10 Ridiculous Ways You Won't Believe Films Accomplished Shots

7. Akira Kurosawa Shot Real Arrows At Toshiro Mifune For Throne Of Blood (1957)

Akira Kurosawa is responsible for some unforgettable death scenes, like the killing of Kyuzo by the recently-invented musket in Seven Samurai, or the geyser of blood-spurting end of Hanbei in Sanjuro. Perhaps most unforgettable of all, however, is the death of Washizu (Toshiro Mifune) in Kurosawa's adaptation of Macbeth, Throne of Blood: having killed his lord and arranged the murder of his best friend, Washizu finds his newly acquired castle besieged by an avenging army of samurai. Fearful, and tired of his rule, Washizu's men turn on him and decide to offer his body up to the enemy.

To do this, they have to kill him first, so Washizu's troops take the practical approach and fire a barrage of arrows his way. And with Mifune clearly on-camera apparently dodging these flying kill-sticks for some unnervingly long takes, it looks almost real. That would be because it is - doing away with all this special effects or camera trickery nonsense, Kurosawa had choreographed archers shoot real waves of arrows at Mifune, requiring the actor to hit specific marks and hope to hell one of the bowmen wasn't having an 'off day'.

If Mifune looks appropriately frightened for his life in this final scene, then he probably is.