20 Most Dangerous Movie Sets Ever That You Might Not Know

Carolyn Mullet

In the filming process, many risks hide in the filming location. Though we know there are safety protocols and preventions, sometimes, the crews have to take risks to record the priceless footage. Especially in movies containing hyper-exciting action scenes (such as racing, automotive chasing, fighting) or scenarios that are needed to be filmed in dangerous, tough terrains, moviemakers, and even cast stars have to peril their lives for the movies' success.
Though there are lots of awards for impressive movies, the greatest honor for moviemakers is acknowledgment and support from audiences. Behind the magnificent scenes, there are sweat, tears, and even blood. It can be a previously-warned dangerous shot or an unexpected tragic accident. Opposite to viewers' expectations, the filming studios are not always a safe and delightful sanctuary for actors, actresses, and crew members. Check out 20 Most Dangerous Movie Sets in this post.
We have searched through movie history to demonstrate the top twenty most dangerous movies ever made that you might not know. We believe if you are a movie lover, you won't get past this compilation without checking it out at least once! The Most Dangerous Movies might be found here.

#1. Resident Evil: Final Chapter Incident (2016)

Dangerous Movie SetsSource: Screen Gems

UK stuntwoman Olivia Jackson has won a court ruling in her favor regarding a 2015 accident on the South African set of Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, from which she sustained ‘life-changing’ injuries. In a 115 kilometers-per-hour motorcycle stunt, a crane-mounted camera vehicle collided with Jackson, severely injuring her face and causing multiple fractures, serious brain swelling, and ruptured arteries in her arm and neck. Later, her left arm had to be amputated. Luckily, she survived her injuries. However, the same couldn't the said about another crew member Ricardo Cornelius who was crushed to death after a Humvee pinned him to the wall.

#2. Mission Impossible – Fallout (2018)

Dangerous Movie SetsSource: Paramount Pictures

Tom Cruise prefers doing his own stunt. Thus, while filming for Mission Impossible – Fallout, the actor said he would do all his stunts. He was also doing them pretty well. However, during one of the action sequences, he ended up shattering his ankle. “I was chasing Henry and was meant to hit the side of the wall and pull myself over but the mistake was my foot hitting the wall,” he explained. “I knew instantly my ankle was broken and I really didn’t want to do it again so just got up and carried on with the take. I said, ‘It’s broken. That’s a wrap. Take me to hospital’ and then everyone got on the phone and made their vacation arrangement.”

#3. Apocalypse Now (1979)

Dangerous Movie SetsSource: United Artists

The filming procedures were extremely difficult. The experience was described as “hell on Earth”. Their sets got destroyed by hurricanes, they were exposed to malaria. Martin Sheen, an actor, suffered a heart attack after getting nearly completely mentally broken down. The crews were stuck for a couple of years in the middle of a tropical area with the worst conditions that a movie crew had ever been to.

#4. Iron Man 3 (2013)

Dangerous Movie SetsSource: Marvel, Walt Disney Studios

The production of Iron Man 3 encountered a major hurdle, however, when Downey suffered an injury on set. While performing a jumping stunt, he broke his ankle during an awkward landing. This resulted in him having to stay off his ankle for a month and a half, forcing filming to shut down. However, work still continued on the film in a different way and it resulted in a better movie.

#5. Transformers: Dark Of The Moon (2011)

Dangerous Movie SetsSource: Paramount Pictures

Gabriella Cedillo was one of 80 extras brought in to appear in the background of an action sequence shooting in the city of Hammond for Transformers: Dark of the Moon. At the time of the accident, she was driving her own car, a 2006 Toyota. In their suit, Cedillo's lawyers claimed the aspiring actor was hit by a snapped cable that had been pulling another vehicle involved in the stunt. It crashed through her windscreen and struck her in the head. Finally, Paramount Pictures had to award the family $18 million.

#6. The Crow (1994)

Dangerous Movie SetsSource: Miramax Films

Brandon Lee was in the midst of filming a scene where his character, Eric Driven, is shot at by gang members who have forced him to witness the murder of his fiancée Shelly Webster. Michael Masse pulled the trigger of the revolver which had not been put in safety mode. Lee lost his life due to massive blood loss while Masse had to stop acting for a year.

#7. Troy (2004)

Dangerous Movie SetsSource: Warner Bros

In the filming process of Troy, there were "unclear instructions" about what extras had to do, and these conflicting instructions contributed to stuntman George Camilleri's injury. He was admitted to the hospital suffering from trauma to the left ankle and underwent surgery and was discharged. Then, he was re-admitted from chest pains and breathlessness, and passed away two days later due to pulmonary thromboembolism – it was due to a blood clot in his leg.Brad Pitt, who played fearsome Achilles, also damaged his Achilles tendon. The injury stopped the production for over two months before he was fit again.

#8. Quantum of Solace (2008)

Source: Sony Pictures

While filming his second Bond film, Craig sustained at least two injuries. He had to visit the hospital during production because he lost the tip of one of his fingers. Then, he had surgery to repair his shoulder’s separation after filming. As Daniel Craig was filming a fight scene, he took a big hit on his face and received eight stitches with a black eye.

#9. Ghostland (2018)

Source: imdb

Actress Taylor Hickson, who suffered a gruesome facial injury when she crashed through a glass door while filming the indie horror pic Ghostland in Canada, has filed a lawsuit against the film’s production company, Incident Productions. She was performing “an emotionally charged scene” in which the director had asked her to pound harder and harder on the door, with her face right next to the glass pane, according to the suit filed Friday with the Queen’s Bench in Winnipeg.

#10. The Conqueror (1956)

Source: RKO Radio Pictures

Of the 220 film crew members, 91 developed cancer during their lifetime, while 46 died from it. When this was learned, many suspected that filming in Utah and surrounding locations, near nuclear test sites, was to blame. They shot the film in the Utah desert downwind from the location where the US government had previously detonated 100 nuclear bombs from 1951 to 1962. As the filming began in 1953, eleven nuclear bombs had already been detonated by then.

#11. Salt (2010)

Source: imdb, Columbia Pictures

Angelina Jolie had an accident on the set of Salt. She took a dive with all the velocity that she needed to, but there was a TV monitor in her way and she collided with it and it hit her between her eyes. She was asked to stop working for several weeks.

#12. The Expendables 3 (2014)

Source: Lionsgate Entertainment

Jason Statham almost died after truck brakes failed on a set of The Expendables 3. The actor was forced to leap from the wagon he was driving before it plunged 60ft into the sea. Statham owed his life to his strong swimming skills after the brakes on the coach broke. His co-star, Sylvester Stallone fell and it resulted in him getting a metal plate inserted into his back.

#13. Waterworld 1995

Source: Universal Studios

Unbeknownst to most of the crew, Kevin Costner’s stunt double was riding his jet ski across 40 miles of open ocean between his home on Maui and the film’s set on the Big Island. The stunt double’s jet ski had run out of gas halfway through his “commute” and a storm had swept him farther out to sea. It took a helicopter most of the day to find him. The film's lead star, Kevin Costner, was lucky enough to escape after getting caught in a storm for about 30 minutes. He was tied to the mast of a boat and he made a very lucky escape.

#14. Twilight Zone: The Movie 1983

Source: Bettmann / Contributor via Getty

The high-action storyline also required the use of explosives and a helicopter, which led to disaster. In a particularly tricky sequence, the star, Vic Morrow, was tasked with carrying two children across a stream, at night, to a helicopter rescue team. As the actor hoisted the kids, the crew detonated explosions around them. When the blasts came too close to the helicopter, it plunged into the river, striking Morrow and the children. Unfortunately, all three victims were killed.

#15. Rambo: First Blood Part II 1985

Source: TriStar Pictures

One of the dangerous stunts in this movie led to the death of special effects technician Cliff Wenger Junior. He was in charge of setting up countless explosions in the film and unfortunately, it took his life. There is still uncertainty about his death as some claim he fell off a waterfall while rigging up explosives while others think that his death was a result of premature detonation.

#16. xXx (2002)

Source: Columbia Pictures

In an action scene, Vin Diesel's character, Xander Cage, had to land on a moving boat by zip-lining down the cable of his paraglide, hence barely making the landing. The stuntman Harry O'Connor wasn’t able to make it under the bridge and struck a pillar at a fast speed. The scene finally made into the final cut of the movie, but it was edited to make it look like nothing bad happened.

Source: Columbia Pictures


#17. Roar 1981

Source: Filmways

Roar movie was flooded by injuries and accidents. It took 11 years to complete the production and over 70 members of the cast and crew were injured by the wild animals (real lions, tigers, leopards, and others). The filmmakers were also close to getting killed from various incidents such as bone fractures, scalping, and gangrene. Roar is the most dangerous yet stupidest movie in history.

#18. Jumper 2008

Source: Twentieth Century Fox

A crew member was killed on the set of director Doug Liman's sci-fi thriller Jumper. The Toronto set was dismantled after the location wrapped and production moved to a location in Tokyo. Set dresser David Ritchie, 56, was hit and killed instantly by a frozen piece of sand and gravel that fell off a wall at an outdoor set. A second crew member was taken to the hospital overnight but is reportedly not in danger. The police referred to it as a "fluke accident."

#19. The Hangover Part II 2011

Source: Warner Bros

Scott McLean was the stunt double of Ed Helms and in one scene he had to stick his head out of a moving truck only to have his head narrowly miss an oncoming car. He experienced severe head trauma after his head hit the other vehicle and was then airlifted to the hospital.

#20. The Hobbit Trilogy (2012, 2013, 2014)

Source: Warner Bros

27 animals died during the filming of The Hobbit. There were enclosures built for over 150 animals on top of underground steams that led to sinkholes. The animals would fall down the sinkholes, break bones and even suffocate to death.
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