Trivia / Rollercoaster

• California Doubling:
  • Ocean View Amusement Park, where the film opens, is portrayed as being in southern California, but is actually located in Virginia.
  • The brief scene set at the fictitious "Wonderworld" in Pittsburgh is actually Kings Dominion.
• Cast the Expert: Most of the actors playing police officers in the film were real police officers from the surrounding areas. One person who played a bomb squad technician was a real-life bomb technician at the time the film was made.
  • "Sparks," the band that plays during the third act amusement park sequence was a real-life band.
• Creator Backlash: When "Sparks" was asked what the biggest regret of their career was, they cited being in this film.
• On-Set Injury: Diamond Farnsworth, son of Richard Farnsworth, was a stuntman on this film. He broke his back filming the climactic ending when the Revolution crashed into the bomber.
• Those Two Actors: This film is one of five that Richard Widmark and Henry Fonda appeared in together.
• What Could Have Been:
• Initially, the Bay City Rollers were approached to perform as themselves at the amusement park on the finale.
  • The original ending shot for this movie had the 'Young Man' getting his feet caught in the roller coaster track, as he tries to jump off, and his legs get severed by the car. It was judged far too graphic (and might have resulted in an R-rating) and the scene was shortened to where you see the cars travel past him, and cut so that you see no impact at all, just his body thrown to the ground.