15 Popular Movies Which Were Notoriously Difficult To Produce

The Lord of the Rings movies are one of the most popular trilogies in cinema history. But the making of it was not without its mishaps. None of them were life-threatening or time consuming but they were certainly frequent.

Starting with The Fellowship of the Ring, some actors had an allergic reaction to the costume pieces. Orlando Bloom was sensitive to the blue contacts which he wore for Legolas, hence the inconsistent eye colour. John Rhys-Davies broke out in hives because of the full-face prosthetic.

Sean Bean had to go on two-hour hikes to the high mountain locations because he was afraid of flying in the helicopters which transported the crew. Viggo Mortensen chipped a tooth during a fight sequence and Ian McKellen bashed his forehead against a beam in Bilbo’s hobbit hole (it was left in the final film). Furthermore, a scene where the heroes are ambushed by orcs on the rapids on Anduin river had to be cancelled because a flood came about washed away the entire set.

During filming of The Two Towers, Mortensen sustained another injury when he broke two toes while kicking the steel helmet by the orc pyre. Bloom also suffered a few broken ribs after being thrown off a horse and Brett Beattie, a stunt double, got a knee injury. All three performers filmed a scene where they were running after the Orcs and had to work through the pain.

It’s a fantasy themed nine hour trilogy. These things are inevitable.