Who Almost Died on the ‘Young Guns II’ Set?
When Young Guns II galloped into theaters on August 1, 1990, it brought back the first film’s familiar faces, including Emilio Estevez as Billy the Kid and Lou Diamond Phillips as José Chávez y Chávez. But it turns out that the film’s gun-slinging characters weren’t the only ones risking their lives on set. In fact, one scene nearly cost Phillips his life and caused some intense injuries.
According to Phillips, in a recent interview with DJ Vlad on YouTube, the accident occurred in March 1990, near Galisteo, New Mexico, while filming his final scene for the movie. His character was meant to be caught in a noose and dragged by a horse named Arrow, a dangerous stunt that was supposed to be tightly choreographed.
However, something went terribly wrong. According to reports from the time, Arrow was startled by gunfire and took off at full speed, dragging Phillips approximately 100 feet with his leg caught in the stirrup. The noose was around his neck for part of the drag, compounding the danger. Arrow had been difficult from the start and they thought Phillips, an experienced rider, would be able to calm the horse.
20th Century Fox Film Corp./Everett Collection
Phillips shared in the interview, “The only thing that saved my life was that, at the edge of the set, in the back of the set … because the horse turned around and ran away, they had stunt guys in the front to catch him for me if he bolted … was desert and Mexico. My knee got caught on a railroad tie that was part of a gate and that snapped the rope. So that took a chunk out of my kneecap and broke my arm in four places. You can see the scar there. I was lucky it didn’t kill me.”
20th Century Fox Film Corp./Everett Collection
Phillips suffered a compound fracture in his right arm, breaking it in four places. He also fractured his kneecap and sustained rope burns, cuts and bruises. He was quickly airlifted by helicopter to University Hospital in Albuquerque. There, he underwent extensive surgery that lasted over two hours, aimed at repairing the shattered bones in his elbow and addressing the other injuries.
Production had to make adjustments in order to continue filming once he recovered. In fact, a scene was later added to the film where another character stabs Chávez in the arm, which allowed the production to explain his injuries and hide the real damage on camera.
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