Forrest Gump movie questions and answers

Forrest Gump: I may not be a smart man, but I know what love is.

Mistakes

When Lt. Dan gets lifted off the bed by the male nurse, the handle he was holding on to disappears when the camera cuts to Forrest - it was so low that it should be in the picture. See more...

Trivia

Before Tom Hanks was cast as Forrest, Bill Murray was interested in the part. See more...

Forrest Gump (1994) - 11 questions

Directed by Robert Zemeckis, starring Gary Sinise, Robin Wright, Robin Wright Penn, Sally Field, Tom Hanks (add more)

Genres: Comedy, Drama, Romance

The "questions" section is for any random questions that occurred to you while watching this film, or anything you didn't entirely understand, and which Google or the IMDb can't help with. Submit them as a question, and hopefully someone will answer (the bold comments in brackets) - check back regularly. If the answer is wrong, or missing information, please use the "clarify answer" option. Don't feel limited - want to know what music played in a certain scene? Whether this was the first film to use a certain effect? Here's the place to ask!

Easter Eggs

Questions

When I read the cast list for this movie, I have noticed that Presidents Lyndon Johnson and John F. Kennedy are "playing themselves" in this movie, even though they are dead. How did the editors managed to put Tom Hanks near the actual Predsident? [Tom Hanks was inserted into actual footage of the presidents, replacing real persons who were there at the time. Computer editing was then used to modify the presidents' mouth movements to match dialog that was recorded by voice doubles for the film.]

By the buses, when Jenny's boyfriend apologizes for hitting her and mentions "that lying S.O.B. Johnson", who is the Johnson he is referring to? [Johnson refers to Lyndon Johnson, the US President.]

Answered by William Bergquist

In the hotel, when Forrest calls about the flashlights in the room across the hotel keeping him awake, what is going on with the people in that room? I'm guessing it's not really a power outage, because if it was, Forrest wouldn't be able to use the phone. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watergate_scandal - The Watergate Scandal. Burglars broke into the Democratic National Committee Headquarters at the Watergate Hotel. The implication is that Forrest is why they were caught. Also, in 1972, you didn't need electricity to power phones. You still don't unless the phone is cordless.]

What does Jenny die of? And is it mentioned anywhere in the film at all? [She dies of AIDS. They do not say AIDS in the movie, becasue she does not know what it is at the time. She just says she has some new disease, but they don't know what it is.]

Answered by pross79

I thought i recognised the woman that pushes Forrest in line for the Vietnam veteran demonstration as a cameo of Sandra Bullock, and the woman Jenny as a hippie is playing guitar with (before the guy asks them to go to SF) as a cameo of Lisa Kudrow. Anyone knows whether this is correct? [They are not listed on IMDB as such. Also by 1994, Sandra Bullock's only memorable appearance was Demolition Man (her real popularity started with Speed in 1994), and Lisa Kudrow was only known for the waitress on "Mad About You" - a minor role. Neither would have been a likely choice for a "cameo" role, yet at the same time would probably have charged too much for an extra/walk-on.]

Answered by Myridon

How exactly do the producers "remove" Gary Sinise's legs? Is it through computer imaging, or does Gary bend his legs, creating the illusion of amputation? [Mostly by computer - they wrapped his legs in "blue screen" fabric, then the computer replaced that color with shots of the same scene taken without his legs.]

Answered by Myridon

When Forrest is introducing the members of his Platoon in Vietnam all of the character names are the names of cities, he then tells where each solider is from but their hometown is different then their nick name. (for example "Dallas from Phoenix") why would each person have a name of a city as their name? [This is just a bit of incidental humor. For example: Dallas is the young man's real name. Why would his parents name him Dallas if he was from Phoenix? Same with Cleveland.]

When Forrest and Bubba are talking in Vietnam before and after Bubba says "I wanna go home" after getting shot. There is purple smoke coming from behind them into the camera shot. What is this smoke? [Just a smoke grenade. They used color smoke grenades in Vietnam as a signal to evacuation helicopters to show exactly where the troops were.]

Is there any significant reason why Forrest Gump wears blue in almost every scene (when he's not in uniform)? [Maybe it was Forrest's favorite color? Or sometimes the director of a movie does that to set a mood throughout.]

In Vietnam when Forrest is introducing the other men in his group telling their names and where they are from, all the soldiers names are names of cities. This was obviously done on purpose but why? [When people from different places are put togther into groups they usually giver eachother nicknames, this is particularly true in the military, and a lot of times your nickmane would just be where you are from, if you do not have some other characteristic, or your name does not rhyme or sound like some other word.]

Answered by pross79

What is the "million dollar wound" Forrest says he he got while rescuing Lt.Dan? [He's refering to being shot in the butt. They called it a million dollar wound because it didn't do any real permanent damage, but the solider would still be taken to a hospital and sent home from Vietnam. It was a great relief to get a million dollar wound rather than be killed or permanently maimed.]

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Forrest Gump (1994) - 11 questions