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Halloween (1978)
1. Michael Myers mask is actually a Captain Kirk Mask painted White.
Happy Gilmore (1996)
1. The Hockey player Happy mentions in the beginning of the film is Terry O'Riley. Once during a game he jumped into the stands at Madison Square Garden and fought with a fan.
2. Before his first tournament, Happy asks Chubbs why he didn't play a real sport, "like football, or somethin." Carl Weathers, who played Chubbs, was a professional football player before becoming an actor.
Hard Boiled (1992)
1. Using the shotgun in the rose box was an original idea in both Hard Boiled
and Terminator 2. It is a coincidence that they both came up with it at the same
time. It is not a reference or a copy of Terminator 2.
2. Number of people killed by getting shot: 230
3. The budget of this movie was only about $4,000,000
4. Because of the shooting schedule, the crew only had one chance to perform the
continuous take during the gun-battle in the hospital.
5. Most of the script was radically rewritten a week before shooting began. The
original plot involved a man poisoning bottles of baby formula (hence the
hospital locales in the entire 2nd half), but director John Woo found the idea
repugnant and decided to jettison it.
6. Has more on screen deaths than any other film.
7. Last film (to date - 2002) to have been banned in Sweden
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)
1. Hugh Grant was originally cast as Gilderoy Lockhart but was forced to
withdraw at the last moment because of scheduling conflicts. Alan Cumming was
also considered.
2. Zoë Wanamaker does not appear in this film as Hogwarts' flying instructor,
Madam Hooch. Her character was written out.
3. Daniel Radcliffe was initially only offered £125,000 (approximately
US$181,500) to film Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. The
Actor's Union Equity stepped in, however, and negotiated new terms that
increased his salary to roughly £2,000,000 (US$3,000,000).
4. Christian Coulson landed the role as Tom Riddle, even though he is 23 and
exceeds the 15-17 age group set for auditions.
5. Fourteen Ford Anglias were destroyed to create the scene where Harry and Ron
crash into the Womping Willow.
6. As Hagrid is taking Harry away from Knockturn Alley in one of the shop
windows in the background an entire set of Harry Potter books is visible.
7. The train station interior used in the film is Kings Cross in North London,
whereas the exterior shot is actually St Pancras. The two stations are adjacent
to one another, but not the same building. This was done because the
architecture of St Pancras is much more visually appealing.
8. The punch line for the "Japanese golfer" joke told by Uncle Vernon that Harry
Potter ruins is actually quite vulgar and not at all appropriate for young
children or mixed company.
9. As Harry enters Prof. Dumbledore's study, a portrait of Gandalf the Grey is
included in the collection of the great wizard paintings.
10. The script originally said that Hermione would hug Harry and Ron in the
final scene. Because Emma Watson was embarrassed about having to hug them in
front of the entire cast, Chris Columbus changed the scene. Hermione just hugs
Harry, and starts to hug Ron, but the two get embarrassed and shake hands
instead. Columbus thought that it was good build-up for the upcoming romance
between Ron and Hermione.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001)
1. Richard Harris only agreed to taking the part of Albus Dumbledore after his eleven year old granddaughter threatened never to speak to him again.
2. At one point, when Harry, Ron, and Hermione are approaching Hagrid, he can be seen playing a wind instrument. He is playing the Harry Potter theme.
3. The Hogwarts motto, "Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus" means "never tickle a sleeping dragon".
4. Steven Spielberg was offered the position as
director, but was later refused when he couldn't agree with JK Rowling's
insistence on an all-British cast. He wanted to use Haley Joel Osment for the
part of Harry.
5. In addition to Steven Spielberg, other candidates for the director's job were
Jonathan Demme, Brad Silberling and Terry Gilliam. Gilliam was Rowling's initial
favourite but the studio finally picked Chris Columbus to direct because he had
experience directing child actors. Columbus was also asked many times by his
daughter to direct and he agreed after he read her book.
6. Although Daniel Radcliffe's voice broke during production, he did speak all
the lines in the movie. The scenes were filmed in order and his voice changes
slowly throughout the movie. It was erroneously reported by a London tabloid
that a young actor who spoke lines for the action figure dubbed his lines in the
movie.
7. There was a huge media outcry in Gloucester, England when it was decided to
use the local Cathedral for some of the Hogwarts scenes. Protesters wrote
letters by the sack-load to local newspapers, claiming it was blasphemy and
promising to block the film-crew's access. In the end, only one protester turned
up.
8. The movie is known as "Harry Potter and the
Sorcerer's Stone" in the USA only and so every
scene in which the Philosopher's Stone was mentioned was filmed twice, once with
the actors saying "Philosopher's" and once with the actors saying "Sorcerer's".
9. Among the portraits on the shifting staircase, you can clearly see a painting
of Anne Boleyn, King Henry VIII's second wife and the mother of Queen Elizabeth
I. Anne Boleyn was popularly believed to be a witch.
10. This movie has the distinction of opening on more screens in the USA than
any other (3762).
11. Harry Potter's birthday is reported in the books as being "somewhere in
July". Author J.K. Rowling, and actors Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) and
Richard Griffiths (Uncle Vernon) were all reported to have their birthdays on 31
July. It was later revealed that Radcliffe's birthday is, in fact, 23rd July and
that the claim that his birthday was the same as Harry Potter's was merely a
publicity stunt.
12. The inscription around the Mirror of Erised says: Erised stra ehru oyt ube
cafru oyt on wohsi. Reading the inscription backwards it says, "I show not
your face but your heart's desire."
13. The film reveals that the 12th use for dragon's blood is an oven cleaner.
14. Nicholas Flamel, mentioned as the creator of the Philosopher's/Sorcerer's
Stone, was actually a real alchemist who was believed by some people to have
produced the Philosopher's Stone and who has mysterious circumstances
surrounding his "death". It is rumoured that he might still be alive and, if so,
he would be about the age given in the book and movie.
15. Rosie O'Donnell and Robin Williams were two of the celebrities who had asked
for a role in the movie without pay. However they did not film any scenes for
the movie.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner
of Azkaban (2004)
1. Steven Spielberg was rumoured to be directing this movie.
2. Director Chris Columbus opted out of directing the third instalment, citing
that he missed his family and wanted to spend more time with them. He says he is
very open to the idea of directing the fourth Potter film. Producers, however,
chose Mike Newell for the fourth film, which began shooting on 22 March 2004.
3. Other directors reportedly considered for this instalment of the Harry Potter
series included Callie Khouri and Kenneth Branagh.
4. After the death of Richard Harris, many actors were considered for the vacant
role of Albus Dumbledore. Christopher Lee was in the frame for a while, and
there was a rumour (reported in many newspapers) that Ian McKellen was also
considered. Michael Gambon finally got the role.
5. Ewan McGregor was considered for the role of Prof. Lupin.
6. The effects team spent six months creating the Dementors.
7. Honeydukes "is floor-to-ceiling psychedelia" and includes Mexican skulls made
of sugar. The cast was told that the Honeydukes candy was lacquer-coated, when
in fact it wasn't, to prevent candy from disappearing between takes.
8. Illusionist Paul Kieve served as a consultant. He taught magic to several
members of the cast including Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson (Hermione and
Harry) and worked extensively to create physical magical effects. He is the
first illusionist to have worked on any of the series of films. He is also to
make a cameo appearance in the film in a scene in the Three Broomsticks pub.
9. Filming was halted following the vandalisation of the train used as the
Hogwarts Express.
10. The film was offered to director Guillermo Del Toro but he opted to do
Hellboy (2004) instead.
11. Emma Thompson accepted the role of Professor Trelawny to impress her four
year old daughter, Gaia.
12. Gary Oldman says he accepted the role of Sirius Black because he "needed the
work". He hadn't acted for several years.
13. Director Cuaron coached Daniel Radcliffe in one scene where the latter had
to act awed: "Pretend you're seeing Cameron Diaz in a G-string". It worked.
14. A clause in Cuaron's contract forbade the director from cursing in front of
the kids on set.
Heat (1995)
1. Mann visited inmates in Folsom prison to gain some insight into prison life
to aid his depiction of Neil. Mann later commented that Neil's collars were
always perfectly starched, as they would have been in prison.
2. Filmed in 65 locations around Los Angeles, without a single soundstage.
3. The line Al Pacino uses: "Who? What are you, an owl?" is the same line the
murderer says to Pacino when holding a gun to his head at the climax Sea
of Love (1989).
4. The scene where Vincent catches his wife cheating, removes the television set
and later throws it from his car was lifted from a similar scene with Dennis
Farina in "Crime Story" (1986), also produced by Michael Mann.
5. The character of Nate, played by Jon Voight, is based on real-life former
career criminal Eddie Bunker.
6. In the UK, the film was given a '15' rating for both its cinema and video
release and passed uncut in both instances. It was re-released in 2000 with a
new 'Underground Epics' video cover, bearing an '18' certificate. However, this
was not a different version of the film - the content was the same as the '15'
version. The '18' certificate was a mistake, and the video cover was withdrawn.
7. Michael Mann made the movie as tribute to a detective friend of his in
Chicago who obsessively tracked and killed a thief he had once met under
non-violent circumstances.
Hellboy (2004)
1. Director Guillermo del Toro for years considered this film a dream project
and had always wanted to cast Ron Perlman in the lead, but could never secure a
budget or studio approval. After the massive success of Blade II
(2002), del Toro was offered Blade: Trinity (2004) or Hellboy, and
though he briefly considered trying to schedule both in, he chose Hellboy.
2. Baby Hellboy Sammael, Ivan the corpse, and Kroenen were all voiced by
Guillermo Del Toro.
3. When del Toro met with producers many suggestions were made to alter Hellboy,
be they character based or story based, one such idea was to have Hellboy be a
human who transforms into Hellboy when he gets angry. Another suggestion was
that he came from hell but was a normal human, such "suggestions" were quickly
shot down by del Toro.
4. Director Guillermo Del Toro opted to do the film over Harry Potter and
the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004).
5. Upon meeting to discuss the movie, Hellboy creator Mike Mignola and director
Guillermo del Toro decided to reveal to each other their choice for the lead
role of Hellboy. They both said at the same time, Ron Perlman.
6. The characters of Rasputin and Ilsa each have lines which are also names of
the Hellboy trade paperbacks. "Seed of Destruction" spoken by Rasputin is
Hellboy Vol. 1 and "Right Hand of Doom" spoken by Ilsa is Vol. 4
7. When Professor Bruttenholm is showing Agent Meyers through the BPRD when he
first arrives, a greyish male humanoid statue with a large ring on its groin is
momentarily seen. This is actually Roger the Homunculus, a supporting character
introduced late in the Hellboy comics (in the story arc "Almost Colossus"), who
often goes through periods of dormancy; when active, he is a special BPRD agent
much like Abe. Roger did not make it into the movie script as a character, but
made it into the film as a piece of set decoration instead. Another comic-book
prop reference in the same scene is the large set of metal boots sitting in one
of the glass display cases. These belonged to a supernatural creature called
"The Iron Shoes" from the short story of the same name.
8. During Liz's flashback sequence, an apartment complex named "Mignola Plaza"
can be seen in the background. Mike Mignola is the creator of Hellboy.
9. Sit through the credits for an extra scene.
10. The Hell Boy movie takes its story from more than one Hell Boy comic. The
meat of the story comes from the "Seed of Destruction" storyline, but the rest
is taken from the "Right Hand of Doom" and "Box Full of Evil" short stories. The
movie also contains little homages to other stories such as "The Corpse" and
"Pancakes".
11. When Hell Boy says to Myers "what got you this job pushing Pam-cakes"
Pancakes is purposely said wrong referring to a two page story which appears in
the "Right Hand of Doom" graphic novel.
12. In BPRD headquarters, next to the Spear of Longinus is the foetus from
Guillermo del Toro's previous film, La Espinoza del Diablo (2001 .
13. Mike Mignola, Hellboy's creator appears dressed as a knight in a crowd of
costumed people menaced by Sammael.
14. Very early on in the film's preproduction, the filmmakers considered putting
Hellboy's giant stone hand on his left arm rather than the right, so as to grant
the actor playing Hellboy the full use of his right hand. Ron Perlman proved to
be left-handed, so the filmmakers were able to preserve the Right Hand of Doom.
15. The US soldiers' unit patches identify them as from the 2nd Infantry
Division, the "Indian Head" division. In real life, they were actually defending
the town of St Vith, Belgium during the events in the opening scene.
16. The Spear of Longinus seen briefly in the movie is an exact replica of the
actual Spear (which is in the possession of the Hofsburg Treasure House in
Vienna), right down to the golden sheath wrapped around its centre.
17. The filmmakers decided not to make the film too bloody so as to avoid an R-rating and thought of things they could substitute for the blood. While filming the fight between Hellboy and the monster in front of the people in the subway, actor Ron Perlman suggested that Hellboy could grab a gumball machine and start beating the monster over the head with it, with the flying gumballs standing in for the blood. Instead, Hellboy rips a payphone off the wall and beats the monster over the head with the phone, with the coins that go flying out standing in for the blood.
18. A deliberate 45 second stretch of a black screen without sound was included after a battle sequence by director Guillermo del Toro. However, the sequence came at the end of the fifth reel, and many projectionists cut the sequence off, believing it to be leader film. This results in an abrupt continuity error in the story, that was commented on in many critics reviews.
19. Vin Diesel was signed for the role of Abe Sapien for a number of years.
20. The tombstone we see right after Hellboy enters
the Russian cemetery was digitally altered. The name on it was changed to Mike
Mignola's in Russian, and the epitaph below the date reads "Born in fire, died
in fire", also in Russian.
21. Hellboy's line to Liz, "I'll always look this good," was originally spoken
by Guillermo del Toro to his future wife when she took issue with his casual
mode of dressing.
22. After completion of the Hellboy make-up, the only part of Ron Perlman's body
that can actually be seen are his eyelids.
Hellraiser (1987)
1. It took six hours to place Doug Bradley into the Pinhead makeup.
2. The budget of this movie was $1,000,000. It earned about $ 20,000,000. It was
the directing debut of Barker, who made only two short films before.
3. Doug Bradley's characters name wasn't "Pinhead". He was just named "lead
cenobite", but was given the name short after the film started.
4. Doug Bradley was originally offered a choice of roles between one of the
mattress movers and the Lead Cenobite. He originally thought it important that,
as a new film actor, the audience should be see his face, and nearly turned down
the Lead Cenobite role.
5. The film is based on the novel "The Hellbound Heart".
6. The film's original title was "Sadomasochists From Beyond The Grave".
7. Andrew Robinson improvised the line "Jesus wept".
Highlander (1986)
1. Clancy Brown nearly turned down the role of Kurgan, concerned that his
allergy to makeup would prevent him from wearing the prosthetics required late
in the film.
2. Christopher Lambert spent time with a dialogue coach, developing an accent
which sounded non-specifically foreign.
3. The castle where Connor MacLeod lived is the same castle used for the
interior shots for Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975).
4. Non-American versions of this film include a WWII flashback sequence showing
MacLeod rescuing Rachel, where he tells her "It's a kind of magic".
5. Unused footage includes a sequence with Kurgan fighting an immortal security
guard named Yung Dol Kim in an office building. Kim, tiring of his immortal
life, yields to Kurgan, who takes his head.
6. Christopher Lambert had just barely learned to speak English when he took
this role. The only other English-speaking film he had been in at that point was
Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984), in which
he spoke only a few words.
7. The "New York, New York" version played by Queen during the movie has never
been included in any of the band's albums, nor in any other audio format. It's
currently the only known unreleased Queen song.
8. In the scenes following Connor taking the Kurgan's head, director Russell
Mulcahy had originally envisioned an animated dragon with the Kurgan's skull
battle helmet emerging from the Kurgan's decapitated body and challenging Connor
again. Only after Connor had defeated this Ghost-Dragon would he have received
the final quickening and subsequent Prize. This idea was eventually cut due to
budget restraints.
Highlander II: The Quickening (1991)
1. Grossly contradicts Highlander (1986), its prequel.
2. Christopher Lambert normally wears glasses, as his eyesight is very poor.
During one of the sword fights, Lambert (sans glasses) nearly severed Michael
Ironside's right thumb.
3. Director Russell Mulcahy disliked the theatrical cut so much, he left the
premiere after only 15 minutes.
4. In the renegade version, a documentary following the film has the filmmakers
explain why the original theatrical release contradicted the first film.
According to them, the inflation in Argentina had risen so high during filming
that the film's insurance company started to take creative control, and made a
film they thought would make the most money.
5. Sean Connery received $3.5 million for nine days of filming.
6. In unused scenes, it is explained that the Kurgan from the first film was
also a resident of the dreaded planet Zeist, hired by General Katana (Michael
Ironside) to kill Connor MacLeod (Christopher Lambert). The final battle between
MacLeod and the Kurgen from the 1986 film is shown on a large screen to Zeist
bettors, and when the Kurgan fails, Katana sends down the two assassins featured
in the final cut of the film to take out MacLeod.
7. All the subsequent Highlander productions ignore Highlander II, as if it
never happened.
8. The directors cut Highlander 2: Renegade Version (1997) doesn't
contradict Highlander (1985), and has been adopted by fans as the
official version of the sequel.
Hollywood Homicide (2003)
1. Joe Gavilan's frequently heard cell phone ring is the opening riff of "My
Girl", while M.C. Calden's phone plays "Funkytown".
2. The hiphop club where the murders occur also served as the nightclub in
Boogie Nights (1997).
3. Gavilan is based on Robert Souza, who was a homicide detective in the LAPD
Hollywood Division and moonlighted as a real estate broker in his final ten
years on the job. The scene where a cuffed crook steals the gun from a patrol
officer's belt and starts shooting it off in the parking lot actually happened
during Souza's tenure.
Home Alone (1990)
1. The movie that Kevin watches on video tape is not a real film, but footage especially created. It was called "Angels With Filthy Souls."
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992)
1. In Home Alone, Kevin watches a movie called "Angels with Filthy Souls." In this sequel, he watches that film's sequel, "Angels with Even Filthier Souls."
2. Macauley Culkin was paid 8 million dollars to star in this movie, the biggest pay check ever to a 12 year-old child.
Honey, I Blew Up The Kid (1992)
1. In the scene in the government warehouse, The Arc of the Covenant (from Raiders of the Lost Ark ) and Rosebud (from Citizen Kane) are visible.
House of The Flying Daggers, The (Shi mian mai fu) (2004)
1. Director Yimou Zhang has said
that he will rewrite the screenplay to remove Anita Mui's character following
the veteran star's death. This is meant to be a sign of respect for Mui. It was
earlier reported that Michelle Yeoh or Brigitte Lin would be cast instead.
2. This was originally going to be Anita Mui's final appearance in film and she
had already accepted the role but, because she was battling cervical cancer, her
part wasn't going to be filmed until early 2004. After her death on 30 December
2003, director Yimou Zhang decided to alter the script rather than find a
replacement. Anita's name will still be listed in the credits.
3. Yimou Zhang chose world famous opera diva Kathleen Battle to sing the theme
song for this film.
4. The literal English translation of the Chinese title is "Ambushed From Ten
Directions".
5. It is China's official choice for the 2004 Oscar Awards, Foreign Language
film category.
6. Yimou Zhang conceived the story in the late 1990s as a companion to
Hero (2002).
House Party (1990)
1. House Party served as the thesis film for director Reginald Hudlin for his Harvard University degree.
Hudson Hawk (1991)
1. Bruce Willis utters the line "Directions even your brother can understand" to
co-star Frank Stallone. On the script, this jab is directed at the character of
Antony Mario, but it doubles as an off-screen jab at Frank Stallone's real
brother Sylvester Stallone.
2. In the bar, Bruce Willis talks about "Reindeer-goat-cheese-pizza",
which he also mentions in The Last Boy Scout (1991).
Hulk, The (2003)
1. Lou Ferrigno who plays the Head of Security in this film, was The Hulk in the
original TV series The Incredible Hulk (1978). He is walking along
side Stan Lee who is seen leaving the BioTech Institute when we first see Bruce
Banner going to the lab.
2. Ang Lee turned down Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)
to direct this film.
3. Billy Crudup was reportedly Ang Lee's first choice to play Bruce Banner, but
the actor declined the offer.
4. When the project was in the works in the mid-'90s, Johnny Depp was the top
choice to play Bruce Banner.
5. Ang Lee performed the Hulk himself using motion capture technology.
6. Bruce's dad's name in the movie is David Banner, a nod to the TV show,
The Incredible Hulk(1978) where Bruce Banner had been renamed David
Bruce Banner (in the comic book series, Bruce's father's name was Brian Banner).
7. When Bruce Banner's dad first bombards himself with gamma rays, the "mimic"
powers he displays are an homage to "The Absorbing Man", a villain from the Hulk
Comics. When he bites the electric cable, his powers mimic "Zzzaxx", another
villain from the Hulk Comic book
8. Ang Lee's son designed the "hulk dogs" that attack the Hulk.
9. The house used by Betty Ross was also used in To Kill a Mockingbird
(1962).
10. To show the cast where Hulk would be standing (after being added by CGI), a
cardboard cutout was used. The cut-out was nicknamed "Elvis on a stick" by the
cast and crew.