Mark Bernhard

Trivia: There are several instances where Bill Kelso is firing the guns of the P-40 (such as when Col. Maddox yells out, "Lemme hear yer guns!"). The special effects crew had many several challenges regarding this (including financial, since using the real thing would have been very expensive), so they wound up inventing a kind of mini-flame thrower to replace the plane's machine guns. When they were activated, gas was released in short bursts through the barrels of the guns, and a tiny electric spark (like the ones in gas stoves) ignited it. When activated, the guns appeared to be firing, but made very little noise and smoke. All the sound effects were added in post-production.

Mark Bernhard

Trivia: According to the (excellent) novelization of the movie, when Indy is under the Thuggee spell, he believes that there is a black snake coiled in his chest. When he is given an order by Mola Ram, if he tries to resist, the snake squeezes his heart until he complies with the order.

Mark Bernhard

Trivia: When the first sacrifice victim is being lowered into the lava pit, he is chanting "Om Nam Shiva" over and over. This translates very roughly as "Universe, Earth, Shiva," though the words themselves refer to complex concepts. This is a mantra from a Hindu practice called Shiva Yoga. Shiva Yoga also involves the use of Lingham stones, like the ones Indy is after in the movie.

Mark Bernhard

Trivia: In the novelization of the movie, Short Round believes that the elephant he is riding on is actually the reincarnation of his dead brother.

Mark Bernhard

Trivia: The Thuggee was a real cult in India until the early 1900s. They were more of a cross between gypsies and the mafia than the army of religious zealots seen in Temple of Doom. The word Thuggee is, after all, the origin of our word "thug." For a more realistic portrayal of them, check out the Pierce Brosnan movie "The Deceivers."

Mark Bernhard

Trivia: Maybe it's just foreshadowing, but if you notice the scenes in the infirmary, the two tables are not operating tables, but portable autopsy tables. There are two of them, but nothing designed for "live" patients. Kind of makes you wonder about Doc's credentials.

Mark Bernhard

Trivia: The Thing is based on a short story called, "Who Goes There?" Director John Carpenter ignored the original film and leaned heavily on the written story, which focuses on the idea that no one knows who's infected and who's not.

Mark Bernhard

Trivia: After Director John Carpenter screened his completed film, the movie studio insisted that he go back and film a scene where MacReady is in a hospital, explaining how he alone survived. Carpenter had to fight to keep the original ending.

Mark Bernhard

Trivia: When Lindsay is watching TV alone, the movie she is watching is The Thing From Another World (1951). A few years later, John Carpenter, who directed Halloween, would film a remake entitled The Thing (1982).

Mark Bernhard

Trivia: Producers of the movie were concerned that actual terrorists could use the information in the film to disrupt airport/airplane communications in real life. Most of the "sensitive" information in the film is not only wrong, it is purposely misleading to prevent terrorists from attempting what we see in the movie.

Mark Bernhard

Trivia: The film is based on a book called "58 Minutes" by Walter Wager. In the book, it is the hero's young daughter, not his wife, that is on one of the planes.

Mark Bernhard

Trivia: In the USO when the soldiers and sailors are squaring off on the dance floor, look carefully at the sailors. One of them is James Caan, who was filming another movie nearby and had some time to kill. When the fight starts, he throws the first punch.

Mark Bernhard

Trivia: The shots of Jamie Leigh Curtis hanging beneath the helicopter were filmed on her 35th birthday.

Mark Bernhard

Trivia: The sequence on the bridge toward the end was actually filmed in the Florida Keys on Seven Mile Bridge. The bridge had to be closed down for hours during filming, so long lines of cars had to wait patiently for extended periods of time. As a way of apologizing for the inconvenience, between shots James Cameron and the stars of the film walked up and down the highway handing out bumper stickers bearing the Omega Sector seal and proclaiming, "I was held hostage on Seven-Mile Bridge."

Mark Bernhard

Trivia: There's a scene where Wild Bill (John Belushi) lands his plane on a highway in the desert and pulls up to a gas station to refuel. The gas station and the old woman that works there were also seen in Steven Spielberg's first movie, "Duel."

Mark Bernhard

Trivia: A number of racial slurs are used, just as they would have been in 1941. Amazingly, the film was released in Japan with Japanese subtitles. However, whenever someone used a derogatory slur, the subtitle simply translated it as "Nihon-jin" (Japanese Person).

Mark Bernhard

Trivia: The German U-boat in this movie is actually a mock-up built for Spielberg's earlier movie, 1941. It's only the front half of the sub, so you never see past the conning tower in close-ups. When you see the sub in its entirety, it's a model, which was also built for 1941.

Mark Bernhard

Trivia: The U-boat in 1941 was a mock-up made just for the film. It was the front half only and all scenes of the sub were shot on a sound stage water tank. The sub just rose up and down out of the water. They did have a model sub that floated in the same studio tank for the scenes with the amusement park and ferris wheel.

Mark Bernhard

Trivia: The writers and producer originally wanted John Wayne to play the part of General Stillwell (a real general in WWII, played by Robert Stack). Wayne was excited about the part and asked for a copy of the script, unaware that it was a comedy. After he read it, he wrote a long letter to the producer of 1941, begging him not to make the film.

Mark Bernhard

Trivia: The BPRD complex was (according to Del Toro) was originally FDR's secret emergency bunker. The library where Professor Broom dies was the president's office and Hellboy's room (with the big vault door) was his fallout shelter, just in case Germany perfected the A-bomb first.

Mark Bernhard