FILM 1893: K-19: THE WIDOWMAKER

FILM 1893: K-19: THE WIDOWMAKER

TRIVIA: Upon reading the film's script, the surviving crew members were so incensed that they sent an open letter to Harrison Ford, Producer/Director Kathryn Bigelow, and Producers Christine Whitaker and Steven-Charles Jaffe, expressing their dismay. Among the less-than-credible details they objected to were profane language, the animosity between the two highest-ranking commanding officers, insubordination among the crew, drunk crew members, the attempted mutiny, the guns (which are kept under seal in a secret location) and the handcuffs (which were only used by and available to cops).

The director and producers of K-19 were the first Western civilians ever allowed inside the Russian naval base at the Kola Peninsula.

The movie set of the sub was identical in size to the actual K-19 sub, thanks to the K-19 blueprints that were available to the producers. Since the sub's corridors were very narrow, the filming camera rolled along a rail system implemented on the ceiling. The rails were painted so they would blend with the sub's interiors.

The blue glow inside the nuclear reactor is known as the Cherenkov effect. In order to simulate it, the crew poured seven hundred two-liter bottles of Canada Dry tonic water and illuminated the reactor with ultraviolet light. The tonic water contains quinine, which emits a bluish glow in the presence of ultraviolet light.

According to Jacob Pitts, during one scene, the Director of Photography was having trouble getting Harrison Ford's eye line. When he asked Ford where he was looking, Ford replied that he was looking into his soul. When the DP asked him where his soul was, he replied, "Under a pile of money."

The meter used in the scene where the ships doctor is checking the radiation dosimeters by inserting them into a dosimeter reader is not actually a reader at all. It is a modified Hewlett Packard (now Agilent) HP3555A/B Transmission Level/Noise test set used by telephone and communications technicians. This actual meter was not developed by HP until several years after the K19 incident. The method for reading dosimeters at the time was to look through them (like you would a telescope) and read the progression of an indicator on a ruler like scale.

Natalya Vintilova has the only female speaking role in the whole movie.

FILM 1811: BROKEN ARROW

FILM 1811: BROKEN ARROW

TRIVIA: John Travolta was given the choice of playing either Deakins or Hale in the film. He chose the villain Deakins.

The phrase "broken arrow" is not actually used to refer to the theft, loss or seizure of nuclear weapons or components from the U.S.;that's known as an "empty quiver". A "broken arrow" is defined by CJCSI 3150.03B, Joint Reporting Structure Event and Incident Reports, as a US nuclear weapon accident that does not create the risk of a nuclear war.

Samantha Mathis asked friend Sandra Bullock for tips on doing action scenes. Bullock told her to hum the James Bond theme before every take.

As preparation for his role in this movie, Christian Slater gave up smoking.

During the final few blows of the last fist fight, as Hale is punching and kicking, growls and roars of large cats (i.e. lions, tigers, etc.) can be heard.

John Travolta's character Deakins took off his uniform after he revealed himself to be a traitor because it was requested by the military.

The film's soundtrack was reused in Scream 2 (1997).

FILM 1442: BLAST FROM THE PAST

TRIVIA: In keeping with the theme that the late 90's are a "new world" for the Webbers, the main characters are named Adam and Eve.

FILM 1367: SPY

TRIVIA: Star Melissa McCarthy has said that the film is the most physically taxing she has ever done. McCarthy has said of the mis-haps and accidents that befell her during the making of the movie: "Running, jumping, falling. I've cracked my head, I have cuts and bruises. At the end of the day I look like I fell down an elevator shaft. But I wear those wounds and thrown discs with a bit of pride". Stunt Co-ordinator J.J. Perry has also said: "We have a great stunt double (Luci Romberg) for Melissa, but once we saw how good Melissa was we were able to ask even more of her." Perry has also praised McCarthy's s impressive ability to learn and retain choreography, saying, "She was in there with some heavy-hitting action stars, which can be intimidating, but she more than held her own. Her work ethic is outstanding".

Screenwriter Paul Feig, who once was an aspiring stuntman himself, is a fan of Jason Statham's action movies. Feig tailored Statham's Rick Ford character in the film especially for the actor to play.

According to Paul Feig, Rayna was originally a 19-year-old, and the character had to be rewritten once Rose Bryne was cast in the role.

Bobby Cannavale got involved in the film because his girlfriend, Rose Bryne, joined the cast as Rayna.

Susan Cooper (Melissa McCarthy) used two wrestling moves in this movie. They were Hurricanrana and German Suplex.

FILM 1174: STALKER

TRIVIA: According the film's Sound Designer, Vladimir Sharun, at least 3 members of the crew (including the director) died as a result of chemical contamination encountered on location in Estonia.

The original negatives were destroyed (by a processing error at the laboratory) and part of the film had to be shot again from scratch with a new director of photography.

The Zone of the film was inspired by a nuclear accident that took place near Chelyabinsk in 1957. Several hundred square kilometers were polluted by fallout and abandoned; of course there was no official mention of this forbidden zone at the time.

Tarkovsky built long film processing vat which had different temperatures along the way, allowing him to change the color tone over a long strip of film, over an extended take.

It is said that the rushes of the first version of the film were kept by editor Lyudmila Feyginova in her home for years. They were destroyed by fire, that also claimed her life.

Towards the end of the movie, the Stalker's wife smokes cigarettes from a carton that bears the same AT (Andrei Tarkovsky) insignia as the policeman's helmet.

When the Stalker is referred to as 'Chingachgook' and 'Leatherstocking', these are references to characters in James Fenimore Cooper's "The Last of the Mohicans".

The scenes of the girl moving the object with her mind on the table at the end of the film, was honored in the video Bed Time Stories from Madonna.

Like Tarkovsky's other films, Stalker relies on long takes with slow, subtle camera movement, rejecting the use of rapid montage. The film contains 142 shots in 163 minutes, with an average shot length of more than one minute and many shots lasting for more than four minutes.