FILM 1872: WORLD TRADE CENTER

FILM 1872: WORLD TRADE CENTER 

TRIVIA: Test audiences believed that Dave Karnes (Michael Shannon), the former Marine, was a Hollywood invention. This is, in fact, a true story that occurred. Karnes later re-enlisted in the Marine Corps and served two tours of duty in Iraq. Also, as reported by the Associated Press on August 14, 2006, the Marine identified only as Sergeant Thomas (who disappeared shortly after 9/11) has been identified as Jason Thomas, a former Marine who grabbed his uniform and immediately drove to Ground Zero to help. Because his identity was unknown at the time of filming, Sgt. Thomas - who is black - was portrayed by William Mapother, a white man. The producers have since apologized to Sgt. Thomas for the miscasting. Thomas has laughed it off and told them not to be concerned, stating, "I don't want to shed any negativity on what they were trying to show."

The city of New York absolutely prohibited the recreation of 9/11 destruction or chaos on location. The filmmakers were not even allowed to film actors looking upward toward where the towers would be. The drive of the officers up to the site was permitted to be filmed, but all scenes depicting events at or near the WTC were filmed in Los Angeles.

In preparing for his portrayal of Sgt. John McLoughlin, Nicolas Cage focused on accurately speaking with a New York accent. And to also capture the fear and claustrophobia of McLoughlin's ordeal, Cage spent hours in a sensory-deprivation tank in Venice, California.

The first theatrical film to recreate the collapse of the World Trade Center towers.

Officer Scott Strauss, a first responder with the New York City Emergency Services unit, was offered the chance to play himself in the film. However, Strauss refused to do so and Stephen Dorff was then cast to portray him. Strauss's services as a consultant were retained for the film to which he didn't accept payment.

Due to her infamous quote that "America is responsible in some way" for the 9/11 attacks, Maggie Gyllenhaal personally offered to withdraw from the project to Officer William Jimeno and his wife Allison Jimeno. They both declined and gave their blessing for Gyllenhaal to take the role.

Director Oliver Stone's first two choices to play John McLoughlin were Mel Gibson and George Clooney.

Feature film debut of Jon Bernthal.

FILM 1690: WAR ON EVERYONE

TRIVIA: The director said when Garrett Hedlund dropped out 3 weeks before shooting began, he was given a list of 6 actors he could potentially choose from, 3 he dropped immediately. He went on to choose Skarsgard because of a YouTube video he saw of him drunk at a football match, in which he's trying to whip the rest of the crowd in a frenzy as he thought they were being too quiet. He thought this made him perfect for the role of Terry.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHbtq2C2PEQ 

FILM 1533: END OF WATCH

TRIVIA: As part of their training, Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña spent five months doing 12-hour ride-alongs with on-duty LAPD officers. During Gyllenhaal's first ride-along, he witnessed a murder.

The scene where Janet and Brian are singing in the car during a road trip was unscripted. Jake Gyllenhaal and Anna Kendrick were driving around with the director in the back seat filming different scenes for the movie. At one point between takes, 'Hey Ma' by Cam'ron came on the radio and Gyllenhaal and Kendrick started to sing along and the director began to secretly film them. Both Gyllenhaal and Kendrick were completely unaware that the moment had been caught on camera until they watched the movie at a screening.

Most of the crude banter between Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña was improvised by the two.

The word "fuck" is used 326 times, making it seventh in the all time profanity list. (It has since been pushed down to number 9 – see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_that_most_frequently_use_the_word_%22fuck%22)

After Taylor and Zavala pull over the male in the pickup who tries to shoot Zavala, Taylor holds up four fingers to Orozco when she asks, "Are you good?" This is often used by police to signal "Code Four," meaning "I'm okay; no additional assistance needed at this time."

In the beginning briefing sequence, as the officers get out to their cars, everyone keeps yelling out, "Faster, BOOT" in reference to the rookie officer Sook. In Law Enforcement lingo, "BOOT" is term for a rookie or new officer.

In the trailer when they are speaking Spanish before they drink they say "Arriba, abajo, al centro, y padentro" which loosely translates as "up, down, to the center and inside".