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[Enzom21]

As I heard it, on his first movie "Above The Law" he had the stunt crew come out one morning so he could address them and said something on the lines of "This is my movie, you're going to do everything my way, and if anybody has a problem with that, they can step up and challenge me right now."
Gene LaBell is a legend in the martial arts community. He was basically the first white guy to learn judo and was a key figure in popularizing martial arts in America in the 20th century. Challenging him is kind of a lose-lose proposition, because if you win, congratulations, you beat an 80 yr old man (He was 55 when the incident happened) but... you're not going to win. He's going to hand your ass to you.
And that's exactly what happened. Production had to fire the entire stunt team and hire a new one because the old team couldn't take the star seriously after that...

50 other pieces of movie trivia here.

10. When Harvey Weinstein wanted to edit Princess Mononoke to make it more marketable, the director Hayao Miyazaki sent him a katana with a simple message: "No cuts."

13. The director of Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan had to wear William Shatner out by doing multiple takes until he'd get tired enough to start actually acting. Extra clarity here.

25. The Soviets made a version of The Hobbit movie in 1985. It's available in full on YouTube. It's... something.

 

[GDGF]

That russian Hobbit had a thread on GAF a while back.

It was pretty crap.

 

[Instro]

Yeah I've heard the Seagal story before, very funny. I'm surprised Alan Rickman getting dropped early for the ending of Die Hard didn't make that list.

 

[ElbowRocket]

"Fire down below"

 

[MWS Natural]

. Charlie Sheen stayed awake for 48 hours to achieve a suitably wasted look for his cameo as a drugged-up felon in Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

In Drive, when Ron Pearlman is getting beat up on the beach, he actually does shatter his kneecap, and his screams of pain are real.

So awesome.

 

[liger05]

Roddy Piper is also a student of gene Lebell.

 

[Razgriz-Specter]

Production had to fire the entire stunt team and hire a new one because the old team couldn't take the star seriously after that...

He could be taken seriously before that?

 

[HP_Wuvcraft]

Yeah I've heard the Seagal story before, very funny. I'm surprised Alan Rickman getting dropped early for the ending of Die Hard didn't make that list.

Wait, go on.

 

[GhaleonEB]

29. In the scene in Alien when the alien comes out of John Hurt's stomach, the actors were not actually told it was going to happen. It shows.

An urban legend that is mostly false, but with a bit of truth. The way it was set up, it was impossible to hide what was going to happen. Everyone knew, they'd read the script and saw how it was rigged up. However, the actors did not expect to get sprayed with blood. In particular the woman playing Lambert did not expect it; she was so startled she fell over backward and out frame when it happened.

 

[-MB-]

50 other pieces of movie trivia here.

Pretty sure he was not the first white guy to practice Judo.
Cool story nontheless tho, proves Seagal was/is a huge prick.

 

[The Artful Dodger]

Katherine Hepburn only drank water throughout The African Queen production as a protest against John Huston and Humphrey Bogart's alcoholism. However, most of the cast and crew became sick from the water and only Bogart and Huston were unaffected because they only drank whiskey.

John Huston is one of my favorite directors. Such a badass.

 

[EleventhDoctor]

This is still my favorite Steven Segal story:

http://youtu.be/V2B9jyZTp4w

 

[ReturnOfTheRAT]

Charlie Sheen stayed awake for 48 hours to achieve a suitably wasted look for his cameo as a drugged-up felon in Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

Doubt that was what he did.

Pierce Brosnan was contractually forbidden from wearing a full tuxedo in any non-James Bond movie from 1995-2002.

Yep, I remember hearing about that about that obligation.

Katherine Hepburn only drank water throughout The African Queen production as a protest against John Huston and Humphrey Bogart's alcoholism. However, most of the cast and crew became sick from the water and only Bogart and Huston were unaffected because they only drank whiskey.

Never heard that part before.

 

[Manu]

Wait, go on.

Apparently they told him they would drop him on the count of three, and then dropped him on two, hence his genuinely surprised face.

 

[double jump]

45. On the set of 1982's The Thing, the whole cast and crew was male.



imdb shows this to be false on the crew side of things

 

[BadAss2961]

That LeBell/Seagal story might not be true. Wikipedia, but fuck it...

In 2011, UFC commentator, Joe Rogan revealed that Gene LeBell had told him privately a story of how he choked out martial arts actor Steven Seagal on a movie set. Seagal allegedly lost control of his bowels during his unconsciousness.

Despite this claim, LeBell never publicly confirmed this story. On March 6, 2012, Gene LeBell was with Ariel Helwani on his MMA hour show, where Gene LeBell was asked by Ariel to confirm if the story had really happened, but Gene LeBell continued to dance around the subject by frequently talking off-topic and eventually gave a rather disjointed account of his previous version about the story.

Steven Seagal was on the same show later and he described Gene LeBell as a pathological scumbag liar if Gene had really made that story himself. After getting accused by Seagal, Gene LeBell still did not give a clear answer as to whether he had really choked out Steven Seagal when he was asked about it on many public events over the years following the dissemination of that story. The host of this show, Ariel Helwani also spoke out at the end of the show saying that Gene LeBell should be ashamed after listening to both accounts of the story.

In Oct 2012, Gene LeBell appeared in a private interview, not associated with any formal organisation or TV show, where he was asked to give a response about being accused as a patholoagical scumbag liar by Steven Seagal. Like again, he still avoided to give a direct answer and implicated that he is restricted from talking about it by a legal gag order, when in fact there is so far no independent witness or court record found that could support the truthfulness of that story and his implication of having the case settled out in court. However, he did as before switch into another subject saying Ronda Rousey would have easily beaten him.

I choose to believe Seagal since I don't want his movies ruined for me. lol

 

[Blake'sGrave]

20. After Top Gun was shown in cinemas, recruitment into the Navy by young men went up by 500 percent.

that's fucking depressing as hell

 

[EulaCapra]

41. The Space Jam soundtrack went sextuple platinum, and the movie grossed over $230 million.

Seems like Space Jam is always brought up every other week for something.

 

[Razgriz-Specter]

that's fucking depressing as hell

Hell i'd give anything to be a fighter pilot in the Navy(or any branch)
probably the 'coolest' job in the world after astronaut.

 

[Instro]

That LeBell/Seagal story might not be true. Wikipedia, but fuck it... I choose to believe Seagal since I don't want his movies ruined for me. lol

It's one of those stories that has floated around for many years, with the details changing constantly. I'm sure some sort of confrontation happened, but I doubt it's as serious as some rumors would make it out to be. Seagal was, and probably a still is, a massive dick on set so it wouldn't surprised me if the story has been greatly exaggerated. It's kind of funny to see Seagal call someone a pathological liar though, considering he himself is pretty well known for making shit up.

 

[Norml]

From his own website.

"I've got a million stories...

at least half of them are true."

- Gene LeBell

 

[Soyongdori]

29. In the scene in Alien when the alien comes out of John Hurt's stomach, the actors were not actually told it was going to happen. It shows.

Bahahaahaah!

 

[foxuzamaki]

need to make sure my mom never finds out this bit of trivia, she absolutey adores steven seagal

 

[Akahige]

6. In National Treasure, the good guys in the movie use Google and the bad guys use Yahoo!

32. Pierce Brosnan was contractually forbidden from wearing a full tuxedo in any non-James Bond movie from 1995-2002.

9. Ryan Gosling was cast as Noah in The Notebook because the director wanted someone "not handsome."

a bunch of these are humorous, I wonder how many are true

 

[Discotheque]

Seems like Space Jam is always brought up every other week for something.

that soundtrack was amazing. i don't know anybody who hasn't heard/owned the space jam and lion king OST (I'm 23)

also

The lineup in The Usual Suspects was originally meant to be serious, but Benicio del Toro couldn't stop farting so they laughed throughout.

lmao

 

[senahorse]

that's fucking depressing as hell

Money well spent I guess, didn't the Navy and/or Air Force fund that movie as a recruitment drive, or was that bullshit?

 

[Angry Grimace]

That LeBell/Seagal story might not be true. Wikipedia, but fuck it... I choose to believe Seagal since I don't want his movies ruined for me. lol

Whoever wrote that wiki really loves Steven Seagal.

 

[HP_Wuvcraft]

I fully believe both Disney ones.

 

[lastplayed]

Ewoks are never referred as Ewoks in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.

There's a lot of stuff in Star Wars that was never named on screen.

 

[Joni]

Money well spent I guess, didn't the Navy and/or Air Force fund that movie as a recruitment drive, or was that bullshit?

The American Army and all its branches are more then eager to help any filmmaker that wants to portray American technology in its movies by lending expertise and equipment. For instance they helped on Transformers. So yes, it is true, but it not limited to Top GUn. A list can be found on TVTropes: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BackedByThePentagon

 

[Dr_Boris_Goltz]

Gene is a good friend of my dad and I've heard that story in person.

Edit: Also my dad has met Seagal in person and said he has really bad BO.

 

[senahorse]

The American Army and all its branches are more then eager to help any filmmaker that wants to portray American technology in its movies by lending expertise and equipment. For instance they helped on Transformers. So yes, it is true, but it not limited to Top GUn. A list can be found on TVTropes: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BackedByThePentagon

Very interesting, thanks for the link. While morally I don't agree with it, it's smart marketing.

 

[m3k]

I heard from a bouncer in Sydney that chuck Norris came down to Sydney in the 70's or 80's and had this thing where he pretended to be drunk so when the bouncer went to punch or push him out, chuck would counter and drop the bouncer for fun

I have no way of proving this but the bouncer also told me he slipped while trying this and got his head punched in

believe or not! Apparently this was his thing, Segal story reminded me of it

 

[Suairyu]

29. In the scene in Alien when the alien comes out of John Hurt's stomach, the actors were not actually told it was going to happen. It shows.

This meme has gotten entirely out of hand.

The actors did have a script, you know!

 

[jimi_dini]

The American Army and all its branches are more then eager to help any filmmaker that wants to portray American technology in its movies by lending expertise and equipment. For instance they helped on Transformers. So yes, it is true, but it not limited to Top GUn. A list can be found on TVTropes: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BackedByThePentagon

•In an inversion, Platoon was a success in spite of the Pentagon refusing to supply anything for the film.
•As were Apocalypse Now and An Officer and a Gentleman.

Hell yeah

 

[Megalosaro]

23. In 2002, Steven Spielberg finally finished college after a 33-year hiatus. He turned in Schindler's List for his student film requirement.

Knew this one. He's an alumni of my alma matter (CSU Long Beach)

 

[Torhthelm Tídwald]

That russian Hobbit had a thread on GAF a while back.

It was pretty crap.

The Russian version of Winnie-The-Pooh was linked in that thread and is legitimately awesome. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqdiEUp6s4E

 

[Hot Coldman]

The American Army and all its branches are more then eager to help any filmmaker that wants to portray American technology in its movies by lending expertise and equipment. For instance they helped on Transformers. So yes, it is true, but it not limited to Top GUn. A list can be found on TVTropes: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BackedByThePentagon

The more interesting story is their refusal to help out with The Avengers, due to them getting weird about the authority of SHIELD over the US Army. It really is just marketing.

 

[siddx]

Gene Lebell is indeed a tough SOB..he is also completely full of shit and talks out of this ass constantly. His nonstop bullshit about being friends with and training with Bruce Lee is pathetic in how fake it obviously is.

 

[J10]

The more interesting story is their refusal to help out with The Avengers, due to them getting weird about the authority of SHIELD over the US Army. It really is just marketing.

I wonder if they took issue with getting curb stomped by the Kryptonians in Man of Steel. They weren't even given a chance to fight back like in Independence Day.

 

[Hot Coldman]

I wonder if they took issue with getting curb stomped by the Kryptonians in Man of Steel. They weren't even given a chance to fight back like in Independence Day.

They're probably more understanding if they're getting wrecked by superpowered aliens. The long and short of it is the unclear nature of whether SHIELD was a branch of government or a third-party organisation, the latter of which would put the Army's (in-universe) collaboration with them seem potentially unlawful.

Basically, the Army don't work with no outsiders, or something.

 

[Shinta]

These kinds of stories really feel dated now, and show just how juvenile fighting movie fans were in the 90s. Van Damme got sucker punched in a bar, Seagal choked out, etc. What's silly is anyone who thinks these people are invincible. They're talented martial artists who decided to get into ACTING.

At least with UFC being more prominent, people seem to have a better handle on this distinction now. No one goes around and tries to sucker punch Donnie Yen or Jet Li. It's just stupid.

As far as the Gene LeBell thing, I've heard the story for years online. With no proof it's as credible as any urban legend in my mind. LeBell also might have greatly exaggerated his influence on Bruce Lee. I'm sure he knew the guy, and they trained, but all of LeBell's "stories" are just about one thing - maximizing his image. That alone makes me suspect.

 

[Atruvius]

Shouldn't it be "shat" instead of "shit"? Or are both correct? Not trying to be grammar nazi, just wondering...

 

[polyh3dron]

Judo Gene LeBell is known to be full of shit.

 

[mugoldeneagle03]

The American Army and all its branches are more then eager to help any filmmaker that wants to portray American technology in its movies by lending expertise and equipment. For instance they helped on Transformers. So yes, it is true, but it not limited to Top GUn. A list can be found on TVTropes: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BackedByThePentagon

I'm pretty sure on the Transformers Directors commentary Michael Bay says something like "The military loves when I put them in my movies. I make them look cool" or along the lines of that.

 

[industrian]

Did Segal teach this sacred technique to Machida too?

 

[Acorn]

I'm pretty sure on the Transformers Directors commentary Michael Bay says something like "The military loves when I put them in my movies. I make them look cool" or along the lines of that.

I can't remember the movie, but didn't the military get their ass kicked in that movie?

 

[Seraphis Cain]

Surprised that the thing about Viggo Mortensen breaking his toe in LOTR isn't on there. Seems like it's on just about every "movie trivia" list. Same with the "Hey Malkovich, think fast!" thing.

 

[industrian]

I can't remember the movie, but didn't the military get their ass kicked in that movie?

If anything, the military and their hardware are arguably the heroes of the trilogy.

 

[Joni]

I'm pretty sure on the Transformers Directors commentary Michael Bay says something like "The military loves when I put them in my movies. I make them look cool" or along the lines of that.

Yeah, they're not doing it for charity reasons. If they're in movies like that, it is to look cool which is why they like to help Bay.

If anything, the military and their hardware are arguably the heroes of the trilogy.

Indeed: the good guys get helped all the time by a squad of normal soldiers who win all the fights, even when obstructed by secret parts of the governement/FBI/CIA/NSA; and the cool looking bad guys are all superduper military equipment when doing cool things.