Two of India’s best stuntmen tragically drowned in early November this year after jumping more than 20 metres from a helicopter into a reservoir. Raghav Uday and Anil Verma barely knew how to swim and were not wearing life vests as they jumped from the helicopter for the film
As soon as the men jumped, a motorboat was supposed to rush out to the middle of the Bangalore reservoir to rescue them but the engine failed. Local fisherman frantically rowed out in an attempt to save the drowning men but by the time they made it, there was no trace of them.
Death defying stunts and jaw-dropping scenes is what draws us to the theatres. A majority of the time, stunts and action sequences are pulled off seamlessly but there have been times when things have gone tragically wrong.
Here are some more occasions when film stunts have heart-breakingly resulted in death or incredible injury.
Dylan O’Brien, the star of the hit sci-fi series was rushed to hospital after being hit by a car back in March while performing a stunt for the movie. He suffered a number of broken bones including fractures to his face. The first two films have already grossed more than $650 million worldwide with the third supposed to be released in February 2017. Originally, the production team believed the star would need only a few weeks to recover, however production completely shut down after they realised the extent of his injuries.
Due to this, the third instalment is slated for release in January 2018.
Aussie stuntman Scott McLean was horrifically injured back in 2010 while performing a stunt in Bangkok. Although not considered a dangerous stunt at the time, a car and truck that were engaged in a high speed chase had an accident in which McLean was a passenger.
He was in a medically-induced coma for two months and suffered permanent brain injuries.
The Aussie stuntman launched legal action against Warner Bros. back in 2011 stating the speed of the cars and the timing of the stunt was changed last minute which resulted in the collision. He eventually reached a settlement for an undisclosed amount.
Daniel Radcliffe’s stunt double David Holmes worked with him for all of the films up until an onset accident in 2009 left him paralysed. While filming a “jerk back scene” for the first instalment, the incredibly dangerous stunt didn’t go as planned and instead slammed him against a wall.
Although conscious after the fall, Holmes told horrified crew members, “I can’t feel my legs.” He had broken his neck. The ex-stuntman is now wheelchair-bound with limited movement in his arms and hands. Despite the accident, Holmes doesn’t have ill-will towards the cast.
Isla Fisher’s performance as an illusionist stuck in chains underwater became a little too realistic when she actually started to drown.
The Aussie star started to panic when her chains became stuck making her unable to reach the kill switch. “They had a guy who was off camera, but he was a long way away with a can of oxygen. By the time I realised I couldn’t get up and beckoned for him, I realised that I had run out of air.’’
Fisher was underwater for two and a half minutes. Her direction for the scene was to bang on the tank glass and pretend like she was drowning. Safe to say she gave a pretty realistic performance.
