Movies have been produced for almost half a century now, and the advancements made in the techniques have significantly improved. But in recent times there has been a wave of improvisation that has been used not just by actors, but also filmmakers when making films. Some of these ideas are mostly sublime, but a number of these ideas are plainly out of the blue and astonishingly surprising. The use of such ideas has certainly improved the way of filming and production of movies. But many times, these secrets are not made known to the public, until they are made clear by the director in their commentaries. About how they got the idea for the particular scene, or even the impromptu way the shooting was done and the idea just presented by itself. Here is a list of concealed movie secrets revealed by directors.
Kong: Skull Island
Director Jordan Vogt-Roberts during a candid commentary about the movie drew a lot of inspiration from the characters from games like Full Metal Jacket, Metal Gear Solid, and Pokémon. Yes, you heard it right Pokémon. Jordan confirmed that the inspiration for the skull crawlers from the movie was inspired by a Pokémon named Cubone. The Pokémon is known to wear the skull of its deceased mother on its head like a helmet, which was the source of the idea behind the skull crawlers.
Doctor Strange
Director Scott Derrickson in his commentary on the Blu-ray release of the movie confirmed that Benedict Cumberbatch is hurtling through the multiverse. He indeed passes through Ant-Man’s quantum realm, as it is one of the mysterious realms in existence. The similarity of both these realms is confirmed further by comparing the background with when Doctor Stephen Strange was passing through it, and when Scott Lang entered it after going subatomic.
The Avengers
Joss Whedon’s commentary of ‘The Avengers’ was a complete 2.5 hours of nerds gone wild. The director revealed an astonishing secret about the movie, which many would not have even guessed. In the movie ‘True Lies’, if you remember Arnold Schwarzenegger flew in Harrier jump jet to the top of a building battling bad guys while saving his daughter. Well in Avengers, when The Hulk jumps on the back of a plane and starts ripping it apart, that plane was the replica of the Harrier jet that was used in ‘True Lies’. The plane was fished out by Joss Whedon from the desert for filming purposes.
Terminator 2
James Cameron in his commentary of ‘Terminator: Judgment Day, revealed that the helpless security guard in T-2 who was killed by the T-1000 was played by the twin brothers, Don and Dan Stanton. Don Stanton played the human form and Dan Stanton played the creepy and scary T-1000, and gave the perfect shot to the brain impaling scene in the movie.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Episode VII)
In the movie it was expected that it was Ewan McGregor’s voice over which was heard as Master Obi-Wan Kenobi’s voice, calling out to Rey. But the surprising fact is that it was Alec Guinness’s voice that was implicated in the movie. Ewan MacGregor’s predecessor was Alec Guinness who portrayed the character of Obi-Wan Kenobi in Episode IV. But in ‘The Force Awakens, it was Alec’s voiceover which was recorded back during the filming of Episode IV, and one word isolated from all the dialogues that said “great”. For getting Rey’s name right the beginning and the ending letters were scrapped to get a “real”, that we heard in the movie.
Blair Witch
The reboot of the Blair Witch had one extremely suffocating scene which saw actresses Callie Hernandez crawl through an actual earthy tunnel. Here is the terrifying fact, the scene was shot inside a real earthy tunnel. To make matters worse it had to be done with a stunt double and replacement cameraman. Yes, replacement cameraman, because the initial one freaked out due to claustrophobia.
True Romance
Quentin Tarantino has gathered massive fame and fan following over the years, because of his knowledge and passion for writing and directing films. Personally, Tarantino has never commented on any of his productions, but we have an incident from an audio compliment to his movie ‘True Romance’. Tarantino was heard saying that the script for ‘True Romance’ was so close and personal to him, that he would have sold the script even to the lowest bidder. Just to make sure his script got produced and that he could show the world, how serious of a scriptwriter he is.
Alien: Covenant
The portrayal of the cyborg called David by Michael Fassbender is truly menacing and terrifying. Ridley Scott did not need to compare him to Hitler to showcase his ruthless attitude towards human life form. Thus, it was a smart move to remove a reference to Adolf Hitler from the movie, showcasing the similar traits between the dictator and the ruthless Cyborg. There was a scene in the movie which witnessed David perform an “Adolf Hitler kick” while walking past the colonists in Covenant’s final uplifting scene. Good thing that the scene was removed, as it would have looked too flimsy in the final cut.
The Gremlins
The audio commentary for ‘The Gremlins’ featured director Joe Dante and cast members Zach Galligan and Howie Mandel who are heard speaking in his gizmo voice. Galligan is best known to play the character of Billy Peltzer in the movie and its sequel. But in the commentary, it was revealed that Gallian was not the first choice for his role in the movie, it was only after producer Steven Spielberg got involved in the matter. It was posted Steven’s involvement that Galligan was finalized among Emilio Estevez and Judd Nelson. Emilio was Dante’s top pick, but after Steven Spielberg dubbed the actor’s auditioning tape as “internalizing”, the role went to Zach Galligan. Judd’s audition was centered a lot around an angry young man, sealing Galligan’s fate with the movie.
Apocalypse Now
The director’s commentary for the movie ‘Apocalypse Now’, is probably the most intriguing audio track one could listen to. Francis Ford Coppola candidly in his commentary revealed his experiences about shooting for ‘Apocalypse Now’ deep in the jungle, while dropping in several coconuts (surprises) along the way. The most important and first among them was the admission of the film’s most popular opening shot of a huge explosion that was filmed unintentionally. Which was not part of the footage and was fished out from the scraps. The director admitted that 6 cameras were used to shoot the scene, and the least plausible angle for the scene unexpectedly captured the best shot. Coppola liked the eerie geometry of the trees and the helicopters passing by overhead, which he eventually ordered to be restored and implemented back into the film.
