[ur]http://www.cracked.com/article_19901_5-great-movie-scenes-made-possible-by-reckless-endangerment_p2.html[url]

Although I don't 100% believe in the accuracy of this article on details, I can't believe the horrible deaths that might have happened on Quentin Tarrantino's last movie. Not only that, but the "contolled" movie set fire caused the steel support for the swastika to melt and give away causing it's collapse and fall during the shot! What a fortunate coincidence for the sake of the story.

#5. Inglourious Basterds: The Actors Almost Burn in the Theater Fire

SPOILERS: In the climax of Inglourious Basterds, Quentin Tarantino's narrative veers off course from historical fiction and gives the audience a more cathartic and hyper-violent Hitler death than the boring old suicide in a bunker we're all used to. Specifically, some Nazi-killing Jews shoot him in the face hundreds of times with machine guns while a theater burns to the ground around them.

"Thank God we shot him before the fire killed him!"

Ironically, shooting the assassination of Hitler nearly killed the two actors (Eli Roth and Omar Doom) who were supposed to be doing the assassinating. Who could have predicted that actually lighting the set on fire around them would be so dangerous?

That's right -- while it's possible to use CGI to make a building look like it's on fire, it's far more convincing to actually set it ablaze and yell "ACTION!" So the flames that were roaring in the background during the Basterds' murder spree were very much real, and those actors were actually inside -- that wasn't no goddamned green screen effect. The controlled blaze was supposed to never get closer than 20 feet from the actors, but fire rarely does exactly what it's told.

So, predictably, the flames roared across the theater almost immediately, and the fire was right on top of both actors within 30 seconds.

"Feel free to cut, Quentin. Whenever you're ready. Any time now."

Of course, that's the expensive set that's burning down around them, so this was their only chance to shoot the scene without rebuilding the whole damned thing. So everyone was forced to hurry and grab the shot before the out-of-control hellblaze overtook them.

The temperature of the fire quickly reached 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit and, while Tarantino and the crew were wearing fire suits, Roth and Doom were only coated in a jelly meant to protect their skin. The heat was so unbearable that Eli Roth passed out once the scene was over, and had to spend the next day with his head and hands in ice. But he still got off lucky.

The platform they were shooting on was about 10 seconds away from collapse when Tarantino called cut and everyone fled. Had they shot even a few seconds longer, Eli Roth and Omar Doom would have burned to death. Or almost to death -- it would have been awful either way.

But it might have been worth a handful of sympathy-Oscars.

The only indication in the movie of how out of control everything got is that giant swastika over the stage behind Roth and Doom. It collapses and crashes to the ground during the fire, but it was never supposed to fall. In fact, it was supported by massive steel cables precisely so it wouldn't fall, but those cables promptly melted in the unbearable heat of the fire.

Read more: 5 Great Movie Scenes Made...racked.com http://www.cracked.com/ar...z1zlW3Zbky

I just read that to!

C.R.A.Z.Y.

I was just watching that movie on tv earlier this week.

Damn............incompetence at it's best.

I just assumed that it was CGI.

Damn.

Well at least the director knows how much better practical effects are than CGI. However, I wouldnt say this effect is "practical"

Love the write up about Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Now you know why that chick looked unhinged for real. SHE WAS!

I was not a huge fan of Inglorious Basterds, though that scene was pretty amazing