* AcclaimedFlop: ''American History X'' was praised by critics and Edward Norton received an Oscar nomination; however, the film was not successful at the box office, grossing only $23.9 million on a $20 million budget.
* AlanSmithee: Attempted by Tony Kaye. He wanted to be credited as "Humpty Dumpty" instead of "Alan Smithee", which was flatly rejected. This led to a war of words culminating in a $200-million-plus lawsuit between Kaye and New Line, and probably costing Creator/EdwardNorton an Oscar. Additionally, this incident was one of the factors, along with the critical massacre of BoxOfficeBomb ''Film/AnAlanSmitheeFilmBurnHollywoodBurn'', that would result in the moniker being retired for good in 2000.
* CreatorBacklash: Director Tony Kaye greatly disliked the final cut of the film, so much so that he publicly disowned the film before its release and attempt to have his credit placed with AlanSmithee.
* DawsonCasting: Creator/EdwardFurlong played a high-schooler at 21. However, [[https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BNjg5MTEwNjY5Nl5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwNTIxODY3Mw@@._V1_.jpg he looked pretty convincing.]]
* DeletedScene: Three scenes were cut:
** A scene in which an elderly black woman is harassed and made to cry on the boardwalk by Danny's skinhead friends, Jason and Chris.
** A scene after the "party", in which Cameron and Seth go to a café and discuss Derek's change. They then harass a black guy/white girl couple, and then leave. A car is waiting outside, in which several black men watch them leave, before going after them. One black man inside the car remarks "Somebody's gonna get their ass whipped." The aftermath is not shown, but we later learn that Cameron and Seth were attacked.
** A brief scene in the café near the end in which Derek winks at a little black girl and asks her if he looks okay.
* DyeingForYourArt: Before filming began, Creator/EdwardNorton and Creator/EdwardFurlong shaved their heads for their roles. Edward Norton also gained 30 pounds of muscle.
* IronyAsSheIsCast: Creator/FairuzaBalk, who is of partial UsefulNotes/{{Romani}} heritage (and self-identifies as being of Native American descent) and an outspoken anti-ziganophobia activist, playing a neo-Nazi. Creator/EdwardFurlong is also of Mexican descent (as well as Russian descent).
* MissingEpisode: [[https://lostmediawiki.com/American_History_X_(lost_director%27s_cut_version_of_crime_drama_film;_1998) More details on the original 96-minute cut]].
* WagTheDirector: Tony Kaye was removed from the project after shooting completed, and the final cut of the film was edited by Jerry Greenberg with heavy input from Creator/EdwardNorton, something Kaye very vocally expressed his dissatisfaction with. In the aftermath, some accused Norton of vainly giving himself more screen time, while others seem to believe that he merely stepped in to rescue the film from the scrap heap.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
** Creator/JoaquinPhoenix was offered the role of Derek Vinyard but found the subject matter of the film distasteful and passed on the project.
** Creator/MarlonBrando was originally considered for Cameron Alexander.
** Allegedly, Tony Kaye wanted the film to end at the Vinyard family's apartment, with Derek shaving his head in the bathroom sink and grinning at his reflection before taking out a handgun (implying that he is about to avenge his brother's murder).
** Earlier drafts of the script included Cameron and Seth getting gunned down instead of just attacked and that heroin was hidden in Derek's truck. The two black men trying to break into the truck were going to steal it.

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