Backstory

Actors Bruce Willis, Bonnie Bedelia and Alan Rickman, producer Joel Silver, director John McTiernan and cinematographer Jan de Bont discuss how cast and crew overcame endless skepticism and difficult production challenges to create the 1988 action thriller.

Features an interview with actress Meryl Streep, who won her second Academy Award® for her portrayal of a holocaust survivor in the 1982 film based on William Styron's novel.

Co-stars Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bill Duke, writers Jim and John Thomas, producer John Davis and effects guru Stan Winston reveal how they overcame the dangers of the jungle and a production crisis that shut down the film and emerged with a hit.

Stars Johnny Depp and Wynona Ryder, director Tim Burton, screenwriter Caroline Thompson, producer Denise Di Novi, composer Danny Elfman, effects creator Stan Winston and others share candid details about the origins of the highly personal, poignant screenplay and how it materialized on film. The episode also includes interview footage with Vincent Price, as well as an interview with Price's daughter, Victoria.

Michael Douglas, Charlie Sheen and Darryl Hannah, director/screenwriter Oliver Stone, co-writer Stanley Weiser and others reveal how friction on the set helped an intense and timely film about the tyranny of greed.

Backstory reveals how shooting the tale of one man's survival became a lesson in fortitude for the cast and crew alike. Interviews with actors Tom Hanks and Helen Hunt, director Robert Zemeckis and various crew members recount the perils and problems of bringing this film to the big screen.

Backstory reveals how a low-budget production on an impossibly tight schedule led to friction among its collaborators, but paved the way for a pop culture television franchise. Interviews with director Fran Rubel Kuzui, producer Howard Rosenman, and actors Donald Sutherland and Luke Perry explore the struggles involved in making this film.

Backstory examines the hit movie about real life in the newsroom that took Holly Hunter from obscure actress to movie star. Interviews with director James Brooks, actress Holly Hunter and Susan Zirinsky, one of Brooks' inspirations for the leading role, are included.