FILM · 1993
Fearless
24 archived facts 6 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (24)
- #001
The plane crash site was recreated in an area of Central California in the southern San Joaquin Valley and modeled exactly on a crash that occurred outside Sioux City, Iowa, in 1989. The "accident" was reported by several flights flying over the location. Eighty-five acres of corn were first planted in the field, then bulldozed to recreate the crater a downed plane would leave. The adjacent cotton field was also purchased to make the crash appear larger. Forty people from the Kern County and Bakersfield Fire Departments were deployed at the site, along with 140 extras. One of the town's main roads stayed closed for a week, and the local power company was persuaded to knock down several poles and damage half a mile of power line to create a scene of near-total destruction. Preparing the crash site took a total of 10 days and involved scattering 600 suitcases and their contents (all items bought from local second-hand stores) freely around the area. In total, the recreation cost $2 million.
- #002
Fearless is one of star Jeff Bridges' favorite films among those he has appeared in.
- #003
To help him grasp his character Max, Jeff Bridges spent some time with his close friend Gary Busey, who years earlier had suffered a serious motorcycle accident that put him in a coma.
- #004
The flight attendant telling Carla to hold her son, because it was standard procedure only so that he would die, is also based on what happened in the crash of Flight 232. On 232, an attendant told a woman to place her young son on the floor at her feet, which was considered correct procedure at the time, only for the baby to die after rolling under the seats. The woman later blamed the attendant, who went on to spend her life helping to change the policy and raise more awareness about safety on planes.
- #005
Both Max (Jeff Bridges) and Carla (Rosie Perez) show symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). In Max's case, this is evident in his changed personality (a common symptom among heavily traumatized soldiers returning from war or civilians after horrific events), his distance from his wife and son, and his preoccupation with the crash. In Carla's case, her mental trauma is largely displayed through survivor's guilt and her fixation on being unable to save her baby.
- #006
Some of the wreckage used at the crash site in Hero (1992) was reused at the crash site in this film.
- #007
The film was made and released in 1993, the same year Rafael Yglesias' source novel of the same name was first published. Yglesias also wrote the film's screenplay.
- #008
Both Rosie Perez and Isabella Rossellini played the same character, in Perdita Durango (1997) and Wild at Heart (1990) respectively.
- #009
Hero (1992) and Fearless (1993) are two films based on very similar subjects, released almost exactly a year apart. About half a dozen cast and crew members worked on both pictures. Among them were actor William Newman, actress Cordis Heard, stuntman Gene Hartline, casting director Howard Feuer, and both ADR voice artist Tom Lent and oboe soloist musician Tom Boyd (both uncredited).
- #010
The film earned Rosie Perez an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her role, but she lost to Anna Paquin for The Piano (1993).
- #011
The post-production of this picture was carried out in Australia, where the film's director, Peter Weir, comes from.
- #012
The idea of using Heinrich Gorecki's composition in the film was inspired by Krzysztof Kieslowski, whom Peter Weir greatly respected.
- #013
Mel Gibson was offered the role of Max and ultimately starred alongside actor Jeff Bridges. Gibson had previously worked with director Peter Weir on Gallipoli (1981) and The Year of Living Dangerously (1982).
- #014
According to Peter Weir, in terms of cinema as an art form the limit is to "photograph souls," with the close-up as his great discovery. With Fearless, Weir tried, in his own words, "to create an atmosphere with the cast where, without them being aware of it, they would allow him to photograph them without any barrier," that is, to go beyond the barrier between subject and camera. Of course he does not mean every scene; after all, these are professional craftspeople. But each actor allowed him to photograph them this way for one, two or three minutes.
- #015
Fearless features two Oscar winners in its cast: Jeff Bridges and Benicio Del Toro; and three Oscar nominees: Rosie Perez, Isabella Rossellini and Tom Hulce.
- #016
The plane is Flight 202. The film runs 2 hours 2 minutes, and the trailer runs 2 minutes 2 seconds - 2:02.
- #017
In an early scene, after showering, Max examines himself in the mirror and notices a distinct gash over his ribs on the right side of his torso. In Carla's later church scene, the camera reveals a close-up of a crucifix depicting a familiar wound on the body.
- #018
Halfway through the film, Laura Klein (Isabella Rossellini) turns up her CD player and annoys Max (Jeff Bridges). The piece she is listening to is the third movement of Beethoven's Fifth Piano Concerto (Op. 73, E-flat major). This is the third time Peter Weir has used this concerto as incidental music in his films, after Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) and Dead Poets Society (1989) (both of which included the second movement).
- #019
The film's leads were two second-generation actors. Jeff Bridges is the son of actor Lloyd Bridges and actress Dorothy Dean Bridges, and Isabella Rossellini is the daughter of actress Ingrid Bergman and director Roberto Rossellini.
- #020
It contains Rosie Perez's only Oscar-nominated performance.
- #021
It is Stephanie Erb's debut.
- #022
The opening plane crash sequence runs approximately six minutes in total.
- #023
At the start of the film, the flight route of the plane journey in the United States was between San Francisco, California and Houston, Texas.
- #024
The film competed at the 44th Berlin International Film Festival in 1994 and was selected for screening there. A similarly titled film, Fearless: The Hunterwali Story (1994), was also shown at the same festival, in its Forum section.
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