Technology Marches On: The novel seems a bit dated in the way its characters eroticize car accidents, since it takes place at a time when not only was automotive design more self-consciously sexual, people did not generally wear seat beltsnote Ballard is only wearing his in his own accident near the beginning of the book because he wanted to keep his secretary, whom he was ending an affair with, from embracing him as he drove off. even though they were available, and airbags were not included in cars either, making the possibility of serious injury or death in a car crash more likely.
The Danza: James Spader as James Ballard. This one is most certainly coincidence, as this character's name is taken from the writer (James Graham Ballard) rather than the actor.
Deleted Scene: Sex scenes between James Ballard and his secretary were filmed but cut because David Cronenberg felt the actors' chemistry was too good, contravening the nature of all the other relationships in the film.
Actor-Shared Background: Bahar Soumekh and Shaun Toub actually are Iranian-American, like their characters. However, they are both Persian Jews, not Muslims as seems to be the case in the film.
Billing Displacement: Though Sandra Bullock is well renowned for her role and is given top billing, she has only 5 minutes of screentime throughout the entirety of the film.
Creator Backlash: None of the main actors seem to look back fondly on the film, many not even talking about it unless prompted.
that he found it better than the book.