!!The film

* AllStarCast: Creator/DenzelWashington, Creator/CliveOwen, Creator/JodieFoster, Creator/ChristopherPlummer and Creator/WillemDafoe. Creator/ChiwetelEjiofor was more of a character actor at the time, seven years before his StarMakingRole in ''Film/TwelveYearsASlave''.
* CastTheRunnerUp: Creator/SpikeLee gave Creator/DenzelWashington the opportunity to play either Keith Frazier or Dalton Russell. He turned down the latter, citing concerns over the character's disguise.
* CreatorsOddball: Creator/SpikeLee, whose whole career to this point had been deliberately controversial films about race relations, is here just a hired hand on a standard suspense film. That said, some race commentary was still worked in, whether by Lee himself or the writers, particularly the scenes involving the Sikh hostage. Also, bear in mind this was also the first major film about such a crime in New York post-9/11. A lot of the tensions and attitudes of the police and hostages were due to this. Lee does a good job of demonstrating how much his hometown had changed.
* FakeAmerican: British-born actors Creator/CliveOwen and Creator/ChiwetelEjiofor both play Americans, as does the Canadian Creator/ChristopherPlummer.
* MultipleLanguagesSameVoiceActor: Creator/JodieFoster dubbed herself in the French version.
* StillbornFranchise: There was talk of sequels and maybe developing a franchise where Frazier and Russell would butt heads over multiple heists but, despite this film's financial success, funding couldn't be acquired and the project was quietly shelved.
* ThoseTwoActors: Creator/CliveOwen and Creator/ChiwetelEjiofor appeared later in the same year in the depressing sci-fi film ''Film/ChildrenOfMen''. Also, Chiwetel and Denzel would appear together again, this time as drug dealing brothers, one year later in the crime drama ''Film/AmericanGangster''.
* ThrowItIn: The scene in the coffee shop was improvised. Creator/SpikeLee states on the DVDCommentary that when Creator/DenzelWashington ad-libbed the line "I'll bet you can get a cab though," he nearly ruined the take by laughing so loud at Washington's line.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
** Creator/RonHoward was originally going to direct, but Creator/RussellCrowe showed him the script for ''Film/CinderellaMan'' and he did that instead.
** Creator/MarciaCross was originally cast as Madeleine, but turned it down due to her commitment to ''Series/DesperateHousewives''. Creator/JenniferLoveHewitt was offered the role, but turned it down due to her commitment to ''Series/GhostWhisperer''. Creator/JenniferConnelly auditioned for the role, but turned it down. Creator/RachaelLeighCook, Creator/KateHudson, Creator/JenniferJasonLeigh and Creator/RachelNichols were also offered the role.
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