41 Far-Flung Bits of Trivia About Sci-Fi Movies

You can wait around a few decades to see this dystopia ends, or you could read these facts
41 Far-Flung Bits of Trivia About Sci-Fi Movies

Tales from the Crypt had an extremely ‘90s spin-off hosted by a hot C-3PO.

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Run Lola Run

TIME LOOP MOVIES RUN LOLA RUN THERE WAS NO STUDIO MEDDLING. Director Tom Tykwer could do the movie he wanted without answering to any studio suit-because he was the studio suit. Не was a founder of the film's production company, X-Filme Creative Pool. CRACKED.COM
TIME LOOP MOVIES TWO DISTANT STRANGERS THIS IS AN ACADEMY AWARD-WINNING SHORT FILM ABOUT POLICE BRUTALITY. The film is pretty much Groundhog Day for a black man-and ended up overshadowing the 2016 short film actually called Groundhog Day for a Black Man. That both have bad endings proves how terrifying the concept is. CRACKED.COM
TIME LOOP MOVIES SOURCE CODE JAKE GYLLENHAAL'S DAD IS VOICED BY SCOTT BAKULA. When Gyllenhaal's character phones his dad (who thinks his son is dead), the dad is played by Bakula as a shout out to his TV show Quantum Leap. Bakula even repeats his classic line, oh, boy. CRACKED.COM

Boss Level

TIME LOOP MOVIES BOSS LEVEL THE MOVIE WAS ALREADY IN PRODUCTION IN 2012. Originally titled Continue, the video game-inspired action movie was being done by Fox-until it wasn't. It took until 2020 to get the movie made. CRACKED.COM
TIME LOOP MOVIES HAPPY DEATH DAY 2U JUMPING OFF A PLANE IN A BIKINI IS JESSICA ROTHE'S FAVORITE DEATH. She enjoyed jumping from the shell of an airplane, but especially being dropped into a dunk tank full of pads while giving the finger to the camera. CRACKED.COM
TIME LOOP MOVIES 21 EDGE OF TOMORROW EMILY BLUNT WAS PREGNANT. She wasn't aware of it during shooting, but was when she came back for reshoots. Tom Cruise wanted to know why her stunt double was doing more scenes for her now, so he learned about her pregnancy even before her husband John Krasinski. CRACKED.COM
TIME LOOP MOVIES 8 12:01 9 THIS WAS GROUNDHOG DAY BEFORE GROUNDHOG DAY. Absolutely overshadowed by the film starring Bill Murray, this TV movie was based on a short story by Richard А. Lupoff. It's a lighter, more sci-fi take on the concept-unlike the previous 1990 adaptation, a short film starring Kurtwood friggin' Smith. CRACKED.COM
TIME LOOP MOVIES ARQ THE MOVIE TOOK NEARLY TEN YEARS TO BE MADE. Tony Elliot wrote the script in 2008, and was hired to write for the TV show Orphan Black because of it. Only later would Netflix offer to produce it, once the rights (which had been optioned) returned to Elliot. CRACKED.COM
TIME LOOP MOVIES RUN LOLA RUN FRANKA POTENTE APPEARS WITH HER NATURAL HAIR COLOR IN A RELATED MUSIC VIDEO. Director Tom Tykwer fell in love with Potente's musicalized voice-overs during the editing process, and had her record the accompanying single Believe after she washed her red hair dye off. CRACKED.COM
TIME LOOP MOVIES RUN LOLA RUN THE MOVIE WAS INFLUENCED BY HITCHCOK AND DE PALMA. The use of split screens is heavily influenced by '70s thrillers, particularly Brian De Palma's Dressed to Kill. The spirals and camera movements, in turn, come from Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo CRACKED.COM
TIME LOOP MOVIES PALM SPRINGS THE CLOCKWORK-LIKE DANCE SCENE TOOK FIVE TRIES TO GET RIGHT. They brought in professional choreographer Michelle Johnston to get the scene to run smoothly. Johnston also helped with the movie's other dance number, the bar scene with both Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti. CRACKED.COM
TIME LOOP MOVIES BEFORE I FALL THIS IS A SECOND-GENERATION TIME SHENANIGANS MOVIE. Zoey Deutch, who has to relive the same high school hell (and car crash) every day, is the daughter of Lea Thompson, A.K.A. Lorraine from Back to the Future. CRACKED.COM
TIME LOOP MOVIES Air You Need Is Kin 3 D adidas EDGE OF TOMORROW THE MOVIE IS BASED ON A JAPANESE YOUNG ADULT NOVEL. Hiroshi Sakurazaka's All You Need is Kill is darker and more complex than the movie, even adding a tachyon explanation to the time-looping shenanigans. It also explains Rita's giant sword: it's a helicopter blade. CRACKED.COM
TIME LOOP MOVIES SOURCE CODE JAKE GYLLENHAAL RECRUITED DIRECTOR DUNCAN JONES AFTER SEEING MOON. Jones liked the script's intricate structure, and took it as a challenge: I kind of like solving puzzles, so it was kind of fun for me ... to achieve all these difficult things that were set up in the script. CRACKED.COM
TIME LOOP MOVIES LIVE. DIE. REPEAT. EDGE OF TOMORROW AUDIENCES WEREN'T SURE WHAT THE MOVIE'S TITLE WAS. The tagline on the posters was about the same size as the title, leaving many confused about what the hell the movie was called. We're not saying it was this that stopped it from being a true hit, but it's not exactly the best marketing decision, either. CRACKED.COM
TIME LOOP MOVIES SOURCE CODE PRODUCERS COULDN'T UNDERSTAND WHAT THE HELL THE MOVIE WAS ABOUT. Being an established screenwriter, Ben Ripley thought he could sell the idea without a script. Не was wrong. just looked at me like I was nuts, he said. Ultimately, I had to put it on the page to make my case. CRACKED.COM
TIME LOOP MOVIES EDGE OF TOMORROW THE MECH SUITS MADE EMILY BLUNT CRY. Blunt found the armor so heavy and uncomfortable that she despaired over the prospect of having to wear it for several months. Tom Cruise comforted her by diplomatically telling her not to be a wuss. CRACKED.COM
TIME LOOP MOVIES HAPPY DEATH DAY JESSICA ROTHE FOUND HER NUDE SCENES LIBERATING. She called it a walk of glory (as opposed to walk of shame) and one of the most empowering experiences I've ever had in my life, feeling very supported by everyone (particularly the female crew). CRACKED.COM
TIME LOOP MOVIES PALM SPRINGS - NUMBER THE MOVIE'S PHYSICS ARE REAL (SORT OF). Physicist Clifford V. Johnson was brought in as a consultant to get the jargon right (and he has a cameo). Cristin Milioti memorized a five-page quantum mechanics explanation-that ended up getting cut. CRACKED.COM
TIME LOOP MOVIES PALM SPRINGS THE MOVIE WAS NOT ACTUALLY SHOT IN PALM SPRINGS. The timeless, otherworldly visuals are from Palmdale and Santa Clarita, while the cave scenes were filmed in the Bronson Caves (which you have seen in the '60s Batman TV show). Well, it's still California. CRACKED.COM
Forgotten Sci-Fi and Horror Shows SANTIAGO 1999-2000 Harsh Realm Back when The X-Files ruled pop culture, Harsh Realm disabused us of the notion that Chris Carter could do no wrong. The show was dark, violent, heavily mythology-driven-and ultimately so confusing that audiences just tuned off. CRACKED.COM
Forgotten Sci-Fi and Horror Shows 1992-1996 Forever Knight Nic Knight is an 800-year-old vampire cop trying to redeem himself and become human again. This Canadian series (which began as a TV movie starring Rick Springfield) is considered a direct precursor of other vampire shows, like Angel. CRACKED.COM
Forgotten Sci-Fi and Horror Shows 2004 Kingdom Hospital Does Stephen King adapting Lars von Trier sound awesome? It wasn't. An American remake of a Danish show set in a hospital where spooky things happened, King himself was very happy with the result, but others weren't. CRACKED.COM
Forgotten Sci-Fi and Horror Shows 1975-1976 The Secrets of Isis Back when the name Isis only meant the Egyptian goddess, the show was about a schoolteacher who could become, well, Isis. It anticipated other female- ed superhero shows of the time, like Wonder Woman. CRACKED.COM
Forgotten Sci-Fi and Horror Shows 1983-1991 The Hitchhiker This was an anthology series in the style of Twilight Zone, with a hitchhiker presenting dark stories about the douchebaggery in man's heart. It aired on HBO way before it was a prestige network, and then it moved to the USA Network. CRACKED COM
Forgotten Sci-Fi and Horror Shows 1994-1995 Earth 2 Human colonists try to migrate to, yup, another Earth. It was produced by Amblin Entertainment, which meant that Steven Spielberg's name was tacked on it even though he had nothing to do with the show. Ratings for the premiere were high, but soon fell. CRACKED.COM
Forgotten Sci-Fi and Horror Shows Tales from the Darkside 1983-1988 This was George Romero's shot at the plot-twisty, anthology show gimmick, adapting sci-fi and fantasy stories from great writers like Frederik Pohl, Harlan Ellison, Clive Barker, Robert Bloch, John Cheever, Fredric Brown, and Stephen King. CRACKED.COM
Forgotten Sci-Fi and Horror Shows 1976 Ark II In a post-apocalyptic 25th century, a diverse group of scientists travel the wastelands in a futuristic vehicle, in order to spread lost knowledge. The show was aimed at children, and featured a talking chimp (which of course was abused during production). CRACKED COM
Forgotten Sci-Fi and Horror Shows 1996-1997 Dark Skies This was a show about alien conspiracies in the style of The X-Files, only set during the '60s. A five-season, decades-spanning arc about mind-controlling aliens was planned, but the show lasted only one season. CRACKED.COM
Forgotten Sci-Fi and Horror Shows 1995-1996 Space: Above and Beyond Created by two X-Files writers, this space opera followed a squadron fighting an invading alien race. Compared to Starship Troopers, it was actually indebted to Joe Haldeman's novel The Forever War. CRACKED.COM
Forgotten Sci-Fi and Horror Shows 1985 Otherworld An American family visits the Egyptian pyramids just as the planets align, and they're transported to some parallel dimension. As they explore this world, they're chased by a ruthless commander played by Jonathan Banks, of Breaking Bad fame. CRACKED.COM
Forgotten Sci-Fi and Horror Shows 1961 A for Andromeda Scientists receive instructions from outer space to build a computer, which then instructs them to build an organism (Andromeda, played by Julie Christie). This British show lasted just one season, and had a remake in 2006 (with Tom Hardy, of all people). CRACKED.COM
Forgotten Sci-Fi and Horror Shows 1953-1959 Quatermass Genius rocket scientist, sci-fi adventurer, and world- savior Bernard Quatermass was played by three different actors across three distinct series. This is vintage sci-fi, pre-dating (and influencing) Doctor Who. CRACKED.COM
Forgotten Sci-Fi and Horror Shows 1970-1971 UFO After Thunderbirds' success, the Andersons created this show about an international military agency working to prevent an alien invasion. Unlike Thunderbirds, it wasn't a puppet show aimed at children, so it could tell more complex stories. CRACKED.COM
Forgotten Sci-Fi and Horror Shows 1987-1988 Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future This show merged live action with CGI, told adult stories while selling toys to kids, and had those toys interact with the actual show. Plus, the backstory included an apocalyptic event called the Metal Wars. You flew too close to the sun, Captain Power. CRACKED.COM
Forgotten Sci-Fi and Horror Shows 2008-2010 Lost Tapes This was a found footage mockumentary anthology about encounters with cryptids and other fantastical creatures, which aired on... er, Animal Planet? Really? Whatever, it got bad reviews and faded into obscurity. CRACKED.COM
Forgotten Sci-Fi and Horror Shows 1993 Space Rangers This children's show was about the Space Ranger Corps keeping the peace on an Earth colony on planet Avalon-a premise so bland, it's no wonder only six episodes were ever shot. CRACKED.COM
Forgotten Sci-Fi and Horror Shows 1982 The Phoenix From a Peruvian Sarcophagus rises Bennu of the Golden Light, an alien being with the power of having the clunkiest name ever. Beginning as a TV movie in 1981, it was supposed to be the next big thing, but only lasted one season. CRACKED.COM

Perversions of Science

Forgotten Sci-Fi and Horror Shows 1997 Perversions of Science This Tales From the Crypt spin-off told sci-fi stories from '50s pulp comics. It had an awesome intro, and was hosted by a peak-'90s-TV CGI female robot. CRACKED.COM
Forgotten Sci-Fi and Horror Shows 1950-1955 Space Patrol Commander Buzz Corry and helps space police keep, erm, the space peace. The TV show aired parallel to its twin radio show (with the same cast), and was quite a hit in the 1950s. CRACKED.COM
Forgotten Sci-Fi and Horror Shows 1994-1995 M.A.N.T.I.S. A superhero show by Sam Raimi and the writer of Tim Burton's Batman? Sing us up! A brilliant black scientist builds himself a futuristic exoskeleton after he's shot and paralyzed by the police. CRACKED.COM

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