Top 10 Real Injuries You ACTUALLY See in Action Movies
#10: Sean Bean
“Patriot Games” (1992)
In the climax of this Harrison Ford action thriller, Jack Ryan and Sean Miller do battle aboard a speeding boat. During the hand-to-hand fight, Ryan slams a boat hook into Miller’s face, knocking him backwards. This didn’t require any acting on Bean’s part. A real boat hook was used in the filming, and both actors were performing their own stunts. During the scuffle, Ford really slammed the pole into Bean’s face, breaking the skin and drawing blood. This accident resulted in the actor’s distinctive scar, which can be seen on his left eyebrow. Talk about a memento.
#9: Linda Hamilton
“Terminator 2: Judgment Day” (1991)
The most bombastic action movie of its time, “Terminator 2” was hell to film. At least for leading actress Linda Hamilton. Hamilton has called it the most stressful experience of her life and reportedly suffered from shell shock owing to the relentless noise and simulated violence. The elevator shootout sequence even caused permanent damage. Hamilton forgot to wear her earplugs, and the shooting - specifically from Arnold Schwarzenegger’s prop shotgun - resulted in partial hearing loss. If it looks really claustrophobic and loud inside that elevator, that’s because it was. Hamilton has the hearing loss to prove it.
#8: Jackie Chan
“Rumble in the Bronx” (1995)
One of the most accomplished stuntmen in film history, Jackie Chan has certainly experienced his fair share of injuries. One is seen in the movie “Rumble in the Bronx.” This scene has Chan’s character jumping from a bridge support onto a passing hovercraft. Chan obviously performed the jump himself, and it was captured from multiple angles. Unfortunately, it didn’t go as planned. Chan landed awkwardly, and his right ankle snapped under the pressure. The nasty break can clearly be seen in the movie, as can Chan’s pained expression. The actor was forced to spend the rest of filming in a leg cast, which required some rather creative masking from the filmmakers.
#7: Sylvester Stallone
“First Blood” (1982)
There were a lot of breaks on the set of “First Blood,” and not of the lunch variety. Sylvester Stallone accidentally broke Alf Humphreys’s nose after elbowing him in the face. A stuntman broke his back while conducting a dangerous car stunt. And Stallone cracked a rib while performing one of his own. The latter can be seen (and heard) in the film. The scene in question sees Rambo jumping off a cliff and into some trees below. Stallone left the cliff jumping to the pros, but he performed the tree tumbling himself. During one take, Stallone’s side slammed into a rigid branch and one of his ribs was broken on impact. There’s no acting involved; Rambo’s scream of pain was actually Stallone’s.
#6: Harrison Ford
“The Fugitive” (1993)
One year earlier, Harrison Ford accidentally injured Sean Bean with a boat hook. Now it was his turn to get hurt. While filming a chase scene in the woods, Ford tore the ACL in his left knee. This was quite an extensive injury and required surgery, but ever the tough man, Ford adamantly refused until filming was completed. As a result, he walked with a distinct limp throughout the rest of production, his leg screaming in protest. This limp is seen numerous times throughout the movie as Ford struggles to put weight on his left leg.
#5: Harold Sakata
“Goldfinger” (1964)
A wrestler and Olympic weightlifter, Harold Sakata is best remembered for playing Oddjob in the classic James Bond movie “Goldfinger.” Oddjob meets his end while retrieving his steel-rimmed hat from a pair of metal bars. The quick-thinking Bond touches an electric source to the metal, which in turn electrifies Oddjob. Accompanying the electrocution is a cloud of smoke, a shower of sparks, and Oddjob’s pained screams. Perhaps they weren’t Oddjob’s, but Sakata’s. The sparks used in the sequence badly burned Sakata’s hand, but he soldiered through the pain and completed the scene without breaking character.
#4: Bruce Willis
“Die Hard” (1988)
Bruce Willis has certainly lived hard. Many of the actors did their own stunts for this movie, including Alan Rickman and Willis himself. While not really a stunt per se, one scene had John McClane crawling underneath a table while a henchman stood on top and fired at him. After receiving a famous bit of advice, McClane shoots through the table and kills the henchman. Willis shot the prop gun very close to his head, and the blanks reportedly caused him to permanently lose most of the hearing in his left ear. Willis’s flinching is 100% genuine.
#3: Brendan Fraser
“The Mummy” (1999)
One scene in this adventure classic sees Rick O'Connell being hung. The wide shot of Rick being dropped was performed by a professional stuntman. But the close-ups required Fraser’s face, so he agreed to don an actual noose. Fraser stood on a platform, but the tension in the rope was so great that it lifted the actor onto his toes. Fraser also made the mistake of taking deep breaths right before filming so his face would go purple. These problems combined and caused Fraser to pass out. The take in question was included in the movie because it looked way too authentic to pass up. Turns out, if you actively choke an actor, it looks like the character is choking!
#2: Jackie Chan
“Police Story” (1985)
Jackie Chan strikes again with one of the greatest stunts ever captured on camera. One scene in this film sees Chan’s character sliding down a metal pole and through various hanging lights before crashing into a pane of glass below. There was considerable danger involved in this stunt, causing one of Chan’s co-workers to give him a Buddhist prayer paper for luck. It went…mostly OK, considering. The hanging lights had heated the metal pole, causing second degree burns on Chan’s hands. He also dislocated his pelvis in the landing, but he was feeling so much adrenaline that he didn’t notice the injuries. At least not right away. We’re sure he was feeling it the next day!
#1: Tom Cruise
“Mission: Impossible – Fallout” (2018)
At this point, the miracle is that Tom Cruise is still going. And to think, this injury resulted from one of his tamer stunts. You just never know when disaster will strike. For this one, Cruise was required to jump from one building to another. Unfortunately, he landed awkwardly on the other side and broke his ankle on impact. Ever the professional, Cruise continued filming by pulling himself up and hobbling away. That limp adds a nice detail to the scene, and it is completely genuine. This was quite a serious injury, delaying filming for more than two months and costing the studio $80 million in lost time. These are the breaks of the industry. Uh, no pun intended.
