10 Mistakes That Actually Improved The Final Films

Legenday Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa was hugely influential on other directors all over the world. Western films like A Fistful of Dollars and The Magnificent Seven were direct remakes of Kurosawa's work, while movies like A Bug's Life or even Star Wars also owe great debts to the Japanese director. Modern movie violence was also influenced by Kurosawa's work, but one of his most famous and bloody scenes was actually a total accident.

Sanjuro, the sequel to Yojimbo, ends with the titular hero finally facing off against his nemesis, Hanbei. The pair prepare for a climactic duel, but it's over before it even begins as Sanjuro kills Hanbei in a single strike. A blast of blood shoots out of Hanbei's chest and he falls to the ground. It was a striking effect that had never been seen before, but it was totally unplanned.

A hose attached to the actor playing Hanbei broke, shooting out way more 'blood' than it should have done. The force of the hose nearly sent the actor off balance, but he stayed in character and finished the scene, with Kurosawa leaving it in the final cut. This effect wowed audiences at the time and has become a staple of samurai movies, as well as being used in plenty of Western exploitation films and horrors.