3. The Twilight Zone: The Movie (1982)
Few movie sets have produced the level of tragedy and controversy surrounding the shooting of Twilight Zone: The Movie. At first, the buzz was huge: Twilight Zone on the big screen, produced by Steven Spielberg, featuring four vignettes by directors Spielberg, John Landis, Joe Dante and George Miller. This was the 1980s, and all four directors were at the top of their games. Twilight Zones all-star cast, including Vic Morrow, Scatman Crothers, Kevin McCarthy, Dan Ackroyd, Albert Brooks and John Lithgow, were on board. But during production of John Landiss segment, called Time Out, actor Vic Morrow (TVs Combat) was killed on the effects-heavy set, along with two child actors. The scene, set in Vietnam during the war, required that Morrow carry the two children across a river. They are being pursued by a military helicopter while a village behind them is exploding in flames. The explosive effects were not only enormous but so hot that they caused the low-flying helicopter to crash onto the set. One of the child actors was killed by the choppers runner; Morrow and the other child were decapitated by the helicopters rotor blades. Compounding the tragedy of the crash itself, it was made public that the two child actors, Myca Dinh Le (age 7) and Renee Shin-Yi Chen (age 6), were brought onto the production with cash under the table, because child labor laws prevented them from working at night and on dangerous effects-laden sets. Somewhat controversially, the Landis segment featuring Morrow was re-edited and used in the final film. Critics called it unabashed commercialism; Landis said Morrows final performance should be preserved forever on film. The crash remains one of the most tragic events in Hollywood history, and the laundry list of mistakes leading up to the tragedy and the subsequent manslaughter trial have changed how helicopters, special effects and children are used in filmmaking to this day. Landis, associate producer George Folsey, production manager Dan Allingham, explosives expert Paul Stewart chopper pilot Dorcey Wingo were tried for manslaughter in 1987 but acquitted of all charges. The broken friendship between Spielberg and Landis remains another casualty of the Twilight Zone.