TedStixon

29th Feb 2020

The Fifth Element (1997)

Trivia: Director Luc Besson wanted Bruce Willis for the part of Korben Dallas, but decided to go with a lesser-known actor in order to save money. Upon being informed, Willis told Besson that they could "work something out" if he liked the script. Willis read the script, loved it, and agreed to do the film for a reduced upfront paycheck.

TedStixon

Trivia: The film opens with a short scene set in 1975. 1975 was also when the Valerian comic "Ambassador of the Shadows," upon which much of the film was based, was released.

TedStixon

Trivia: The FBI was very supportive of the film, as felt that it would possibly inspire people to become FBI agents.

TedStixon

Trivia: Bernard Rose, the director of the first film, wrote a script for this sequel that didn't focus on the Candyman character, but rather focused on the impact urban legends have on people. The studio felt the script was too cerebral and instead told Rose that people "just wanted to see Candyman eviscerate victims." A more traditional slasher-film script was then written and used.

TedStixon

Trivia: "The Silence of the Lambs" has gained some infamy in recent years as an example of the "Mandela Effect" - a phenomenon where large groups of people share the same false memory. Specifically, many people remember Hannibal Lecter delivering the specific line "Hello, Clarice" when she comes to visit him. But he actually never once says this line in the film.

TedStixon

29th Feb 2020

Black Rain (1989)

Trivia: Charlie singing karaoke with Matsumoto was a last-minute addition to the film conceived by Andy Garcia. Garcia felt that the scene would not only be fun, but help the audience connect more with his character Charlie, which would then make his death in the following scene even more shocking.

TedStixon

29th Feb 2020

Black Rain (1989)

Trivia: An alternate ending was shot where Nick kills the main villain Sato by impaling him on a spike. It was ultimately decided to instead have Nick do the honorable thing and simply arrest Sato.

TedStixon

29th Feb 2020

Black Rain (1989)

Trivia: Was Ridley Scott's first successful film in a decade. Every other film he had made since 1979's "Alien" flopped at the box office, while "Black Rain" ended up becoming a massive hit. It was the eleventh highest-grossing film of the year.

TedStixon

29th Feb 2020

Black Rain (1989)

Trivia: Jackie Chan reportedly turned down the role of one of the villains in the film, as he felt audiences wouldn't want to see him play a bad-guy.

TedStixon

29th Feb 2020

Black Rain (1989)

Trivia: A great deal of the film was actually shot in Japan, and it was reportedly very difficult on the cast and crew. The cost to film in Japan was very high, and the shoot was highly restricted, causing frequent issues. The original cinematographer even left production because he became too frustrated by the experience. Filming was eventually moved to the US to combat these issues.

TedStixon

Trivia: Major's skin-tight bodysuit was a major hurdle during production. It took Weta workshop several months of work before they perfected the design and method of production. It was sculpted to perfectly fit Scarlett Johansson's body based on digital full-body scans. When it was produced, it was made out of silicone and purposely made slightly smaller so it would hug her body like a second skin.

TedStixon

Trivia: While the story is primarily lifted from the 1995 anime film of the same name, several elements of the movie were also taken from its 2004 sequel, "Ghost in the Shell: Innocence." Most noticeably, the robotic geisha are lifted directly from that movie.

TedStixon

21st Feb 2020

Roxanne (1987)

Trivia: Steve Martin had been a fan of the play "Cyrano de Bergerac," on which the film was loosely based, since he was 12 years old. Making a modern-day retelling of the play became a dream-project of his during the 1980's, eventually resulting in this film.

TedStixon

21st Feb 2020

Roxanne (1987)

Trivia: For some strange reason, the film was originally given an R-rating by the MPAA despite the fact it contains very little violence or profanity. The studio appealed, and the MPAA thankfully gave the film a much more appropriate PG rating without requiring any editing.

TedStixon

Trivia: Alita is portrayed as having extremely large eyes in the movie. This was done as producer James Cameron wanted to literally translate the style manga and anime (where characters often have stylized over-sized eyes) to a live-action film.

TedStixon

Trivia: The original manga was released in western territories as "Battle Angel Alita." The title of the film swapped the words around so they read "Alita: Battle Angel." Producer James Cameron reportedly did this because he felt it sounded more dramatic and also because they could then use the "Alita" name for potential sequels. (Ex. He mentioned a sequel could be called "Alita: Fallen Angel" or "Alita: Avenging Angel.") A producer attached to the film also half-jokingly suggested that Cameron swapped the words around because almost all of his films have titles that begin with either "A" or "T."

TedStixon

Trivia: James Cameron originally intended to direct the film, and began work on it way back in 1995. He kept pushing it back, as he felt the technology to make the film hadn't been perfected yet, and also because he became attached to several other projects in the meantime. Eventually, Cameron relinquished the director's seat to Robert Rodriguez and instead focused on writing and producing the film. The film was finally released in 2019... twenty-four years after Cameron started work on it.

TedStixon

20th Feb 2020

Roxanne (1987)

Trivia: Don't shut off the film once the credits start rolling. About a minute into the credits, there is some extra voice-over dialogue from C.D. and Roxanne as they discuss the name of the comet Roxanne discovered.

TedStixon

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.