Trivia: In the film, the two transfer students are Kiriyama, the silent killer, and Kawada, the winner of a previous Battle Royale. In the original novel, only Kawada was the transfer student; Kiriyama was in the same class selected for this game of death. He was the main antagonist.
Trivia: Paul Reiser's character Carter Burke was so immediately hated that during the movie's premiere his sister hit him, and when Burke's death occurred, his mom's response was simply "good."
Trivia: In the comics, Falcon has taken on the mantle of Captain America before.
Trivia: When Gordon is promoted to Commissioner, Heath Ledger improvised the Joker joining in with the applause.
Trivia: The picture on the computer of the hive looks like an upside down umbrella and the name of the corporation who own the hive is ... the Umbrella corporation.
Trivia: Harold Sakata (Oddjob) was formerly a professional weightlifter and won a silver medal for the United States at the 1948 Olympics in London.
Trivia: The tune that Elle Driver is whistling in the hospital is the theme from the movie 'Twisted Nerve' (1968)
Trivia: Linda Harrison, who portrayed Nova in the original Planet of the Apes and its sequel Beneath the Planet of the Apes, has a cameo appearance in this movie as one of the people inside the rolling cage as it's being taken into the city. She is seen standing next to Mark Wahlberg, shaking her head when he asks her a question.
Trivia: Michael Biehn gets bitten by Sarah Connor in Terminator, by the child in Aliens, and again in the Abyss. All three films were written and directed by James Cameron.
Trivia: The line "Hold on to your butts" said by Samuel L. Jackson is also said by him in Jurassic Park.
Trivia: Director Jason Reitman is the son of Ivan Reitman, director of the original "Ghostbusters" and "Ghostbusters II." As a child, Jason actually had a cameo in "Ghostbusters II" during the birthday party in the beginning. (He's the kid who tells Ray he heard the Ghostbusters were "full of crap").
Trivia: Hitler was played by the actor Michael Sheard, this was the third time he had played Hitler for film and TV. Ironically, Sheard's wife was half-Jewish.
Trivia: Music composer John Williams has a cameo as a bartender on the planet Kijimi.
Trivia: "Bone-Saw" McGraw is played by real-life wrestler "Macho Man" Randy Savage. He started his wrestling career as a masked wrestler named "The Spider". (00:35:20)
Trivia: The real Marcus Luttrell appears several times throughout the movie: he spills the coffee and tells the new guy to clean it up; he's in the operation briefing and shakes his head at the rules of engagement being read; and he's on board the Chinook helicopter when it is shot down.
Trivia: The Noordermarkt scene in Amsterdam was not really shot there. In fact it wasn't shot in the Netherlands at all. The Noordermarkt in the film looks nothing like the real Noordermarkt, and more like an Asian or Indian market. The noise of people talking in the background does not resemble anything close to Dutch. The cars in the scene are rarely seen in the Netherland because they are too outdated to be seen frequently, especially all together. At timecode 42:30 you can see a police car with "POLICE" written on the side of it. However, in real life, Dutch police cars do not use the English word for police. "Politie" would have been the correct word, but even then the police car would not be convincing, as official police cars look entirely different. Finally, the firetruck appearing later in the scene is not a type used in the Netherlands, but appears to be an American Pierce Lance truck with Dutch fire engine stickers on it. Dutch firetrucks are usually of European make: DAF, MAN or Mercedes. (00:41:50 - 00:43:30)