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Big Trouble in Little China released July 2, 1986

Action, Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Romance No Responses »

Jul 022010

Big Trouble in Little China (also known as John Carpenter’s Big Trouble in Little China) is a 1986 American action comedy, directed by John Carpenter. It stars Kurt Russell as truck driver Jack Burton, who helps his friend Wang Chi (Dennis Dun) rescue Wang’s green-eyed girlfriend (Suzee Pai) from bandits in San Francisco’s Chinatown. They go into the mysterious underworld beneath Chinatown, where they face an ancient sorcerer named Lo Pan (James Hong).

Although the film was originally envisioned as a Western set in the 1880s, screenwriter W. D. Richter was hired to rewrite the script extensively and modernize everything. The studio hired Carpenter to direct the film and rushed Big Trouble in Little China into production so that it would be released before a similarly themed Eddie Murphy film, The Golden Child, which was slated to come out around the same time. The project fulfilled Carpenter’s long-standing desire to make a martial arts film. The film was a commercial failure, grossing $11.1 million in North America and well below its estimated $25 million budget. It received critically mixed reviews that left Carpenter disillusioned with Hollywood and influenced his decision to return to independent film-making. The film has since gone on to become a cult film due in large part to its success on home video.

Trivia:

The ending song is written and sung by The Coupe De Ville. A band formed with: John Carpenter, Nick Castle and Tommy Lee Wallace (second unit director on this picture).

The Chinese characters in the main title translate to “Evil Spirits Make a Big Scene in Little Spiritual State”.

The characters on the front of “Egg” Shen’s bus say, “Uncle Egg’s Tours Guarantee a Good Time”.

Although Kurt Russell was John Carpenter’s only choice for the lead role the studio suggested Jack Nicholson or Clint Eastwood. Once they proved unavailable, Carpenter was able to cast Russell.

Body count: 46.

According to director John Carpenter, the post production process on this movie was merely four months.

In the wedding Scene where LoPan is putting the Needle of Love in Miao Yin, James Hong actually jabbed Suzee Pai too hard. You can even see her jump as he puts it in her.

According to John Carpenter and Kurt Russell in the DVD Commentary, the story was originally written as a western but Carpenter decided to set it during modern times. They even mention that instead of Jack Burton’s truck being stolen, it was originally his horse.

Kurt Russell suffered a bad case of the flu during shooting so the sweat on his body is real, caused by the fever.

According to John Carpenter in the DVD Commentary, Carter Wong, who plays Thunder, actually worked as a martial arts instructor with the Hong Kong Police.

The Brides of Lo Pan must have green eyes. Yet both Kim Cattrall and Suzee Pai had brown eyes in real life. Both wore green contacts for the movie. This is very obvious in the hi-def version of the movie.

The rivalry between the Chang Sing and Wing Kong Tongs is analogous to the famous rivalry between the Hip Sing and On Leong Tongs (even the names rhyme) in early 20th century New York.

The short knives wielded by the “Three Storms” warriors, that Thunder calls “Hui Huan Dou” (Soul-Returning Blades) are in fact Nepalese Kukri. These knives were made famous for their usage by the Gurkhas in the British Indian Army.

The name of the murdered gang leader, Lem Lee, is probably a reference to Tom Lee, the leader of the On Leong Tong, a crime syndicate in New York’s Chinatown in the early 20th Century that fronted itself as a merchant association.

The Truck Driven by Jack (Kurt Russell) – the “Pork Chop Express” – is a Freightliner FLC 120

This the last studio film that John Carpenter worked on at the end of the 1980′s due to the problems he’d received during the production of the film with then studio head Lawrence Gordon, who practically interfered with the film up until it’s release date. Prince of Darkness (1987) and They Live (1988) would be made independently through Alive Films without any studio interference and distributed by Universal Pictures.

According to John Carpenter on the audio commentary that the opening of the film with Egg Shen (Victor Wong) in the lawyer’s office was added in as a request from 20th Century Fox because to make Kurt Russell’s character Jack Burton to be more heroic. If the scene was not added in, the film would have started with Jack driving to San Francisco.

Both John Carpenter and Kurt Russell explain on the audio commentary that the test screening was so overwhelming positive that both of them expected it to be a big hit. However, 20th Century Fox put little into promoting the movie and it ended up being a box office bomb. However, it went on to be a huge cult hit through home video. Carpenter and Russell explained that the reason the studio did little to promote the film was because they didn’t know how to.

Conan the Destroyer released June 29, 1984

Action, Adventure, Fantasy No Responses »

Jun 292010

Conan the Destroyer is a 1984 film directed by action/fantasy veteran Richard Fleischer (20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, The Vikings). It is a sequel to Conan the Barbarian, with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Mako returning to resume their roles as Conan and Akiro the wizard (respectively), along with a new cast, such as Grace Jones as Zula. The critical and commercial response was weaker than that for the first film as it was felt by some viewers to have excluded the bloody, brooding ambience of the original John Milius film, instead opting for a more kid-friendly adventure.

Trivia:

Some scenes were filmed in the same location and at the same time as scenes from Dune (1984).

Cameo: [André the Giant] the resurrected horned giant.

The part of Malak was originally assigned to David L. Lander. Due to both his deteriorating health from the onset of Multiple Sclerosis, and difficulties with the director, Lander was let go, and the part was recast with Tracey Walter.

Writers Roy Thomas and Gerry Conway, who wrote the original story treatment for this movie, were deeply displeased by the final screenplay by Stanley Mann and the finished film, so they made their story into the graphic novel CONAN: THE HORN OF AZOTH, published in 1990, with art by Mike Docherty. The names of the characters were changed to untie the graphic novel from the movie: Dagoth became Azoth, Jehnna became Natari, Zula became Shumballa, Bombaata became Strabo, Toth-Amon became Rammon, and the characters of Queen Taramis and The Leader were combined into sorcerer Karanthes, father of Natari.

Wilt Chamberlain’s first and only film role.

Labyrinth released June 27, 1986

Adventure, Fantasy No Responses »

Jun 272010

Labyrinth is a 1986 British/American fantasy film directed by Jim Henson, produced by George Lucas, and designed by Brian Froud. Henson collaborated on the screenwriting with children’s author Dennis Lee and Monty Python alumnus Terry Jones.

The film stars David Bowie as Jareth the Goblin King, and Jennifer Connelly as Sarah Williams. The plot revolves around Sarah’s quest to rescue her little brother, Toby, from Jareth while trapped in an enormous otherworldly maze. Most of the other significant roles are played by puppets or by a combination of puppetry and human performance. It was shot on location in New York and at Elstree Studios and Hampstead Heath in the UK. It was the last feature film directed by Henson before his death in 1990.

Trivia:

Monty Python member Terry Jones wrote one early version of the script. Little of his material was retained beyond the point where Sarah eats the poisoned peach. The original script ended with Sarah punching and kicking Jareth, then watching him shrink down until he’s becomes a small and “snivelling” goblin. Also, Toby’s name was Freddie in the early drafts of the story. The baby’s name was changed because the infant Toby Froud would only react to his own name.

The full costume for Hoggle was lost for some time. It turns out that it was lost on an airplane and later bought from the airline by ‘The Unclaimed Baggage Center’, a store in Scottsboro Alabama. It is now on display in their museum.

The sources of the characters can be seen in Sarah’s bedroom at the beginning of the movie. She has a stuffed animal that looks like Sir Didymus on her dresser, a doll that looks like Ludo on the shelves next to her door, a Firey doll on a shelves next to her bed, bookends with with Goblins reminiscent of Hoggle on her dresser, and figurine of Jareth on the right hand side of her desk. After you see the Hoggle bookend, there is a scrapbook shown. It shows newspaper clippings of Sarah’s famous actress mom with another man, David Bowie. In addition, the dress that she wears in the ballroom scene can also been seen adorning the miniature doll in her music box, and a wooden maze game on her dresser next to her books is reminiscent of the hedge section of the Labyrinth. There is also a small painting on her wall that depicts a contraption much like the one operated by the “Cleaners” that Sarah and Hoggle had to escape from.

To help the puppeteer inside him to see, there was a miniature video camera in Ludo’s right horn that fed to a small television monitor mounted inside the puppet’s stomach.

The various things that Jareth does with the crystal balls (rolling them around his arms and in his hands and so forth) are not camera tricks or any other kind of special effect. They are actually done by choreographer Michael Moschen, who is an accomplished juggler. Moschen was actually crouched behind Bowie with his arm(s) replacing Bowie’s. Unlike a typical Muppet performance, however, he had no video screen to view his performance. In other words, his manipulations were performed completely blind.

The split sculpture was an invention of Jim Henson and Debbie the Roboteer for Labyrinth. It looks simply like a series of rocks until the camera pans to the correct angle, then it resembles Jareth’s face. Developed over several grueling evenings with hot, noisy robots and Plastina Romana at the Robotorium, Inc on Mott Street in NYC during the early-1980s.

During the “Escher room” scene there is a sequence when Jareth’s crystal ball seems to bounce up the stairs and into Toby’s hand. This was accomplished by having Toby drop the ball down the stairs, and then reversing the shot.

David Bowie did the voice (gurgling) for the baby in the song “Magic Dance”.

In the DVD version, there are hidden faces in seven scenes. In general, they resemble the head that Jareth leans against before giving Hoggle the peach (David Bowie’s actual face at that time). The faces can be found: Upper right corner of the [stone] maze, just after the worm shakes its head and says “If she’d have kept on going down that way…” To the right of the screen, after the rung under Hoggle breaks, as he watches it fall. Upper left corner of the hedge maze, as Hoggle is muttering “Get through the labyrinth, get through the labyrinth, one thing’s for sure… ” Lower right corner of the wall bordering the Bog of Eternal Stench, just after the ledge breaks under Sarah and Hoggle for the first time. During the wide shot of the hedge maze in the middle left on the stony floor just after the hat says, “It’s so stimulating being your hat.” In the forest as Sir Didymus says “We should reach the castle well before day.”

Director Trademark: [Jim Henson] During the Goblin Battle scene, while Sarah and the gang opens the door to the Goblin Castle, you can see milk bottles near the door.

The upside-down room in the Goblin City is directly inspired by a drawing by M.C. Escher (entitled “Relativity”) – which can been seen in Sarah’s room at the beginning of the film.

According to the Goblin Companion (a book that gives a description of every goblin in the Labyrinth – written by Brian Froud and Terry Jones) the Junk Lady who carries everything on her back is named Agnas.

Sarah’s dog “Merlin” is also used for Sir Didymus’ mount “Ambrosius”. In Lady Mary Stewart’s stories of King Arthur, Merlin is known as “Merlin Ambrosius”

In one version of the script, the junk lady was actually a puppet being manipulated by Jareth, and the junkyard was actually a town complete with a bar that Hoggle visits before they find Sarah.

The owl in the title sequence is computer generated – the first attempt at a photo-realistic CGI animal character in a feature film.

The baby who plays Toby is Toby Froud, son of Brian Froud who was the conceptual designer for both this movie and The Dark Crystal (1982), another Jim Henson production.

In the scene where Toby is seated on Jareth’s lap, the baby has a fixed and hypnotized look off-camera as Jareth murmurs evilly into his ear. In fact, Toby screamed so much during the many takes of this scene, that something had to be done to keep him quiet. Fortunately, a crew member had a glove-puppet Sooty. For the duration of Jareth’s speech, David Bowie had the Sooty puppet on one hand (out of shot) gently wiggling to distract Toby. The child was entranced, hence the hypnotic stare, and the perfect silence.

After solving the problem of the guards who lie or tell the truth, Sarah falls into an oubliette, which Hoggle describes: “It’s a place where you put people…to forget about ‘em!” Oubliettes were a type of dungeon where the only entry was through an opening high in the ceiling. To leave an oubliette was practically impossible without external assistance. The word “oubliette” comes from the French word “oublier’ meaning ‘to forget”. The basic premise was that an oubliette was a dungeon for prisoners that the captor(s) wished to forget. Prisoners were often left to starve to death in an oubliette.

Just after the Junk Lady places “dear old Flopsy” behind Sarah she slips a book titled The Wizard Of Oz behind Flopsy.

Two official music videos promoting this title and marrying it to the career of pop artiste David Bowie (who played Jareth the Goblin King) were released. “As the World Falls Down” features scenes from the film itself, not just the ballroom scene, and includes specially filmed scenes of Hoggle together with Bowie. “Underground”, which can be heard as the final credits roll, features many of the films characters again in specially filmed scenes with Bowie.

Dragonslayer released June 26, 1981

Action, Adventure, Fantasy No Responses »

Jun 262010

Dragonslayer is a 1981 fantasy movie set in a fictional medieval kingdom, following a young wizard (played by Peter MacNicol) who experiences danger and opposition as he attempts to defeat a dragon.

A co-production between Walt Disney Productions and Paramount Pictures, Dragonslayer was more mature and realistic than other Disney films of the period. Because of audience expectations for a more child-friendly film from Disney, the movie’s violence and adult themes were somewhat controversial at the time – even though Disney did not hold US distribution rights, which were held by Paramount (it was rated PG in the U.S.; TV showings after 1997 have carried a TV-14 rating). Disney later created Touchstone Pictures to produce more mature fare.

The film was directed by Matthew Robbins (later director of *batteries not included), from a screenplay he co-wrote with Hal Barwood. It starred Peter MacNicol, Ralph Richardson, John Hallam, and Caitlin Clarke.

Dragonslayer also featured then-unknown actor Ian McDiarmid as the minor character Brother Jacopus. McDiarmid’s next film role after Dragonslayer would be that of the villain Palpatine in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, a role which he would reprise in the subsequent Star Wars films.

The special effects were created at Industrial Light and Magic, where Phil Tippett co-developed an animation technique called go motion for the film. Go motion is a variation on stop-motion animation, and its use in Dragonslayer led to the film’s nomination for the Academy Award for Visual Effects; it lost to Raiders of the Lost Ark (another Paramount film). The film was also nominated for the Academy Award for Original Music Score; Chariots of Fire took the award. Including the hydraulic 40 foot model, 16 dragon puppets were used for the role of Vermithrax, each one made for different movements; flying, crawling, fire breathing etc.

The film was also nominated for a Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation. Once again, it lost to Raiders of the Lost Ark.

In October 2003, Dragonslayer was released on DVD in the U.S. by Paramount Home Video.

Trivia:

To create the dragon fire, the FX team used a pair of military-style flamethrowers.

The entire movie was filmed in natural light.

First film to use go-motion, a variant of stop-motion animation in which parts of the model (in this case, the dragon) were mechanized and the movement programmed by computer. During shooting, the computer moves the model while the camera is shooting, resulting in motion blur, which makes the animation more convincing.

Filmed as a co-production between Walt Disney Pictures and Paramount. Dragonslayer (1981) was more mature and realistic than most Disney films of the time.

Peter MacNicol’s film debut.

Shot on location in Wales. But the final scene was shot in Skye, Scotland.

Including the hydraulic 40 foot model, 16 dragon puppets were used for the role of Vermithrax, each one made for flying, crawling and breathing fire.

The story has many familiar dragon motifs found throughout Western culture. In particular Saint George and the Dragon, in which maiden sacrifices were made to appease a harassing dragon. Saint George’s tale also includes a sacrificial lottery resulting in the surprise condemnation of a princess. Saint George is also frequently depicted with a magic (blessed) lance or a sword.

Many town locals were employed in the film as village extras.

Peter MacNicol is said to be embarrassed by this film and does not list it on his CV.

“Vermithrax Pejorative” roughly translates as “The Worm of Thrace Which Makes Things Worse.”

Ghostbusters II released June 16, 1989

Action, Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Sci-fi, Science Fiction No Responses »

Jun 162010

Ghostbusters II is a 1989 science fiction comedy film and is the sequel to Ghostbusters. Produced and directed by Ivan Reitman, Ghostbusters II follows the further adventures of a group of parapsychologists and their organization which combats paranormal activities (“ghostbusting”). The sequel was originally to be called Ghostbusters II: River Of Slime.

The sequel had what was, at the time, the biggest three-day opening weekend gross in history ($29,472,894, which is equivalent to $50,864,510 in 2009), a record that was broken one week later by Batman ($40,505,884). Despite the record-breaking opening, the film has received mixed reviews from both critics and viewers.

Trivia:

In the scene when Egon looks up information about Vigo in the database, Vigo’s full name is listed as Vigo Von Homburg Deutschendorf. The actor who plays Vigo is Wilhelm von Homburg and the twins who play Oscar are William T. Deutschendorf and Henry J. Deutschendorf II. The twins are the nephews of singer John Denver whose real name was ‘Henry J. Deutschendorf I.

Several pieces of material from the trailers did not appear in the film: – Egon uses a PKE meter to read a piece of floating crystal. – When someone says the Titanic just arrived, Venkman replies “Better late than never.” In the film, this is said by Cheech Marin.

Dialogue including “There’s always room for Jello” was re-recorded for the finished film.

Cameo: [Chloe Webb] guest on “World of the Psychic”.

The kid who tells Ray that, according to his dad, the Ghostbusters are “full of crap” is played by Jason Reitman, the son of director Ivan Reitman. Reitman’s daughter plays the girl with the puppy in Egon’s lab.

Originally, the producers planned on having the crashed Hindenburg appear as a ghostly blimp. They dumped this in favor of the apparitions coming off the Titanic.

The scene involving a woman’s mink coat coming to life was originally written & storyboarded to be in Ghost Busters (1984).

When Peter arrives at Ray’s Occult book-store, pretending to be a strange customer looking for a particular book, the gag was originally intended to be that Peter had previously made a prank phone call to Ray asking for the book, and Ray realizing it was Peter who made the call when he arrives at the store repeating the act. The prank call was not used in the final edit of the film, resulting in it seeming that Peter is just fooling around as he enters the shop.

A scene of Egon and Ray experimenting on the bowl of slime, with them wearing head devices with multiple wires connecting to the bowl (which would have gone before the scene with the ‘dancing toaster’), was filmed but not used in the final edit, but a shot from the scene was a commonly used publicity still for the film.

The shot of the Ecto-1 on the verge of breaking down at the start of the film is fitting in that while filming the bridge scene that’s seen in the montage, the car finally did break down.

A scene featuring Ray driving Ecto-1A recklessly at speed, as a result of being possessed while examining Vigo’s painting, was filmed but not used in the final edit of the movie. However, some shots of the sequence (Ray running a red light; Peter, sitting in the back, pulling a surprised face) were used in the montage as the Ghostbusters go back into business. (This continued a trend of unused scenes being used in a montage. In the first film, a scene of Ray and Winston investigating a haunted fort, where Ray encounters a beautiful ghost, was filmed and not used, but instead used as a ‘dream’ in that movie’s montage sequence.)

200 visual effects shots were used in the entire film.

In the German dub of the movie Dana’s child Oscar is renamed to ‘Donald’.

The original VHS (and laserdisc) release of this movie (and The Karate Kid, Part III (1989)) was in letterbox, causing complaints to video stores prompting them to call RCA/Columbia to find out if there was a problem in the printing. To make matters worse, it was not letterboxed in the film’s original aspect ratio of 2.35:1, but rather letterboxed AND panned-and-scanned into a 1.66:1 frame. So viewers who liked ‘full frame’ movies had to put up with black bars at the top and bottom of the screen, and those who want films in their OAR had to deal with a picture that was cropped on the sides and panned-and-scanned in some shots. Neither type of viewer was satisfied with the original home video release. The DVD release in 1999 was the first time that the film was presented in it’s original 2.35:1 aspect ratio on home video.

The joystick the team uses is an NES Advantage joystick with most of the body removed.

The phone number on the side of Ecto-1 is JL5-2020. (555-2020)

The cameo appearance of Slimer the green ghost of Ghost Busters (1984) was prompted by the fact that in the years in between the two films, the cartoon series “The Real Ghost Busters” (1986) introduced the idea that Slimer was living at the firehouse as the Ghostbusters’ pet. Because the original film and the cartoon series were so popular with children, they put Slimer in the film.

During the montage sequence after the courthouse scene, when the Ghostbusters sign is being put up, the sign-maker’s phone number, (516) 374-2340, is visible. This was and still is the phone number for Five Town Neon Service Inc., also known as “Johnny’s Signs”.

In the courtroom scene, the prosecuting lawyer is carried out of the room upside-down by her leg by one of the ghosts. In the trailer, you see the prosecuting lawyer floating out of the room upside-down as the ghost SFX have not yet been added.

The pneumatic subway line that Ray finds when they lower him below the street actually exists under part of Manhattan. The line was built prior to any other subways in the area and was actually built without any City approval. It operated using compressed air and pushed Victorian New Yorkers a number of blocks in “elegant comfort”. When the City of New York found out about the subway line, they shut it down and the line was buried, including two beautifully appointed stations with extensive tile work and even full-size chandeliers above the tracks! Several decades later, when digging for the modern subway system, workers punched into the then unknown subway tunnel and found the station and the subway car completely intact and in remarkably good condition. It’s still there today.

Bill Murray told Entertainment Weekly he was very disappointed with the way the film turned out. He commented “it was a whole lot of slime, and not much of us.”

This film is the final theatrical appearance for actress Janet Margolin, (prosecution lawyer) who died three years later from ovarian cancer.

In Peter’s apartment you can see the newspaper front pages from the first Ghost Busters (1984) movie, including the “USA Today” front page. Each one is framed on his wall. They are most visible when Dana (Sigourney Weaver) is still wrapped in a towel after getting out of the shower and Peter is telling her about finding slime residue in her apartment.

Dr. Venkman teases Dr. Spengler about his lab assistant and Dr. Spengler responds “I think she’s more interested in my epididymis”. The Epididymis are the small tubes that connect the vas deferens to the testes.

The Vigo character was based on Vlad III The Impaler and Grigory Rasputin.

The term “proton pack”, was never officially used on screen until the Ghostbusters are in the subway tunnel and Egon says, “Before we go any further, I think we should get our proton packs.”

The Ghostbusters TV Commercial, in which Louis and Janine are in bed when a ghost attacks is a rehash of scene from the first movie that was filmed but not used. Originally, before the Ghostbusters go on their first call at the Sedgwick Hotel, there was a scene with a honeymooning couple in the hotel who encounter Slimer in their bedroom and call the manager, who in turn calls the Ghostbusters.

After the release of this film, Louis Tully, who has become the Ghostbusters’ accountant, was added into “The Real Ghost Busters” (1986) cartoon series. Also, there was an episode in which the “mood slime” was used.

Gremlins 2: The New Batch released June 15, 1990

Comedy, Fantasy, Horror, Sci-fi, Science Fiction No Responses »

Jun 152010

Gremlins 2: The New Batch is a 1990 American comedy horror film, and a sequel to Gremlins (1984). It was directed by Joe Dante and written by Charles S. Haas, with creature designs by Rick Baker. It stars Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates, John Glover, Robert Prosky, Haviland Morris, Dick Miller, Jackie Joseph, Robert Picardo and Christopher Lee; additionally, Frank Welker (who played Stripe in the first film) reprises his role as a gremlin.

The story continues the adventures of the creature Gizmo, who spawns numerous small monsters when wet. In the first film, Gizmo’s offspring had rampaged through a small fictional town. In Gremlins 2, Gizmo multiplies within a skyscraper in New York City. The new creatures thus pose a serious threat to the city should they be able to leave the building, and much of the story involves the human characters’ efforts to prevent this disaster.

Like the first film, Gremlins 2 is a live action comedy-horror film. However, Dante put effort into taking the sequel in new anarchic directions. The film is meant to be more cartoon-like than the darker original, and the violence is fairly slapstick. There are also a number of parodies of other films and stories, most notably Gremlins itself, as well as the Rambo films, The Wizard of Oz, Marathon Man and The Phantom of the Opera.

Trivia:

Joe Dante told Cahiers du Cinéma in 1990, that Warner Bros. opened this movie directly opposite Dick Tracy (1990) in an attempt to keep the box-office record set by Batman (1989) from being broken.

Suggested by Jonathan Kaplan, Joe Dante hired Charles S. Haas to write the screenplay.

After Gremlins (1984) became such a surprise success, Warner Bros. immediately wanted a sequel, but director Joe Dante had had enough Gremlins for a while and declined. Work on Gremlins 2 proceeded without him, as the studio approached various directors and writers. Storylines considered included sending the gremlins to cities like Las Vegas or even the planet Mars. After these ideas fell through, the studio finally asked Dante again, who agreed on the condition that he be allowed to do anything he wanted. He also received a bigger budget. In the DVD commentaries for both the original film and the sequel, Dante stated that he felt that Gremlins 2 was a case of waiting too long to capitalize on the success of the original, which hurt the sequel’s chances of success.

For the special effects, Joe Dante turned to Rick Baker when Chris Walas and Rob Bottin had to turn it down. Initially, Baker was not interested as he saw this movie as too much work for a project in which he would not be the creator but rather a successor to Walas. He was eventually persuaded to accept the job when it was suggested he could make the Gremlins and Mogwai more diverse.

Aside from Mohawk, the other three Mogwai created from Gizmo are called George, Lenny, and Daffy (the first two referring to John Steinbeck’s novel “Of Mice And Men”, the latter referring to Daffy Duck).

In the original script, Randall Peltzer was to return after the gremlins were killed at the end, and give to Gizmo his newest “invention”: a wet-suit like thing that would prevent Gizmo from ever getting wet again, therefore preventing any sort of gremlin problems in the future (provided it never ate after midnight). The scene was all set to shoot, and the actor who played Mr. Peltzer, Hoyt Axton, was available to shoot the scene. But, the filmmakers figured that the movie was already running too long, and they’d never use the scene anyway, so it was never shot.

When Gremlins 2 made its debut on home video, the filmmakers altered the film-breaking scene, to make it seem as if VCRs had been broken by the gremlins. This time actor John Wayne (in footage from Chisum (1970) forces the gremlins into continuing the film, although voice impersonation was needed since Wayne had been dead since 1979. Wayne’s son, Michael Wayne, recommended Chad Everett for the voice. Notably, a clip from Falling Hare (1943), featuring Bugs Bunny and a different, cartoon gremlin, appears in this version.

The uplifting end of the world video scene was included by the filmmakers when they find out that one the news networks actually have such a video prepare to run in case of the end of the world. This video apparently still exists and still ready to run at the final hour.

In the scene where Mohawk drinks a potion which enables him to change into a centauroid spider, the pulsating sound effect from Tarantula (1955) can be heard. The effect was originally recorded for the Martian war machines in The War of the Worlds (1953).

WILHELM SCREAM: As a victim is covered in gremlins and he falls off of a ledge.

Clamp’s automatic office doors open and sound the same as the doors of the Enterprise from “Star Trek” (1966).

Most of the scenes where Gizmo (or the other mogwai) were on their own, were filmed with double scale puppets.

Robert Picardo controlled Greta, the “female” gremlin when it was attached to him instead of the puppeteers because the puppet had so much contact and movements with his character. This technique is also used in the scene where Daniel Clamp (John Glover) pushes the gremlin in the paper shredder.

The opening aerial shot of New York City was stock footage from Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987).

In a deleted scene, the Gremlins release all the animals in the “Splice o’ Life” lab. During the filming of this scene, the monkeys in the lab set were genuinely so terrified of the Gremlin puppets, that they refused to leave their cages when their trainers called for them.

The mother scolding the theater manager regarding the movie’s inappropriate tone for children was based in fact. During a screening of Gremlins (1984), Joe Dante really was excoriated by a mother who walked out of the theater with her daughter during the infamous kitchen massacre sequence. The daughter begged to be let back in the theater, got free from the mother, and hid in the theater to watch the rest of the film.

In a corridor of the Clamp Tower, one nameplate says “Dr. Quatermass”. Quatermass is the main character in a number of British television series and movies, including “The Quatermass Experiment” (1953).

Gizmo refers to Mr. Wing as “Keye Luke”, which is, of course, the actor’s real name.

At one point, Joe Dante, Michael Finnell, Steven Spielberg and Charles S. Haas thought what the movie needed was some kind of SWAT team character, a soldier of fortune who could come in during the fourth act, and there would be a lot of Road Runner-Coyote gags between this guy and the Gremlins. Charles Napier was their first choice for this character.

In the cartoon intro, Daffy Duck says to Bugs: “Fifty years of you hogging the spotlight is enough”. This movie was released the year of Bugs Bunny’s 50th birthday.

A billboard of Do the Right Thing (1989) can be seen in the scene in Times Square, next to Burger King.

When Kate arrives to Billy’s office looking for Gizmo, she finds mogwai Daffy on the top of the Clamp Tower model playing with some airplane toys located over him. This is an homage to King Kong (1933).

The movie that Grandpa Fred presents in his show as “The Attack of the Octopus People” is, in fact, Octaman (1971), which feature the first costume designed by Rick Baker.

In a corridor of the Clamp Tower, one nameplate says “Vectorscope Labs”. This is a reference to the movie Innerspace (1987) also directed by Joe Dante.

When Christopher Lee was cast in this movie, one of the first things he did was apologize to Joe Dante (who also directed The Howling (1981)) for appearing in Howling II: Stirba – Werewolf Bitch (1985).

Originally, Steven Spielberg wanted to cut the scene when a boy crosses the “Police Line” banner outside Clamp Tower. He changed his mind when Joe Dante revealed to him that this boy was his nephew.

Leonard Maltin appears as himself repeating his criticisms of Gremlins (1984) while he holds a video version of the movie. However, his rant is cut short when gremlins pounce on him as a result. In his annual Movie Guide he gives Gremlins 2 three stars (out of a possible four) and refers to this scene as a “gratuitous cameo”, though he doesn’t say he’s actually in the movie.

The original version of the film was longer, but, Steven Spielberg after the first screening claimed there were too many gremlins and several scenes were cut as a result.

Among the changes in the original script was that Daniel Clamp (John Glover) evolved from being the central villain into kind of a nice guy, while the character played by Robert Picardo took over most of the villain’s role.

When Billy is trying to explain the rules regarding the mogwai to Forster’s staff, they find them quite absurd and interrogate him on the application of this rules. This scene originates from the fact that the filmmakers themselves saw the rules as irrational, and some questions in the scene were based upon queries raised by fans of Gremlins (1984).

There is a sample of the action music from the film The ‘burbs (1989), also directed by Joe Dante and composed by Jerry Goldsmith, when the Bat Gremlin flies out of the Clamp Tower after being injected with the sunblock solution.

In a deleted scene, Dr. Catheter examines a bat injected with the sunblock solution. He then says to Wally, “I’m told they sometimes feed on blood”; this is a reference to Christopher Lee’s performances as Count Dracula in the “Hammer” Horror films.

For the Italian version of the movie, notorious Italian art critic Vittorio Sgarbi gave his voice to the Brain Gremlin.

At one point in the film, Joe Dante attempted to involve his audience in the story by making it seem as if the gremlins had taken over whatever theatre Gremlins 2 would be screened in. This sequence was inspired by a similar stunt in William Castle’s The Tingler (1959). During his DVD commentary for this movie, Dante recalled that Warner Bros. wanted the sequence cut, as they were concerned the audience would believe the film actually had malfunctioned; test screening ultimately proved otherwise. However, the video version caused problems: Instead of film-breaking effects, the scene looked like a VHS malfunctioning. Many rental copies were returned as a result of this, and video mastering houses called the filmmakers to ask them if this was intentional.

Several gremlins hiccuping are archive recordings of Mel Blanc’s hiccups from various Looney Tunes shorts.

Tim Curry was considered for the voice of the Brain Gremlin.

In a deleted scene, three of the main gremlins (George, Lenny and Daffy) sneaking into Grandpa Fred’s studio and “helping” him host, which worked because Grandpa Fred’s show was supposed to be scary. A still from this scene was used on the video cover.

Joe Dante claimed that the gremlins musical number is a shameless steal from the film Dames (1934), another Warner Bros. release.

John Hora, the Director of Photography (who made his screen acting debut on Innerspace (1987), also directed by Joe Dante), appears briefly in the movie, but his scene was cut.

The character of Grandpa Fred is obviously based on Al Lewis’s character (Grandpa Munster) in the television series “The Munsters” (1964).

The movie that the gremlins George and Lenny are watching in the systems control center is The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953).

The filmmakers chose John Rambo as the character that Gizmo was going to imitate in this movie. The permission for their use was granted by Sylvester Stallone.

Unlike the “PG” rated predecessor, the MPAA rated this movie “PG-13″. It should be noted that Gremlins (1984) is one of the movies that helped to create the PG-13 rating.

Director Cameo: [Joe Dante] as the director of Grandpa Fred’s show.

Cameo: [Charles S. Haas] (The screenwriter) as Casper, Dr. Catheter’s assistant.

Cameo: [Jerry Goldsmith] alongside his wife Carol Heather Goldsmith, as customers at the frozen yogurt counter.

Cameo: [Henry Gibson] as the employee fired by Forster, for taking an unauthorized break.

Cameo: [Julia Sweeney] as Peggy, the “Splice o’ Life” lab receptionist.

Cameo: [John Astin] as the janitor, who tries to repair the water fountain.

Cameo: [Jason Presson] (one of the stars of Explorers (1985), also directed by Joe Dante), as Alex, the yogurt jerk.

Cameo: [Bubba Smith] as Himself, trying to save Dick Butkus who is attacked at the salad bar.

After Innerspace (1987), this movie marked the fourth collaboration between Joe Dante and Michael Finnell with Steven Spielberg.

Immediately after Billy electrocutes the gremlins in the lobby, a musical quote from the “Dies Irae” (a Latin hymn about the Judgment Day) can be heard in the musical score.

Ranked #33 in Empire Magazine’s “50 Greatest Ever Movie Sequels” (2009).

As the Bat Gremlin crashes through the wall, escaping into the city, it leaves a hole in the shape of the Batman symbol.

Chris Walas, who created the Gremlins in the first film, declined the opportunity to create them again, choosing instead to create the effects for The Fly (1986).

Jack the Giant Killer released June 13, 1962

Adventure, Fantasy 1 Response »

Jun 132010

Jack the Giant Killer (1962) is a United Artists feature film starring Kerwin Mathews in a fairy tale story about a young man who defends a princess against a sorcerer’s giants and demons. The film was loosely based on the traditional tale “Jack the Giant Killer” and features extensive use of stop motion animation. The film was directed by Nathan H. Juran and later re-edited and re-released as a musical by producer Edward Small.

Trivia:

Producer Edward Small re-released this film as a musical. Songs were dubbed onto the soundtrack. Some of the footage was doctored to make it look like some of the original cast were singing rather than speaking their dialog.
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This was producer Edward Small’s attempt to cash in on the huge success of The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958). He even hired the same director (Nathan Juran), hero (Kerwin Mathews) and villain (Torin Thatcher).
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The film was unreleased in the UK until 1967 and then received cuts for an ‘A’ certificate to edit the witch attack on the ship, Princess Elaine being attacked by the giant, and Jack’s fight with the dragon.

Clash of the Titans released June 12, 1981

Action, Adventure, Fantasy No Responses »

Jun 122010

Clash of the Titans is an American 1981 fantasy-adventure film involving the Greco-Roman hero Perseus. It was released on June 12, 1981 and was a box office hit, grossing $41.1 million domestically, on a $16 million budget. It was the 11th highest grossing film of the year.A novelization of the film by Alan Dean Foster was published in 1981.

Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures released a remake of the film in 3-D on April 2, 2010.

Trivia:

The original script called for Perseus to cut off Medusa’s head by throwing his shield at her. Harry Hamlin convinced the producers to let him use his sword, as that was how it happened according to Greek Mythology.

The Kraken was not the name of a titan in Greek mythology, but a sea monster from Scandinavian mythology.

Neil McCarthy only played Calibos in head shots and half-body shots. All full body shots of Calibos were played by a stop-motion model.

This big budget 1981 release became the last feature film for which Ray Harryhausen created the special effects. It was also the only one in which he had assistants.

The last film for Charles H. Schneer.

Maggie Smith, who plays Thetis, was married to screenwriter Beverley Cross.

The last film of both Flora Robson and Donald Houston.

Screenwriter Beverley Cross was a student of mythology and he developed a storyline centering on Perseus and Andromeda which linked together a number of myths. He took the idea to producers Charles H. Schneer and Ray Harryhausen. The story was modified to add more creatures. Cross’s wife, actress Maggie Smith, appeared in the film as Thetis.

Originally filmed in 1979.

According to mythology after Medusa’s head was severed from her neck, two offspring sprang forth: the winged horse Pegasus and the giant Chrysaor.

According to mythology there was Cerberus, the THREE-headed dog but no Dioskilos with two. They asked Ray Harryhausen why he didn’t use a three-headed dog, and he said it takes too much time to animate the extra head.

Initially Calibos had no dialogue and was a purely stop motion character. After a rewrite to the script dialogue was added and the role was given to Neil McCarthy.

E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial released June 11, 1982

Adventure, Fantasy, Sci-fi, Science Fiction, drama No Responses »

Jun 112010

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is a 1982 American science fiction film co-produced and directed by Steven Spielberg, written by Melissa Mathison and starring Henry Thomas, Robert MacNaughton, Drew Barrymore, and Dee Wallace. It tells the story of Elliott (played by Thomas), a lonely boy who befriends a friendly extraterrestrial, dubbed “E.T.”, who is stranded on Earth. Elliott and his siblings help the extraterrestrial return home while attempting to keep it hidden from their mother and the government.

The concept for E.T. was based on an imaginary friend Spielberg created after his parents’ divorce in 1960. In 1980, Spielberg met Mathison and developed a new story from the stalled science fiction/horror film project Night Skies. The film was shot from September to December 1981 in California on a budget of US$10.5 million. Unlike most motion pictures, the film was shot in roughly chronological order, to facilitate convincing emotional performances from the young cast.

Released by Universal Pictures, E.T. was a blockbuster, surpassing Star Wars to become the most financially successful film released to that point. Critics acclaimed it as a timeless story of friendship, and it ranks as the greatest science fiction film ever made in a Rotten Tomatoes survey. The film was re-released in 1985, and then again in 2002 with altered special effects and additional scenes. Spielberg believes E.T. epitomizes his work.

Trivia:

At the auditions, Henry Thomas thought about the day his dog died to express sadness. Director Steven Spielberg cried, and hired him on the spot.

ET’s face was modeled after poet Carl Sandburg, Albert Einstein and a pug dog.

ET’s communicator actually worked, and was constructed by Henry Feinberg, an expert in science and technology interpretation for the public.

Steven Spielberg shot most of the film from the eye-level of a child to further connect with Elliot and E.T.

Steven Spielberg personally screened his film at the White House for Ronald Reagan and Nancy Davis.

When the film was released on video in the U.S., the cassette was made from green plastic as a measure to confound video pirates. By December 31st 1988, it had sold 15 million.

When it was test-screened at the Cannes Film Festival as an unofficial entry, it brought the house down, receiving a standing ovation that had eluded most of the official entries.

E.T. riding in the basket on Elliot’s bicycle flying in front of the moon has become the trademark image of Amblin Entertainment.

The late Michael Jackson owned one of the E.T. puppets.

The script was largely written whilst on location filming for Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) during filming breaks. Steven Spielberg dictated the story to screenwriter Melissa Mathison who was there with her then-boyfriend and future husband Harrison Ford.

Steven Spielberg is reported to have spent $100,000 digitally removing guns from the 20th Anniversary re-release of the movie in 2002. He regretted using the scene and said he would remove it if he ever re-issued the film.

Almost 10% of the $10.5 million budget went on the alien creature puppets and related animatronics.

Elliot’s last name is never mentioned.

With the exception of Elliot’s mom, no adults’ faces are shown until the last half of the film.

Peter Coyote’s character’s name is never revealed, and is referred to as “Keys” in the novelization and end credits because he is identified by wearing a key-chain in the first half of the movie.

This script was being developed at Columbia at the same time as another script about an alien visitation. The studio did not want to make both, so the head of the studio had to choose which film to make; he decided to let ET go and make Starman (1984). ET was then made by Universal Pictures.

Steven Spielberg stated in an interview that E.T. was a plant-like creature, and neither male or female.

Debra Winger not only provided the temp voice for E.T. but also played one of the ghouls in the Halloween sequence. She is wearing a monster mask and a lab coat and carries a poodle.

Was voted the 20th Greatest Film of all time by Entertainment Weekly.

The gag where the mother looks in the closet and sees the alien surrounded by toys was dreamed up by Robert Zemeckis.

Steven Spielberg’s original concept was for a much darker movie in which a family was terrorized in their house by aliens. When Spielberg decided to go with a more benevolent alien, the family-in-jeopardy concept was recycled as Poltergeist (1982).

At the 20th anniversary re-release premier, John Williams conducted a live orchestra as the film played, much like an orchestra would do for a stage musical.

James Taylor wrote a song intended for use in the movie called “Song For You”. The song was ultimately not used in the movie. However, it was eventually recorded in the mid 1980′s for release on his ‘That’s Why I’m Here’ album.

Was the highest-grossing movie of all time worldwide until Spielberg’s Jurassic Park (1993) was released.

Voted number 1 in Channel 4′s (UK) “Greatest Family Films”

Director Trademark: [Steven Spielberg] [music] The music is composed by John Williams.

Though many have suggested that the film contains elements of Christian allegory, director Steven Spielberg says any parallels are strictly coincidental. Furthermore, Spielberg adds that if he ever made a Christian allegory, his mother, a devout Jew would probably never forgive him.

The role of Mary, the children’s mother, was first offered to Shelley Long but she had already signed to film Night Shift (1982) and was forced to decline.

Foley Artist John Roesch said he used a wet T-shirt crammed with jello to simulate the noise of E.T.’s waddling walk.

Steven Spielberg asked Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones to contribute a song for the E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial Story Book Album. Spielberg was so pleased with their song “Someone in the Dark” that he asked them to make the entire album, which, in spite of the size of the task, they agreed to do. This boxed set included an LP, a book to read along with it and a poster of E.T. and Jackson. Epic Records allowed Jackson to record the album for MCA Records on the conditions that it not be released until after Christmas of 1982 so as to not compete with Thriller and that “Someone in the Dark” not be released as a single. Both of the conditions were breached by MCA Records; they released the storybook in November 1982 and gave promo copies of “Someone In the Dark” to radio stations. MCA Records were forced to withdraw the album and were prohibited from releasing “Someone In the Dark” as a single after court action was taken by Epic against them in a $2 million lawsuit, which MCA settled by paying Epic chief Walter Yetnikoff $500,000. Jones claims neither he nor Jackson received a dime for making the record, in spite of the large cash settlement involved and its considerable success: The audio book earned Jackson a Grammy Award in 1984 for Best Recording for Children. Upon collecting the award, and taking home a record eight Grammys from an unprecedented twelve nominations, the singer stated that of all the awards had gotten that night, he was “most proud of this one”.

Steven Spielberg worked simultaneously on both this film and Poltergeist (1982) in 1982 (which was directed by Tobe Hooper but produced by Spielberg), and both were made to complement each other. “E.T.” represented suburban dreams, and “Poltergeist” represented suburban nightmares.

The working title for the film was “A Boy’s Life”. It was changed during production.

This film is ranked as #6 on AFI’s 100 Years…100 Cheers, and as #3 on the AFI’s top 10 science fiction films.

The origin of E.T. lies within Steven Spielberg’s abandoned science-fiction horror thriller “Night Skies”, which was to be directed by cartoonist ‘Ron Cobb (I)’ and written by John Sayles, with special effects by Rick Baker. Spielberg eventually dropped the evil aliens and had only a good alien in the final film.

The end of the film was one of the most significant musical experiences for composer ‘John Williams (I)’. After several attempts were made to match the score to the film, Steven Spielberg took the film off the screen and encouraged Williams to conduct the orchestra the way he would at a concert. He did, and Spielberg slightly re-edited the film to match the music, which is unusual since normally the music would be edited to match the film. The result was Williams winning the 1982 Academy Award for Best Original Score.

E.T.’s voice was provided by Pat Welsh, an elderly woman who lived in Marin County, California. Welsh smoked two packets of cigarettes a day, which gave her voice a quality that sound effects creator Ben Burtt liked. She spent nine-and-a-half hours recording her part, and was paid $380 by Burtt for her services. Burtt also recorded 16 other people and various animals to create E.T.’s “voice”. These included Spielberg; Debra Winger; Burtt’s sleeping wife, who had a cold; a burp from his USC film professor; as well as raccoons, sea otters and horses.

The young actors (Henry Thomas, Drew Barrymore and Robert MacNaughton) found the ET puppet’s eyes too far apart to comfortably look ET in the eye when they had to act with it. The actors solved the problem themselves by selecting a single eye to look at for every scene.

In 1967 Satyajit Ray wrote a script for a movie entitled “The Alien”. Columbia Pictures was in talks to produce this movie. Peter Sellers and Marlon Brando were rumored to play the leading parts. However, Ray was surprised to find that the script he had written had already been copyrighted as a co-written work and the fee appropriated. The other ‘writer’ credited for the script was Mike Wilson – a friend of Sci-Fi author Arthur C. Clarke and it was credited as “Mike Wilson and Satyajit Ray”, in that order. According to Ray, Wilson’s only contribution to the script was his suggestion of the word “broad” instead of “chick” at one place in the script. Wilson had initially approached Ray as a promoter for the film in Hollywood and negotiated with Columbia. Later Brando dropped out of the project and, though an attempt was made to bring James Coburn in his place, Ray was disillusioned, had enough of Hollywood machinations and returned to Calcutta. Columbia was interested in reviving the project in the 1970s and 1980s but nothing came of it. When E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) was released in 1982, many, including Arthur C. Clarke, saw striking similarities in the film to Ray’s earlier script. Ray believed that Steven Spielberg’s movie “would not have been possible without my script of ‘The Alien’ being available throughout America in mimeographed copies.” Spielberg denied this by saying, “I was a kid in high school when this script was circulating in Hollywood”.

Most of the full-body puppetry was performed by a 2′ 10 tall stuntman, but the scenes in the kitchen were done using a 10-year old boy who was born without legs but was an expert on walking on his hands.

ET’s plants included some made from inflated condoms with polyester blooms.

John Sayles wrote a semi-sequel to Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) called ‘Night Skies’, about a group of hostile aliens that come to Earth and lay siege to an isolated farmhouse where a terrified family has barricaded itself inside. Spielberg decided not to go ahead with the rather dark project, but a subplot about the relationship between the lone good alien and an autistic boy inspired him to redevelop the concept as ‘E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial”.

E.T. provided the inspiration for Neil Diamond’s song “Heartlight” but no mention is ever made of the movie in the lyrics.

C. Thomas Howell’s film debut.

Juliette Lewis auditioned for the role of Gertie, but her father reportedly made her turn it down.

The filmmakers had requested that M&M’s be used to lure E.T., instead of Reese’s Pieces. The Mars company had denied their request and so Reese’s Pieces were used instead. As a direct result, Reese’s Pieces sales skyrocketed. Because of this, more and more companies began requesting that their products be used in movies. Thus, product placement was born.

Elvis Costello was asked by Q music magazine March 2008 if he was paid handsomely for the use of Accidents Will Happen of which two lines were sung by Michael (Robert MacNaughton) when he is looking in the fridge. He replied: “No, I don’t think they offered any money. We had no way of knowing it was going to be so huge so there was the chance we’d given it for nothing and they’d use it for some big production number. Haha! But you really have to paying attention to notice.”

In mid 2009, the home featured in the film, located in the Tujunga Canyon was saved from immolation in the treacherous Station Fire. The owner of the residence said the scorched hill behind the house “looks like the surface of the moon,” but that the structure itself incurred no damage in the wildfire, which up to that time had burned over 127,000 acres and claimed 62 homes.

In the doorway conversation between Keys, played by Peter Coyote, and Gertie, played by Drew Barrymore, Keys asks Gertie if there are any “Coyotes” in the neighborhood.

Harrison Ford was initially intended to have a cameo role in the film as Elliot’s school headmaster, but the scene was cut.

For the re-release Steven Spielberg had all the guns removed from the film because he did not like having guns around kids, and believed that there was already too much gun violence in the world.

Gremlins released June 8, 1984

Comedy, Fantasy, Horror No Responses »

Jun 082010

Gremlins is an American comedy horror film directed by Joe Dante and released in 1984 by Warner Bros. It is about a young man who receives a strange creature (called a mogwai) named Gizmo as a pet, which then spawns other creatures who transform into small, destructive, evil monsters. This story was continued with a sequel, Gremlins 2: The New Batch, released in 1990. Unlike the lighter sequel, the original Gremlins opts for more black comedy, which is balanced against a Christmas-time setting. Both films were the center of large merchandising campaigns.

Steven Spielberg was the film’s executive producer, with the screenplay written by Chris Columbus. The film stars Zach Galligan and Phoebe Cates, with Howie Mandel providing the voice of Gizmo. The actors had to work alongside numerous puppets, as puppetry was the main form of special effects used to portray Gizmo and the gremlins.

Gremlins was a commercial success and received positive reviews from critics. However, the film has also been heavily criticized for some of its more violent sequences. Critics alleged these scenes made the film inappropriate for younger audiences who could be admitted into theatres under its PG rating. In response to this and to similar complaints about other films, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) reformed its rating system within two months of its release.

In this film, the Amblin Entertainment logo makes its first on-screen appearance, displayed as “An Amblin Entertainment Presentation” as part of the end credits in place of the original logo.

Trivia:

The idea for these creatures was born in a loft in Manhattan’s garment district that was home to NYU Film School graduate screenwriter Chris Columbus. “By day, it was pleasant enough, but at night, what sounded like a platoon of mice would come out and to hear them skittering around in the blackness was really creepy.” Columbus recalls.

Unbeknownst to Joe Dante and Michael Finnell, Steven Spielberg was a big fan of The Howling (1981). After he came across Chris Columbus’ writing sample, he fell in love with it and bought it. Then he decided that Dante was the guy to make it into a movie, took the project to Warner Bros. and also produced it with his own company, Amblin Entertainment.

Originally planned and scheduled for a Christmas release, the film was rushed into production shortly after Warner Bros. found out that it had no major competition against Paramount’s Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) or Columbia’s Ghost Busters (1984) for the summer movie season.

Generally credited (along with Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)) to influence the MPAA to create the PG-13 rating, as many felt the scenes of violence in both movies were too much for a PG rating, but not enough for an R rating.

Chris Columbus’ script went through a few drafts before a shooting script was finalized. His original version had the creatures killing the dog and cutting off the mom’s head and tossing it down the stairs. These elements were never shot due to the fact that both, Joe Dante and Warner Bros. wanted the movie to be more family oriented.

In the original draft of the script, instead of Stripe being a Mogwai who becomes a Gremlin, there was no Stripe the Mogwai and Gizmo was supposed to turn into Stripe the Gremlin. Steven Spielberg overruled this plot element because he felt Gizmo was cute and audiences would want him to be present at all stages of the film. This became stressful for Chris Walas who had designed the Gizmo puppet only for the actions that happened in the first half of the movie.

In a deleted scene, Billy and Kate discover Gerald in the bank vault. This scene was added to the NBC TV showing.

Billy says he bought a comic at Dr. Fantasy’s. Dr. Fantasy is a nickname for executive producer Frank Marshall.

Like the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz (1939), Mrs. Deagle has little tolerance for young people and dogs.

While Rand Peltzer is talking with his wife at the inventor’s convention, the machine from The Time Machine (1960) can be seen in the background winding up to full power. The scene cuts to the house, and when we cut back again, the machine has gone, leaving only a wisp of colored smoke.

Mrs. Deagle, the richest lady in town, has named her cats after different kinds of currency (including Kopeck, Drachma and Dollar Bill).

The “Rockin’ Ricky Rialto” billboard shows a man dressed like Indiana Jones, holding a microphone like a whip, and the “Rockin’ Ricky Rialto” logo in the Indiana Jones typeface.

This was the first movie in years to use Warner Bros’ “shield” logo

In Cantonese Chinese, mogwai means devil, demon or gremlin. The Mandarin pronunciation is mogui.

The film that the students are watching in Mr. Hanson’s class is Hemo the Magnificent (1957) (TV), actually an episode of a TV series called “Science” that aired in the late 1950s and was sponsored by the Bell Telephone System (broken up as of January 1984).

The movie that Lynn Peltzer is watching in the kitchen is It’s a Wonderful Life (1946).

Both Judd Nelson and Emilio Estevez were considered for the role of Billy.

There are several references to The Howling (1981), also directed by Joe Dante. The smiley face image on the refrigerator door, some lobby cards from that movie are displayed on the interior of the local theater and most notably the inclusion of the exact same character/actor, the television reporter Lew Landers as portrayed by Jim McKrell.

While watching Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) on the local cinema, one of the gremlins wears some Mickey Mouse’s ears.

Hoyt Axton was always the foremost choice for Rand Peltzer. Pat Harrington Jr. was also considered. Pat Hingle was said to have delivered the best screen test, but was passed on because it was feared Rand’s character would take over the picture as a result of Hingle’s excellent performance.

When the gremlins disrupt Mr. Futterman’s roof television antenna, he changes the channel, and it briefly lands on a scene from Jean Cocteau’s Orphée (1950).

Although it is not clearly visible, “Four Magic Moves to Winning Golf”, by Joe Dante (senior) is on Billy’s nightstand. Joe Dante said his father criticized him for not making the title more visible.

In Mrs. Deagle’s house, Edward Arnold is shown in a few photographs as Donald Deagle. The permission for their use was granted by his estate.

The movie on Billy’s TV when he feeds the mogwais after midnight is Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)

The set for Kingston Falls is the same one used for Back to the Future (1985). Both movies were filmed in the Universal Studios backlot.

In addition to restoring the classic Warner Brothers logo to the opening of the movie, it was hoped to release the film along with the classic Looney Tunes short, Falling Hare (1943), where Bugs Bunny is harassed by a plane gremlin during WW II. This fell through, but, highlights from the short do appear as part of the Behind the Scenes featurette, that has also been included on the Special Edition DVD.

The picture of Rockin’ Ricky Rialto is a picture of Don Steele.

Little to no actual dialogue for the Gremlins and Mogwai exists in the script in itself. In addition to several instances of on stage rewrites changing or adding to much of the script, the voiceovers were all mostly ad libs, repeating snippets of just performed dialogue or in reaction to other sound effects or environment. To this end, Howie Mandel recorded Gizmo’s lines phonetically for foreign dubs of the movie, where localized dialogue and in jokes helped make the picture successful with audiences world wide.

In the classroom the students are watching Hemo the Magnificent (1957) (TV). The character of Hemo the Magnificent was played by Marvin Miller, who also does the voice of Robby the Robot at the inventor’s convention (and in Forbidden Planet (1956)).

It was Frank Welker who suggested Howie Mandel perform in this film.

At Dorry’s Tavern, one of the gremlins is playing Star Wars (1983) (VG).

Though he followed the basic outline of the script, Hoyt Axton is said to have improvised nearly all his lines.

At least one of Phoebe Cates’s screams in the scene at Dorry’s Tavern is genuine. An enormous cockroach crawled out in front of her during one take.

During one night shoot, problems with the Gremlin puppets were so severe that the entire cast fell asleep on the set during the delay.

The footage of Santa on the roof that Mr. Futterman is watching in his home is of Red Skelton in a Christmas skit from one of his shows.

After watching his earlier short films, Steven Spielberg considered Tim Burton to direct the film. But decided against it because at the time Burton had never directed a full feature length film.

Jon Pertwee and Mako were both seriously considered for the role of Mr. Wing.

In one scene, Billy is trying to play Gizmo’s song on an electric keyboard. In the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), the humans try to communicate with the aliens by making music with their computers.

The theater that blows up was subsequently involved in another accident when Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) in Back to the Future (1985), smashes into the front entrance at the end of the film. The theater then burned down with the rest of the buildings in the fire that happened right after the filming of Back to the Future Part II (1989).

In the scene where Billy shows the newly-spawned batch of mogwais to his father, one of them is playing with a vintage tabletop Donkey Kong game (a toy released to cash in on the then-rampant popularity of the Donkey Kong arcade game).

Among others, the voices of the Gremlins were done by Michael Winslow.

Kenneth Tobey and Belinda Balaski also appeared in Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990), playing both a different character.

According to Joe Dante and Michael Finnell, the original rough cut of the film ran 2 hours and 40 minutes.

In this film, the Amblin Entertainment logo makes its first on-screen appearance.

The scene in the department store where Stripe attacks Billy with a chainsaw was not in the script. It was added by Joe Dante and Zach Galligan as a homage to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974).

Edward Andrews, Judge Reinhold and William Schallert received roles that were reduced after the film was edited.

Within the story, Gizmo was capable of singing or humming. Jerry Goldsmith wrote Gizmo’s song as well, but Howie Mandel never sang it. A girl member of Goldsmith’s congregation was hired to sing Gizmo’s song, although she had never worked in films before.

The movie that Gizmo is watching in Billy’s bedroom is To Please a Lady (1950).

After Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983), this movie marked the second collaboration between Joe Dante and Michael Finnell with Steven Spielberg.

The last film project of Scott Brady and Edward Andrews.

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