I Am Legend
Top Gun
Goodfellas
Edward Scissorhands
Inglourious Basterds
Nicolas Cage and Tom Cruise were both considered for the
role of Robert Neville in Francis
Lawrence’s I Am Legend (2007)
So many of The
United States Navy Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor program staff members and
fighter pilots loved the movie Top Gun
(1986) so much that the school gives a $5 fine to anyone in the staff
that quotes the movie.
Throughout Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas (1990) the word "fuck" is used 321 times. That
is an average of 2.04 fucks per minute. Most of half of them are said by Joe
Pesci.
The idea for Edward
Scissorhands (1990) was inspired by a drawing that Tim Burton had done as a
teenager. When writing up the story for Edward’s Inventor, Burton specifically
thought of Vincent Price. This would be Price's final film and his last screen
appearance before his death.
There is only 30% of Inglourious Basterds (2009) that is spoken in English. The language which dominates the
film is either French or German and with a little Italian.
Academy Awards Trivia
The only three movies that won the most Oscars were Lord of the
Rings: Return of the King (2003), Titanic (1997) and Ben-Hur (1959). Each of these movies won 11
awards.
The Shinning
The infamous 'Heere's Johnny!' scene took 3 days to film and the use of 60 doors.
Rocky
The first sports film to win an Academy Award for Best Picture.
Oblivion
The Tower 49 set was an actual functioning home. The giant set was surrounded
by huge screens that projected a pre-recorded footage of the view from the summit
of Haleakala volcano in Maui. Director Joseph Kosinski did this so the huge
structure actually looked perched above the clouds
Speed
During
the filming for Speed (1994), there was no stunt double for Keanu Reeves and he
decided to do all the stunts himself. Sandra Bullock actually took a bus
driving test and passed so she could actually drive while filming.
Atonement
The Village
To
help the cast grasp a better understanding of the time period in The Village (2004) M. Night Shyamalan
decided to put the entire crew and extras through a 19th century boot camp.
Coming from Cuba, making Spanish his first language, to
stay in character Al Pacino asked director of photography John A. Alonzo to
speak to him only in Spanish. However throughout the entire film, Tony Montana only
speaks one line of Spanish.
Back to the Future Part II
Elijah Wood's first movie appearance was in Back to the Future Part II (1989) as one of the two video gamers (boy on
the left) that Marty McFly speaks to in the diner near the beginning of the
film.
Titanic (1997) was
viewed so many times in theatres that paramount had to send out replacement
reels to theatres because they had literally worn out their copies.
John Hughes considered, John Cusack, Jim Carrey, Tom Cruise and
Johnny Depp for the lead role of Ferris Bueller in Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986). Matthew Broderick got the role and
was nominated for Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Musical
or Comedy.
During the filming for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the
Ring (2001) it was quite often the crew would fly to remote shoot locations by
helicopter. Sean Bean (Boromir) was afraid of flying and would only do it when
absolutely necessary. Quite often Sean would actually spend two hours every morning hiking and climbing from the base of the mountain to the set near the top. He did
this dressed as Boromir with the shield and sword.
In Reservoir Dogs
(1992) Michael Madsen’s character Mr. Blonde's real name is Vic Vega. This is
the same surname as Vince Vega, John Travolta's from Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction (1994).Tarantino revealed
that Vic and Vince are brothers and had intended to do a prequel called "Double V Vega” which would star the Vega Brothers. However both
actors had conflicting schedules and got too old to reprise their roles.
Saving Private Ryan
The two
"German" soldiers who are shot but trying to surrender were speaking
Czech saying "Please don't shoot me, I am not German, I am Czech, I didn't
kill anyone, I am Czech!". These men represented the members of what the
Germans called Ost [East] Battalions. Most of these men were Czech and Polish prisoners
from European countries, invaded by Germany and forced into the German army.
Twelve Monkeys & The Kid & Looper
It seems that Bruce Willis’ characters seem to always time travel and encounter his younger self. The first was Twelve Monkeys (1995), the second was The Kid (2000) and last was Looper
(2012).
After filming finished for Aliens (1986), The Alien nest set was kept and later used as the Axis
Chemicals set for Tim Burton’s Batman
(1989).
After shooting in Eastern
Promises (2007) Viggo Mortensen and some crew members went to a Russian
restaurant in London. Without washing
his tattoos or removing his costume the restaurant fell silent out of fear.
People became very frightened of Mortensen, assuming he was a real member of
the Russian Mafia.
Into The Wild
To achieve the starved look at the ending of Into the Wild (2007), Emile Hirsch lost 40 pounds to play the role as Chris McCandless.
During the jail cell scene in The Master (2012), Joaquin Phoenix actually broke a real toilet. The
entire burst of rage was improvised. This is not the first time Phoenix
improvised a surge of frenzy. In Walk The Line (2005) when Johnny Cash
pulls the sink off the wall was again not scripted. Joaquin Phoenix actually
pulled it off the wall.
Pulp Fiction
Quentin Tarantino was so disappointed with John Travolta’s
career that he wanted to rebuild his acting reputation. Tarantino decided to
cast Travolta in Pulp Fiction (1994) to
fix his failing acting career which earned Travolta an Oscar nomination. He then later received a number of big movie
offers like Face/Off (1997)
Viggo Mortensen bonded with his horse so much during the
filming of the Lord of the rings series that after the third film was completed,
he purchased the horse from the production company.
During the filming of The
Exorcist (1973), actress Linda Blair received so many death threats from religious
extremists who believed the film "glorified Satan", that Warner Bros.
hired bodyguards to protect her for six months after the film's release.
Shutter Island
Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) traumatic event of his
involvement of killing Nazi guards at Dachau concentration camp is an actual
historical event known as the Dachau liberation reprisals. On the
29th of April 1945, the US army liberated Dachau concentration
camp, American soldiers than wounded and killed German camp guards and German
prisoners of war.
After Ryan Gosling replaced Hugh Jackman for the lead role
in Drive (2011), to prepare for his
role and become more attuned for his character, Gosling restored the 1973 Chevy
Malibu that his character uses in the film.
Stephen King liked the script for The Shawshank Redemption so much that he sold the film rights for
his novella for only a dollar.
The Matrix (1999) used
the same exterior sets in Dark City
(1998). The streets, buildings and even the same rooftop that Trinity runs
across at the beginning of the film is the same one that John Murdoch runs
across in Dark City.
While filming Das
Boot (1981) director Wolfgang Petersen insisted on filming inside a real
submarine, to help the actors grasp the claustrophobic conditions of a real
U-boat. The same submarine models built for Das
Boot was also used for Steven Spielberg Raiders
of the Lost Ark (1981).
During the first meeting between Lecter and Starling in The Silence of the Lambs, Anthony
Hopkins's on the spot improvised the mocking of Starling’s southern accent. Foster's
horrified reaction was actually genuine because she felt she was being
personally attacked.
While writing Taxi
Driver, Paul Schrader kept motivated and inspired by keeping a loaded gun
on his desk. This motivation and inspiration helped Schrader write the script in five
days.
Edward Norton actually hit Brad Pitt in the ear in Fight Club. Originally Norton was going to fake hit Pitt
but David Fincher told Norton to actually hit him. After Norton hit him in the
scene, you can see him smiling and laughing while Pitt is in pain.
Peter Cushing who played Grand Moff Tarkin in the first
Star Wars trilogy passed away in 1994. However at the end of Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
(2005) Tarkin can be seen at the end of the film with Darth
Vader and Emperor Palpatine. Animation director Rob Coleman wanted to pay homage to Cushing and create a digital version or use unused footage. They eventually decided
to cast actor Wayne Pygram, who was fitted with prosthetic make-up.
Back To The Future Part III
Michael
J. Fox was nearly killed in the scene when Mad Dog tried to lynch Marty. Fox
was told to place his hand between the rope and neck when dropped but he
miscalculated the timing and was actually being choked by the rope. No body
noticed until Fox passed out.
An insurance company gave Michael Bay 532 cars free of
charge to destroy for the production of Transformers:
Dark of the Moon (2011). However none of the vehicles actually worked due
to flood-damage and had to be moved around by crane or by the crew pushing them
into place.
Pitch Black & Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome
The desert scenes they filmed Pitch Black (2000) on was the same location they filmed Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985)
In 28 Weeks Later the opening
scene where Don (Robert Carlyle), his wife Alice (Catherine McCormack) and four
other survivors are hiding in a barricaded cottage is the same farm that
appears in Children of Men (2006).
The Pianist
For the role of Wladyslaw Szpilman in Roman Polanski’s The Pianist (2002), Adrien Brody lost 14
kg. His diet consisted of two boiled eggs and green tea for breakfast,
a little chicken for lunch and a small piece of fish or chicken with steamed
vegetables. By the end of the 6 week
diet his weight was 73 kg.
Director Danny Boyle wanted Ewan McGregor to play Jim in 28 Days Later. But after being axed from
The Beach in favour of Leonardo DiCaprio back in 2000. Mcgregor was still angry
with Boyle and refused to work with him. The role then was offered to Ryan
Gosling, who had a scheduling conflict.
Snatch
A double was used when Bullet-Tooth Tony (Vinnie Jones) approached the car
where Vinny and Sol are sitting outside Brick-Top's Bookies, about to give him
the diamond. Jones hadn't showed up for shooting that day because he was
in jail for a bar fight the night before.
When First Blood
was in the earlier stages of development, Warner Bros. had considered making Rambo
portrayed by Clint Eastwood, Steve McQueen, Dustin Hoffman and even Al Pacino
Waterworld
Prior to Titanic (1997), Waterworld (1995) was one of the most
expensive movies ever made during the 90’s. Its estimated budget was $175
million but if it was produced today it would have been $270 million. Even
though the movie was one of the biggest box-office flops of all time, Waterworld
made a modest profit of $264 million.
Land Of The Dead
George A. Romero was so impressed with Simon Pegg and Edgar
Wright's Shaun of the Dead (2004)
that he asked the pair to appear as a cameo in Land Of The Dead (2005). Both Simon and Edgar appear as the chained
up photo booth zombies in the bar room sequence.
David Prowse played the role of Darth Vader on set but the
voice was a pre-recorded voice of James Earl Jones in a recorded studio. David
was so convinced the film would be a flop with the studio unsure about the film
and most of the cast was thrown by the strange dialogue and story that often lead
to tension or awkwardness on set that David refused to allow his name in the
original credits.
Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
The iconic scene in Indiana
Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark where Indy shoots a marauding
and flamboyant swordsman was not in the original script! Harrison Ford was supposed
to use his whip to disarm the attacker and have a big fight scene. However due to food
poisoning, Ford was too sick to perform the stunt. After several unsuccessful attempts, Ford just
said “Can’t I just shoot the sucker”. Spielberg loved the idea and immediately shot
the scene.
The Amityville Horror
At the time of its release The Amityville Horror (1979) was one of the most successful independent
films. It became such a huge box office success that the film earned more than
$86 million in the USA alone.
Michael Bay’s action sequence where the Japanese attacks Pearl
Harbor earned a place in the "Guinness Book of World Records" for the
movie with the most explosives used.
Home Alone
After the fall of communism in Poland, one of the first
films to be aired was Home Alone (1990). It has been aired every year since
1990 and is considered a traditional Christmas movie. In 2011 the movie aired
on December 23rd with an audience of over 5 million, making it the most popular
show aired during the Christmas season in Poland.
Black Hawk Down
The scenes with the monitors behind Major General Garrison (Sam
Shepard) are actual satellite images of the battle. Even the radio chatter was
actual radio transmissions made during the battle.
American Psycho
Did you know that Mary Harron backed out of directing American
Psycho when the studio hired Leonardo DiCaprio to take the role as Patrick
Bateman? She originally wanted Christian Bale as the maniac broker from New
York but the studio wanted DiCaprio. Oliver Stone stepped in to direct but
after protest from feminist groups DiCaprio dropped out and issues with the
script Stone pulled out also. Harron then returned back with Bale taking the
lead role.
Total Recall, Highlander II: The Quickening, Starship Troopers & The Machinist
It seems that Michael Ironside always takes on the role where his character will lose a limb. In Total Recall (1990) he losses both his arms while fighting on an elevator with Schwarzenegger. Highlander II: The Quickening (1991) Ironside gets his hands and head cut off. In Starship Troopers (1997) he plays a battle scarred war soldier with a robotic arm that eventually losses his legs. The most gruesome of all is in The Machinist (2004). While working on a heavy duty piece of machinery a freak accident leads to his skin tearing, muscles ripping off, bones cracking and breaking and tendons stretching and snapping.
The Machinist & Rescue Dawn & The Fighter
For the The Machinist (2004), Christian Bale weighed only
55kg. He regained the weight just in time for his role in Batman Begins (2005).
However he would lose the weight again and weigh only 61kg for the role in Rescue
Dawn (2006). Even between The Dark Knight (2008) and The Dark Knight Rises (2012),
Bale would yet again lose his weight and weigh 66kg for The Fighter (2010).
Fight Club
Throughout Fight Club Brad Pitt’s character keeps flashing
in and out of existence at the beginning. In the scene when Edward Norton is eating the mint
chocolate at the hotel, a promotional video of the Bridgeworth Suites is
playing on the television. If you look to the right of the commercial you can
see that Brad Pitt is one of the hotel employees.
During the filming for Tim Burton’s Batman Returns (1992) Michelle Pfeiffer’s Catwoman costume had to be vacuum sealed once she was fitted into it for each scene. The costume was so tight that she only had a short amount of time to perform before she passed out.
Terminator 2: Judgement Day
In the final scene where the T1000 is imitating Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), No special or mirror effects was used. In fact Linda Hamilton's twin sister, Leslie
Hamilton Gearren was used as a double to stand in.
Kiss of The Dragon
In Chris Nahon’s Kiss
of the Dragon (2001) Nahon had to slow down the the final fight scene
between Jet Li and Cyril Raffaelli because they were moving too fast for the camera
to keep up.
Predator
Did you know that Jean-Claude Van Damme was originally cast to play the Predator creature back in 1987? But due to working difficulties he was dropped and
was replaced by Kevin Peter Hall. In the documentary "If It Bleeds, We Can
Kill It” there even a quick shot of Van Damme playing the Predator.
Armageddon
When Rockhound (Steve Buscemi) gets space dementia and the
shuttle crew wraps him in duct tape in Michael Bay’s Armageddon (1998) that is
the actual protocol for NASA astronauts for immobilizing a crazed crew member.
Has Anybody Seen My Gal
Back in 1952 James Dean’s first ever movie appearance was a tiny part at the soda counter scene in Douglas Sirk’s Has Anybody Seen My Gal
Toy Story 3
Did you notice in Toy Story 3 that the garbage man is
wearing a skull t-shirt and that he is actually grown up Sid from the original
Toy Story
Starship Troopers
Paul Verhoeven military science fiction action film Starship
Troopers is actually based on the novel of the same name by Robert A. Heinlein.
The novel has been exposed for many controversies for allegations of pro-militarism,
fascism, utopianism, racism and creating its own political ideology that encourages
a Military Junta system.
Bloodsport
Ever wondered why the video game character Johnny Cage from Mortal
Kombat greatly resembled Jean Claude Van Damme in Bloodsport 1988? Originally
the creators of Mortal Kombat Ed Boon and John Tobias wanted Van Damme to star
in their first 1992 MK release. However plans fell through as Jean Claude had a
contract platform with the Sega Mega Drive console. The creatures then had to
rename the character Johnny Cage.
Gattaca
Though Gattaca is based some time in the near future, the buildings
in the film are actually quite dated. Many buildings represent an era where “Brutalist
architecture” flourished from the 1950s to the mid-1970s.
The Fifth Element
Did you know in Luc Besson’s The Fifth Element the hero Korben
Dallas (Bruce Willis) and the villain Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg (Gary Oldman)
never meet throughout the film. They never even communicate in any way and
in fact, they are unaware of each other's degree of any involvement.
Zoolander 2 & Justin
Theroux
Director of Zoolander 2 Justin Theroux is also an actor who
is best known for Adam Kesher in David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive. He was also in
English rock band Muse music video Hysteria who trashes the hotel room.
Resident Evil
Director of Night of the Living Dead George A. Romero was originally
going to write and direct Resident Evil back in 2002. Due to creative
differences over the script Romero left the project and Paul W.S. Anderson
signed on to write and direct the movie.
Platoon
The Platoon movie poster that depicts Elias iconic moment
with his hands in the air is a recreation of Art Greenspon 1968 photograph of the
medical evacuation through the jungle foliage to pick up casualties during a
five-day patrol of Hue in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War.
Police Story
The scene where the henchmen crashed through the bus window
and fell onto the concrete floor was actually a stunt mishap. The stuntmen were
suppose to fall onto the car but due to the air brakes, the bus
stopped earlier and the men landed on the floor severely injuring them.
The Crow
Lead actor Brandon Lee was accidentally killed during the
filming of The Crow in 1994. He was shot and killed as a result of negligence
during filming on set when the chamber of the gun was loaded with a dummy
bullet but with a live powder charge and primer. This caused the .44 Magnum dummy bullet to be fired out of the barrel with virtually the same force as a real
bullet.
A
Nightmare on Elm Street
The 1984 A Nightmare on Elm Street was Johnny Depp’s first
film. On the day of auditions Johnny Depp accompanied his friend Jackie Earle
Haley. Depp was spotted by director Wes Craven and was chosen to take role instead
of Haley. Johnny Depp got the role and the iconic death of being pulled into
his bed and blood comes pouring out.
The Matrix
Did you know that actor Jean Reno was approached to play
Agent Smith in The Matrix. He tuned down the role and instead took a role in
Gozilla as French Secret Service agent Philippe Roaché.
Saw
franchise
Starting from 2004 too 2010, The Saw franchise made worldwide
just under a billion dollars. This makes Saw the highest earning
horror franchise globally.
Die Hard
Die Hard originated from the failed script of Commando 2. Director
John McTiernan was originally going to make a sequel Commando, However after Arnold
Schwarzenegger turned the role down. Sylvester Stallone, Burt Reynolds,
Harrison Ford and Mel Gibson all declined but eventually Bruce Willis accepted the
role. Commando 2 was dropped and Die Hard was born.
GoldenEye
During the production of GoldenEye, several changes had to
be made to the scripts plot. The reason was that the film was virtually
identical to Arnold Schwarzenegge True Lies which was being released around the
same time.
Gangs Of New York
In Gangs of New York the film ends with a shot of the New
York skyline slowly evolving to modern day New York with iconic attractions being
built, from the Brooklyn Bridge to the Empire State Building to the World Trade
Center. Even though the film was finished after the World Trade Center were
destroyed in the terrorist attacks of 11th September 2001. Director Martin
Scorsese chose to end the skyline sequence with the towers standing because the
movie is about the people who built New York, not those who tried to destroy
it.
Schindler's List
During the filming of Schindler's List, survivor Mila
Pfefferberg was introduced to Ralph Fiennes on the set. Ralph Fiennes looked so
much like the SS commandant Amon Goeth of the concentration camp in Płaszów
that he reminded her too much of the real Amon Goeth and began shaking
uncontrollably.
Collateral
To really grasp the skills as a professional contract killer,
Tom Cruise had to be able to get in and out of anywhere without anyone recognizing
him or remembering him. To prepare as the role as the ruthless hitman Vincent in
Michael Mann’s 2004 Collateral, Tom Cruise had to make FedEx deliveries in a
crowded LA markets without anyone recognizing him as Tom Cruise.
Manhattan
Writer and director Woody Allen disliked Manhattan so much
that he offered to direct another film for United Artists Corporation for free,
on the terms that they don’t release the picture. The film received positive reviews
and earned $39.9 million in its entire run, making the film the 17th
highest-grossing picture in 1979. Till this day Manhattan is classed as one of
many Woody Allen’s masterpiece.
Inception
Christopher Nolan first pitched Inception to Warner Bros
just after completing his third feature film Insomnia. The Studio approved of
the film, however film was not even written yet. Nolan thought it would be more
suitable for his working style if he wrote Inception as a spec script. Thinking
it would only take a few months to complete, it eventually took eight years to
finish.
The Thing
Before the days of CGI, the scene where Dr. Copper (Richard
Dysart) was using the chest defibrillation and his arms were severed off. To
create a more realistic and horrifying effect the director John Carpenter got a
real-life double with both arms amputated to stand-in and was asked to wear a
mask that looks like Copper’s face. The scene was so gory and terrifying that
all the attention was focused on the bloody stumps instead of the unrealistic
face mask.
Office Space
V For Vendetta
22,000 dominoes was used when V tips over the black and red dominoes that eventually formed a giant letter V. Over 200 hours and 4 professional domino assemblers was used to create the iconic moment, even though the scene itself lasted only 30 seconds.
During his small cameo role as the punk kid at the police station, Charlie Sheen stayed awake for 48 hours straight to achieve the wasted and drugged up look.
During the filming of There Will Be Blood, the film No Country For Old Men was also at the Texas location close by. The icon moment of the burning of the oil In There Will Be Blood, the smoke ruined the filming for the Coen brother’s set in No Country and forced to delay the shoot for a day.
Donnie Darko
We all remember, or try to understand Donnie Darko. However
we all do remember the Gary Jules' cover of Mad World which became a UK Christmas
hit number 1. Did you know that the song was a last minute replacement, that Richard
Kelly couldn't get the rights to his first choice, U2's MLK.
Alien Resurrection
Sigourney Weaver is not only “The Sci-fi Queen” but now the
queen of basketball, or at least shooting without looking. In Alien Resurrection
(1997) the basketball court scene Sigourney really did pull off that basketball
shot.
The Road
Many
scenes were filmed in several different states and the destruction caused by
Hurricane Katrina & the erupted location of the Mount St. Helens helped
director John Hillcoat grasp the visual devastation of the world.
The Godfather
The reason why Jon Marley's scream was so real and
horrifying in the iconic bedroom scene in the first Godfather was that a real
horses head was used. He wasn't told that the plastic prop they had earlier was
replaced.
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