Trivia for
Spartan (2004)

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• Val Kilmer researched for the part by training with former military special operations personnel.
  
  
• David Mamet incorporated a number of real life experiences from various U.S. special forces members for the production, including Eric Haney who had served in highly classified operations during his twenty-year military career. Haney's experience included front-line combat units as a combat infantryman, as an Army Ranger, and as a founding operator within the elite Delta Force under Colonel Charlie Beckwith. These experiences helped Haney effectively serve as a technical advisor, weapons expert, and actor's mentor to Val Kilmer, ensuring that Kilmer reflected an accurate depiction of a special forces operative in every capacity. Haney retired as a highly decorated Sergeant Major, and his documented experience also includes security surveys, metro SWAT team arms training, oil company guard force management, executive protection, and the recovery of American children kidnapped and taken overseas.
  
  
• The bar that Val Kilmer enters to pay the bartender money is the same bar as in Shaft (2000).
  
  

• The cast underwent military weapons training for their roles.
  
  
• Val Kilmer's character was inspired, in part, by real life U.S. Special Operations operative Eric Haney.
  
  
• When Scott is questioning the boyfriend, a plaque in the background has the names of various cast members.
  
  
• Except for a single day on a soundstage, the film was shot exclusively at practical locations.
  
  
• A fully functional C123, a Lear jet, and numerous Huey helicopters, many of which toured in Vietnam, were used by the production.
  
  
• A residence situated in the Hollywood Hills that featured Moraccan-influenced architecture doubled as the Dubai house. This home was once owned by music legend Chuck Berry.
  
  
• Producer Art Linson and David Mamet were having lunch when Linson informed Mamet that he could not get anything more than a no frills budget for the movie. Val Kilmer was literally at the next table. Linson knew Kilmer and asked him to come over, and they talked about the production. Kilmer was so impressed with the story and Mamet's vision that he agreed to the role giving a significant discount to facilitate Franchise Pictures giving a green-light to the production.
  
  
• David Mamet performed rewrites during production using nothing more than a typewriter on a cardboard box between takes.
  
  
• David Mamet's rabbi was given a small role in the film as an agent.
  
  
• When Val Kilmer's Arab informant is showing him information on the Dubai house (1'10'' into the movie), the Arabic information is an Arab newspaper article about the situation in Iraq in 2003 and UN envoy Segio Demelo.
  
  

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