Trivia: Bob Geldof hates this film. He is quoted as saying "I hated it! I was embarrassed. I didn't know what I was getting into... I thought my acting was terrible. The script was ridiculous. And I hate Pink Floyd. As you may recall I was a punk rocker, so if you want to say something just keep it to three minutes..." He had to be physically restrained by director Alan Parker when he tried to get up and leave during the preview screening of the film at Cannes. In his autobiography "Is That It?" he trashes the film at length, labelling the script as puerile nonsense, and is particularly scathing about the political stance it appears to take. He had a miserable time on the set (reportedly, so did everyone else) and now refuses to even talk about the film or his experiences making it.
Trivia: Steven Spielberg has a cameo as one of the doctors when Elliot and E.T. are 'hospitalized' inside the house.
Trivia: The little pesky sister, Dolores Rebchuck, does the voice for Bobby Hill on King of the Hill.
Trivia: The pretty girl in the corvette that pulls up next to Hamilton, when he is wearing the Pirate uniform, is Nancy Wilson of the rock band Heart. At the time Wilson was dating Cameron Crowe, who wrote the film's screenplay, and later got married.
Trivia: In the hilarious fist-fight scene between Nolte and Murphy, they each punch each other the exact same number of times. The fight begins with Murphy landing more punches on Nolte, but then Nolte catches up by the end of the sequence. However, if you count correctly, you'll notice that Nolte is still one punch behind Murphy. That's why once they are both back sitting in the car, about to drive off, Nolte suddenly lands one last knuckle sandwich squarely on Murphy's jaw - now they are even.
Trivia: Even though Mary Beth Hurt and Glenn Close played women from different generations, in reality they are only a year apart in age.
Trivia: After all the men have gone off in search of the horse, Spur is left behind at Harrison's homestead to flirt with Mrs. Bailey. He playfully chases her around the kitchen table and in so doing passes a platter of chicken. Without pausing, Spur sweeps down, grabs a chunk and takes a ravenous bite, then continues his lap around the table. As he approaches the camera on the near side, he starts to speak and a small chunk of chicken is shot from his mouth directly in to his up swinging hand. He then places his hand on the table to deposit the chunk of chicken.
Suggested correction: Spur does his chasing of Miss Bailey when he brings Jessica home. He returns when everyone leaves to find the horses. He jumps from his cart to horseback when Miss Bailey said everyone had left. Spur says someone needs to watch over the women.
Trivia: Richard Gere admitted that he really had no interest in doing An Officer and a Gentleman. He only did it because he needed money at the time.
Trivia: The entire party scene was improvised by Bill Murray.
Trivia: Daryl Hannah's character remarks how she sometimes wishes she was a mermaid. Two years later, she played a mermaid in "Splash" (1984).
Trivia: Mrs. Brisby's eldest daughter was voiced by a young Shannen Doherty, later to become famous for her role as Brenda in "Beverly Hills 90210."
Trivia: Meryl Streep could only bring herself to do one take of the choice scene, she begged the movie producers not to make her do it again.
Trivia: The film producer Jörn Donner received an Oscar for best foreign movie. He is Finnish. The only Finnish person to have accomplished this to date.