Trivia for
A Few Good Men (1992) More at IMDbPro »

• Tom Cruise's Jack Nicholson impersonation (when his character is quoting Col. Jessup) was not scripted.
  
  
• When searching for an appropriate setting for the trial, the producers learned that regular military courtrooms are plain and featureless offices. In order to create a more photogenic setting, they settled on a vacant courtroom in an empty courthouse.
  
  
• Two "Misery" novels can be seen beside Danny's typewriter while he watches a ball game. Misery (1990) was also directed by Rob Reiner.
  
  
• While filming the scene in which Kendrick (played by Kiefer Sutherland) is driving Kaffee's group around the base in a Humvee through two rows of marching Marines, Sutherland had trouble driving the extra wide vehicle and actually hit Marines on multiple takes.
  
  
• Jack Nicholson repeated his famous courtroom monologue as Col. Jessep off-camera several times so Rob Reiner could film the reactions of other actors from various angles. Nicholson's memorable on-camera performance was filmed last, but according to Reiner and the other cast members, Nicholson gave it his all every take as if he was on camera.
  
  
• Wolfgang Bodison was working for Rob Reiner on A Few Good Men (1992) as a location scout when Reiner decided he was perfect for the part of Lance Corporal Harold Dawson. Reiner said he looked like a marine.
  
  
• The movie rights for the play "A Few Good Men" were sold before it even premiered.
  
  
• A love scene between Demi Moore and Tom Cruise was planned but was not done because the movie didn't really call for it.
  
  
• The word "sir" is used 164 times during the movie. That's an average of once every 50 seconds.
  
  
• The Marine Corps drill team was portrayed by Texas A&M University's Corps of Cadets Fish Drill Team.
  
  
• Jason Laymon, a member of Texas A&M's Fish Drill Team, gave live performances of his rifle techniques to audiences at the premier showing in Bryan, Texas (near A&M).
  
  
• The Aaron Sorkin trademark of showing two characters walking down a hallway toward a moving camera talking sidelong to one another (as seen in The American President (1995), "Sports Night" (1998) and "The West Wing" (1999)) originated on this movie. A scene between Kaffe and Ross was written as being set in an office, but Rob Reiner, in an effort to create more action on screen, suggested that it be changed so that they were walking down a hallway... and the rest is history.
  
  
• The role of Lt. Dan Kaffee was originally played on Broadway by Tom Hulce. He was later replaced by Timothy Busfield. The role of Col. Nathan Jessup was played by Stephen Lang, and also by Michael O'Hare. The only actor from the Broadway cast to reprise his role in the film was Joshua Malina, a close friend of Aaron Sorkin's, who plays Jack Nicholson's assistant in one scene.
  
  
• Cameo: [Aaron Sorkin] the screenwriter appears as a lawyer in a bar talking to a woman about one of his cases.
  
  
• Writer Aaron Sorkin got the story idea from his sister, who in real life experienced a very similar incident at Guantanamo from the "Lt. Galloway" perspective as a female military attorney. In that incident, the victim was similarly assaulted by nine soldiers and was badly injured, but did not die. Sorkin initially turned the idea into a play, and then this screenplay, which was his very first.
  
  
• Linda Hamilton, Elizabeth Perkins and Helen Hunt read for the part of Joanne Galloway
  
  
• The movie's line "You can't handle the truth!" was voted as the #29 movie quote by the American Film Institute (out of 100).
  
  
• The movie's line "You can't handle the truth!" was voted as the #92 of "The 100 Greatest Movie Lines" by Premiere in 2007.
  
  
• Kevin Pollak's mother is in the crowd watching the trial.
  
  
• The line: "You want me on that wall! You need me on that wall!" was originally written in the script as "...you want me on that wall. You need me there..." but was changed by either Jack Nicholson or Rob Reiner during production.
  
  
• Tom Cruise's character Lt. Daniel Kaffee was based on David Iglesias, at the time a United States Navy Reserve commander.
  
  
• Screenwriter William Goldman did an uncredited re-write of the screenplay. Aaron Sorkin was so impressed by Goldman's new dialog (as well as changes that tightened the story) that he re-wrote and re-published the play to incorporate the changes.
  
  
• Lt. Kaffee is watching a baseball game at his home after returning from Cuba. The sports announcer that can be heard on the TV is that of legendary San Diego Padres radio announcer Jerry Coleman, himself a former Marine officer and aviator who served in WWII and Korea.
  
  
• The original play "A Few Good Men" by Aaron Sorkin opened at the Music Box Theater on November 15, 1989 and ran for 497 performances.
  
  
• [June 2008] Ranked #5 on the American Film Institute's list of the 10 greatest films in the genre "Courtroom Drama".
  
  
• Steven Spielberg provided some of the dialog including "You can't HANDLE the truth!" David Kendall also modeled for the main character, Daniel E. Kaffee in some scenes. Kendall became famous much later when he defended President Bill Clinton's impeachment before the House and Senate.
  
  
• The marching band in the beginning is The Capital Band and has a brief mention in the closing credits. The man in black is Col Charles Erwin, USMC Ret, former Assistant Conductor and solo cornet for the President's Marine band.
  
  
• The single military ribbon worn by LTJG Daniel Kaffee is the National Defense Service Medal, which is awarded to any member of the United States military who served honorably during a designated time period of which a "national emergency" had been declared. The movie takes place during the time period August 2, 1990 to November 30, 1995 for service during the Gulf War.
  
  
• The cast and crew features veterans of several Stephen King adaptations. Jack Nicholson had appeared in The Shining (1980). Kiefer Sutherland appeared in Stand by Me (1986). Rob Reiner had directed both Stand by Me (1986) and Misery (1990), and had offered Nicholson the lead role in the latter film. The late J.T. Walsh appeared in Needful Things (1993).
  
  

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