Jon Sandys

Trivia: The famous line "pop quiz, hotshot" doesn't actually have a definite writer. The original script was by Graham Yost, but Joss Whedon was brought in to rewrite it (unhappily uncredited per WGA rules) and wrote most of the dialogue. He said the line was already in the script, while Yost denies writing it and said it was Whedon's. Most likely it was written by another script doctor, Paul Attanasio, but he doesn't recall writing the line either.

Jon Sandys ★

Trivia: The first bus explosion nearly ended in disaster - the real bus that Jack waves goodbye to turned off while out of shot, then the camera moved around to see the prop bus in its place (towed by a car) that was packed with explosives ready to blow up. But a woman ran onto the set, thinking she'd missed her bus, and hopped aboard, almost missed by the crew as they were at a safe distance. John Frazier, the effect supervisor, spotted her and fortunately stopped the foreman from triggering the blast.

Jon Sandys ★

Trivia: Joss Whedon was brought in to work on the original script, and despite being responsible for about 90% of the film's dialogue, didn't get a writing credit due to WGA rules at the time. He changed Alan Ruck to be more sympathetic, and created the scene after the elevator rescue when the team is celebrating, but all the characters, story beats and action were from the original writer Graham Yost.

Jon Sandys ★

Continuity mistake: When Dennis Hopper's shooting the shotgun through the lift roof, the number of holes doesn't match the number of blasts. He shoots once and a hole appears. We then see a close up of him and he shoots twice more, but when we cut to the ceiling after the third shot overall, there are only two holes in it. Doesn't seem likely he'd miss the roof at a range of 2 feet. (00:18:55)

Jon Sandys ★

Visible crew/equipment: Aside from the mysterious other trooper(s) reflected in the tarpaulin on the roof near the start, as Keanu Reeves runs past it, you can see the clear silhouette and red light of a cameraman filming the scene. (00:11:30)

Jon Sandys ★