comment #1

lazarus says ...

Well, as far as having a surgery performed by someone else, Clint Eastwood in The Beguiled having part of his leg removed is definitely up there, and it's also a pretty big part of the story.

Self-performed I'd have to go with DeNiro's bullet removal scene in Ronin, using the mirror. Fucking hardcore.

comment #2

Howlingman says ...

Also Paul Bettany's self-surgery in MASTER AND COMMANDER.

comment #3

BNick says ...

Rambo III. Discussion over.

A piece of shrapnel has entered Rambo's stomach through the front. Rambo reached into the open wound and pushes it out the back of himself. He then covers the entry and exit wounds as well as the inside of the wound in gunpowder. Lastly, he holds a match to the outside of his wound and a huge fire explodes out of both ends of the wound.

Ow.

comment #4

chicbn872 says ...

There are a few of these that come to mind for me. I have a serious tooth pain phobia and when Hanks knocks out his tooth with an ice skate in "Castaway", I completely cringe.

The scene in "Black Hawk Down" when Josh Hartnett and co. attempt to clamp the wounded soldiers artery in his leg? 100% painful to watch. It makes my leg hurt thinking about it.

comment #5

BNick says ...

Oh that Black Hawk Down scene is awful. They have to reach into the guy's leg and pull the vein/artery back towards the open wound so they can tie it up or something. Gross.

comment #6

le corbeau says ...

But Lazarus, you left out the best part-- the deadpan delivery at the end of the line "I'm going to pass out now." A dumbass action movie line, but DeNiro sells it and it totally sums up his character.

comment #7

Ian Sinclair says ...

Ray Milland, driven mad by visions, tearing out his own eyes in Roger Corman's "X - The Man With X-Ray Eyes." Corman wanted to add a last line the censors wouldn't let him have - "I can still see!"

comment #8

Mark says ...

Bettany's arm amputation of the young lad in the 1st act of MAC registered more for me than the self surgery later on. Tough scene to watch even though they show nothing.

Anyone ever see the deleted scene from Terminator 2 where they all perform a little surgery on Ahnuld? Very cool, almost impossible shot that required Linda Hamilton's twin to participate in.

comment #9

bmcintire says ...

It's not as harrowing as some, but Sergi Lopez sewing up his own lacerated face in PAN'S LABYRINTH was pretty effective.

comment #10

Arran says ...

I'd have to go with Ricky "tying his sinews together" (as the shitty subtitles put it) in The Story of Ricky.

WINNER.

comment #11

Geoff says ...

The Rambo III gunpowder trick has always been very memorable. I saw it when I was a kid.

The Master and Commander scene is a great suggestion.

YES to the Black Hawk Down scene. I thought it was beautifully executed and great to look at. It calls to mind Max Aguilera's striking medical photographs.

comment #12

sutter kane says ...

All good suggestions, but I've got to go with the setting of Holly's rediculously broken leg in The Descent. Exposed bones always make me a little lightheaded, and the audio is just excruciating.

comment #13

Rich S. says ...

I've always liked the surgery Ah-nold performs on himself in the first Terminator, with the Exacto knife in the eye.

I also vividly remember the scene in Papillon where they set Hoffman's broken leg in the boat and cauterize it with the heated knife.

comment #14

frankbooth says ...

Bruce Dern programming robots to sew up his leg in Silent Running. Okay, not that great, but I saw it recently and it's fresh in my memory.

Anybody remember the rock climber who got his hand trapped between two boulders, in the middle of nowhere, and had to hack it off with a pocketknife to escape? Bad enough to see it in a movie, but this was for real.

comment #15

CitizenKanedforChewingGum says ...

I was amazed no one had mentioned the Terminator scene, as it seemed one of the most obvious to me, and there it appeared.

Thunder stolen.

comment #16

Geoff says ...

Speaking of The Terminator there's also that great moment towards the end when Linda Hamilton pulls out a big chunk of metal from her leg.

comment #17

mizoguchi says ...

Jeff, I know how much you enjoy making fun of film snobs, but if you're going to throw around them big French words, you should know what they mean. A "cineaste" is a filmmaker; a "cinephile" is a film lover.

comment #18

MASON says ...

DeNiro in Ronin.

"Okay, think I'll pass out now."

Awesome.

comment #19

Monument says ...

"Jeff, I know how much you enjoy making fun of film snobs, but if you're going to throw around them big French words, you should know what they mean. A "cineaste" is a filmmaker; a "cinephile" is a film lover."

Posted by mizoguchi at September 17, 2007 02:00 PM

Merriam Webster defines cineaste as: a devotee of motion pictures

Jeff's usage is perfectly acceptable.

comment #20

115thDreamer says ...

Nolte in "Affliction" pulling his tooth while having an argument w/ Sissy Spacek....the Nolte character is so gone at that point that he barely seems to register what he's doing. The DeNiro scene from 'Ronin' is a good call, too.

comment #21

The Winchester says ...

The Predator, fixing his neon green wounds. In both movies, actually. I liked the homemade salve the Predator concocts to fix his severed hand in the second movie.

comment #22

Arran says ...

Surely Tom Hanks in Castaway with the ice skate merits a mention? I know you don't really even see it, but I still winced.

comment #23

Josh Massey says ...

I immediately thought not of Rambo III, but of First Blood.

comment #24

King's Thursday says ...

What about Humphrey Bogart's surgery on the resistance fighter in TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT--when the fighter's wife faints away and Lauren Bacall casually picks up the tin of ether and assists without missing a beat--I always thought, she is the coolest babe in movies!

comment #25

Hallick says ...

Shame on all of your memories for forgetting about Robert Duvall and his buddy trying to get that arrow out of his leg in "Lonesome Dove". First trying to pull it out and then having to slice open the flesh on the other side so the guy could push the head full through, oh man.... And Duvall sells it like nobody's business.

Nowadays its all about the injured person looking off in the distance and suddenly grimmacing a couple of times, but not much of a big deal. But he just gasps through those clenched teeth and even before they get started, the behavior of both men ratchets up the tension and telegraphs just how excruciating the procedure's going to be. And for Duvall's character, it was just the beginning of something worse.

comment #26

christian says ...

i always thought burt reyond's exposed meatbone was pretty horrific in DELIVERANCE.

comment #27

christian says ...

make that "reynolds"...two burt plugs in two posts!

comment #28

Griff says ...

The Rambo bit sounds like it was right out of "Two Mules for Sister Sarah." Arrow in his shoulder, Clint carves out a groove in the shaft of the arrow, fills it with gunpowder, lights it, and with the help of Shirley McClaine, shoves it right through.

Tom Hanks Skate Dentistry, yes.

Bettany self-surgery, yes.

Harrison Ford in Blade Runner after Rutger broke his fingers. Straightening them out...he sold that.

comment #29

Cadavra says ...

LEONARD PART 6, bitches!

comment #30

MichaelC says ...

The lung valve from Three Kings is one I'll never forget.

comment #31

berg says ...

the leg amputation from Ang Lee's underrated Ride With the Devil ... hmmm, peter fonda is in Race With The Devil but I cannot recall any amputations, just human sacrifice

comment #32

T. S. Idiot says ...

In a more recent entry in his blog, Edelstein sez, "And who knows where this might lead? Movies connect with us on an unconscious level, and blogging is a pipeline to the id. I might even write open letters to filmmakers begging for nude pictures of actresses."

comment #33

George Prager says ...

Ray Milland, driven mad by visions, tearing out his own eyes in Roger Corman's "X - The Man With X-Ray Eyes." Corman wanted to add a last line the censors wouldn't let him have - "I can still see!"

Sinclair's been reading his "Dannse Macabre"

comment #34

carla kolchak says ...

frankbooth: I think you are thinking of this. I remember thinking at the time that the guy was a dumbass for having been out there alone.

comment #35

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