* {{Blooper}}s:
** The building in the background of one scene with "EST 1953" painted on the side.
** In one shot, the USS ''Arizona'' memorial is visible.
** In the stock footage used, an M26 Pershing, a tank that wasn't to be seen in the war until 1945, is seen.
** In the shot of Creator/CubaGoodingJr running at the sound of the alarm on his ship, the cameraman can clearly be seen stepping into view as the shot pans to the right.
** Catapult shuttle tracks are seen in the ''Hornet'''s flight deck when the B-25s are launching for the Doolittle Raid.
* CastTheRunnerUp: Creator/MattDamon was originally supposed to play Danny Walker, but was unavailable. He did make a cameo as a gunner.
* CreatorBacklash:
** Creator/MichaelBay's least favorite shot in the movie is the cutaway during the Doolittle Raid to the Japanese women turning and seeing the attack in the distance. On the DVDCommentary, he admits he has no idea why this shot is in the movie or what he was trying to achieve in shooting it.
** Pretty much everyone associated with the film have since distanced themselves from it following its dismal critical reception.
** Bay has gone to pin much of the blame for the film's fictional love triangle on screenwriter Randall Wallace, maintaining that his original vision was much closer to a spiritual remake of ''Film/ToraToraTora'' made with modern visual effects.
* CreatorKiller: This film's poor reception along with the box office failure of ''WesternAnimation/AtlantisTheLostEmpire'' [[http://decentfilms.com/articles/quovadisdisney made Disney Studios chairman and Disney animation alumni, Peter Schneider step down from his post to form his own theatre production company]].
* DawsonCasting: A minor example. [[UsefulNotes/IsorokuYamamoto Admiral Yamamoto]] was 57 at the time of the events depicted, while Creator/{{Mako}} was 68 at the time of the film's release.
* DoingItForTheArt: Bay and Creator/JerryBruckheimer agreed to give up $4 million in salaries in return for a cut of the profits to get the budget down. The film's stars also took a drop in salaries in return for a cut of the profits for the same reason.
* ExecutiveMeddling:
** Touchstone Pictures insisted on a PG-13 rating. This meant that even the non-bloody deaths had to be rushed, thus killing a lot of potential drama. The Director's Cut DVD includes all of the cut gore.
** WordOfGod suggests that the RomanticPlotTumor and many historical mistakes were against the wishes of Creator/MichaelBay, who wanted to do something more along the lines of ''Film/ToraToraTora''. That said, Mr. Bay never misses an opportunity to blow something up with a spectacular fireball.
** The addition of the Doolittle raid was also a mandate by Touchstone, against the wishes of producer Jerry Bruckheimer.
* FakeAmerican: Creator/KateBeckinsale. Also Canadian-born Creator/DanAykroyd as the signals analyst and Englishman Peter Firth as Captain Mervyn S Bennion, the commanding officer of the USS ''West Virginia''.
* FollowTheLeader: ''Film/{{Titanic 1997}}'' with regards to the love story set to the backdrop of a famed historical disaster and ''Film/SavingPrivateRyan'' when it comes to a resurge of interest in films about World War II.
* FontAnachronism: The ticker-tape coded messages Capt. Thurman reads is printed out in Helvetica.
* GenreKiller: The film is often pointed towards as the death-knell of the very specific subgenre of "absurdly big-budget love story used to chronicle a historical disaster" started by ''[[Film/Titanic1997 Titanic]]''.
* IronyAsSheIsCast: Despite playing a pilot, Creator/BenAffleck is afraid of flying.
* MethodActing:
** Creator/MichaelBay went through a lot of effort to avoid CGI and have the actors actually flying the planes (to an extent). Creator/BenAffleck, Creator/JoshHartnett and Creator/AlecBaldwin were all given basic flight training so they could handle the planes. To get the shots of the actors in the pilot seat, the 'real' pilot would just pilot the plane to the desired destination and switch seats with the actor.
** Creator/JonVoight wore duplicates of steel leg braces that the real UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt used while filming. He suffered from chafing and bruising for weeks after finishing the film.
* OnSetInjury: A stunt plane dressed like a Japanese fighter crashed during a flight over the set. The pilot survived the crash escaping serious injuries.
* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: No, Faith Hill is not singing a country music cover of "My Heart Will Go On."
* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
** According to Creator/MichaelFassbender, this was the first film he ever auditioned for.
** Creator/JimCaviezel was considered for Rafe.
** Creator/GwynethPaltrow was the first choices to play Evelyn, but couldn't commit to filming. Creator/CharlizeTheron turned down the role in order to star in ''Film/SweetNovember''.
** Creator/WesBentley and Creator/AshtonKutcher tried out for Danny.
** Creator/KevinCostner turned down the role of Col. James P. Doolittle. [[AstonishinglyAppropriateAppearance He actually looks a lot more like the real Doolittle than Alec Baldwin does.]]
** Creator/GeneHackman turned down the role of President Roosevelt.
** Creator/AdrienBrody was considered for the role of Red Winkle, but he turned it down because he felt it was too small.
** Rafe and Danny's love interest was originally Hawaiian before Creator/KateBeckinsale was cast, and the character was rewritten as an American nurse.
* WorkingTitle: The script was originally called ''Tennessee''.
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