Do you still buy the occasional DVD or Blu-Ray instead of just streaming everything? If so, you understand the sublime joy of extra features like the blooper real. After you watch a movie that takes you on an emotional rollercoaster from beginning to end, it can be some very fun catharsis to dive into reel after reel of actors messing up and making us laugh.
But did you know there are bloopers that aren’t really bloopers? That, there are times that actors make major mistakes…the kind that sometimes leave them scarred for life. But because the actors didn’t break during filming, the “blooper” made it into the final cut.
Still not sure what we’re talking about? Don’t worry…all you have to do is keep reading to discover film bloopers so perfect they were left in the movie!
Leonardo DiCaprio’s gruesome hand injury
We’re going to kick things off with one of the best modern examples of a gruesome blooper making it into the final cut of a movie. In Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained, Leonardo DiCaprio plays against type as a virulent and powerful racist in the 19th century. The character eventually gets his comeuppance, but DiCaprio himself got injured before that could happen.
In a scene where he must give a speech about Black people being inferior, DiCaprio was tired…after all, this was the sixth take, and he was getting a bit annoyed. So annoyed, in fact, that he slammed his glass on the table, breaking it and bloodying his hand. Incredibly, DiCaprio kept going, and not only did this injury end up onscreen but the entire cast and crew applauded Leo once the scene was over!
The Wicked Witch really did catch on fire
Weirdly enough, The Wizard of Oz is more popular now than it has been in decades. The reason why is clear: the theatrical adaptation of the famous Broadway play Wicked has been tearing up the box office and generally making audiences more sympathetic to the Wicked Witch of the West. Of course, if you know much about the dangerous set of The Wizard of Oz, you might have already had plenty of sympathy for the original witch.
In that movie, Margaret Hamilton gave every scene a special flourish, including the scene where she terrorizes Munchkinland and then exists through a literal ball of fire. It turns out those flames were just as scary for her as they were for audiences because Hamilton received second- and third-degree burns from the flames. She spent weeks recovering from her injury and vowed to never work with fire again. This didn’t keep the scene from making the cut, and it has remained one of the most famous cinematic scenes ever since!