Trivia: The author of the short story this movie is based on (Garrett Murphy) had his name removed from all credits after seeing the movie for the first time. The story has nearly zero visible violence in it, unlike the ultra-violent film version.
Trivia: When Rob and Laura are lying in bed listening to Ray aka Ian have sex, Laura is reading a book called Love Thy Neighbor. Later on we learn that Laura indeed did love her upstairs neighbor.
Trivia: In the DVD's deleted scene sections, we see what happens to Pamela Fitzgerald in the Halloween party - she is confronted by two policemen and she shows them what she has in the clear plastic tupperware, which contains the fingers of Trina. The police arrest her on the spot and take her away, leaving Sam and Brigitte to save Ginger.
Trivia: U-571 cause quite a stir in England especially in the small northern town of Horsforth (where I actually live), because we felt the movie 'Hollywood-ised' a British victory. The people of Horsforth raised an astonishing £241,000 in one week (about £4million today) to fund the building of the HMS Aubretia, the ship that captured the first enigma machine when it depth charged U-110. It caused so much upset amongst people that President Bill Clinton wrote a letter to the people of Horsforth praising the town for their part in the war effort. The letter is now on display in the local museum.
Trivia: Judging by his looks, one would think Gary Oldman is paying homage to that Sean Penn's also somewhat 'offbeat' lawyer-characterization in "Carlito's Way".
Trivia: At one point in the film, a character is walking through the dressing room backstage of the theater, and you can see a "phantom hand" sticking out of the wardrobe hanging on the rack. To this day, this mysterious hand has no explanation, as there was no reason for it to be in the scene. Some like to think, given the nature of the film, the hand is of supernatural origins.
Trivia: John Henshaw, who plays the Man Utd loving father of Gordon, is actually a lifelong fan of Manchester City FC, and held a season ticket at Maine Road, where the schools' cup final in the film was held.
Trivia: In the scene where Shaft first calls Rasaan reminding him of owing a favour, the song playing in Rasaan's apartment is one by Sean Paul. Rapper Busta Rhymes (Rasaan) and Jamaican artist Sean Paul have featured on several of each other's songs.
Trivia: Wim Wenders made the movie in a real hotel in a rather run-down area in LA. Throughout the shooting he had to deal with unwanted extras interfering with the shooting. One lovely example is the scene where Skinner talks to Tom Tom in a car in front of a porn cinema, and a lady in red, who is seen in the background, all of a sudden puts her nose to the window to have a good look at Mel Gibson. (00:41:50)
Trivia: As director Bonnie Hunt says on the DVD commentary, she told Minnie (Grace) to hit David (Bob) really hard in the scene when she slaps him, to get a better reaction. This is why his face looks surprisingly cheerful behind his hand as he holds it to his cheek - he's trying very hard not to laugh, as he wasn't expecting it.
Trivia: The Marquis de Sade, a promiscuous man and a convicted rapist died of syphilis (a sexually-transmitted disease) in 1814.
Trivia: The 'Best Friends' necklace that Gwyneth Paltrow wears is also worn by Scott Speedman, perhaps hinting that she is the 'angel' he is looking for?
Trivia: Maureen is said in the movie to be the best dancer at the school. However, you never really see her do anything spectacular. That is because Susan May Pratt is the only non-trained dancer in the movie.
Trivia: Whenever we see Forrester's hands on the keyboard, they are not Sir Sean Connery's, but someone else's, as the production found out during filming that Connery could not type.
Trivia: Director Takashi Miike is not a fan of sequels, as he feels they are usually just "more of the same." So when he was set off to make this sequel to Dead or Alive, rather than make it a continuation of the first film, he simply re-used the same actors as different characters in a different storyline. So the film is not a "true" sequel to the original, but rather a "spiritual" sequel to the original.
Trivia: At one stage in the movie, Billy and his dance teacher travel across the Transporter Bridge, the only working cradle bridge in the world, which crosses the River Tees from Middlesbrough to Port Clarence, Stockton-on-Tees. At the time of the Miners Strike in 1984, when the film is set, neither Middlesbrough nor Stockton-on-Tees had an active coal field. Whilst the Transporter Bridge, now a grade 2 listed structure, is still working, it is not really a regularly used entry or exit use from Teesside, if Billy and his teacher were going to an audition. Which raises the question as to why they were on the bridge, apart from giving the director the chance to show off a spectacular structure.