Trivia / Blown Away

• Dueling Movies:
  • With Speed, another movie about a Mad Bomber and the efforts to stop him. Ironically, Jeff Bridges was the original choice for the lead in that film. Blown Away bombed and Speed was a big success.
  • A lesser one with Drop Zone, as both movies were released in 1994 and set on the 4th of July.
• Fake Irish: Tommy Lee Jones (who does have some distant Irish ancestry), Jeff Bridges and Lloyd Bridges. The film was widely criticized for the poor Irish accents of the three Irish characters, Tommy Lee Jones in particular.
• Fatal Method Acting: Averted. A piece of shrapnel from the exploding bomb came within several feet of striking Jeff Bridges.
• Meaningful Release Date: The film is mostly set during Independence Day weekend. The film opened on July 1st, 1994, which was part of a four-day Independence Day weekend.
• Real-Life Relative: Jeff Bridges and his father, Lloyd Bridges, though they play uncle and nephew.
• Similarly Named Works: A 1992 film starring the two Coreys, , an album and its title song by Carrie Underwood and a 2019 Canadian Reality TV show about a glassblowing competition are also titled Blown Away.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Alec Baldwin, Charles Bronson, Nicolas Cage, Kevin Costner, Tom Cruise, Robert De Niro, Michael Douglas, Richard Dreyfuss, Clint Eastwood, Harrison Ford, Richard Gere, Mel Gibson, Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman, Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, Kris Kristofferson, Christopher Lambert, Chuck Norris, Al Pacino, Ron Perlman, Keanu Reeves, Mickey Rourke, Kurt Russell, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Steven Seagal, Sylvester Stallone, Patrick Swayze, John Travolta, Peter Weller, Robin Williams and Bruce Willis were all considered to play Jimmy Dove. Jeff Bridges was the director's first choice, that being said.
  • Stephen Rea turned down the role of Ryan Gaerity.
  • Richard Harris was considered for Max O'Bannon.

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