Maybe the acting is captivating, perhaps the cinematography is beautiful, maybe it was based on interesting facts, or maybe the filmmakers have hidden so many easter eggs and tiny details within the scenes, you find something new every time you press play. Even if you have 20/20 vision and you’ve been watching the silver screen since you were a kid, chances are that you’ve missed plenty of hidden details in movies. To show you how scrupulously some famous movies were made, Bored Panda has collected an eye-opening list of incredible movie details and behind the scenes shots. Scroll down to check out these unique movie facts and let us know in the comments which popular movie surprised you the most!
Deadpool 2
In Deadpool 2, one of the rednecks talking about toilet paper is actually Matt Damon in four hours worth of prosthetic makeup. Most people think being a movie star is easy work, but when you have to play roles like this and sit in a chair for 4 hours just for make up than your real work starts. It makes for very long days by the time you get all of the make up removed after the shoot.
Interstellar
For Interstellar, Christopher Nolan did not want to CGI the farm scenes. So, he purchased a plot of land and planted 500 acres of corn just for the film. After filming, he sold the corn and made back a profit on the land purchase. This was one of the smartest financial decisions from a director or producer for a movie.
Pulp Fiction
Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction (1994) tells Vincent Vega a story. Her acting career, in a story. She was one of five women. After describing the other four…it culminates with a description of Thurman’s character in Kill Bill. What a neat little egg. As she went on to describe the other 4 women you can definitely get a better understand of why she fit these roles soo well.
Terminator 2
Robert Patrick trained to fire a gun without blinking in Terminator 2 in order to appear like a humanoid robot. Although, this was unique to Terminator 2 – Schwarzenegger never did that. It takes a lot of training and time to master a skill like this. The dedication of Robert Patrick for this role is extremely commendable and part of the reason that made this movie such a great movie.
Interstellar
The water planet in Interstellar is a pivotal point in the movie in terms of forcing the audience to understand the duality of timelines across planets; the soundtrack in the background has a prominent ticking noise. These ticks happen every 1.25 seconds. Each tick you hear is a whole day passing on Earth. If 1 day was the same as 1.25 seconds, we would be able to live for thousands of years.
The Incredibles
In the movie “The Incredibles” there is a clearly referenced scene to Die Hard 3, the scene of the phone with Samuel L. Jackson, who also plays Frozono, and the policeman engage in a stand-off of sorts. And the Samuel l. Jackson tentatively picks up the phone/water cup. And you know what happens after that. The resemblance in the scenes is undeniable.
Star Wars: A New Hope
Before technology could alter scenes; producers had to get creative. In Star Wars: A New Hope (1977), all the wide shots of Luke flying across Tatooine in his speeder were achieved by placing a mirror underneath a version of the prop with a motor and wheels. That is one very creative way to hide the wheels and tires from the camera.
Liar Liar
Jim Carrey was a part of a successful sketch comedy group before his massive roles in the 1990s. In that group, his most famous character was Fire Marshall Bill. During the movie Liar Liar, during the scene right after Jim crashes the ladder cart….check out who’s in the background of this scene. Jim Carey decided he wanted to cameo his own movie!
Now You See Me
Apparently, Isla Fischer was in serious danger on the set of Now You See Me during the filming of a water trick. In the scene, Fisher’s character was submerged in a tank of water, chained to the frame. Her quick-release magnetic chains had cuffs that were designed to release automatically. However, “the chain that went between my legs couldn’t be broken, and it got stuck.”
After thinking that Fischer was just doing some fabulous acting at first, they finally realized she was in danger and quickly jumped to her rescue.
Inside Out
In the movie “Inside Out”, the movie makers localized a joke for a different country’s audience. The pizza toppings were changed from broccolis to bell peppers in Japan’s version of the movie, since kids in Japan don’t like bell peppers. That is definitely one very well thought out joke that probably took some time to research what kids in each country don’t like.
Up
In Up (2009), Dug is the only dog to successfully track down the Tropical Bird. He is also the only Hunting Dog (Golden Retriever). All the others are Guard Dog breeds. Golden retrievers are very well known for being smart and very good at tracking. Maybe that was planned or just one of the biggest coincidences in a movie, we will never know.
Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban
In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), in an earlier scene where Hermione confronts Malfoy a tiny hand could be briefly seen inside the stone gate. Later, Hermione is time-traveling and hides at the exact location. So the directors dropped that little Easter egg in there for us. It is always fun finding the little hidden details directors leave behind for us.
Forrest Gump
Forrest Gump never blinks while playing ping pong, as he was told the trick was “to keep your eye on the ball.” This trick must take a lot of training. Keeping your eyes open for that long seems like it would dry out your eyes, or maybe that is the trick to dry them out so they are stuck open to make it easier.
Street Fighter
The legendary Raul Julia’s final role was the villainous M. Bison in “Street Fighter” (1994). While filming, he was dying from stomach cancer. He took the role because his children loved the franchise and he wanted to star in a film they could enjoy. His kids must have been extremely proud of their father for landing this role. What a tribute!
Space Jam
In Space Jam while trying to get Michael Jordon’s up and moving, the character Stan Podolak in one sentence, says all of Jordan’s sponsors at the time. He makes sure to reference Hanes, Nikes, Wheaties, Gatorade, and doesn’t forget to mention McDonalds. Maybe that was planned or maybe they just snuck that in, but either way it was clever to get it all in the same sentence.
Terminator 2
In Terminator 2 (1991) they either made a poor mistake, or wanted to see how close the audience was paying attention. To illustrate that point, they used a white stunt double for a black actor. Maybe they were short staffed the day of filming this set. That is not a typical error or an easy mistake to cover up without many hours of makeup artists.
The Truman Show
In The Truman Show (1998), the Moon is briefly illuminated by the “lightning”. This is a sign, hinting that it’s much closer that it should be. Maybe that is a sign to worry about, hopefully it doesn’t mean the end of the world. We will never know some of the meanings or reasons why producers set up movies certain ways.
Coraline
In Coraline, the “welcome home” cake features a double loop on the O. According to Graphology, a double loop on a lower case O means that the person who wrote it is lying. There is only one double loop, meaning she is welcome but she is not home. One of the lower case o’s has a double loop, the other one doesn’t. Maybe it means partially welcome home.
The Truman Show
In the Truman Show, we see Truman taking high dose vitamin D at breakfast time. This is to counteract the deficiency he would have because there is no real sunlight in the constructed world he inhabits. Needless to say the producer thought of all the little details in this one. Most people would have missed those small details, but not this one.
Blade Runner 2049
In Blade Runner 2049 (2017), replicants can be identified by having them look up and to the left. The opening text of the film is positioned where the audience must look up and to the left, and the first word they look at is “Replicants”. Maybe a coincidence or maybe it was meticulously planned out that way, we will never know.
Captain America: Civil War
In Captain America: Civil War (2016), the audience is silent during Tony Stark’s B.A.R.F. presentation. But in the flashback to that same scene in Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019), the audience is laughing, implying that Mysterio remembers this moment as a lot more humiliating than it actually was.
Star Wars Episode 3
In Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith (2005), you can see one B1 BattleDroid in the background telling his friend to look at Grievous activate his lightsabers.
Spider Man: Into The Spider-Verse
In Spider Man: Into The Spider-Verse, when Miles Morales electrocutes Peter B. Parker, it illuminates his nervous system instead of the usual cartoon trope of his skeleton. Being much more scientifically accurate.
Rogue One
Historically, when Darth Vader kills a person by choking – he brings together his thumb and forefinger, slowly closing their windpipe. In Rogue One, he picks up a rebel and then clenches his fist. He straight up crushes his throat.
The Goonies
In “The Goonies” (1985) director Richard Donner wanted an authentic reaction from the kids when they saw Willie’s ship for the first time, so they didn’t get to see it until it was time to shoot. The scene had to be reshot due to the cast swearing as part of their reaction.
The Incredibles 2
In “The Incredibles 2”, the painting in Helen’s hotel room is an illustration of her separation from the family.
Saving Private Ryan
In Saving Private Ryan (1998), Jackson has a bruise on his thumb that was a common injury during WWII from soldiers’ thumbs getting caught in the loading mechanism of the M1 Garand.
Pulp Fiction
In Pulp Fiction Vincent Vega is constantly on the toilet. One of the side effects of heroin abuse is constipation.
The Jungle Book
In The Jungle Book (2016) King Louie is a Gigantopithecus, a huge species of ape believed to have gone extinct 9,000,000-100,000 years ago. The only recorded fossils of this creature are the jaw bones. The change was made from the 1967 film because orangutans are not native to India.
Baby Driver
If you watch the film with headphones or properly placed surround sound speakers, every time we see Baby in Baby Driver (2017) wearing only one of his headphones, you’ll hear the song he is listening to through that ear only.
Zootopia
In ‘Zootopia’ (2016) there’s a fun scene where the camera pans across a conspiracy wall and one of pictures is of a “Sad Keanu” wolf.
John Wick
In John Wick (2014), John wears his wristwatch like most normal people – watch face up. But when he starts bustin’ heads…his watch is face-in. This technique was made popular in 20th century wartime – so soldiers could see the time while holding a rifle as well as to avoid reflections of the glass.
Monty Python And The Holy Grail
In Monty Python and The Holy Grail the chain mail was actually knitted yarn. I have seen this movie about 30 times and just noticed this detail yesterday. Not sure if it was super obvious to everyone else….
Die Hard
In Die Hard (1988), the shocked face of the late Alan Rickman was pure terror. When setting up for the stunt, the production crew told Rickman they would drop him on ‘3’ when in reality, they really dropped him right after ‘1’.
The Matrix
This one is pretty slick. They couldn’t hide the camera in the doorknob’s reflection of this scene of The Matrix, so they put a coat over it and a half tie to match with Morpheus’.
The Dark Knight
In The Dark Knight (2008) when the Batmobile Tumbler was locked up in that iconic chase scene with the garbage truck in Gotham…well that was filmed with 1/3 scale miniatures of the machines. Pretty neat, huh?
Indiana Jones
In Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, the audience sees a young Indi get trapped with a lion and cuts his chin while using a whip. The detail you probably missed come later in the film when present-day Indiana Jones has a scar.
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
Did you know that at one point in his life, actor Chris Pratt lived in a van in Maui? With a roommate?! Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom was filmed in Maui and Pratt – who netted about $10 million from that flick – had a ‘full circle’ moment while filming the movie.
Joker
In Joker , Joaquin Phoenix lost 52 pounds to play the role of Arthur Fleck.
Us
Jordan Peele – director of the blockbuster film ‘Us’ – revealed that the lone leather glove each Tethered person wore was intentional. As a nod to three key figures: O.J. Simpson, Freddy Krueger, and Michael Jackson.
Mario Bros.
Mario Bros. (1993) The entire 9-person crew required to operate Yoshi.
Lilo And Stitch
In the movie Lilo and Stitch, you see that Nani was a surfing star, but dropped everything when her parents died to take care of Lilo.
Karate Kid
This one is a bit more…heavy. In Karate Kid (1984), when Daniel reads the letter Miyagi’s holding while crying, he mentions that his wife died in childbirth at “Manzanar Relocation Center”. This means that Miyagi’s pregnant wife was thrown in an internment camp while he was fighting for the US Army in WWII.
Wall-E
You’ll get a charge out of this one. In Wall-E (2008), there’s a scene where Wall-E the robot is holding an umbrella. If you look closely after the lightning strikes the umbrella, electricity from the bolt charges his battery back to full.
Her
In Her (2013), Theodore uses a safety pin to hold Samantha up in his pocket, so she can see while out on a date.
The Exorcist
Like we mentioned earlier, before big movie tech advances…if you wanted a unique shot you had to get creative. The Exorcist (1973) filmed before the Steadicam had been invented. To show actors going upstairs toward the demonic bedroom a makeshift seat-swing was designed using pulleys and rope, and guided by crew. The handheld shot was revolutionary for the time (as was much of the film).
Cars
In Cars (2006), the truck stop advertises “convertible waitresses”. What is the one thing that separates a convertible from a sedan? A top…
The Cloverfield Paradox – Cloverfield
The Cloverfield Paradox – Cloverfield (2008). If you play both films at the same time, the precise moment the Particle accelerator fires in Paradox it causes the monster to appear in Cloverfield linking the two universes.
Star Wars
Padme and Vader represent the sigils of the Rebel Alliance and the Galactic Empire in these scenes
The Pursuit Of Happiness
In The Pursuit of Happiness (2006), at the end of the movie, Will Smith, who plays Chris Gardner, walks past the actual Chris Gardner whose life the movie is based on