In Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), the villainous Immortan Joe is played by Hugh Keays-Byrne, who also played Toecutter in Mad Max (1979).

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In Escape From L.A. (1996), actor Kurt Russel practiced playing basketball in between scenes because he wanted to legitimately make every shot during the basketball challenge. He made every shot, including the full court one.

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In Aliens (1986), the knife trick scene was originally going to be done by Bishop (Lance Henrickson) alone. Henrickson suggested to director James Cameron to have Hudson's (Bill Paxton) hand put on top of his, and Cameron agreed. Everyone on set was told about the change except Bill Paxton.

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In The Thing (1982), the title effects sequence was made using an animation cell with The Thing written on it placed behind a smoke filled fish tank which was then covered with a plastic garbage bag. The burning effect was created once the bag ingited.

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In A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), the effect of blood rushing to the ceiling during Glen's (Johnny Depp) demise was achieved using an upside down set. It was actually spilling onto the floor. Director Wes Craven and DP Jacques Haitkin captured the scene strapped to the wall in race car seats.

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Just in case the CGI for Jurrasic Park (1993) didn't live up to expectations, Steven Spielberg had a backup plan to use stop-motion animation as an alternative. This is what could have been.

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In Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991), the opening scene was shot at a demolished steel plant. The twisted motorcycles, burnt cars and blackened cinders are debris from the Universal Studios fire of 1989, when a disgruntled security guard torched the back lot.

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In Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981), the stunt involving a tanker rolling over was so dangerous that the stunt driver was not allowed to eat food for 12 hours before shooting. This was in case something went wrong and he needed to be rushed into surgery.

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In Escape From L.A. (1996), Kurt Russell practiced playing basketball in between scenes because he wanted to legitimately make every shot during the film's basketball challenge. He made every shot, including the full court one.

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In Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991), the FX team studied hours of nuclear test footage, combining practical and CGI effects. Large-scale miniatures, filmed at high-speeds and destroyed with mortars, stood in for close-up shots of L.A. The atomic shockwave was achieved with early Apple software.

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John Carpenter on the set of They Live, circa 1988

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Toy Story 2 (1999) was nearly deleted when an animator accidentally put an erasing code in the wrong spot. Pixar co-founder Edwin Catmull: First Woody's hat disappeared. Then his boots. Then he disappeared entirely. Luckily supervising technical director Galyn Susman had a backup at home.

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Leaving EPCOT tonight

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In Poltergeist (1982), the chair-stacking scene was done in one take using an already-assembled cluster of chairs.

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Kurt Russell legitimately made this shot during Escape From L.A. (1996)

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Actor Des Webb in the Wampa suit on the set if The Empire Strikes Back (1980).

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Summer got me all like

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In Die Hard (1988), during the scene where John McClane (Bruce Willis) falls down a ventilator shaft, his stuntman (Keii Johnston) was supposed to grab onto the first vent. He missed. The footage was so good that editor Frank J. Urioste left it in the movie.

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John Carpenter on the set of They Live, circa 1988

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In Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991), the iconic twirling of the shotgun was achieved using a heavily modified prop gun. Originally, Arnold Schwarzenegger attempted the trick without the modification by mistake, reportedly leading him to nearly break his fingers.

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In Dick Tracy (1990), a color scheme consisting of seven variations, primarily red, green, fuchsia, orange, cyan, blue and yellow, were used to evoke the film's comic strip origins. Each of the colors was exactly the same shade throughout the film.

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A quartz valued at $4 million found in Arkansas

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For Mad Max (1979), director George Miller worked as an ER doctor to help finance the film. Max Rockatansky (Mel Gibson) is named after physician Carl von Rokitansky, who created the Rokitansky procedure, a method for removing organs during autopsy. To save money, Miller paid much his crew in beer.

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In Aliens (1986), the excessive saliva pouring from the xenomorph's mouth is actually KY-Jelly.

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In Flight of The Navigator (1986), the spaceship was made using imaged-based lighting and morphing. Moving video images were digitized from videotape and rendered into the spaceship using a supercomputer. The computer would crash five or six times a day, wreaking havoc on production.

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I say follow through!

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Borg actor getting a touch up on an episode of Star Trek: Next Generation (Q Who? 1989)

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Stephen King was so impressed with The Evil Dead (1981), he helped fund the sequel, Evil Dead 2: Dead By Dawn (1987), by dining with producer Dino De Laurentiis . Director Sam Raimi even credits King for getting the movie made.

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In Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991) there is a clear shot of Arnold Schwarzenegger's stunt double during the first chase between the T-1000 and T-800.

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In Robocop (1987), because production scouts considered Detroit not futuristic enough, production took place in Dallas, where temperatures regularly exceed 100°. Peter Weller could lose 8 pounds in a day. He spent much of his time hydrating between takes with air hoses stuffed into his Robocop suit.

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Alien (1979) was originally titled Star Beast, until one word during a late-night writing session grabbed screenwriter Dan O'Bannon's attention. The success of Star Wars led to the movie getting greenlit after being in development limbo.

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John Lennon, Alice Cooper, Mickey Dolenz, AKA the Hollywood Vampires, at the Rainbow Bar in Hollywood, circa. 1970s

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In Star Wars, Episode One: The Phantom Menace (1999), artist Iain McCaig was asked by George Lucas to use the scariest character from his nightmares to design Darth Maul. After being shown this picture, a shocked Lucas suggested McCaig use his second scariest nightmare character instead.

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In Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991), Arnold Schwarzenegger received $15 million for delivering a total of 700 words of dialogue. That works out to $85,716 for saying, Hasta la vista, baby.

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a black goat walking with hind legs tricks the chicken into the shack

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In Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991), when Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) confronts the T-1000 disguised as her, it's not a special effect. It's her twin sister.

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