Trivia / Hart's War

• Box Office Bomb: Budget, $70 million. Gross, $33,076,815.
• California Doubling: Czechia doubles for wartime Belgium and Germany.
• Deleted Role: Jonathan Brandis played one of the privates but his lines were cut out of the movie. He is still in the movie, but only in a few shots. You can find his scenes on the "deleted scenes' of the DVD. He hoped to revive his stalled career after being cast in a serious, dramatic role in the film. He was reportedly devastated when almost all of his scenes were removed in the final cut. He fell into a deep depression, began drinking heavily, and killed himself the next year. Sadly, due to the film's failure at the box office, it's unlikely it would've made a difference even if Brandis' role was kept in anyway.
• Fake American: Three of the POWs are played by Linus Roache (English), Sam Worthington (Australian), and Rúaidhrí Conroy (Irish).
• Fake Nationality: Commandant Visser is played by Romanian actor Marcel Iureș. The other Germans are played by British and Czech actors.
• Follow the Leader: One of a number of World War II films to get made after the success of Saving Private Ryan.
• Release Date Change: The film was supposed to be released in Fall 2001.
• Same Language Dub: Sam Worthington had his voice re-dubbed.
• Shout-Out:
  • Lt. Archer is named after Lee Archer, one of the first black aviators in the U.S. Armed Forces and—as of 2021—the only black U.S. pilot to earn an "ace" designation, for shooting down at least five enemy aircraft.
  • During the scene where Hart sneaks out of the barracks, two of the German guards can be overheard having the following exchange:
    Guard 1: My dog has no nose.
    Guard 2: How does he smell?
    Guard 1: Awful.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Alfonso Cuarón was once on board to direct this film. However he stepped away from the director's chair and did Y tu mamá también instead.
  • Tobey Maguire and Edward Norton were both in talks for the lead role, but both eventually dropped out.

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