Trivia, Easter Eggs, and More for Charlie's Angels - Special Edition

At one point in Charlie's Angels, the Angels talk to each other for a few moments in what sounds like gibberish, and subtitles appear at the bottom of the screen so that viewers can follow the conversation. Did you know that the "secret language" the Angels speak in this scene is actually a European language? Do you know what language they're speaking? Here's a hint: It's the native language spoken today by several million people in a country located between Sweden and Russia. Still don't know? Read on and find out what it is.

If you're not from Finland and you haven't listened to director McG's commentary on the Charlie's Angels - Special Edition DVD, you might think the Angels are communicating in an invented language. But the truth is they're speaking Finnish! Finnish sounds very strange to an English speaker's ear because the Finnish and English languages have almost no roots in common. It would be interesting to find out what native speakers of Finnish think about the attempt by Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, and Lucy Liu to speak their language.

Here are some other fun facts, trivia, Easter eggs, and more that I've gathered from watching the special edition DVD version of this film and from my never-ending Web travels.

My Favorite Lines of Dialogue

My favorite lines of dialogue in Charlie's Angels are in the scene where Alex Munday (Lucy Liu) gives Roger Corwin (Tim Curry) a massage:

Corwin: You have great hands. I could use someone like you on my staff.

Alex : My hands aren't going anywhere near your staff.

A Personal Connection with a Building

I found it interesting that the Federal Building on Wilshire Boulevard in the Westwood area of Los Angeles was used for the exterior shots of Red Star Systems Headquarters. Years ago I lived only blocks from this building, and it was like seeing an old acquaintance. I once got a passport in the Federal Building, and its cold, bureaucratic look and feel are just right for the fictional corporate headquarters in the film.

My Favorite Scene

My favorite scene in Charlie's Angels is where Alex Munday (Lucy Liu) marches into Red Star Systems Headquarters and does a satirical dominatrix-like act, making a room full of Red Star Systems techies drool. This is a scene that particularly utilizes McG's music-video aesthetic, in addition to being a bit of a star turn for Liu. But as good as she is, the techies end up stealing the show here, and they do so without saying a word.

Product Placement or Product Misplacement?

Charlie's Angels is chock full of product placement, some of which is so shameless it borders on being unintentionally funny. One example is in the "Belly Dancing" scene, which takes place in a Middle Eastern restaurant. But strangely, the people in the restaurant are drinking Tecate, a brand of Mexican beer! In their commentary, McG and his director of cinematography also seemed to think that promoting Tecate in this particular scene was a little weird.

An Homage and a Sight Gag

The long opening sequence that is set in the interior of an airplane is a visual homage to Martin Scorsese. If you can remember some of the camera work in Mean Streets, the influence becomes especially clear. Also in the airplane sequence, look for a tongue-in-cheek sight gag: the in-fight film is titled T.J. Hooker - the Movie. T.J. Hooker was a 1980s TV series that starred William Shatner. Poor Shatner. Why does everyone want to pick on him?

The Speakerphone

While watching the movie Charlie's Angels, I thought the speakerphone over which the Angels get their assignments from Charlie had a nice 1970s vintage look to it. Well, once again director McG's commentary explained it all. The speakerphone used in the film came from the props department, and it's believed to be the same one used in the original television series. Of course, the voice that comes out of the speakerphone in the movie is that of John Forsythe, as was the case in the old TV series.

Charlie's Angels - Special Edition Easter Egg Hunt

Note: I first found out about the three Easter eggs described below when I read about them in Doctor Drew's review of the Charlie's Angels - Special Edition DVD. Hoping there were more than just these three--yes, I know I'm greedy--I looked at other Web sites, such as The Easter Egg Archive, that report on DVD hidden features, but all had these same three. If anyone out there knows of any other Easter eggs on the Charlie's Angels DVD, drop me a line so I can check them out and provide an update here.

Easter Egg Number One
Navigate to the first page of special features and highlight "Getting G'd Up." Then push the right arrow button on your DVD remote control. At this point, a highlight appears on the image of Cameron Diaz. Press the ENTER button on your DVD remote control. (By the term "ENTER button," I mean the button that causes the DVD to start to play--on most remotes I've seen, this button is labeled "ENTER," but on some remotes it's labeled something else. On my remote, it's labeled "SET.") Upon pressing the ENTER button, a short montage of the Angels will start to play, although I admit that watching it is hardly worth the effort of getting there.

Easter Egg Number Two
Go to the second page of special features and highlight "Wired Angels." Then push the left arrow button on your DVD remote. A highlight will appear on the image of Bill Murray. Press the ENTER button on your remote and you will be treated to an interesting clip of what Drew Barrymore had to go through when she had a plaster cast of her face made. What a trooper! If anyone thinks that acting isn't hard work--and in fact downright messy at times--this will make them think again. As far as I'm concerned, this Easter egg is well worth seeking out.

Easter Egg Number Three
Go to the third and last page of special features and highlight the left angle bracket (<) near the bottom of the screen. Then press the right arrow button on your remote. A highlight will appear on the image of Sam Rockwell, the actor who plays computer executive Eric Knox in the film. Pressing the ENTER button on your remote will bring you some behind-the-scenes footage that I thought was pretty unremarkable--for example, Cameron Diaz rushing off the set, explaining that she has to pee. Even though I didn't find this footage very interesting, I'm sure there are others out there who'll love it. There's only one way to find out for yourself, and that's to give it a try. But hey, don't blame me if you don't think much of it--you were warned!

More About.com Home Video/DVD Features on DVD Easter Eggs

"The Royal Tenenbaums" Easter Eggs
There are four features on Disc Two of the Criterion Collection "The Royal Tenenbaums" DVD set that might be considered Easter eggs. Read this short feature and learn how to find them!

"Vanilla Sky" Easter Egg
The "Vanilla Sky" DVD contains an entertaining Easter egg that is being referred to as a "Gag Reel." Read this short feature and learn how to find it!

"Moulin Rouge" DVD Easter Eggs
The "Moulin Rouge" DVD set contains at least 15 Easter eggs. I've given my own set of detailed instructions for how to find the Easter eggs, but since all DVD players don't function exactly the same way, you might have to tweak around a little.

"Cast Away" DVD Easter Egg
Did you know that in "Cast Away," Tom Hanks might have been able to get off the island years earlier than he did? Find out how.

Still want to find even more DVD Easter eggs? You can hunt down those ever-elusive Easter eggs with some of the Web's most useful destinations when you visit the About.com Home Video/DVD site's DVD Easter eggs resource pages.

Have fun!

~ Ivana Redwine