20 Movies That Took HUGE Risks (And NAILED It)
4. Moving A 320-Ton Steamship Over A Hill FOR REAL - Fitzcarraldo
Never one to do things the easy way, Werner Herzog decided that the only way to show a steamship being dragged over the Andes mountains in his epic drama Fitzcarraldo was to just... do it for real.
Herzog had his crew drag a 320-ton steamer over a hill in the Peruvian Amazon without the use of special effects, ensuring what we see in the final film was achieved entirely in-camera.
It's complete lunacy to even attempt such a feat, and beyond the obvious health and safety concerns, the sheer logistics make it impossible by modern filmmaking standards.
No studio on the planet nowadays would let a filmmaker do what Herzog did for real, opting instead for the safer, less-arduous process of visual effects.
But the sheer toil of Fitzcarraldo's creation only adds to its mesmerising heft, and knowing that what we see on the screen was done without any sort of behind-the-scenes trickery is a huge part of what has made it endure for almost 50 years.