You can watch a movie a million times and still not see everything. That’s pretty much the idea behind Easter eggs in movies. What are they and what are the best movie Easter eggs?
What are movie Easter eggs?
Movie Easter eggs are usually inside jokes or messages hidden by movie makers for fans to find. Generally, it’s the die-hard fans that will find them after watching a movie repeatedly. They are called Easter eggs because the efforts to uncover them are similar to a traditional Easter egg hunt. Of course, Easter eggs are not limited to movies. They actually first appeared in video games thanks to Atari.
What are the best movie Easter eggs?
While they started out in video games, Easter eggs quickly started to appear in movies too. Movie makers just couldn’t resist adding that extra bit of flair to their creations. Here are our five favourite movie Easter eggs:
Mel Gibson appearing in Apocalypto trailer
In 2006, Mel Gibson released his fairly decent movie, Apocalypto. As is standard with all movies, the trailer came first to whet everyone’s appetite. There was something a little strange about the trailer though:
Did you catch it? To be honest, it’s very subtle. Mel Gibson decided to put himself into the trailer smoking a cigarette. As you do.
Pixar movies are full of Easter eggs
Yes, Pixar movies have more Easter eggs that a sick child. Typically, Pixar movies will reference other Pixar movies. There are some other subtle references too, like this one to the shining:
Personally, my favourite is the Planet Pizza truck that appears in almost every Pixar movie:
Martin Scorsese marked impending death with an ‘X’
Not many survived the bloodfest that was The Departed. A quality movie about an undercover Boston cop. Honestly, that’s a movie that’s well overdue a rewatch for me. Even though with this knowledge, you’ll be driven mad watching it. Director, Martin Scorsese, places an ‘X’ on-screen every time a character is about to die:
This was a tip of the cap to the original 1932 ‘Scarface’.
They were riding in Hogwarts
Indeed, there was apparently plenty of wand-handling going on in Hogwarts. There’s no denying that the Harry Potter series grew with its audience, getting darker as it went along. It also got a little raunchier if this Easter egg is anything to go by. The end credits for the Prisoner of Azkaban are played over the Maurader’s Map. This map shows where everyone is in Hogwarts in a wizardy Google Maps kind of way. Eagle-eyed viewers spotted that there are two people in the corner going at it. Look at the bottom left corner of this GIF:
Looks like they are possibly in a closet or something. Is nothing sacred?
Time travelling Easter eggs
Is it really an Easter egg? I’m not so sure. Technically, I’d probably class this as more of a fantastic piece of continuity within a story. Still, not many pick up on the subtlety, so I’m going to call it out. I’m talking about Back to the Future by the way, one of my favourite movies of all time.
When Marty travels back to 1955, he leaves the Twin Pines Mall and lands into the Twin Pines ranch. He makes a hasty exit as the ranch owner fires shots at him. In his haste to leave he runs over one of the ranch’s pine trees. When he returns to 1985, Marty arrives at the Lone Pine Mall:
That’s the kind of accuracy and subtlety that just makes me happy.
You could spend hours on Google looking for more movie Easter eggs. There are millions. Just search your favourite movie title along with Easter eggs and lose yourself in the internet for hours.
What is 13 Reasons Why about?
Is that the only benefit of Android Pay?
