Equilibrium (2002)
  • The drug used in the story to suppress emotion and pacify the population is named 'Prozium', arguably a combination of the names of real world drugs 'Prozac' and 'Valium'
  • The cityscapes and architectural designs that comprise the movies location of Libria are reported to be inspired in part by the work the 20th century artist Hugh Ferriss.
  • The movies director, Kurt Wimmer, makes a cameo appearance in the film as a rebel who is executed in the scene where the Clerics raid a warehouse.

      Escape from New York (1981)
  • When 'Escape from N.Y.' was made computer generated imagery was still in its infancy and the production could not afford it for the computer display on the glider, so the 3D images where actually a real model, painted black, with highlights attached, then filmed with a regular camera.

      Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
      Event Horizon (1997)
  • If you look closely at the design of the Event Horizon ship as the rescue vessel, the Lewis and Clark flies past on its first approach, you can see a Star Wars X-Wing model has been incorporated as part of the ships communications array.

      Evolution (2001)
  • Although the film was first written as a serious sci-fi movie, director Ivan Reitman rewrote it to create a comedy in the spirit of his earlier movie Ghost Busters, which also featured Dan Aykroyd.

      The Faculty (1998)
  • Charisma Carpenter turned down the part of Delilah which was written for her because it wasn't sufficiently distinct to the character she played for several years in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series.

      The Fifth Element (1997)
  • The date that can be seen on the wall after Korben Dallas wakes up is March 18th 2263, the day and the month being the birthday of the movies director Luc Besson.
  • The film set a couple of records when it was made, including being the most expensive non Hollywood produced film, the largest special effects budget at $80 million, and featuring the largest indoor explosion ever filmed.

      Flash Gordon (1980)
  • George Lucas reportedly wrote Star Wars after missing out on the rights to make Flash Gordon which he had wanted to produce, but which had already been bought.

      Frequency (2000)
  • Brian Greene makes a cameo appearance in the film as himself in both recently shot, and archive film, he also worked as the films physics consultant.

      Galaxy Quest (1999)
  • The giant rock monster scene in the film is reportedly in honour of William Shatner who had wanted to have such creatures in his Sat Trek V film, but had been stopped by a shortfall in that movies budget.
  • Film critic Andrew Sarris who had previously been unenthusiastic about one of the producers previous films, lends his name to the warlord Sarris, Galaxy Quest's main villain.

      Gattaca (1997)
      Hellboy (2004)
  • The films director, Guillermo del Toro passed on both 'Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban' and 'Blade 3: Trinity' to be able to make Hellboy which had been a dream project he had wanted for years but had never be able to get the funding for.
  • The creator of the Hellboy comic book series, on which the movie is based appears briefly in a knights costume in a group of people threatened by Sammael, he also lends his name to 'Mignola Plaza'.
  • The main story arc of the movie is taken from the 'Seed of Destruction' Hellboy comic book, although elements are drawn from other books in the Hellboy series.

      Independence Day (1996)
  • The fighter squadron that Will Smith's character is a member of fly out of El Toro Air Base, this is a reference to the base which is shown in the 1953 film 'War of the Worlds' as the home of the planes sent to bomb the Martians.
  • The set for the interior if the White House used in this film were actually the same ones as used in another sci-fi movie, Mars Attacks! from 1996.
  • When Russell's plane crashes into the alien mother ships huge laser weapon causing a backfire / explosion, the sound effect was created using James Brown's trademark scream.

      I, Robot (2004)
  • The writer Isaac Asimov, who created the famous three laws of robotics, and wrote the book that the movie is based on lends his name to Dr. Lanning's cat 'Asimov'.
  • Ex Star Trek regular Wil Wheaton was one of the actors who auditioned for the part of Sonny, the movies robotic star.
  • The car featured so prominently in the film was a concept car, the RSQ, designed especially for the occasion by Audi. (most of the other cars are slightly modified production cars from Audi)
  • The film was originally titled 'Hardwire' and was intended to be a smaller film-noir style murder mystery before being expanded for a summer block buster budget and Will Smith to play the lead.
  • The film draws on elements of other Asimov novels to inform its depiction of a futuristic robotic society, such as The fourth law of robotics from 'Robots and Empire' and also the books 'Robot Dreams' and 'Little Lost Robot' on which scenes are based.
  • In some releases of the film the detective in the bar accidentally addresses the character 'Spooner' as Will.

      Mars Attacks! (1996)
  • When the people are killed by the Martians ray guns leaving just their skeletons, the bones are green or red, this was intended as a Christmas tie-in based on a preliminary release date which was later changed.
  • The 1953 film 'War of the Worlds' provided the inspiration for the sound effects of the Martian ray guns in Mars Attacks!

      The Matrix (1999)
      Men in Black (1997)
  • When the film was originally being cast, the role of 'J' played by Will Smith was offered to Chris O'Donnell and David Schwimmer, and the part of 'K' was offered to Clint Eastwood, along with Quentin Tarantino being approached to direct.
  • Producer Steven Spielberg, along with Danny DeVito, George Lucas, and Sylvester Stallone all feature on the command centre screen that is apparently showing 'known aliens'.

      Minority Report (2002)
  • The three 'Precognitives' featured in the movie all have names inspired by famous murder / mystery authors: Arthur Conan Doyle, Dashiell Hammett, and Agatha Christie.
  • Tom Cruise finished work on Vanilla Sky only days before shooting on Minority Report was due to begin, with his co-star, Cameron Diaz and director, Cameron Crowe from Vanilla Sky both featuring in cameos for Minority Report, as part of the crowd on the train.
  • The film was based on a short story by author Philip K. Dick, as was Blade Runner, and the movie appears to reference Blade Runner in its use of the eye theme throughout.
  • The same visual effects company that created the title sequence for Se7en in 1995 was brought in to produce the Precognitive vision sequences for Minority Report.

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