5 Classic Unscripted Movie Moments
Some of the most memorable scenes in cinema were left out of the original screenplay by the writing team. Whether the changes are caused by simply being in the right place at the right time, a cast member’s genius improvisational technique, or something else entirely, we’ve narrowed our favorites down to just the top five.
Jurassic Park (1993) was never meant to have dinosaurs in it. On the first day of shooting, when certain lines just didn’t seem to work, the team saw several brontosauruses eating. Director Steven Spielberg could hardly believe his luck, and, known for his adventurous streak, remembers thinking “we gotta put that in the film!” Sam Neill’s (Dr. Grant) reaction is genuine.
Memento (2000) was originally supposed to be seen in pure chronological order. When Guy Pearce’s aunt saw the film in an advance screening in 1999, she said “hold up a sec, Guy. What if — and hear me out here, cause this is gonna sound pretty wild — what if you jumbled everything up a bit?”. Director Christopher Nolan overheard her, and, flaunting his famous adventurous streak, said “I can’t wait until I get to make Inception.” He then instructed his editor to edit the film “backwards-like and wonky, see?”
Fight Club (1999)- the demolition that caps off the movie wasn’t supposed to happen while they looked out over the window. The script had the movie with a much lighter interpretation, and the duo went on vacation to Nantucket. The incredible timing of the shot led Edward Norton and Brad Pitt to say, in unison, to director David Fincher (who has a well-hidden adventurous streak): “Hot Jimmy, David, you gotta keep that shot!” Also, Helena Bonham Carter’s reaction is genuine (but Edward Norton’s isn’t).
You can’t have the movie 21 (2008) without gambling — or can you? The final draft of the script had no gambling whatsoever, and was actually a political thriller with Kevin Spacey starring as an ambitious Congressman… sound familiar? But when Jim Sturgess and Kevin Spacey the cast and the crew stole away during one wild weekend, director Robert Luketic (known as “Luketic the Lunatic” for his famous adventurous streak) walked into a room full of stodgy execs and said “if you don’t let me make this movie about blackjack, you can accept my resignation!” They did, but then they got fired and he got rehired by none other than Guy Pearce’s aunt to make “a kick-dick gambling flick” (which was also the original tagline).
Lord of the Rings (2001)? Yep, never meant to have orcs. But the actor who played Saruman, Christopher Lee, was well known for his green thumb, and offered his homemade army of orc warriors to director Peter Jackson. Jackson, who was more well-known for his adventurous streak, was on board almost immediately. He lost that adventurous zeal in the future, though: when Jackson directed The Hobbit, the character of Radagast, the Brown Wizard, was made up entirely in post-production by the SFX crew. Jackson was totally steamed about that, and although it wasn’t caught in the film, his reaction was genuine.
Do you know a story about an unscripted movie moment that beats these out? You’re wrong!
