FILM · 1995
Virtuosity
24 archived facts 5 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (24)
- #001
Virtuosity was Kaley Cuoco's first film.
- #002
According to Kelly Lynch, she and Denzel Washington were supposed to kiss. Washington cancelled the scene, however, because he believed an interracial love scene would hurt the film's box office chances.
- #003
The briefly shown Star Trek (1966) episode is "The Enemy Within" (1966), in which Captain Kirk is split by the transporter into his good and evil sides.
- #004
According to William Fichtner, roughly 80% of his scenes never made the final cut.
- #005
After the first cut was rejected, action editor Billy Weber was brought in by Paramount to re-edit the film. He is thanked in the film's end title sequence for his efforts.
- #006
Paramount Pictures considered casting Arnold Schwarzenegger as Parker Barnes, but his high price tag quickly pushed him out of the discussion.
- #007
In this film, Denzel Washington's character is tasked with catching Russell Crowe's character. In American Gangster (2007), Crowe's character is tasked with hunting Washington.
- #008
Although this film came out two years after the iconic CG masterpiece Jurassic Park (1993), its graphics look far more primitive. This is because they were created with pure vector calculations, whereas the graphics in Jurassic Park relied on bitmap art applied to virtual surfaces as photorealistic textures. Even so, the extremes this film went to in exploring what could be done with vectors at the time were considered state of the art within a particular approach to computer graphics.
- #009
When SID 6.7 performs a swan dive from the balcony into the octagonal ring, an Australian flag is clearly visible. Although the final showdown is an international event, no other flag is shown during the action in the arena. The Australian flag was included at Russell Crowe's specific request to honour his roots. At the time of filming, Crowe was almost unknown outside Australia.
- #010
Russell Crowe was added to the cover of the film's later VHS/DVD releases because he had become a bigger star since the film's initial release.
- #011
Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe went on competing against each other for the Academy Award for Best Actor in two different years: Crowe was nominated for The Insider (1999) and Washington for The Hurricane (1999), but neither won; later Crowe was nominated for A Beautiful Mind (2001) and Washington for Training Day (2001), and this time Washington won. Crowe had won the award a year before Washington's win, for his performance in Gladiator (2000).
- #012
Michael Douglas was initially set to take on the role of Parker Barnes.
- #013
The two actors Russell Crowe and Kaley Cuoco became household names, but when they were cast they were almost unknown in Hollywood. Despite being a major character and earning top billing, Crowe does not appear until fourth in the opening credits. Although well known in Australia, Crowe had not yet become a Hollywood star. Cuoco, who took a small role as Kelly Lynch's daughter, was still a child actor. In the years that followed, both made their mark on Hollywood and the world.
- #014
Former UFC champion Ken Shamrock is seen fighting in the octagon.
- #015
Kevin Spacey was considered to play SID 6.7.
- #016
One of the objects shown floating in SID 6.7's virtual world is a bust made of a ribbon-like spiral. This is a direct reference to the illustration work of pioneering 4-D artist M. C. Escher; many of his groundbreaking woodcuts featured an image of himself and his wife, foreheads bound together, both heads formed from ribbon-like spirals.
- #017
The first murders committed by SID 6.7 are insults directed at the victims, who are called "pigs." This image smeared on the walls is a reference to the notorious Tate-LaBianca murders committed by members of the Manson Family. The victims at the Tate scene included Abigail Folger, Voytek Frykowski, Steve Parent, Jay Sebring, Sharon Tate and Tate's unborn son with director Roman Polanski, Paul Richard Polanski. The victims at the LaBianca scene were Leno LaBianca and Rosemary LaBianca.
- #018
Both Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe appeared in Gladiator films; Crowe in the original Gladiator (2000) and Washington in its sequel Gladiator II (2024).
- #019
The cast includes three Oscar winners: Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe and Louise Fletcher.
- #020
In this film William Forsythe plays a federal agent who is no different from the others. The following year he plays a similar character in The Rock (1996). Judging by his appearance and character traits, he plays the two roles in almost the same way across the two films.
- #021
Costas Mandylor (John Donovan) was a regular on the series Picket Fences (1992), and Louise Fletcher (Elizabeth Deane) appeared as a guest star in two episodes of that show.
- #022
When Russell Crowe's character tastes the fluid on his finger, he says, "A good year." Eleven years later, Crowe would star in the film A Good Year.
- #023
Denzel Washington (Parker Barnes) and Christopher Murray (Matthew Grimes) had previously worked together on The Pelican Brief (1993), but their characters never interacted.
- #024
While testing his new synthetic body, SID 6.7 (Russell Crowe) cuts his finger and, tasting the wound, says it is "a good year." Crowe would go on to star in a film titled A Good Year (2006).
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