Danny Boyle has admitted an iconic opening scene from Trainspotting could never have been filmed today due to health and safety rules.
The 1996 cult classic adaption of Irvine Welsh 's book opens with characters Renton and Spud being pursued by two store detectives, before being thrown over the bonnet of a car.
In interviews in a new book ' £25 Trainspotting' by Jay Glennie, filmmakers recalled their relaxed attitude to safety put lives at risk.
Actor Ewen Bremner, who played Spud, was even mown own by the quad bike which director Danny Boyle was using for the chase sequence.
It tells how shoppers were left bemused as Boyle and cinematographer Brian Tufano repeatedly filmed Bremner (Spud) and McGregor (Renton) racing along Princes Street.
The book read: "Breathing hard, McGregor and Bremner waited for the cry of 'action!' as Boyle and Tufano jumped on a quad bike, with the motorcyclist instructed to go faster and get close to the pavement.
"Their tight schedule decrees they have to leave Edinburgh that evening and they're determined to get their shot.
"Off camera, Saul Metzstein (location assistant) is running alongside Boyle and Tufano and 'politely' pushing startled shoppers out of the way.
"The pace has quickened and a smiling Boyle can feel he is getting the shot he needs.
"A cry and a thud broke his concentration.
"Looking down, he saw a tangle of legs and arms, and a look of bemusement on the face of Ewen Bremner."
Recalling filming the Calton Road scene with McGregor, production manager Lesley Stewart said: "Nowadays you would have made sure that an actor would be okay before attempting the shot, but back then you would read that Ewan was to be thrown over a bonnet of an oncoming car and stand there with your fingers crossed!
"The face of Spud was looking up at us. I could see Ewen thinking, 'What the f*** is going on, you ran over me!'"
Bremner said: "I bloody was thinking that. I could feel the bike getting closer, literally blowing the hairs on my neck!
"It was like take nine, I'm exhausted and I ended up taking a somersault down the street!"
Producer Andrew Macdonald said: "It was complete naivety. People were just jumping or being pushed out of the way. There was no crowd control. Just crazy, we could have killed someone."
Boyle added: "You'd never get permission to film this way now."
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