 Nellie 's  battle with helicopters proved to be difficult to film . The scenes was initially shot in Miyazaki , first with takes of the gyrocopter , with more than 85 take @-@ offs , 5 hours of flight and Wallis nearly crashing into the camera several times . A scene filming the helicopters from above created a major downdraft and cameraman John Jordan 's foot was severed by the craft 's rotor . The concluding shots involved explosions , which the Japanese government did not allow in a national park . So , the crew moved to Torremolinos , Spain , which was found to resemble the Japanese landscape .