Trivia: At the Academy Awards, Cate Blanchett became the first Oscar winner to win her award for playing another Oscar winner.
Trivia: In the opening of the movie, David Duchovny is seen riding his bike through Paris. Apparently, in the shot where he is riding through the middle of traffic was not planned or rehearsed, he simply began riding a bicycle through heavy traffic while the camera man filmed him. He attributes this foolish choice to his "Having drank a glass of wine" earlier that night.
Trivia: Much of the scene with Largeman and the doctor in his office was ad libbed by Ron Leibman. Liebman made up patting Braff on the knee and saying "Hey, you're alive" on the spot, and Braff actually did jump from it. He also did some research by calling other doctors, and threw in the line about taking off his shoes and scratching his feet at the very last moment, something doctors actually do.
Trivia: The mysterious new leader of the flying daggers never actually appears because that role was intended for actress/ singer Anita Mui, who resigned the (impending) filming due to ill health two weeks before dying of cancer. Out of respect Zhang Yimou didn't replace her with another actress and the film is dedicated to her memory.
Trivia: In the final scene were XXXX is in the Park club dining with Trever, Morty, Gene, and Clarkey there is a shot outside the room looking in where XXXX is standing and the others are raising their glasses to him. This is similar to the final scene in 'The Godfather'. This is said during the director's commentary.
Trivia: The film was almost entirely shot in high definition. Director Michael Mann states he did this to capture the night scenes more vividly.
Suggested correction: The number of movies shot in less-than-HD could be counted on one hand.
I believe it refers to the fact that Collateral is considered to be the first major movie to use a digital camera, not the traditional film support.
Trivia: Megan Park, who plays Becca, also stars as Grace Bowman in "The Secret Life of the American Teenager." In this movie, her mom's name is Kathleen. In the series, her mom is also named Kathleen. She also plays the roll of a religious girl in both.
Trivia: When Noah is driving back to Allie's house after Finn tells him she's left, Noah's car bangs into the fence. This wasn't supposed to happen; it was a mistake made by the actor (Ryan Gosling).
Trivia: In one scene Paul is listening to the radio and a broadcast of the debate about whether what was happening in Rwanda was considered genocide. During the conflict there was a news conference that was very similar to the one on the radio. One of the reasons that the US and UN would not label (or appear to label) the situation as genocide was that under legal obligations they would have had to act to prevent and punish the perpetrators if they said what was happening in Rwanda was genocide.
Trivia: Even though he shares top billing with Angelina Jolie and Ethan Hawke, Kiefer Sutherland is on screen for less than three minutes.
Trivia: Despite receiving top billing, Sandra Bullock has only six minutes of screen time.
Trivia: It's shown in the film that Ray turns up to a protest outside the concert and then refuses to play before a segregated crowd in Georgia, which earns him a lifetime ban from the state. Ray Charles did cancel his concert but only paid compensation and was never banned from Georgia. There was also no protest outside the concert hall.
Trivia: There are only 500 balls placed on the wall in Stan's, enclosed in a glass case behind the bar. The crew kept on moving the panels depending on the shot needed.
Trivia: The Final Interview Subject is played by Lynn Redgrave, who is Liam Neeson's (Alfred Kinsey) real life aunt-in-law. Lynn's niece, Natasha Richardson, daughter of Vanessa Redgrave, is Liam's wife.