Payback - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[discussimdb]

Fan of Payback or just want to share your movie knowledge? This topic is dedicated to all trivia and questions related to Payback

[oscar]

Almost all of the telephones in the movie (even the one in the limousine) are rotary, not touch-tone.

[kylie]

Remake of Point Blank (1967) with Lee Marvin based on the book "The Hunter", one of Donald E. Westlake's "Parker" novels. The book was actually renamed Point Blank for some printings.

[francisco]

Music Editor Scott Stambler was involved in the theatrical cut, and was brought in to try and re-edit Chris Boardman's music from that version of the film into the Director's Cut. When it was decided by Brian Helgeland that Boardman's music simply didn't match the tone of his film, he asked Stambler to write a new original score for his film, which was recorded in late Feburary 2006.

[ethel]

The restoration of the Director's Cut took place in 2005. Most of the original elements of the film were not preserved, so Editor Kevin Stitt and Brian Helgeland had to make do with what was preserved from the original film stock, and had to reassemble the film that way, without the use of Avid film editing. At the same time, the blue tint, in which the theatrical version looked visually, was removed, for more vivid color tones and contrast, but still preserving some of the grittiness of the theatrical cut.

[duane]

Brian Helgeland cast Maria Bello after an endless search led him to a stack of videotape auditions for the defunct 1990s update of Superman. After offering the role to her, Bello turned it down, saying that the role wasn't for her. He wanted her to be in the movie so badly, that he literally hounded her for two weeks before she finally agreed to do the film.

[lena]

The last four letters of Carter's (William Devane) and Porter's last name are the same: rter. Both names also have exactly six letters, and start with a consonant and a vowel in that order.

[toni]

The commentary was recorded seven or eight years after the film's initial release.

[oscar]

Detective Leary's unmarked car is a late 1980's Chevrolet Caprice, likely a 1989 model year.

[victoria]

"As far as getting fired for shooting a dog in the film I think the other reason I got fired is this scene in the meat truck." Porter shoots an unarmed man in cold blood, and while no one complained that he did the same to William Devane's character, Helgeland caught holy hell for this one. He explains the killing simply by saying that the man insulted Rosie (Bello), and now that Porter is back to looking out for her that kind of transgression can't stand. "I used to halfway joke that it was the most romantic moment in the movie."

[jesse]

This movie shares a similar story to Grand Theft Auto 3

[dustin]

Mel Gibson and James Coburn appeared in Maverick (1994).

[elmer]

The line from the two crooked cops after they return Porter's gun, just after he has spoken to Kris Kristofferson (Don't Let The Bastards Get You Down), is a direct reference to Kristofferson's song of the same title. You can see them smile at the in-joke.

[toni]

Porter's first name is never revealed. Even his wife, and then subsequent girlfriend call him Porter. When asked about Porter's first name in the movie, Resnick pauses and then replies, "I don't know. He never called himself anything but Porter."

[duane]

While the identity of the person assigned to direct the re-shoots of the film following the departure of Brian Helgeland was originally unknown, Mel Gibson revealed in a Hong Kong newspaper interview that that person was Production Designer John Myhre. Meanwhile, on his website, Director Paul Abascal explained that he was the director hired for the re-shoots.

[bryan]

The bar where Val meets Stegman, is called Varrick's. This is a reference to Walter Matthau's crime thriller Charley Varrick (1973), which was an influence on this film.

[wallace]

Director Brian Helgeland was fired from the film two days after he'd won his Academy Award for L.A. Confidential (1997).

[fred]

Helgeland always wanted to end a film with the lead character smiling, and it was an idea influenced by the end of Cool Hand Luke (1967). It was a big reason why he wouldn't (technically couldn't) reshoot a different ending for this film as this is the end it had to have. "I couldn't explain that to anyone in a room because it wouldn't have made sense, but that's the story."

[russell]

The definition of "principle" given at the film's start belongs to both Helgeland and Porter (Mel Gibson). He added it after the studio expressed concern that audiences might not know Porter was acting on principle and might not even know what a principle is. "But I know you guys get it."

[brent]

One major addition to the movie, after Brian Helgeland left, included Kris Kristofferson's character of the main villain. The re-shoots resulted in a delay of almost one year, because Mel Gibson was committed to Lethal Weapon 4 (1998) right after principal photography ended.