Trivia: John Lydon aka Johnny Rotten despises this film. He accused it of glamorizing the squalor of Sid and Nancy's life and making heroin addiction seem cool. He has referred to the film as "a f*ck*ng fantasy." Amongst his more scathing quotes : "To me this movie is the lowest form of life. I honestly believe that it celebrates heroin addiction. It definitely glorifies it at the end when that stupid taxi drives off into the sky." "I don't think they ever had the intent to research properly in order to make a seriously accurate movie. It was all just for money, wasn't it? To humiliate somebody's life like that - and very successfully - was very annoying to me." "I went to see it and was utterly appalled. I told [director] Alex Cox, which was the first time I met him, that he should be shot, and he was quite lucky I didn't shoot him. I still hold him in the lowest light. Will the real Sid please stand up?" "As for how I was portrayed... it was so off and ridiculous. It was absurd. Champagne and baked beans for breakfast? Sorry. I don't drink champagne. He didn't even speak like me. He had a Scouse accent." (Lydon is a Londoner.) Alex Cox later admitted that many of Lydon's criticisms of the film were correct and he should have shown the squalor and ugliness of Sid and Nancy's life in a far more realistic manner.
Trivia: Charlie Sheen stayed awake for 2 days to play the guy in the police station, so he could get the right look for the scene.
Trivia: The "MiG-28s" in the movie are actually all Northrop F-5E Tiger II's, an American plane used for training and sold to other countries. In reality, there is no MiG-28.
Suggested correction: It could be argued that in the alternate reality of Top Gun the fictional "MiG-28" was an improved reverse-engineered F-5 (VPAF gave the Soviets access to ex-VNAF F-5:s for evaluation after the fall of Saigon) explaining their similarity.
This isn't a valid correction for a trivia entry. There is no mistake being suggested, just letting viewers with limited plane experience know MiG-28 isn't a real plane.
Trivia: Near the end of the film in the locker room prior to the championship game, Coach Dale makes reference to the players on the other team whose names are written on a chalkboard. If you look closely at the list of names, you'll see that they are the last names of the actors that portray the Hickory players (Poole, Schenk, Boyle, etc).
Trivia: Director Oliver Stone claimed that the lead character of Chris was largely autobiographical and mirrored many of Stone's own experiences as a soldier in Vietnam.
Trivia: In the final confrontation between Dollarhyde and Graham, Tom Noonan had to lie in a pool of stage blood for several hours as the crew worked on other shots. After all this time, the stage blood dried into a thick, cement-like adhesive that all but fused Noonan to the carpet.
Trivia: The film's director, David Cronenberg, has a cameo in this film as the doctor who helps Ronnie deliver her maggot baby.
Trivia: Both Michael J. Fox and Anthony Michael Hall turned down the role of Duckie.
Trivia: Unbeknownst to the cast and crew, several of the skeletons ordered for the production were real human skeletons (as opposed to replicas). When this was discovered, some crew and cast members demanded an exorcism or cleansing be performed on set, as they had already been feeling uneasy on-set before learning this, and felt the real skeletons may have brought some unwanted spirits to the set. Co-star Will Sampson, who like his character was a real-life shaman, offered to return to set one night after everyone else went home in order to perform an exorcism ritual. Reportedly, the mood and feeling on set greatly improved afterwards.
Trivia: Paul Newman won his only Oscar for his performance as Fast Eddie Felson in this movie.
Trivia: Debra Winger was originally offered the role of Peggy Sue, but had to pull out after suffering a back injury in a bicycle accident.
Trivia: Jean M Auel, who wrote the book, was not at all pleased with the movie.
Trivia: The set of the "Big Boy" explosion is still sitting in the middle of the jungle of Belize. It has remained virtually untouched since filming.
Trivia: In the movie, when we first see Lady Jane Grey, we see a painting of Helena Bonham Carter as Jane. The portrait this was based on was long believed to be the only known portrait of Lady Jane but is now reclassified as Henry VIII's last wife, Catherine Parr. It is in the National Portrait Gallery, London, England.
Trivia: Fievel was named after Steven Spielberg's grandfather.
Trivia: Marlee Matlin won the Best Actress Academy Award for her role of Sarah Norman. At the age of 21, Matlin became the youngest winner in the Best Actress category in Academy history.
Trivia: John "Juke" Logan did the harmonica parts for the soundtrack. He also is the same person who did the harmonica on Home Improvement when the "boys from K&B Construction" did their musical "Ratchet Rhapsody" on Tool Time. If you listen closely, even Rock says "Ol' Juke whipped out his..."
Trivia: Kristy Swanson received coaching from a professional mime in order to properly move like a cyborg.