Trivia / Class of 1999

• Actor-Inspired Element: It was Stacy Keach's idea that he'd play Dr. Forrest as an evil albino.
• Awesome, Dear Boy: Eric Allard's involvement with the robot effects stemmed from him wanting to do second unit direction and getting his wish.
• Box Office Bomb: Budget: $5.2 million (some sources claim it's closer to $8 million). Gross: $2.4 million. Critical reviews were mixed for the most part (notably, Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert liked it), but the audiences saw it as nothing more than a clone of The Terminator. Not helped by the marketing making note of its inspiration, and the film's initial theatrical release being extremely limited.
• Cast the Runner-Up: Malcolm McDowell was originally considered for the role of Dr. Bob Forrest, before Mark L. Lester decided to have him play against type.
• No Budget: The film's budget has been estimated to be around 5-8 million. With a large portion of the budget going to the robot effects, stuntwork and casting, most of the sets were simply abandoned or unused buildings that the crew lucked out on using.
• Prop Recycling: Some of the effects were based on, or utilized elements from some of the team's previous efforts, such as The Blob (1988) and Moonwalker.
• Release Date Change: The film was originally slated for a U.S. theatrical release in October of 1989 before being pushed to May of 1990.
• The Shelf of Movie Languishment: Filmed in 1987 into 1988, the movie was set for release in 1989 before original distributors Vestron Pictures went belly up after a string of failures post-Dirty Dancing. Taurus Entertainment Company would eventually pick it up and delay it to 1990.
• Throw It In!: According to Mark L. Lester, it was John P. Ryan's idea to take the cross from Sonny. It was an improvised on the day the scene was filmed and Lester liked that idea and kept it in the film.

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