History Trivia / SuckerPunch

** A musical number showing Blue and Madam Gorski performing "Love Is The Drug" for the customers. The girls are shown doing their dances - Rocket as a sexy nurse, Amber as a French Maid, Blondie as a belly dancer and Sweet Pea as a kind of Joan of Arc getting burned at the stake. This is intercut with Baby Doll washing dishes and doing laundry as the show goes on. A customer requests Amber but gets thrown out for being too rowdy.

* AllStarCast: Creator/EmilyBrowning, Creator/AbbieCornish, Creator/JenaMalone, Music/VanessaHudgens, Jamie Chung, Creator/CarlaGugino, Creator/JonHamm and Scott Glenn are all decently known.
* AwesomeDearBoy: Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone and Emily Browning had all wanted to make an action movie for ages. Abbie in particular described herself as "frothing at the mouth" before shooting the action scenes.

* ActorAllusion:
** Creator/EmilyBrowning plays [[Film/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents2004 an orphan in the hands of a sinister, sexual predator of a guardian. Oh, and she likes wearing her hair tied back.]] Not to mention that she is also [[Film/TheUninvited2009 sent to a psychiatric hospital after the death of her mother and sister]].
** Creator/JenaMalone [[spoiler:also dies]] in ''Film/DonnieDarko'', another movie where, at the end, [[MindScrew you have no clue what the fuck just happened]]. Additionally as [[http://www.cracked.com/article_20208_6-actors-who-play-exact-same-role-in-multiple-movies_p2.html Cracked pointed out]], she was previously in the film ''Contact'' which featured a similar shot technique to this film where the shot crosses through a mirror and appears on the other side.
** Being a SharpDressedMan, [[Creator/JonHamm The High Roller]] looks no different from [[Series/MadMen Don Draper]].
** Sweet Pea has a brief amount of ShipTease with a soldier in the World War I fantasy. Abbie Cornish had played a soldier's fiancee in ''Film/StopLoss''.

** Oscar Isaac and Carla Gugino get an extended song to show off their talents, with a bit of dancing thrown in as well. This is only in the Director's Cut however.
** Emily Browning sings three songs on the film's soundtrack. Two are featured in the film - her cover of "Sweet Dreams Are Made of This" plays over the opening and "Asleep" during her first night in the brothel.
* ColourblindCasting: For Amber anyway. White Emma Stone was considered for the role and Indian Freida Pinto was the second choice. Korean-American Jamie Chung ended up with the part.
* ContractualPurity: Vanessa Hudgens had just finished the ''Film/HighSchoolMusical'' franchise and took roles in this and ''Film/SpringBreakers'' to break out of Disney typecasting.

** Vanessa Hudgens found the training especially hard and broke down several times. Not helping matters was a second nude photos scandal happening during filming. However, she used those negative emotions in Blondie's crying scene.
** Jena Malone was devastated by the film's poor reception, as she had been very excited about it, and almost quit acting altogether. It took a CareerResurrection with ''Film/TheHungerGamesCatchingFire'' to convince her to keep going.

* MagnumOpusDissonance: This was a pet project for Zack Snyder that he had been developing for years. However, it barely recouped its budget and got mixed reviews. Similarly, despite the film's polarizing reception, some of the actresses loved it, with Creator/JamieChung even listing it as her favourite role and calling it a "beautiful movie".

* PlayingAgainstType: At the time one of many films Vanessa Hudgens did to shake off her ContractualPurity from ''Film/HighSchoolMusical''. Likewise Jena Malone tends to play moody or snarky girls. Here her character is TheHeart of the team.
* ProductionPosse: Zack Snyder had worked with Carla Gugino on ''{{Film/Watchmen}}'' and would work with Jena Malone again on ''Film/BatmanVsSuperman''.
* RetroactiveRecognition: Creator/OscarIsaac is much more well-known among audiences years later for playing [[Film/TheForceAwakens Poe Dameron]] and [[Film/XMenApocalypse Apocalypse]].

** Creator/AmandaSeyfried was originally cast as Baby Doll [[note]] It reflects how Creator/EmilyBrowning has to dye her hair blonde [[/note]] but she was forced to turn it down when the producers of ''Series/BigLove'' refused to let her go. Also Creator/EmmaStone and Creator/EvanRachelWood were originally cast as Amber and Rocket respectively, but turned it down due to [[Film/EasyA other]] [[Series/TrueBlood commitments]]. After Stone, Frieda Pinto was the first choice to replace her as Amber. Creator/JamieChung was eventually cast.

* FakeAmerican: Emily Browning (Baby Doll) and Abbie Cornish (Sweet Pea) are both Aussies, while Gerard Plunkett (The Stepfather) is Irish. Oscar Isaac (Blue), although born in Guatemala, doesn't really count as he was raised in Florida.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen

* FakeAmerican: Emily Browning (Baby Doll) and Abbie Cornish (Sweet Pea) are both Aussies. Oscar Isaac (Blue), although born in Guatemala, doesn't really count as he was raised in Florida.

** Being a SharpDressedMan, [[Creator/JonHamm The High Roller]] looks no different from [[Series/MadMen Donnie Darper]].

* RetroactiveRecognition: Oscar Isaac is much more well-known among audiences years later for playing [[Film/TheForceAwakens Poe Dameron]] and [[Film/XMenApocalypse Apocalypse]].

* ExecutiveMeddling: The test screening of the film included a mild love scene [[spoiler:following Baby Doll getting knocked out by one of Blue's men while Sweet Pea escapes]] between Baby Doll and [[spoiler:the High Roller]] in his suite that is initiated by ''Baby Doll'' when he offers her freedom while in reality [[spoiler:she's getting lobotomized.]] The [=MPAA=] did not approve of it and wanted the scene cut down; Zack Snyder cut it down to the point that it looked like [[spoiler:the High Roller]] was taking advantage of Baby Doll, and then ultimately cut the scene altogether because that wasn't the message he wanted to give. However, the full uncut scene is featured in the Director's Cut.

* WordOfGod: Creator/ZackSnyder has had to do lots of explaining this movie to everybody, with mixed results. He also confirmed that [[spoiler:none of the girls died in the real world]].

** Vanessa Hudgens found the training especially hard and broke down several times. Not helping matters was a second nude photos scandal happening during filming. However, se used those negative emotions in Blondie's crying scene.

* MagnumOpusDissonance: This was a pet project for Zack Snyder that he had been developing for years. However, it barely recouped its budget and got mixed reviews. Similarly, despite the film's polarizing reception, some of the acresses loved it, with Creator/JamieChung even listing it as her favourite role and calling it a "beautiful movie".

** Vanessa Hudgens found the training especially hard and broke down several times. She used the emotion in Blondie's crying scene. Not helping matters was a second nude photos scandal happening during filming.
** Jena Malone was devastated by the film's poor reception and almost quit acting. It took a CareerResurrection with ''Film/TheHungerGamesCatchingFire'' to convince her to keep going.

** As all five actresses did their own stunts, they were required to do strict physical training in preparation. According to Vanessa Hudgens this involved doing deadlifts of up to 96kg.

** A rare inversion. As Emily Browning had undergone training on how to properly use weapons, Baby Doll shows far more knowledge on how to use a gun in the opening scene than she should realistically. Browning was unable to forget the training for the scene.

* FakeAmerican: Emily Browning ("Baby Doll") and Abbie Cornish ("Sweet Pea") are both Aussies. Oscar Isaac ("Blue"), although born in Guatemala, doesn't really count as he was raised in Florida.

* MagnumOpusDissonance: This was a pet project for Zack Snyder that he had been developing for years. It barely recouped its budget and got mixed reviews. Despite the film's polarizing reception, Creator/JamieChung listed it as her favourite role and calls it a "beautiful movie".

** During the end credits, it's revealed that extensive musical and dance numbers were filmed but deleted for the theatrical release. The dance numbers are to be included on the DVD.
** In the WWI fight scene, originally there were supposed to be zombie dogs alongside the soldiers.
*** [[http://scottalanmendelson.blogspot.com.au/2011/03/mpaa-thinks-child-rape-is-more.html Noted.]]

* WordOfGod: Creator/ZackSnyder has had to do lots of explaining this movie to everybody, with mixed results. He also confirmed that [[spoiler: none of the girls died in the real world]].

* ExecutiveMeddling: The test screening of the film included a mild love scene [[spoiler:following Baby Doll getting knocked out by one of Blue's men while Sweet Pea escapes]] between Baby Doll and [[spoiler:the High Roller]] in his suite that is initiated by ''Baby Doll'' when he offers her freedom while in reality [[spoiler:she's getting lobotomized.]] The [=MPAA=] did not approve of it and wanted the scene cut down; Zack Snyder cut it down to the point that it looked like [[spoiler:the High Roller]] was taking advantage of Baby Doll, and then ultimately cut the scene altogether because that wasn't the message he wanted to give. However, the full uncut scene will be featured in the Director's Cut.

* DoingItForTheArt: ''Seriously''. The studio wanted the film post-converted to 3D, but Snyder refused. [[WesternAnimation/LegendOfTheGuardiansTheOwlsOfGaHoole He's done 3D before]], but he didn't film ''Sucker Punch'' for 3D, and he felt converting it would make an inferior film. What makes this especially odd is that he claimed not to know why he made such an odd film, saying ''That is basically my comment on the film as well. "Why are you making this movie? You need to make a movie more commercial. It shouldn't be so dark and weird."'' Which in an odd way drives home his point about the nature of the film. It's so personal and yet so universal it had to be made "For the art" of it.

* ShownTheirWork: In this fantasy movie you will see better, more tactical use of firearms than in any Syfy Channel original movie about or including the military. The girls keep their rifles on their shoulders, roll in their steps rather than bouncing, and never cross lines of fire when clearing a room (and clearing the room they went from cover to cover, interlocking fields of fire). The firearms savvy troper will recognize [=EoTech=] holographic sites, historically accurate firearms (even the Samurai's [[{{BFG}} 20mm version minigun]]), and a suppressed M4. Even handling a semi-automatic firearm, Baby Doll only crosses her thumbs in back once, but with hands that tiny it's believable she didn't catch the Colt Hammer Bite (when the slide comes back in the cycling of the action and cleaves any flesh in its way). Also, after they clear the first room in the castle, Rocket signals to Sweet Pea (who is covering the stairs leading away from the room and thus not looking back at the others behind her) that they're ready to move on by giving her a pat. [[LesYay Of course, in real life, one pats the shoulder, not the ass.]]

*** [[http://scottalanmendelson.blogspot.com.au/2011/03/mpaa-thinks-child-rape-is-more.html Noted]]

* PlaneSpotting: The dragon sequence has the heroes riding in a modified Consolidated B-25 Mitchel, a UsefulNotes/WorldWarII era American medium bomber. Of course, in RealLife, the B-25 had a pair of piston-powered propeller engines, not one propeller engine and a jet engine. As a point of trivia, [[AluminumChristmasTrees there have been multiple aircraft designs that used both propeller and jet engines]], but the B-25 was not one of them.

* PlaneSpotting: The dragon sequence has the heroes riding in a modified Consolidated B-25 Mitchel, a WorldWarII era American medium bomber. Of course, in RealLife, the B-25 had a pair of piston-powered propeller engines, not one propeller engine and a jet engine. As a point of trivia, [[AluminumChristmasTrees there have been multiple aircraft designs that used both propeller and jet engines]], but the B-25 was not one of them.

** Creator/EmilyBrowning plays [[Film/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents an orphan in the hands of a sinister, sexual predator of a guardian. Oh, and she likes wearing her hair tied back.]] Not to mention that she is also [[Film/TheUninvited2009 sent to a psychiatric hospital after the death of her mother and sister]].

* PlayingAgainstType: At the time one of many films Vanessa Hudgens did to shake off her ContractualPurity from ''HighSchoolMusical''. Likewise Jena Malone tends to play moody or snarky girls. Here her character is TheHeart of the team.

* MemeAcknowledgement: Emily Browning is a fan of ''Franchise/SailorMoon'' and approves of the numerous comparisons with Baby Doll's outfit.

* CreatorBreakdown: Vanessa Hudgens found the training especially hard and broke down several times. She used the emotion in Blondie's crying scene.
* CreatorKiller: This film may have proved to be the beginning of the end for Creator/ZackSnyder. After this film, he went on to direct some films for the Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse, but his entries were rather polarizing, to say the least, and before ''Film/ManOfSteel'' was even released detractors had been known to point to this film as the reason why it wouldn't be a good film in their opinion.

** Creator/EmilyBrowning bleached her hair platinum blonde. The dye ended up frying her hair and she had to cut it short immediately after filming wrapped. Pixie style.

* EnforcedMethodActing: A rare inversion. As Emily Browning had undergone training on how to properly use weapons, Baby Doll shows far more knowledge on how to use a gun in the opening scene than she should realistically. Browning was unable to forget the training for the scene.

* ShownTheirWork: In this fantasy movie you will see better, more tactical use of firearms than in any Syfy Channel original movie about or including the military. Heck, it's also better than about 50% of other movies about the military (drops to 30% after 1985). The girls keep their rifles on their shoulders, roll in their steps rather than bouncing, and never cross lines of fire when clearing a room (and clearing the room they went from cover to cover, interlocking fields of fire). The firearms savvy troper will recognize [=EoTech=] holographic sites, historically accurate firearms (even the Samurai's [[{{BFG}} 20mm version minigun]]), and a suppressed M4. Even handling a semi-automatic firearm, Baby Doll only crosses her thumbs in back once, but with hands that tiny it's believable she didn't catch the Colt Hammer Bite (when the slide comes back in the cycling of the action and cleaves any flesh in its way). Also, after they clear the first room in the castle, Rocket signals to Sweet Pea (who is covering the stairs leading away from the room and thus not looking back at the others behind her) that they're ready to move on by giving her a pat. [[LesYay Of course, in real life, one pats the shoulder, not the ass.]]

* DeletedScene: Almost 20 minutes worth on the special edition DVD. Extended fight sequences, the love scene, some more motivational speeches all cut, but almost always stated to make the movie better, more understandable, drill Zack's point home and generally make the film more mature and enjoyable. The love scene with the High Roller is also TheReveal, so look for that one.

* ExecutiveMeddling: The test screening of the film included a mild love scene [[spoiler:following Baby Doll getting knocked out by one of Blue's men while Sweet Pea escapes]] between Baby Doll and [[spoiler:the High Roller]] in his suite that is initiated by ''Baby Doll'' when he offers her freedom while in reality [[spoiler:she's getting lobotomized.]] The [=MPAA=] did not approve of it and wanted the scene cut down; Zack Snyder cut it down to the point that it looked like [[spoiler:the High Roller]] was taking advantage of Baby Doll, and then ultimately cut the scene altogether because that wasn't the message he wanted to give. However, the full uncut scene will be featured in the Director's Cut. In the original ending (that will not be included in the Director's Cut), [[spoiler:when the police shines his light on Baby Doll post-lobotomy, she starts singing "O-o-h Child," followed by the rest of the girls appearing, and they all sing it on stage before the curtains fall.]]

* ShownTheirWork: In this fantasy movie you will see better, more tactical use of firearms than in any Syfy Channel original movie about or including the military. Heck, it's also better than about 50% of other movies about the military (drops to 30% after 1985). The girls keep their rifles on their shoulders, roll in their steps rather than bouncing, and never cross lines of fire when clearing a room (and clearing the room they went from cover to cover, interlocking fields of fire). The firearms savvy troper will recognize [=EoTech=] holographic sites, historically accurate firearms (even the Samurai's [[{{BFG}} 20mm version minigun]]), and a suppressed M4. Even handling a semi-automatic firearm, Baby Doll only crosses her thumbs in back once, but with hands that tiny it's believable she didn't catch the Colt Hammer Bite (when the slide comes back in the cycling of the action and cleaves any flesh in its way).
** Also, after they clear the first room in the castle, Rocket signals to Sweet Pea (who is covering the stairs leading away from the room and thus not looking back at the others behind her) that they're ready to move on by giving her a pat. [[LesYay Of course, in real life, one pats the shoulder, not the ass.]]

** Behind-the-scenes videos and various trailers show that the girls originally were shown battling through the castle courtyard, including Sweet Pea actually using the sword on her back, but the final film skips over this, instead skipping straight to the girls entering the castle.
** [[TheReveal That scene the executives meddled to the point it got taken out almost drives the point of the movie home entirely, but alas...]] [[spoiler: consensual, female lead, romantic sex featuring a female lead being loved and discovered as herself, [[SarcasmMode we can't have that]] ]] Moral Guardians shall have their way. UnfortunateImplications UpToEleven

** Creator/AmandaSeyfried was originally cast as Baby Doll [[note]] It reflects how Creator/EmilyBrowning has to dye her hair blonde [[/note]] but she was forced to turn it down when the producers of ''Series/BigLove'' refused to let her go. Also Creator/EmmaStone and Creator/EvanRachelWood were originally cast as Amber and Rocket respectively, but turned it down due to [[Film/EasyA other]] [[Series/TrueBlood commitments]].
*** After Stone, Frieda Pinto is the first choice to replace her as Amber.
* WordOfGod: Creator/ZackSnyder has had to do lots of explaining this movie to everybody, with mixed results.

* HeyItsThatGuy
** [[Film/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents Violet Baudelaire]], [[Film/BrightStar Fanny Brawne]], [[Film/HighSchoolMusical Gabriella Montez]], [[Film/DragonballEvolution Chi-Chi]] from ''[[Series/TheRealWorld The Real World: San Diego]]'', and [[Film/DonnieDarko Gretchen Ross]] /[[Literature/TheHungerGames Johanna Mason]] [[GirlsWithGuns shoot shit]]. [[Film/{{Watchmen}} Silk Spectre I]] also shows up, and [[Film/RobinHood2010 King John]] and [[MadMen Don Draper]] are the film's antagonists.
** "Help me [[TheRightStuff Alan Shephard]], [[TheObiWan you're my only hope!]]"
** "Hey! [[Film/{{Watchmen}} Young Rorschach]] is the kid getting on the bus! And he was the kid in the trench!" (That's Eli Snyder, the director's son).
** [[JonHamm Mr. Draper]], [[Series/MadMen your four o'clock is here]].
** I wonder what kind of mission the [[SpyKids OSS needed to send Ingrid Cortes on]] that she needs to be a slavic Doctor/Brothel Madame.
* HeyItsThatVoice: The one who puts Babydoll into the institution? Why it's none other than [[Franchise/{{Bionicle}} Turaga Dume]].[[note]]you might also recognize him as [[Series/DavincisInquest Bob Kelly]], [[Film/SnakesOnAPlane Paul]] and [[Manga/MaisonIkkoku Yotsuya]].[[/note]]
** Amber is played by [[Disney/BigHero6 GoGo Tomago]].
** The Japanese dubbed version has some members from both ''Manga/ToLoveRu'' and ''Manga/KOn'' in the cast:
*** Babydoll [[Creator/MinakoKotobuki is]] [[Manga/KOn Tsumugi Kotobuki]] and [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamAGE Fram Nara]]
*** Blondie [[Creator/AkiToyosaki is]] [[Manga/KOn Yui Hirasawa]] and [[ToLoveRu Momo Velia Deviluke]]
*** Sweet Pea [[Creator/YukoKaida is]] [[Anime/QueensBlade Risty]] and [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamUnicorn Marida Cruz]]
*** Rocket [[Creator/HarukaTomatsu is]] [[ToLoveRu Lala Satalin Deviluke]]
*** Amber [[Creator/AyahiTakagaki is]] [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam00 Feltd Grace]]
*** Vera Gorski [[RikaFukami is]] [[Anime/SailorMoon Sailor Venus]]

* DyeingForYourArt: Creator/EmilyBrowning bleached her hair platinum blonde. The dye ended up frying her hair and she had to cut it short immediately after filming wrapped. Pixie style.

* PlayingAgainstType: At the time one of many films Vanessa Hudgens did to shake off her ContractualPurity from ''HighSchoolMusical''.

*** Sweet Pea [[Creator/YukoKaida is]] [[QueensBlade Risty]] and [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamUnicorn Marida Cruz]]

*** Babydoll [[Creator/MinakoKotobuki is]] [[Manga/KOn Tsumugi Kotobuki]] and [[MobileSuitGundamAGE Fram Nara]]

*** Sweet Pea [[Creator/YukoKaida is]] [[QueensBlade Risty]] and [[MobileSuitGundamUnicorn Marida Cruz]]

*** Amber [[Creator/AyahiTakagaki is]] [[MobileSuitGundam00 Feltd Grace]]

** The Japanese dubbed version has some members from both ToLoveRu and {{K-ON}} in the cast:
*** Babydoll [[Creator/MinakoKotobuki is]] [[{{K-ON}} Tsumugi Kotobuki]] and [[MobileSuitGundamAGE Fram Nara]]
*** Blondie [[Creator/AkiToyosaki is]] [[{{K-ON}} Yui Hirasawa]] and [[ToLoveRu Momo Velia Deviluke]]

*** Babydoll [[MinakoKotobuki is]] [[{{K-ON}} Tsumugi Kotobuki]] and [[MobileSuitGundamAGE Fram Nara]]

*** Rocket [[HarukaTomatsu is]] [[ToLoveRu Lala Satalin Deviluke]]