10 Movie Stunts That Went COMPLETELY Wrong
From scarring to silly, the stunts which went worse than their performers ever imagined...
As long as there has been movies, there have been stunts.
Cinema is designed as a medium to showcase spectacle, and there are few subjects as visually enthralling as seeing someone pull off truly jaw-dropping stunts. Stunt performers routinely risk life and limb for the sake of an impressive sequence, and their work is central to making entertaining and engaging blockbusters even in the age of CGI touch ups.
But as long as there have been stunts, there have also been stunts which went wrong.
Disastrously, dangerously wrong.
Whether it's an over-ambitious production, an error in planning, or simply a missed cue, there are countless reasons that a stunt might not work out. The real problem arises when the failed stunt puts the life of its performer at risk, whether they are a professional or an actor who thought they didn't need a stand in for the scene.
And that's what list is here to highlight, running down the big screen stunts which went awry whether they made it into the film or left their performers lucky to escape with their lives.
10. Romancing The Stone - Waterfall Mayhem
1984's Romancing the Stone is a superb fusion of light hearted rom com and Indiana Jones style adventure, a breezy fun romp which the later likes of 2008's Fool's Gold proved isn't as easy to pull off as it seems.
It's down to the charming chemistry between stars Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas as well as some truly stunning stunts from long before CGI replaced the life-and-limb-risking art of actual stuntwork.
Case in point, the almost fatal filming of the movie's unforgettable waterfall sequence.
In the film, Turner and Douglas are leaping out of a truck as it careens over the edge of a waterfall. A veteran stuntman almost lost his life during the insanely risky sequence, which saw him and a colleague leap from the truck to theoretical safety as the vehicle plunged off the edge of an actual waterfall.
Of course, the stuntman's board which was intended to fling him to safety malfunctioned, throwing him into the very real whirlpool below.
Meanwhile, his colleague was stunned upon hitting the water, leaving him floating toward the edge too. Luckily the former was able to beat the strong currents and swim to safety whilst the latter was caught before he reached the waterfall's edge.