15 Insane Movies That Shouldn't Have Worked

5. Fitzcarraldo (1982)

Tough though most of the movies on this list must've been to get made, Werner Herzog's classic adventure film was a literally Herculean feat of will on the part of the eccentric filmmaker.

With the plot revolving around a man (Klaus Kinski) dragging a 320-ton steam-liner over a large hill in the Peruvian jungle, Herzog dared to do it for real, an astonishing effort which nevertheless adds considerably to the film's epic sweep.

Arguably even more insane than the complicated series of ropes and pulleys Herzog used to transport the ship is the fact he voluntarily spent the entire shoot with the famously erratic Kinski, who aggravated the cast and crew to the point that some native extras offered to murder him for Herzog. He declined, probably reluctantly.

The adversity of the production could so easily have resulted in a mess of a film, but Fitzcarraldo instead endures as an awe-inspiring staple of Herzog's filmography and a true, visionary original in its own right.