Entertainment 101: Some Strange And Interesting Movie Trivia

Saving Private Ryan is still the best movie I ever seen in sound quality and realism

Movie trivia – don’t you love them? When I have seen a movie over Astro (or cinema) or expecting to see one soon, I often hop over to IMDB to read about the trivia, comments and other details. Most of the time, I love the trivia. You can find interesting information on the movie that sometimes makes you more curious to see the movie.

After all, where else you can read interesting things like below…

The idea of a sniper putting a bullet through another sniper’s scope came from the true story of a Marine sniper in Vietnam called Carlos Hathcock, who killed a Vietcong sniper who was stalking him by putting a bullet through the sniper’s scope (movie: Saving Private Ryan)

Gunfire heard in the movie were not sound effects, but actual gunfire with live ammunition fired from authentic period weapons, recorded at a live fire machine gun range near Atlanta, Georgia. The range is owned by a weapons manufacturer (movie: Saving Private Ryan)

Tom Cruise narrowly escaped potentially fatal injuries after a sword was swung within one inch of his neck while filming. He and his co-star Hiroyuki Sanada was acting out a sword fight scene when the incident happened. Sanada swung a sword at Cruise who was on an off-camera mechanical horse at the time. But the machine reportedly malfunctioned and failed to duck at the right moment. Sanada stopped the blade just one inch from his neck (movie: The Last Samurai)

Brian Grazer and Ron Howard received an invite from French President Jaques Chirac. They expected a five-minute photo call. Instead they spent an hour in conversation and were told to speak to him if they had problems getting filming in the Louvre. Chirac suggested Reno should have a pay rise and that his daughter’s best friend, an actress, should be cast as Sophie Neveu (movie: The Da Vinci Code)

While scenes were being shot at the riverbank on Connecticut River, in Windsor, Connecticut, two life sized mannequins being used as extras had gotten free and drifted into the river. The production’s water safety crew performed a search but weren’t able to recover the mannequins. Police departments along the river were notified of the missing, according to Windsor police Lt. Shannon Haynes who said “We just wanted them to know that if they got any calls about bodies floating in the river” (movie: War of the Worlds)

Talk about SFX! The digitally-rendered 1933 NY is so detailed that it contained 90,000 separate buildings. King Kong’s roar is a lion’s roar played backwards at half speed. Weta Workshops created 8 variations of animal excrement and even researched the manure of tigers and camels (movie: King Kong)

During the scourging scene, James Caviezel accidentally got whipped twice. The first time knocked the wind out of him, and the second time hurt so much it caused him wrench his hand quickly from his shackles, scraping his wrist badly (movie: The Passion of the Christ)

In an interview with Newsweek magazine, James Caviezel spoke about a few of the difficulties he experienced while filming. This included being accidentally whipped twice, which has left a 14 inch scar on his back. Caviezel also admitted he was struck by lightning while filming the Sermon on the Mount and during the crucifixion, experienced hypothermia during the dead of winter in Italy (movie: The Passion of the Christ)

James Caviezel experienced a shoulder separation when the 150lb cross dropped on his shoulder. The scene is still in the movie (movie: The Passion of the Christ)

On the first day of general release, Ash Wednesday, Peggy Scott, a 56 year old advertising sales manager from Wichita, Kansas collapsed of apparent heart failure while watching the crucifixion scene. She later died at the hospital (movie: The Passion of the Christ)

The US Army loaned several UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters for the rescue scene at the end, prompting the Canadian authorities to reassure the people of Montreal that they weren’t being invaded by America (movie: The Day After Tomorrow)

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