-Was the first movie released on DVD, and the last to be released on HD-DVD.
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-The project was a co-production between Universal and Warner Bros. That is why the drive-in marquee shows Psychose (1960) a Universal release and Shining (1980), a Warner Bros. release.
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-The real town of Wakita, Oklahoma had part of its old downtown area demolished by the film crew for the scenes after the twister passes. The studio then paid for the downtown to be rebuilt. The town also kept the new fire truck used in the film.
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-The instrument package used in the movie, "Dorothy", is actually a homage to the instrument pack real tornado researchers attempt to place in the paths of tornados, "T.O.T.O.".
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-A jet engine from a Boeing 707 was used to generate wind in some scenes.
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-The red combine used in the film is now in Watrous, Saskatchewan, Canada
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During an early scene when Philip Seymour Hoffman is sitting on a lawn chair, he lifts his leg in the air while laughing. His genitals were fully visible for a split second; this was edited out for DVD and VHS releases, but was leaked from VHS screeners sent to industry professionals.(wow!vaaaaachement interesting!!!)
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-A recording of a camel's moan was slowed down and used as the sound of the tornado.
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-Trailers contain a shot not in the film: a truck tire hurtling towards the viewer. This was supposedly one of the test shots that was created during pre-production to prove that CGI was capable of executing the effects sequences with the necessary level of realism.
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-"It sucks" was originally going to be used as one of the taglines for the film, but the producers felt that it worked too much to the advantage of disappointed audiences and critics.
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-According to the book on the making of the movie, the CGI cow picked up by the twister sisters was originally a CGI zebra from Jumanji (1995). C Naze Jumanji!!
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-An urban legend states that a tornado hit a drive-in theater in the town of Stoney Creek, Ontario while this movie was playing. What really happened was that on May 20, 1996 a tornado hit a drive-in theater in the town of Thorold that was scheduled to play this movie. One of the screens was damaged. The movie was not actually playing when the tornado hit, but scheduled to play that evening.
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-Laura Dern was considered for the role of Dr. Jo Harding.
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-Jonas is vilified in the film for selling out to 'corporate sponsors'. This is especially ironic considering the very prominent product placement for Pepsi. When the team is making the 'wings' for the sensors, all the cans are for Pepsi products. Additionally, in almost all the shots showing the 'Doppler', the colors spiral inwards and morph into the Pepsi yin-yang symbol.
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-In order to get the background skies looking suitably stormy, the truck cab sequences had to be flooded with high-intensity lighting for contrast. As a result, Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton suffered minor retinal burns through much of the filming.
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-Helen Hunt was injured while filming the scene where the truck drives through the corn, when the door was forced back into her head. For later shots, the door was wedged open.
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-The laptops used in the film are Silicon Graphics Indy Presenter LCD screens (not real laptops) that have been modified to look like functional laptops when in fact the screen image is generated by a computer off-screen.
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-Jan de Bont is a fan of singer Tori Amos, and decided early on he wanted to include some of her music in the film.
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-Jan de Bont said he regretted thinking of the hail sequence because it took so long to do and was very difficult. Also the crew couldn't find ice blocks big enough in Oklahoma, so they had to find them in other states.
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-Many of the news reports spread throughout the movie are actual weathermen from Oklahoma news stations, including Gary England, chief meteorologist at KWTV in Oklahoma City, and Rick Mitchell, chief meteorologist at KOCO in Oklahoma City. The "1969" footage of Gary England giving the televised tornado warning to Jo's family is actual archived footage of him issuing a tornado warning; however, Gary England did not join KWTV until 1972.
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-Shot over a period of 95 days.
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-After the team leaves Wakita, there is a seemingly impossible helicopter shot in which the camera descends several hundred feet in a matter of seconds, ending up mere feet from the convoy. This was achieved by having the cars drive slower than usual and then speeding up the film.
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-Garth Brooks turned down the role of Dustin Davis.
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-Bill's truck is in fact a Dodge Ram 2500 with a V10.
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-The original Director of Photography was Don Burgess (best known for his collaborations with Robert Zemeckis), but he and many other crewmembers walked off the set midway through filming after a series of heated arguments with director Jan de Bont.
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-Right after Bill and Jo come out of the toppled house, the teddy bear that hits their truck is CG.
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-The 21 August 1995 draft of the screenplay credits Joss Whedon and Jeff Nathanson as writers. Niether are credited in the final film.
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-The base camp (where the crew trucks and equipment was staged) for the end sequence of the film was at a pig farm down the road from the well-house. Every morning the cast and crew were greeted by the aroma of a 2 acre pig-waste holding pond in the middle of all the trucks.
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-Michael Crichton and his wife Anne-Marie Martin were paid $2 million for their script.
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-Both Joss Whedon and Steven Zaillian were brought in as script doctors at a fee of $100,000 a week.
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-Jami Gertz's first acting role was a school production of The Wizard of Oz, in which she played Dorothy.
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-Lois Smith's character is reading Dante Alighieri's Inferno when the twister hits Wakita. The book also features a tornado in the second circle of Hell that punishes people ruled by Lust.
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Spoilers
The trivia items below may give away important plot points.

-At the end of the movie Bill remarks that the tornado didn't take the house. In fact, it was originally supposed to. The Hardin County, Iowa, Historical Society and many citizens objected to the house being blown up so it was spared. The area is now a tourist attraction as the rubble from the barn and fences is still there exactly as it was in the movie.
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-Despite the severity and frequency of the tornadoes in this movie, there are only 3 known deaths: Jo's father, Jonas, and Eddie.