50 movie trivia facts you (probably) don't know
20. The Shining (1980)
Did you know? The number of the spooky room in Stephen King's novel - 217 - was changed in the film to 237. This amendment came at the request of the Timberline Lodge in Oregon, which provided the exteriors for the Overlook Hotel. The management was worried nobody would want to stay in its actual room 217 if the movie included it.
19. The Lord of The Rings (2001-2003)
Did you know? All of the actors who played characters in the Fellowship (apart from John Rhys-Davies, who bizarrely, sent his stunt double) had a tattoo done that said 'nine' in Elvish. Viggo Mortensen's can be seen in Eastern Promises.
18. The Blues Brothers (1980)
Did you know? The poster for fictional film See You Next Wednesday is one of several mentions throughout the films of John Landis. The director uses the in-joke whenever he borrows an idea from an unfilmed screenplay he wrote as a teenager. We finally see the film, a British porno, in An American Werewolf In London.
17. Deliverance (1972)
Did you know? Everyone knows the bit in Deliverance where the young kid twangs on his banjo. That particularly memorable moment is an iconic scene that still stands out despite the horrors that follow. What most don't know, is that the very same boy - Billy Redden - briefly reprised his role 31 years later in Tim Burton's Big Fish.
16. Pulp Fiction (1994)
Did you know? The nerve-shredding scene when Vincent Vega brings Mia Wallace to his friend Lance's house took a while to get right. John Travolta had to bring down a syringe into Uma Thurman's chest in an exact spot. After several failed attempts they tried something else: they filmed backwards. The syringe starts in Thurman's chest and is then yanked out. Tarantino simply reversed the footage.
15. The Terminator (1984)
Did you know? Before settling on the Austrian oak, James Cameron deliberated on casting several bigger names for the role of the T-800. Tom Selleck, Mel Gibson and Michael Douglas were in contention, with OJ Simpson heading up that initial shortlist. Cameron chose not to cast Simpson in the end, insisting he was "too nice" to be taken seriously as a dark character.
14. Batman Returns (1992)
Did you know? Michelle Pfeiffer's performance as Catwoman is so darned sinister - perhaps because the actress was constantly on the verge of passing out. Once inside the suit, she was vacuum sealed in, making it tough to carry out lengthy scenes as it was so tight. It also made it hard for her to hear her own voice so Tim Burton had to remind her that she was shouting.
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13. Chinatown (1974)
Did you know? When Faye Dunaway turned to her director to ask for her character's motivation during one particular scene, Roman Polanski yelled "Say the fucking words. Your salary is your motivation." Their sparring escalated when the director wouldn't let Dunaway take a toilet break shooting a pivotal scene - so she threw a coffee cup of piss in his face.
12. Stand By Me (1986)
Did you know? Kiefer Sutherland once claimed in an interview that during one of the location shoots for the film, a Renaissance Fair was being held nearby and the cast and crew attended. While there, they bought and ate some cookies. Unfortunately, the cookies turned out to have pot in them and two hours later, the crew found Jerry O'Connell - Vern - high as a kite, sobbing his eyes out somewhere in the park.
11. Forrest Gump (1994)
Did you know? The feelgood Tom Hanks movie covers the gamut of small, everyday moments and iconic historical scenes, and they were all supplemented by the use of digitally-generated images. Forrest running through a jungle in Vietnam? CGI. Forrest's mad table tennis skills? CGI. Lieutenant Dan's amputated legs? CGI. Heck, that cute feather at the start is computer generated. The film has more minutes of CGI screentime than Jurassic Park.
Gem Seddon is GamesRadar+'s west coast Entertainment News Reporter, working to keep all of you updated on all of the latest and greatest movies and shows on streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime. Outside of entertainment journalism, Gem can frequently be found writing about the alternative health and wellness industry, and obsessing over all things Aliens and Terminator on Twitter.
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