Where to watch The Terminal (2004)

Trivia & production notes

• Steven Spielberg acquired the rights to the story of Mehran Karimi Nasseri, an Iranian refugee who lived in Paris's Charles de Gaulle Airport for 18 years, though the film's actual plot bears no resemblance to his experiences.
• Spielberg wanted to film in an actual airport but could not find one willing to host production, so the entire terminal set was constructed in a massive hangar at LA/Palmdale Regional Airport that previously built B-1B bombers.
• The Terminal set was designed based on Düsseldorf Airport's distinctive cross-sectional shape, resembling an aircraft wing when viewed from the side.
• The film was among the first to use the Spidercam, a camera rig borrowed from televised sports, which allowed Spielberg to create sweeping shots across the expansive set.
• The set's design was heavily inspired by Jacques Tati's 1967 film PlayTime, as confirmed by both Roger Ebert and Spielberg.
• Tom Hanks based Viktor Navorski's characterization on his father-in-law Allan Wilson, a Bulgarian immigrant, and worked with a Bulgarian translator to develop the character's accent and mannerisms.
• Krakozhia, the fictional country in the film, uses borders based on present-day North Macedonia and incorporates design elements from Belarusian official symbols.
• Composer John Williams created an original national anthem for the fictional country of Krakozhia.
• Clarinet player Emily Bernstein, who performed prominent solos in the film's score and received a rare individual credit, was undergoing cancer treatment during recording and died less than a year later.
• Spielberg insisted on highlighting Emily Bernstein's work in the credits at a time when individual studio orchestra musicians were typically credited anonymously.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article The Terminal, available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Rewritten for StreamShack; errors are ours — tell us about them.