10 Mistakes That Made Great Movies Even Better
Making a movie is pretty difficult, and between all the factors that go into it, there's plenty of chances for something to go wrong. Sometimes, that means having to do multiple takes and spending days on difficult scenes. Other times, like in these 10 cases, it leads to amazing moments that we remember forever.
1) Zoolander - "But why male models?"
Ben Stiller forgot his lines and accidentally repeated one he'd already said, but in the end it just made Derek Zoolander even more of a lovable idiot.
2) Midnight Cowboy - "I'm walkin' here!"
After getting fed up with traffic delays from the filming of the movie, a New York cabbie sped past traffic... right into Dustin Hoffman. The result is the singularly most iconic scene from the movie.
3) The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring - Knife throwing
During the fight between Aragorn and Lurtz, the actor playing Lurtz was only supposed to pretend to throw the knife at Viggo Mortenson. However, the knife actually left his hand (you can see a split-second of his "oh s***" face if you look carefully), and, thinking quickly, Mortenson actually DEFLECTED IT WITH HIS SWORD.
4) Being John Malkovich - "Hey Malkovich, think fast!"
The scene just called for cars to drive by John Malkovich as he walked away angrily, but a few extras hired for the scene had snuck beers on set and got too rowdy. The can throw and look of surprise and pain on Malkovich's face are completely real.
These are some of the better-known ones, but the next few are even more surprising...
5) Casino Royale - Daniel Craig's beach walk
Possibly the singularly most iconic shot of Daniel Craig's time as James Bond, it was actually a happy accident that happened because Craig hit a sand bank and had to stand up out of the water. Fun fact: that swim suit would later be auctioned off for $72,000.
6) Star Wars - The lightsaber sound
Sound designer Ben Burtt was carrying a tape recorder with a broken mic cable past his TV, and it "picked up the hum from the picture tube directly into the broken wire." The result is pretty much the singularly coolest sound in movie history.
7) The Godfather - Luca Brasi
Lenny Montana wasn't actually an actor; he was a real-life mafioso who was hired on as a consultant to keep the film authentic. So, when it came time for him to say his lines in front of Marlon Brando, his sheer nervousness made it into one of the most memorable monologues from the movie.
8) The Graduate - The awkward silence
When Dustin Hoffman breaks up his girlfriend's wedding to another man and runs off with her on a bus, we get one of the most iconic movie endings ever where they sit in awkward silence, staring off nervously into their future. Guess what? The entire scene happened because director Mike Nichols forgot to yell "cut!"
9) Sanjuro - Creating movie violence
Akira Kurosawa is one of the most influential filmmakers of all time, with his awesome samurai movies being remade by western directors into massive hits like A Fistful of Dollars, The Magnificent Seven, and even Star Wars. Turns out he also invented the over-the-top blood splatters that would define Tarantino movies, which happened when a blood pack malfunctioned at the end of Sanjuro.
10) Fight Club - Pitt gets hit
After Brad Pitt gives his iconic "I want you to hit me as hard as you can" line, a reluctant Edward Norton catches him by surprise by hitting him in the ear. Turns out the hit was accidentally entirely real, as was Pitt's reaction. It's one of the best scenes in the movie.