Trivia / Ah Boys to Men

• Backed by the Pentagon:
  • Or "Backed by MINDEF" in this case. This is notably the first Singaporean-made film that has received assistance and backing in such a large scale, from the Singapore Government and their respective agencies. Initially Jack Neo was commissioned by the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) to take scenes from the earlier National Geographic mini-series, Every Singaporean Son (2010), and make a feature length movie out of it. Mr. Neo instead decided to make his own original script. So with permission and assistance from the SAF, Ah Boys to Men was born.
  • The opening scene featured elements of the 2nd Singapore Infantry Regiment (2SIR) in action, with actual-serving soldiers and real vehicles used during the urban combat scenes. The Land Transport Authority of Singapore also helped close down Robinson Road for a single day to allow set construction and filming.
  • Notably, this is the first time he was allowed to film within Ladang Camp in Pulau Tekong, an island used by the Singapore Army to train basic recruits, and also home to BMTCHQ (Basic Military Training Centre Headquarters). Several scenes such as the rifle-taking ceremony and the Passing-out-Parade contained actual background footage of real recruits training and completing their BMT, with added close-ups of the actors.
  • Many of the background safety officers, sergeants, PTIs (Physical Training Instructors) and medics were serving personnel doing their jobs on and off-screen. Even the haircut scenes were performed the island's resident barbers.
  • For the 1970s scenes, MINDEF provided the aged BCTC (Basic Combat Training Camp) military base which was due for demolition later that year. In an aversion, the SAF were actually unable to provide any 70s-era uniforms as the equipment was severely outdated and no longer in production. Uniforms had to be custom tailored and dyed to the right colour, vest equipment had to be sourced from China and period-accurate helmets were bought from a third-party supplier whom by sheer coincidence, held the original-production helmets in their stock ^note The helmets were still in demand from Malaysian durian farmers/pickers and frequently sold to them as head protection. Jack Neo amusingly notes that the borrowed helmets would finally serve their original purpose once more..
  • For the scenes in the 3rd movie, the director got the cooperation of the Naval Diving Unit by getting permission to have the crew film in their Sembawang base.
• Fake Nationality: Singaporean NDU operator Hei Long Shek Hak Long is played by Hong Kong actor Wesley Wong.
• No Export for You: Like most other Asian Tokusatsu works, you won't be able to get (at least) the movies and the comics from outside Asia.