Most of the time in fight flicks, during the fight scenes it may look like the punches are landing for real but they actually aren’t and are usually just camera tricks – some which are well done and others not so much.
However, sometimes things went a little different than planned on set, and, in order to make it look as real as possible, they had the actors hit each other for real which resulted in injuries of varying severity in several cases.
4) Creed (2015)
This Rocky reboot featured real-life boxer Tony Bellew and during filming they actually had him hit the star of the movie, Michael B. Jordan, for real which we see Sylvester Stallone discuss here in this clip from Jimmy Fallon.
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We also see the punch land in the clip and it definitely looks like it packed a wallop.
3) Fight Club (1999)
In this great scene from Fight Club starring Brad Pitt and Edward Norton, Norton was actually instructed by director David Fincher to legitimately hit Pitt in the ear, while the script originally called for it to be a weak shoulder blow, unbeknownst to Pitt.
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Allegedly, Pitt’s reaction to the blow is completely genuine. Check out the clip and see for yourself.
2) Southpaw (2015)
Jake Gyllenhaal, who played Billy ‘The Great’ Hope in the film, underwent an intense training regimen to prepare for the film as you can probably tell from his ripped physique.
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Allegedly, Gyllenhaal also performed all of his own stunts for the film and according to director Antoine Fuqua in an interview with Entertainment Weekly He took punches and was swollen for real.
1) Rocky IV (1985)
While filming the epic final fight scene in the documentary Rocky 4, Sylvester Stallone and Dolph Lundgren (who played Ivan Drago) were really hitting each other hard to the body to make it look real as possible.
Lundgren, a karate champion who is also a big, athletic dude, most certainly packs a wallop, though, and ended up sending Stallone to the hospital.
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According to Stallone What had happened is he struck me so hard in the chest that my heart slammed against my breastbone and began to swell.” If he dies, he dies.
