Favourite Movie Easter Egg - Spoilers Potentially

[USS KG5]

Hey all, I was just thinking earlier about the little touches film-makers put into films to reward attentive repeat viewers, and my favourite one I immediately remembered.

Potential spoiler for REALLY OLD film...

In Alien, when Brett walks into the dripping water room, shortly before the alien drops down and head-smashes him, he looks upwards at the array of pipes and tubing on the ceiling...

and the alien is right there hanging from one of the chains, bold as brass in clear view on camera! You only notice it if you know what it looks like, and the film makes very sure you don't until the very end, but when I first noticed I laughed out loud.

Who else has a favourite little moment like this?

 

[sojourner]

That's not really an "Easter Egg". Now, the Alien skull in the Predator's space craft in Predator 2, that's an Easter Egg.

 

[USS KG5]

That's not really an "Easter Egg". Now, the Alien skull in the Predator's space craft in Predator 2, that's an Easter Egg.

Easter Egg, hidden secret, fun little bit of detail, Ridley Scott waving his dick around behind Sigourney Weaver between takes, call it what you like, you know what I'm getting at.

 

[Gaith]

I managed to avoid any and all Crystal Skull previews, so I got pretty darn excited when I realized, in the theater, we were finally learning just where the Ark was hidden. And then Spielberg had to actually show us the thing, which was lame. Then there was Indy and Elsa's exchange about the Ark carving in Last Crusade - that struck me as pretty awesome when I was a kid.

And, of course, all kinds of shared universe crossover appearances are de rigeur now, but Tony Stark showing up in The Incredible Hulk the very same summer as his debut in Iron Man was total greatness.

Old Biff getting sick when he returns to the changed future 2015 is wonderfully creepy when you know the intended backstory that he was fading out of existence because Dark Lorraine had murdered him at some point...

And of course Hergé's Tintin books had all sorts of callbacks, including one edition in which Tintin is shown the book of one of his adventures that hadn't even happened yet.

In The Mummy ('99), one doesn't realize upon first viewing that the museum curator deliberately lit the map on fire; great detail there.

I'm sure I'm missing some great ones, but can't think of them at the moment. It is cool to see some deleted dialogue from the theatrical Aliens release show up again in T2 ("Where'd it come from?" "I asked the same thing. You know what they said?" "What?" "Don't ask.")...

 

[ManOnTheWave]

Currently watching Django Unchained. supposedly Tarantino named Broomhilda Von Shaft because she is the forebearer of Shaft, shut yo mouth.

Likewise, KillBill features Hattori Hanzo, played by Sonny Chiba, who is supposed to descended from all of the Honzos Sonny Chiba played in the past in othe films and a TV series.

Actually, Tarantino films are filled with too many Easter eggs to list.

 

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

I'm not sure exactly what the actual definition of Easter Eggs, but I'll list some details I like that may or may not quality:

- notice where the second half of Ewing's journal actually was in Cloud Atlas.

- More from Cloud Atlas (because the film is full of them) that the bible on Big Isle (after the Fall) is made of neck braces and clothing from the server fabricants. Also there are posters with artwork depicting the fabricants on the walls in the 1973 story during the confrontation with Bill Smoke. Also Vyvyan Ayer's house also serves as Aurora House. Also one of the buttons Dr. Goose removes from Ewing's shirt at the start of the film is one of the jewels Zacharay finds thousands of years later (also at the start of the film)

- Not really an Easter egg, but my favorite aspect of the Trek 2009 reboot is how they combined distinct facts that we learn about Spock on separate occasions over the course of the original series and films (Kilonar, human mother, made of fun of by Vulcan children, turning down the VSA for Starfleet) into one coherent thread in which all of these are closely tied.

- How Grant's problem using the seat belt on the chopper in Jurassic Park plays into the end of the film.

- Edge of Tomorrow has the best Easter Egg I've seen in years.. Tom Cruise standing in front of the Norad set from WarGames. That film was also referenced in The Winter Soldier to nice effect.

- Avengers: Flying monkeys.. I got that reference!

- Club Obi Wan from The Temple of Doom

- Hitchcock's "cameo" in Lifeboat

 

[Mage]

I didn't know this yet, but....


In the movie Watchmen, during the intro, the old Nightowl hits a mugger. This is Joe Chill appereantly. In the background, we see a couple looking a lot like Thomas and Martha Wayne, coming from a door that has a sign Gotham Opera House, and the scene is set in a n alley. Some of the posters on the wall of the alley include the program for the opera house, and Fledermaus is on it. Also, some posters with Batman cover art.....

 

[Reverend]

Currently watching Django Unchained. supposedly Tarantino named Broomhilda Von Shaft because she is the forebearer of Shaft, shut yo mouth.

Likewise, KillBill features Hattori Hanzo, played by Sonny Chiba, who is supposed to descended from all of the Honzos Sonny Chiba played in the past in othe films and a TV series.

Actually, Tarantino films are filled with too many Easter eggs to list.

One that I like is that in 'Sin City' (which Tarantino guest directed) Miho is seen using a Hattori Hanzo sword because *of course* Miho would only use an Hattori Hanzo! IIRC the prop was one Tarantino had in his garage after filming 'Kill Bill'.

That movie also had a character using Robocop's gun, which i suppose is a nod to Miller's involvement in Robocop 2.

 

[Doctorwhovian]

Both ark reveals in the Indy sequels also use John William's motif which I thought was a nice touch. Although in Crusade it's much more subtle (and blends better into the rest of the music).

There's also a few other nods to the previous films in Indy's house and office in KOTCS, such as a signed photo of Willie.

Star Wars has a ton of references, cameos etc. One of my favorites is in the incinerater room on Cloud City in ESB, where you can see what's left of 4-Lom and IG-88, a sort of clue that Boba disposed of the competition.

Goonies has a funny reference to Gremlins-which came out the previous year and was also produced by Spielberg and written by Chris Columbus-when Chunk calls the officer who doesn't believe him, the officer mentions one of Chunk's tall tales as the Gremlins.

 

[the G-man]

I didn't know this yet, but....


In the movie Watchmen, during the intro, the old Nightowl hits a mugger. This is Joe Chill appereantly. In the background, we see a couple looking a lot like Thomas and Martha Wayne, coming from a door that has a sign Gotham Opera House, and the scene is set in a n alley. Some of the posters on the wall of the alley include the program for the opera house, and Fledermaus is on it. Also, some posters with Batman cover art.....

The Batman cover art is the one odd/off-putting part of that easter egg. If the mugger is Joe Chill and the couple are the Waynes, why would there be Batman art on the wall?

We've never had it established that in Watchmen, they have the same comic book characters we do. The exact opposite, in fact (the reason that "Black Freighter" existed was because, in a world with real life superheros, no one wanted to read superhero comics).

Furthermore, the Waynes were mugged when Bruce was eight. If we assume Bruce was 25 when he first became Batman (in 1939), he was eight in 1922. That predates the debut of Nite Owl but about 20 years. So Nite Owl couldn't have prevented the Wayne's murder.

Yeah, yeah, I know. It was a gag and I'm over thinking it. I'm just saying the gag would've worked better without the comic book art in the scene.

 

[AgentCoop]

Believe it or not, The Phantom Menace has a great one. The triumphant parade music that plays at the end? It's a sped-up version of the Emperor's theme.

 

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

We could mention all of the references to 1138 in Lucas' films

Or the endless (and, in my opinion, rather stale) references that Pixar makes in all of their films that reference - itself. It went from being novel to being tacky.

 

[sojourner]

I've gotten to the point where I cringe every time the Wilhelm scream is used.

 

[Melakon]

Most of the above sound like what I know of as in-jokes, not Easter Eggs. I thought Easter Eggs were hidden features in games or dvds. Besides the traditional ones of course.

In my own personal scifi universe, one in-joke I use is shipboard consoles and some vehicles are branded as manufactured by Kurosawa.

 

[Gaith]

I don't think it really counts as an Easter Egg, since he was named and had dialogue and all, but it was cool to see an Aeneas pop up at the end of Troy.

 

[theenglish]

Most of the above sound like what I know of as in-jokes, not Easter Eggs. I thought Easter Eggs were hidden features in games or dvds. Besides the traditional ones of course.

Yes, I think this is correct--but it also applies to in-joke references to real life or other movies in film.

For example, the ET's in the Star Wars prequels or the references to 1138. Also, any use of the number 47. When the street performer in Spider-Man plays the sixties theme song. The use of Bozeman, Montana in Star Trek. Stuff like that.

From the Urban Dictionary:

A hidden item placed in a movie, television show, or otherwise visual media for close watchers.

Originates from the the 1975 movie "The Rocky Horror Picture Show," when the cast had an Easter Egg hunt but most of the eggs went unfound. They can be seen throughout the film in various locations (such as under Frank N. Furter's throne).
The framed picture of Julia Roberts inside the character's home was an Easter Egg inserted by the director.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=easter+egg

 

[AgentCoop]

Just thought of another one. At the beginning of "The Mist", based on the Stephen King novella, David (an artist specializing in movie posters) can be seen working on a painting. Eagle-eyed King fans will notice that it appears to be a poster for a film version of King's "Dark Tower" series. Roland even bears a resemblance to Clint Eastwood, as he does in the books.

 

[ManOnTheWave]

Pretty much any Disney movie puts mouse ears into a scene, sometimes several throughout a movie. The Muppets for example has the outline of Mickey's head in the closing scene's fireworks.

 

[chardman]

At the end of "National Lampoon's Animal House", the audience learns of the various character's future fates. And we learn that Douglas Niedermeyer (the sadistic head of the rival fraternity) is fated to be killed by his own troops in Vietnam.

Years later, the same director (John Landis) shot one of the episodes in "Twilight Zone: The Movie", where there is a scene where a group of US soldiers is lost in a Vietnamese swamp, and one soldier says to his companions "I told you we shouldn't have fragged Lt Niedermeyer".

 

[Gaith]

Depending on you definition of "Easter Egg", many of which are just references, here's a long (but in no way complete) list of the same.