- Sandra Bullock replaced Lori Petty after a few days filming.
- Sylvester Stallone wanted the Simon Phoenix character to be played by Jackie Chan. Chan refused, since Asian audiences don't like the idea of actors who have always played heroes suddenly playing evil characters.
- Many of the cars in the movie were prototypes of future models, supplied by General Motors.
- For some non-American releases, references to Taco Bell were changed to Pizza Hut. This includes dubbing, plus changing the logos during post-production. Taco Bell remains in the closing credits. In the Swedish release the subtitles still use Taco Bell while the sound and picture has been altered as above. The original version released in Australia (on VHS) contained Taco Bell, yet the newer version on DVD was changed both in logo and dubbing to Pizza Hut. (If you look closely at the scene where the restaurant patrons are looking through the glass windows to the fight scene outside, you can still see Taco Bell etched into the glass, even in the modified version.)
- The "ray gun" used by Wesley Snipes in the Museum Armory sequence is based on the Heckler and Koch G11, a prototype weapon for the German army that would have been the most advanced rifle in the world, firing caseless ammunition (bullets, not death rays).
- At one point, Lenina Huxley (Sandra Bullock) says to John Spartan "While you were sleeping... ", referring to the time he was frozen. Bullock later starred in the movie While You Were Sleeping (1995).
- The building used for exterior shots of the SAPD building was the California Headquarters of GTE in Thousand Oaks.
- In the strange attempt to entirely replace the Taco Bell name with Pizza Hut (the name was dubbed over and computer generated images of the logo were pasted over), the editors missed a spot. At the start of the battle outside the restaurant, when everyone is flocking to the window, one pane still holds the logo for Taco Bell and the Taco Bell sign is visible in the first shot of the van (in the background when people are running) on the door.
- Wesley Snipes's kicks and punches sometimes look lurchy and awkward. Snipes is a black belt in real life, and his kicks and punches were so fast that they blurred on camera. Hence the producers asked him to slow them down.
- Lenina Huxley tells John Spartan about the Arnold Schwarzenegger Presidential Library, explaining that, based on the sheer popularity of his movies, a Constitutional amendment was passed in order for Schwarzenegger to run for president, which, according to Huxley, he did. In 2003, ten years after this film's release, Arnold Schwarzenegger was elected governor of California and shortly after his election, three senators separately proposed amendments to the US Constitution to allow naturalized citizens to become president. Additionally, Stallone, along with Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, and Demi Moore backed the opening of the Planet Hollywood restaurant chain.
- The title was taken from The Police's song of the same name. Hence, the use of 'Sting' to remake the song for the film.
- The two original choices for the roles were Steven Seagal and Jean-Claude Van Damme. Van Damme was offered the role of the bad guy, but didn't want that role. He agreed to star in it if both the lead roles could be switched, the producers tried to get Seagal to play the bad guy, he declined.
- Sandra Bullock's costume during the Taco Bell sequence was made of stones and gems weighing approximately 40 pounds. After the fight scene outside the restaurant when her character gleefully jumps and replays the action, her dress actually started to rip, which is why she is holding her arms to her sides after Stallone walks away.
- According to the commentary found on the RC1 DVD, there were some scenes deleted from the movie including a subplot involving Spartan's daughter and the murder of Zachary Lamb by Phoenix.
- In an early scene, set after the first MDK (Murder Death Kill), the name Scott Peterson is listed as one of the cryo-prisoners. The name appears listed before Simon Phoenix on a computer display, which the character Lenina Huxley (Sandra Bullock) has called to the screen. This is merely a coincidence, however, as Scott Peterson was not a public figure until he was tried for the murder of his wife during 2004-2005.
- Though the movie was released in 1993, Simon Phoenix and John Spartan were supposed to have been imprisoned in the cryo-prison in 1996. In the scene where Wesley Snipes' character Simon Phoenix is releasing the other cryo-prisoners, he makes a reference to serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. Dahmer was killed in prison in 1994, after the film's release but before the cryo-prison would have been built. During TV replays, the Dahmer references were edited out because they seemed anachronistic.
>>> WARNING: Here Be Spoilers <<<
Trivia items below here contain information that may give away important plot points. You may not want to read any further if you've not already seen this title.
- SPOILER: According to the scripts (before the final draft) the film starts out in 1998 and goes over to 2042 as John Spartan and Simon Phoenix were frozen for 44 years. In that draft a cryocon was named Ignatious and was changed to Howie, while Howie was written out and replaced with a thug already released in according to what was cut out of the movie. Beppo was Albert. Kodo was Beppo. Adam (played by Jesse Ventura) was Charlie and Jesse Ventura's character dies in the underground battle assumed to be killed by armed scraps when John Spartan went after Simon Phoenix. It is than Elvin who was the cryocon that kicked the chair out of the way when Cocteau was killed that kills Cocteau in that draft rather than the cryocon played by Jesse "The Body" Ventura in which according to what was cut out John Spartan either kills or incapacitates Elvin.
- SPOILER: In according to what was cut out John Spartan fights the CryoCon played by Jesse "The Body" Ventura and was shown in a TV spot. That could disappoint many fans not to see Jesse Ventura fight Sylvester Stallone.
- SPOILER: Near the conclusion after Lenina Huxley and John Spartan beat up on 2 of the 6 cryocons there were 2 more that vanished at the fireplace after the death of Raymond Cocteau. Lenina Huxley and John Spartan arrive when there are cryocons standing near the fireplace as they vanish from there. Lenina Huxley aims the stun baton at where Jesse Ventura's character and another CryoCon was standing while John Spartan aims the gun at where another cryocon who just vanished and Jesse Ventura's character was standing as they go after Simon Phoenix and his CryoCon Henchmen.
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