History Trivia / TrueLies

* DuelingDubs: The movie has two Latin American Spanish dubs. The first dub was made in Procineas S. C. L. for Universal, while the second one was made in Servicios de Televisión Mexicana for 20th Century Fox.

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: As detailed in DevelopmentHell, this film, along with the similarly elusive James Cameron film ''Film/TheAbyss'', has not seen a release past DVD and is only sporadically available for streaming, usually on Hulu. Cameron has only made vague promises of releasing both films on streaming and high-definition formats over the years, with only HD copies via broadcast television and unofficial bootlegs having come about in the near two decades since their DVD release. Fortunately, in the UK, the film would become available to stream on Disney+ in January 2023.

* FriendshipOnTheSet: Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger and Creator/TomArnold became very good friends because of this film. Tom Arnold thinks this is because they both grew up in a small town and made something of themselves.

** One involving the film's poster. Between the title, "True" and "Lies", is a grenade with an earring attached on it, a reference to a cut scene where Juno threatens Helen by putting a grenade, minus the pin, in-between Helen's legs. After Harry escapes his captors, he retrieved the grenade and uses one of Helen's ear-rings to restore the grenade to it's default state. The subsequent shootout have Harry using that same grenade to blow up a few mooks, seemingly from out of nowhere, which is actually a leftover from the cut moment (though audiences probably assumed Harry obtained it from some armory offscreen).

* CreatorChosenCasting:
** Creator/JamesCameron had known Creator/JamieLeeCurtis since she had been directed by his ex-wife Creator/KathrynBigelow in ''Film/BlueSteel'' and always wanted to work with her. However, Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger initially did not see her as Helen; not wanting to hurt Cameron's feelings, Schwarzenegger relayed the message through his agent, and Cameron respected his wish. He auditioned and considered many actresses to find a replacement, but after watching Curtis in ''Film/AFishCalledWanda'', he knew he would not find one. So, Cameron went to Schwarzenegger and asked if he trusted him. When Schwarzenegger confirmed, Cameron said, "It's going to be Jamie." Schwarzenegger begrudgingly agreed and showed no negative feelings towards Curtis during the first days on set. In fact, he became so impressed with her performance that he later shared top billing with her.
** Cameron remembered Art Malik's performance in ''Film/CityOfJoy1992'' and offered him the role of Salim Abu Aziz without an audition.

** The sequel, which now may or may not become a television series instead. In 2010 there was talk of the film being rebooted as a television series, with Wrestling/JohnCena playing Harry but the project never actually entered production, though the TV series project would be revived in 2022 with Creator/SteveHowey playing Harry and began airing the following year on Creator/{{CBS}}.

** The sequel, which now may or may not become a television series instead. In 2010 there was talk of the film being rebooted as a television series, with Wrestling/JohnCena playing Harry. But the project never actually entered production.

** Creator/JamesCameron had known Creator/JamieLeeCurtis since she had been directed by his ex-wife Creator/KathrynBigelow in ''Film/BlueSteel'' and always wanted to work with her. However, Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger initially did not see her as Helen; not wanting to hurt Cameron's feelings, Schwarzenegger relayed the message through his agent, and Cameron respected his wish. He auditioned many actresses to find a replacement, but after watching Curtis in ''Film/AFishCalledWanda'', he knew he would not find one. So Cameron went to Schwarzenegger and asked if he trusted him. When Schwarzenegger confirmed, Cameron said, "It's going to be Jamie." Schwarzenegger begrudgingly agreed and showed no negative feelings towards Curtis during the first days on set. In fact, he became so impressed with her performance that he later shared top billing with her.

** This is the case for the Blu-ray. The film was released on VHS and DVD, but the former was full-screen (common for VHS), and the latter was a non-anamorphic release with zero special features. There have been rumors of a Blu-ray re-release for a ''decade'', but so far the only HD release is on D-VHS (a tape-based format that displayed 1080P).

* FakeNationality: Art Malik, who plays Aziz, is a Pakistani-born British actor, Faisil is played by American-Jewish actor Grant Heslov, and of course Arnold trying to pass off as an American with the surname "Tasker" takes a little bit of WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief. However, that last one can be explained away: Tasker is actually German or Austrian, and has taken on the persona as part of his cover. During the truth serum scene, [[FridgeBrilliance the more the serum influences Harry, the thicker his accent gets.]]

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: As detailed in DevelopmentHell, this film, along with the similarly elusive James Cameron film ''Film/TheAbyss'', has not seen a release past DVD and is only sporadically available for streaming, usually on Hulu. Cameron has only made vague promises of releasing both films on streaming and high-definition formats over the years, with only HD copies via broadcast television and unofficial bootlegs having come about in the near two decades since their DVD release. Fortunately in the UK, the film would become available to stream on Disney+ in January 2023.

* RealitySubtext: Creator/JamesCameron was going through a divorce around the same time as filming this movie. This may explain the premise as well as some of the cringe-inducing dialogue.

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: As detailed in DevelopmentHell, this film, along with the similarly elusive James Cameron film ''Film/TheAbyss'', has not seen a release past DVD and is only sporadically available for streaming,usually on Hulu. Cameron has only made vague promises of releasing both films on streaming and high-definition formats over the years, with only HD copies via broadcast television and unofficial bootlegs having come about in the near two decades since their DVD release.

** Creator/JamesCameron had known Creator/JamieLeeCurtis since she had been directed by his ex-wife Creator/KathrynBigelow in ''Film/BlueSteel'' and always wanted to work with her. However, Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger initially did not see her as Helen and not wanting to hurt Cameron's feelings, Schwarzenegger relayed the message through his agent, and Cameron respected his wish. He auditioned many actresses to find a replacement, but after watching Curtis in ''Film/AFishCalledWanda'', he knew he would not find one. So Cameron went to Schwarzenegger and asked if he trusted him. When Schwarzenegger confirmed, Cameron said "it's going to be Jamie". Schwarzenegger begrudgingly agreed and showed no negative feelings towards Curtis during the first days on set. In fact, he became so impressed with her performance that he later shared top billing with her.

** Creator/JamieLeeCurtis' slip and fall during the stripper dance wasn't scripted, and you can even see Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger jumping out of the chair to see if she's alright. She instead got right back up and continued the dance, so Arnold sits back down quickly. Luckily, all of this is perfectly in character for both Helen and Harry (Helen was shown to be clumsy before, and especially so under such circumstances and under stress; Harry would obviously be concerned about his wife, and then hastily attempt to maintain TheMasquerade when the show goes on) and it ends up as one of the funniest scenes of the movie.

* HostilityOnTheSet: In 2018, Creator/ElizaDushku accused the film's stunt coordinator Joel Kramer of sexually abusing her, and then threatening to kill her by sabotaging a stunt if she told anyone. And remember, she was 12 years old at the time. James Cameron was quick to say if he'd had any idea about it, he would have had [[PapaWolf "no mercy"]] in dealing out just desserts. Jamie Lee Curtis, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Tom Arnold all echoed similar statements.

* OrphanedReference: In an early version of the script, Harry discovers Dana ditching school to sing in her boyfriend's band. While Harry drives Dana back to school, they sing the song she was doing ("Sunshine of Your Love" by Music/{{Cream}}) when he walked in on her. Both scenes were cut from the movie. Instead, you can faintly hear the song playing on Dana's Walkman in the scene before her boyfriend picks her up for school.

** Cameron remembered Art Malik's performancein ''Film/CityOfJoy1992'' and offered him the role of Salim Abu Aziz without an audition.

* EditedForSyndication: Naturally, some of the edgier dialogue had to be edited for TV. One of the most notable ones is when Simon's going on about Helen: In the theatrical version, he says "She's got the most incredible body, and a pair of titties that'll make you stand up and beg for buttermilk. Ass like a ten year old boy!" - this was replaced with a different line on TV.

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: As detailed in DevelopmentHell, this film, along with the similarly elusive James Cameron film ''Film/TheAbyss'', has not seen a release past DVD and is only sporadically available for streaming,usually on Hulu. Cameron has only made vague promises of releasing both films on streaming and high definition formats over the years, with only HD copies via broadcast television and unofficial bootlegs having come about in the near two decades since their DVD release.

** Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger had a near-fatal accident on set during the horse riding scene, when his horse got startled and ran out of control. Schwarzenegger managed to slide off the horse, but did this near a 30-foot drop-off. His personal stunt man saw what happened and was able to grab him before he went over the ledge.

** During the ending dance scene Helen again slips and falls, Curtis was so exhausted from rehearsals and filming it over and over she could no longer hold herself up.

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: As detailed in DevelopmentHell, this film, along with the similarly elusive James Cameron film ''Film/TheAbyss'', has not seen a release past DVD and is unavailable for streaming. Cameron has only made vague promises of releasing both films on streaming and high definition formats over the years, with only HD copies via broadcast television and unofficial bootlegs having come about in the near two decades since their DVD release.

** Becomes a bit HarsherInHindsight when Tom Arnold was later outed as a [[https://i.imgur.com/BbU7XFp.png misogynist]] and [[https://i.imgur.com/i98ONeY.png racist]], meaning that there's likely quite a good reason someone would want to make a point of leaving him completely and utterly.

** Creator/JodieFoster was originally cast as Helen Tasker, but was forced to turn the role down because she was signed to ''{{Film/Nell}}''. Creator/RosannaArquette, Creator/KimBasinger, Creator/AnnetteBening, Creator/SandraBullock, Creator/JoanCusack, Creator/GeenaDavis, Creator/MelanieGriffith, Creator/JenniferJasonLeigh, Music/{{Madonna}}, Creator/MaryElizabethMastrantonio, Creator/JulianneMoore, Creator/DemiMoore, Creator/MichellePfeiffer, Creator/JuliaRoberts, Creator/IsabellaRossellini, Creator/SharonStone, Creator/EmmaThompson, Creator/LeaThompson and Creator/SigourneyWeaver were also considered.

** While not suffering from quite the on-set tribulations as Creator/JamesCameron's prior films, it went massively overbudget. Initially budgeted as $60 million, the final tally was estimated anywhere between $100 and $120 million, becoming the first film to break $100 million in budget. Most of the budget was being paid by Creator/TwentiethCenturyStudios Fox, which had knock-on effects on ''Film/StrangeDays'', which was also being funded by Fox and under the same production company, Lightstorm Entertainment.

** Creator/JamesCameron had known Creator/JamieLeeCurtis since she had been directed by his ex-wife Creator/KathrynBigelow in ''Film/BlueSteel'' and always wanted to work with her. However, Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger initially did not see her as Helen and ot wanting to hurt Cameron's feelings, Schwarzenegger relayed the message through his agent, and Cameron respected his wish. He auditioned many actresses to find a replacement, but after watching Curtis in ''Film/AFishCalledWanda'', he knew he would not find one. So Cameron went to Schwarzenegger and asked if he trusted him. When Schwarzenegger confirmed, Cameron said "it's going to be Jamie". Schwarzenegger begrudgingly agreed and showed no negative feelings towards Curtis during the first days on set. In fact, he became so impressed with her performance that he later shared top billing with her.

** Creator/ElizaDushku broke several ribs while doing a stunt. The stunt coordinator had molested her, and followed through on a threat to injure her when she tried to report it.

* FatalMethodActing: {{Averted}}. Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger had a near-fatal accident on set during the horse riding scene, when his horse got startled and ran out of control. Schwarzenegger managed to slide off the horse, but did this near a 30-foot drop-off. His personal stunt man saw what happened and was able to grab him before he went over the ledge.

* OnSetInjury: Creator/ElizaDushku broke several ribs while doing a stunt. The stunt coordinator had molested her, and followed through on a threat to injure her when she tried to report it.