• Sarris's first attack on the NSEA Protector results in a series of symbolic, yet blatant, sexual messages. Lt. Madison says, "They're turning. They're COMING." Dr. Lazarus says, "We've got to stop." While the captain rightly asserts, "We stop and we die"; symbolic of the death of the human species without procreation. As the captain tells us they're almost through the mine field the position of the ship is erect while afterwards it is quite the opposite. Immediately after the NSEA Protector space ship is "spent" the metaphor shifts strangely to the characters themselves; the captain asks Lt. Madison "You ok? You alright?" As she is the female protagonist the captain desires. The captain's response here to Lt. Madison is much different from the later confidence he displays before they enter the "black hole" for the last time. Tommy's arm is broken in a symbolic stab at masturbation while Dr. Lazarus is so angry and filled with sexual frustration he tries to find a pub. In the next scene the computer immediately says, "Forward thruster shaft: 87% damage." While to some these claims may seem outlandish the diction clearly supports them. The confidence the captain displays toward the end of the film is clear as Tommy says, "We're gonna have to go through the black hole though"; the captain's crew, and most notably Lt. Madison, verbally submit to the captain's order when he says, "Alright. SET HER UP." The black hole is visually connected to a bright star presumably symbolizing the female egg. (Source: Extrapolated from film) - Josh

• When Leo DiCaprio finds out Cameron Diaz is a 'turtledove', you can see a man sitting at the head of the table in the mansion with other people. That man is Martin Scorsese, the director of the movie. - jenny_everdeane

• I don't know where it is but somewhere in the movie you can see a ghost. It was a real ghost. Spooky huh? - Ryan

• Ted Turner (who was a major finacier of the film) has a cameo as a Colonel in Pickett's Charge. He gets shot as he climbs over a split rail fence. "Onward Virgi......." Me and my buddies cheered. - Eamon

• Another interesting cameo: Ken Burns plays an aide to General Hancock. - Covenant

• Bill Murray's part in Ghostbusters was originally written for John Belushi, but he died shortly before the casting. - Dana

• In the first draft of the script the character Dana was an alien sent down to earth in human form. - Ryan

• The green ghost known as "Slimer" was originally named "onionhead" by the crew because of his awful smell, he was not named "Slimer" until the Ghostbusters cartoon came out. - Nick

• In the scene where Dana is coming home with groceries if you closely right next to the eggs those are stay puft marshmellows. - marshmellow man

• Eddie Murphy was originally supposed to play Winston Zeddemore but he was busy with Beverly Hills Cop at the time. (Source: Starz! movies) - Max Gardner

• The role of Louis Tully was orginally scripted for John Candy. (Source: Intellegence) - Patrick

• In Aykroyd's original script, the movie was supposed to begin with the Ecto-1 rushing out of the firehouse to a "bust". (Source: Intellegence) - Patrick

• Dan Aykroyd always referred to slimer as the ghost of his beloved co-actor, John Belushi. (Source: Intellegence) - Patrick

• The move Gigli was named the #1 celebrity oops of all time. (Source: 101 biggest celebrity oops) - Tazz
  • Addition: Gigli became the first film in the history of the Razzie Awards to "sweep" all the top categories. Including, Worst Picture, Worst Director - Martin Brest, Worst Actor - Ben Affleck, Worst Actress - Jennifer Lopez, Worst Screen Couple - Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez, and Worst Screenplay - Written by Martin Brest. (Source: imdb.com) - Webmaster

• Has anyone noticed the similarity between Gladiator and The Fall of the Roman Empire from 1964? Both movies deal with a fictitious Roman commander who is favourised by Emperor Aurelius, and who also duels with Commodus at the end of the movie. In both movies Aurelius is murdered (not historically correct) and Commodus ultimate fate is also portrayed in the same, non-historical way in the two movies. It looks like Ridley Scott was more inspired by the 1964 movie, then by the real history. - Olav Westerman

• Just prior to the opening battle scene with the Germanics, listen very closely; the chant and taunt from the Germans within the treeline on the soundtrack is lifted in its entirety from a similar scenario in the 1964 film "Zulu" with Michael Caine. - Pterosaur

• I heard that the actor that played Proximus died before the movie was finished shooting and they used CGI to put him into a few scenes they had not filmed yet. - Tracy
  • Addition: Yes; "Oliver Reed suffered a fatal heart attack during filming. Some of his sequences had to be re-edited and a double, photographed in the shadows and with a 3D CGI mask of Reed's face, was used as a stand-in. The film is dedicated to his memory." - Internet Movie Database

• At the beginning of the movie, Maximus and Quintus say Strength and Honour. That was not originally in the script. It was in Latin at Russell Crowe's School growing up, and he presented it to Ridley Scott, who then asked what it meant. When Russell said Strength and Honour, Ridley told him to use that. (Source: Russell Crowe Interview) - Riley Burch

• Neither Marcus Aurelius nor Commodus were killed. Marcus Aurelius is considered one of the greatest minds in Roman history (He's compared to Socrates). His successor was "Commodus Verus Lucius Aurelius". Ridley Scott split the person into two. Of course Commodus was the "bad guy" and "Lucious" was the son that Maximus lost and needed. Fact is that there was an uprising at the time too. (Source: Knowledge) - Jeffydw

Because Marlon Brando never remembered his lines, they were written down on 'post-its' and stuck all over the sets, including inside Robert Duval's mouth. - the dude Correction: Brando often had his lines scattered across the set but not because he forgot them, it was because he believed that the best read was the first one so he didn't read scripts before hand. (Source: Special on Marlon Brando) - unitedoutlawsproductions When Sonny beat his brother-in-law, he got hurt for real. James Caan broke two of Gianni Russo's ribs and chipped his elbow.

The Godfather Buy this Photo Enlargement at AllPosters.com

• The infamous horse head was real. The crew found the horse in a New Jersey rendering plant and had it's head packed in ice and shipped to the set.

• Al Pacino almost didn't get the part. It wasn't until the famous restaurant scene where they let him. (Source: Magazine) - brayj

• The Godfather was the first movie in over twenty years in which Marlon Brando was required to audition. The studio heads wanted nothing to do with him, however they relented with the insistence of Coppola. - Scottman

• The baby in the baptismal scene in Godfather I is Sofia Coppola, daughter of director Francis Ford Coppola. She resumes her role as Michael Corleone's daughter in Godfather III years later. (Source: Bravo Profiles) - divine intervenshun
  • Correction: While Sophia Coppola was the baby in GF1, she did not resume the role in GF3. In GF1 she played the son of Michaels sister whom Michael baptizes as all the family business is settled, and obviously in GF3 she plays a different role, Michaels daughter. (Source: Me) - Tony Bats

• Al Pacino was paid $35,000 for the role as Michael, but was under contract to another studio that sued him for breach of contract, he was ordered to make two films for the other studio for free and pay the court costs. He wound up dead broke. (Source: Sunday Magazine Article (1970's)) - JohnnyD

• The call letters of the station Audrey works for is WIDF, (ID4, Independence Day). Another station is WWEN, It might be something. - Bob

• When the heroes are in the Garden sending the feed over to the TV station there is an ID4 alien on top of the computer. - Kev

• 'Til' is played by Randall 'Tex' Cobb, who took on Larry Holmes for the WBC Heavyweight Title in 1982. (Source: Film credits/boxing history) - Devlin Shanklin

• Apparently Vivien Leigh was cast as Scarlett O'Hara by a stroke of luck, happening to be in the right place at the right time. David O. Selznick started the movie without his leading actress, after inconclusive screen tests etc. Vivien Leigh was an onlooker at the opening scene when the producer realised how much she resembled Margaret Mitchell's Scarlett, and so she was cast. (Source: Gone With The Wind Official Premiere Book) - Emily
  • Correction: The meeting was actually engineered by Leigh's agent (who she shared with Olivier). She was visiting Olivier at the time. Selznick and the agent were friends, and he thought it would be worth introducing them. - STEJASKI

• The movie was fined 5,000 dollars for saying the word damn. Back then it was a crime to say it in a movie. (Source: VH1) - Taz

• The script for the movie was originally an one act play written by Matt Damon while attending college at Harvard. (Source: Documentary on Matt Damon and Ben Affleck) - Tazz

• The producers wanted the movie to take place in Canada not Boston. (Source: Documentary on Matt Damon and Ben Affleck) - Tazz

• Right after Mr. Perkins meets the kids out on the porch, Mikey stands alone as some dramatic soundtrack rolls on. If you look in the bottom right corner as Brand enters onto the porch, you can see a trailer in the street. That was the personal trailer of Dick Donner, the director (this is mentioned on the DVD). - Kay D

• In the scene where Chunk is talking to the officer on the phone. The officer says something about creatures multiplying. Well that's a reference to "Gremlins" another film written by Chris Columbus. This is mentioned on the DVD. - Kim

• At the end of the film, it's the actors real parents who meet them on the sea shore. (Source: read and article) - person

• In the scene where the kids are arguing in the basement of the restaurant Mikey calls his brother by the name Josh (actors real name Josh Brolin) instead of Bran. No one caught this including the director. Watch the dvd with cast commentary and hear for yourself. (Source: DVD Commentary) - iverson3

• In the original version, there is a giant octopus in the water after the kids walk the plank. They mention it when they run up and meet their parents. If I'm wrong, let me know. - Paeyton
  • Comment: The only way to see the scene at the end with the octopus is to see a version on TV. (Source: Seen it) - TomyValentine
  • Comment: The octopus is mentioned to the reporters in the scene on the beach in the finished film, even though the scene was cut. (Source: imdb.com) - Webmaster

• Before they began editing for the film it came out to be 7 hours long. (Source: Commentary) - Ryan
  • I believe all movies before editing are very long. It's good to have all that material at hand when choosing the right shots for the right scenes.

• In the scene where Elaine is up in Benjamin's room in Berkeley, and his landlord comes to the door to kick him out after she screams, look at the other boys that are with him, and one is a very young Richard Dreyfuss! - John

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• In the big dance at school the extra people are all professional dancers! (Source: me) - tipz

• At the car race the water there is toxic! (Source: me) - tipz

• One of the waitresses at the ice cream shop is played by John Travolta's sister. (Source: Myself) - techgirl

• The movie is set in the 20's and features several World War 1 surplus aircraft, but the Curtiss JN4 "Jenny's" that Axel Olsson lands in a water-pond and Waldo Pepper crashes during an air-show are both modified De Havilland Tiger Moth's from the 30's. - Olav Westerman

• Kessler also flies a Bücker Jungmeister from the 30's in an airshow. The "home-built" monoplane that one of Waldo's friends uses when he tries to make an outside looping is really a modified De Havilland Chipmunk built in the 50's. - Olav Westerman

• The close-ups with actors flying in the aircraft are no camera-tricks, but real. For example, the actors sat in the rear cockpit of a Tiger Moth where the pilot in the front seat sat almost on the floor with the camera mounted in front of him and shooting over his head. - Olav Westerman

• This was model Andie MacDowell's first movie and the director, while impressed with her beauty, was not impressed with acting or southern accent. While Andie's the face in the movie, all her dialog was overdubbed by the voice of Glenn Close. (Source: Andie MacDowell TV Special) - Sir Ompey

AKA Working Class Man

• The name "Assan" means "pressure-production" in Japanese, and the cars used were actually not Japanese at all- mostly Fiat Regatas (Michael Keaton's was one) , with a few Fiat 127s mixed in the factory scenes, Plymouth Horizons in the baseball scenes and a Plymouth Duster in the poster. (Source: Lost website (meaning of "Assan), 1986 UK car buyers' guide (Fiats), personal knowledge (Plymouths)).