A terrifying video has emerged showing how stuntmen filmed James Bond’s famous crocodile scene.
Fans were stunned to learn that the iconic Live and Let Die sequence used real reptiles.
While the filmmakers previously stated that no puppets or models were used during filming, the footage demonstrates just how dangerous the stunt was.
In the final version, Bond is seen escaping across a body of water by stepping on the backs of three crocodiles that are biting him.
But the outtakes show just how close stuntman Ross Heilman, aka Ross Kananga, who played Bond (Roger Moore), came to the ferocious beasts.
A terrifying video has emerged showing how stuntmen filmed James Bond’s famous crocodile scene
The feat is even more impressive when you consider that Kananga’s own father was reportedly eaten by a crocodile.
The scene took five takes to film and saw Kananga fall into the water several times and even get bitten.
In the first shot, Kananga manages to speed past the first two animals before the third attempts to attack him.
He dives into the water and has to come to the surface while the crocodile continues to thrash wildly behind him.
In shots two and three, the beasts are ready and immediately begin to bite him as he falls once again, at one point trying to grab one of them.
In the final failure, Kananga manages to cross to the other side before his shoe gets caught in the last crocodile’s tooth and he is forced to try to fight his way through.
Kananga’s foot ended up being bitten off during this last attempt and he needed stitches.
Fans were shocked to learn that the iconic Live and Let Die sequence starring Roger Moore used real reptiles.
Outtakes show just how close stuntman Ross Kananga, who stood in for Bond (Roger Moore), came to coming into contact with the ferocious beasts.
The animals were secured to the bottom of the water using weights but, as the bugs show, their powerful jaws and tails were left unrestrained to amplify the danger.
About a dozen crocodiles from a Jamaican farm owned by Kananga were used during filming.
The specialist inherited the farm from his father, a crocodile fighter, who was devoured by one of the animals, according to Moore, who spoke about it in the documentary ‘Inside Live and Let Die’.
The heartbreaking video has left many fans in disbelief.
“I never thought they were real, just some kind of machine. Now I’m going to have to watch that movie again,” one person wrote on Reddit.
“That could have gone horribly wrong,” another added.
Actors Roger Moore, Yaphet Kotto, Julius W. Harris, Geoffrey Holder, Earl Jolly Brown and actress Jane Seymour on the set of ‘Live and Let Die’
“This guy almost got eaten by crocodiles on the third take and then did a fourth. He’s a legend,” said a third.
Another added: “I have questions!”
Many said they expected Kananga to receive a good payout considering how dangerous the stunt was.
He received $60,000 for his work in 1973, equivalent to more than $450,000 today.
He took his stage name from the villainous and lethargic Dr. Kananga, played by American actor Yaphet Kotto.
