shot was used and was considered perfect.
Later, the real Aron Ralston praised the scene as 'as realistic as you could get.'