Martin Scorsese has made several dozen feature films and documentaries throughout his storied career. Many of this films — if not almost all of them — are often reveled as cinematic masterpieces as well as oft-referenced cultural touchstones. One such film, however, is not. Bringing Out the Dead was released in 1999, and stars the ever-captivating Nicolas Cage as the stress-fueled paramedic who is so traumatically burned out from nightshift after nightshift full of violence, drug overdoses, and cardiac arrests. Despite the film’s lack of popularity or attention, it is nonetheless a must-watch of any fan of Martin Scorsese and Nicolas Cage. Here are 16 facts about Bringing Out the Dead.

 

1. Who directed Bringing Out the Dead?

Bringing Out the Dead is the 17th feature film directed by Martin Scorsese, released in 1999 between Kundun (1997) and Gangs of New York (2002). Although it is not nearly among the most celebrated of Marty’s movies like Goodfellas, Raging Bull, or Taxi Driver, it is certainly an After Hours-esque under-appreciated flick that deserves revisiting.

 

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2. Who is in the movie Bringing Out the Dead?

Bringing Out the Dead stars Nicolas Cage, Patricia Arquette, Ving Rhames, John Goodman, Mary Beth Hurt, Cliff Curtis, Tom Sizemore, Aida Turturro, Nestor Serrano, and Marc Anthony, as well as many other familiar faces.

 

3. Who wrote the book and screenplay for Bringing Out the Dead?

Paul Schrader wrote the screenplay for Bringing Out the Dead. It is the 4th collaboration between him and Martin Scorsese that includes Taxi Driver (1976), Raging Bull (1980), and The Last Temptation of Christ (1988). There’s definitely a similar “New York in the middle of the night” vibe in common with Taxi Driver and Bringing Out the Dead, which is exactly what Scorsese was going for when he had Schrader write the script.

The novel was written by Joe Connelly, based on his own 9-year experience as a paramedic in New York City. Published in 1998, it was an immediate bestseller and quickly optioned into a major film. Joe Connelly even has a cameo in the movie, appearing in the E.R. waiting room in one scene.

 

Click to buy the book Bringing Out the Dead by Joe Connelly!

 

4. Nicolas Cage & Patricia Arquette were married when they made Bringing Out the Dead

Patricia Arquette was Nicolas Cage’s first wife. The two were married for about 6 years, from April 1995 to 2001. This period includes the filming of Bringing Out the Dead (1999).

 

5. Omar Little from The Wire is in Bringing Out the Dead

Although Bringing Out the Dead is not the debut of the iconic Michael K. Williams — that credit goes to Julien Temple’s Bullet (1996) — it is nonetheless a very early appearance of an extremely vibrant actor who would eventually make his mark on the culture at large.

 

6. Bringing Out the Dead features many HBO actors

Bingers of HBO shows will notice plenty of actors who appear in Bringing Out the Dead. In addition to Aida Turturro (The Sopranos) and Michael K. Williams (The Wire), astute audiences will notice Sonja Sohn (The Wire), Arthur J. Nascarella (The Sopranos), muMs (Oz), and David Zayas (Oz).

 

7. Marc Anthony is in Bringing Out the Dead

Most of us know Marc Anthony as arguably the most popular salsa artist of all time and a towering figure in Latin music. The performer has won 9 Grammys and Latin Grammys and has sold over 12 million records. But Marc Anthony also has a pretty prominent role in Bringing Out the Dead as Noel, the mentally-troubled homeless person. Although Marc Anthony has only appeared in a handful of movies, his performance here is downright chameleon-like and he displays obvious chops.

 

8. Martin Scorsese was the ambulance dispatcher in Bringing Out the Dead

The loquacious dispatcher that directs Nic Cage and his co-pilots all over the streets of New York City throughout the film is none other than Martin Scorsese.

 

9. Queen Latifah was also a dispatcher in Bringing Out the Dead

Sometimes there was a female dispatcher on duty, and Nic Cage even alludes to a disastrous blind date she had with Ving Rhames. This dispatcher and Ving have an obvious rapport (if not chemistry), and she is voiced by none other than Queen Latifah.

 

10. Jesse Malin appears in Bringing Out the Dead

New York City clever kids may recognize Jesse Malin as the doorman in the club scene where Nicolas Cage and Ving Rhames revitalize an od’ing musician. A decades-long fixture of the NYC rock-n-roll scene, the prolific Jesse Malin performed with influential bands Heart Attack and D Generation and is currently the proprietor of Niagara, which has been a sacred hangout of several generations of cool kids in the East Village of New York City.

 

Click to buy No Lunch by D Generation!

 

11. Bringing Out the Dead was one of the last movies to be released on LaserDisc

Old tech heads will be all too happy to sing the virtues of the clunky and flawed but luxurious LaserDisc, a precursor to CDs, DVDs, and Blu-rays that was first released in 1978. These humungous discs were about the size of 12″ records and a favorite medium for film geeks for about 20 years. However, the advent of DVD technology quickly phased out whatever popularity LaserDiscs had, and the last LaserDisc title was released in North America in 2000 – which happened to be Bringing Out the Dead.

 

12. What book is the security guard Griss reading in Bringing Out the Dead?

Griss is the security guard who takes watch over the entrance to the emergency room when Nicolas Cage takes his patients to. The role is played by Afemo Omilami, and at one point he is seen reading a book called Black Robes, White Justice by Bruce M. Wright. The book is about how race plays a role in the judicial experience, written from Bruce Wright’s perspective as a Black judge on the New York Supreme Court.

 

Click to buy Black Robes, White Justice by Bruce Wright!

 

13. What was the budget and box office of Bringing Out the Dead?

According to IMDB, Bringing Out the Dead had an estimated budget of $55 million dollars, and only made less than $17 million at the box office. That would basically be considered a flop from almost any other auteur, but Martin Scorsese will never lack for work.

 

14. That lady from Scrubs is in Bringing Out the Dead

Eagle-eyed fans of the well-loved NBC sitcom will spot the fantastic Judy Reyes in Bringing Out the Dead. She plays an ICU nurse in the E.R., a couple years before she began her role as Nurse Carla Espinosa in 169 episodes of Scrubs.

 

15. Is Bringing Out the Dead a good movie?

Though not nearly as well-received as other Martin Scorsese flicks, Bringing Out the Dead has its fans. It generally received good reviews from critics, and the folks at Rotten Tomatoes have similar Tomatometer and Audience Scores of around 70%. The Metacritic people likewise have the film with a 70% rating. Roger Ebert loved it, and gave the movie four stars in his review.

 

16. What music does the Bringing Out the Dead soundtrack have?

Martin Scorsese is a huge fan of rock-n-roll, and fans have noticed his carefully-curated song selections. Who can forget the Copacabana Steadicam shot scene from Goodfellas to the tune of “And Then He Kissed Me” by The Crystals? The soundtrack to Bringing Out the Dead isn’t quite as impactful, but it does contain songs by R.E.M., The Clash, Johnny Thunders, UB40, The Marvalettes, Martha & The Vandellas, The Who, and Van Morrison.

 

Click to buy the soundtrack to Bringing Out the Dead!

 

Hungry for more content about culture and entertainment? Check out the Content Bash sections on books and literature, movies and TV, and music. We also have Facts About Michael Mann’s Miami Vice and Facts About Searching for Bobby Fischer, as well as Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, Cool Hand Luke, and The Pope of Greenwich Village.

 

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