Walt Kowalski is a widower who holds onto his prejudices despite the changes in his Michigan neighborhood and the world around him. Kowalski is a grumpy, tough-minded, unhappy old man who can't get along with either his kids or his neighbors. He is a Korean War veteran whose prize possession is a 1972 Gran Torino he keeps in mint condition. When his neighbor Thao, a young Hmong teenager under pressure from his gang member cousin, tries to steal his Gran Torino, Kowalski sets out to reform the youth. Drawn against his will into the life of Thao's family, Kowalski is soon taking steps to protect them from the gangs that infest their neighborhood.
Cast: Ahney Her, Clinton Eastwood
Crew: Clinton Eastwood (Director), Tom Stern (Director of Photography), Kyle Clinton Eastwood (Music Director), Michael Stevens (Music Director)
Rating: A (India)
Genres: Drama
Release Dates: 09 Jan 2009 (India)
Did you know? When Walt is at the Hmong's party, he pats the head of a young Hmong girl passing through, causing the family members to audibly gasp. In Hmong culture, the human head is believed to house the soul, and any touching of the head is believed to jeopardize this, and is thus considered very disrespectful. Read More
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as Sue
as Walt Kowalski
as Thao
as Mitch Kowalski
as Steve Kowalski
as Vu
Supporting Actress
as Father Janovich
as Duke
as Darrell
Supporting Actor
as Ashley Kowalski
as Karen Kowalski
as Barber Martin
as Monk
as Tim Kennedy
Direction
Director
Production
Producer
Production Company
Executive Producer
Associate Production Company
Distribution
Distributor
Camera and Electrical
Director of Photography
Music
Music Director
Art
Art Director
Casting
Casting Director
Costume and Wardrobe
Costume Designer
Editorial
Editor
Stunts
Stunt Coordinator
Film Type:
Feature
Language:
English
Spoken Languages:
Hmong
Colour Info:
Color
Sound Mix:
Dolby Digital, DTS, Sony Dynamic Digital Sound
Camera:
Panavision Panaflex
Frame Rate:
24 fps
Aspect Ratio:
2.39:1 (Scope)
Stereoscopy:
No
Filming Locations:
Goofs:
Factual Mistake
When Walt gets angry and punches his hand through the glass cabinet, the glass is clearly a prop piece.
Continuity
After Sue is raped, Walt comes home and punches through his cupboard doors. The next day, when he is sitting in the kitchen with Thao, the cupboards in the background are undamaged.
Factual Mistake
The gangsters are shown shooting up Thao's house with Mac-10 submachine guns, firing for twelve or thirteen seconds. These weapons are known for their extremely high rate of fire, around 1,200 rounds per minute. The gangsters should have run out of ammunition after around two seconds, or at the very least paused to reload.
Continuity
Throughout the film, one of the balusters in the railing on the front porch of the Hmong house is missing. At the end, when the brother and sister get into the Checker cab to go to the funeral, the house still has bullet holes and boarded up windows, but the missing baluster reappears.
Continuity
After Walt punches in his kitchen cabinets and is sitting in the chair smoking, both of his knuckles are bleeding. At one point his right hand appears without blood while his left is still bloody (dried at this point). In another shot of the same scene, where he's talking with the priest, both hands are bloody again.
Miscellaneous
When Walt rescues Sue and Trey from the three thugs, he tells Trey that he should not have said "bro" to them. This would have been impossible for him to know; he pulled up to the stop sign after the incident.
Factual Mistake
The sides of the folding chairs flip by the time Walt takes the 2 folding chairs from the basement to the upstairs; the curvatures of the chairs clearly show this.
Miscellaneous
When Walt touches the little girl's head, the Hmong react very negatively, and Sue tells him that is wrong. Several scenes earlier, Kho Khue patted the baby's head, and no one reacted. Certain elders have the right to touch people on the head, including an elder shaman performing a soul-calling ceremony during a birth celebration. Also, when Sue musses Thao's hair in the back yard, she musses the side of his head, behind his ear, not the top.
Miscellaneous
In the church, Walt's grandchildren genuflect (kneel briefly and make sign of the cross while facing the altar). In the Catholic religion, the cross is made with the right hand. The granddaughter crosses herself with her left hand. However, the grandchildren were established as disrespectful, both in attire and behavior (one even parodies the spoken prayer), so they could very likely use the wrong hand.
Factual Mistake
It is raining when Walt works with Thao, but the blue sky is reflected in the house windows. Sometimes large patches of blue sky appear during rainfall.
Factual Mistake
While Walt is on the phone with his son, the medical forms show Detroit, and a Michigan ZIP code, but lists the state as California. If you look closely, the California address is Walt's brother, as next of kin.
Miscellaneous
Walt says he used the M1 Garand rifle in Korea. U.S. Military personnel are usually not allowed to keep their service weapons. However, some rifles, identified by serial number, were available for purchase through the Civilian Marksmanship Program after they were deemed obsolete or unfit for service. Enlisted and commissioned personnel also frequently "liberated" their weapons.
Miscellaneous
The medical form shows Walt's marital status as "married." The film opens with his wife's funeral. It is Walt's first visit to the medical center since his wife died. Based on the conversation with Dr. Chu, it had been more than 3 years since his last visit (long enough that he wasn't aware that his former physician Dr. Feldman had died, and been replaced by her). With all that was going on in his life at the time of that visit, he could have simply forgotten to update his marital status.
Factual Mistake
Walt tells his neighbors that he installed the steering column in his Gran Torino in the factory at Ford. The Gran Torinos of that time were made in Lorain, Ohio. None of the Torino models were ever assembled in any Metro Detroit area Ford plant.
Factual Mistake
Kowalski's son gives him a Walker amplified phone, so the curly handset cord should be plugged into the side, not the back.
Factual Mistake
Walt's medical form lists date of birth as February 1930. When his family celebrates his birthday with him, the grass is green, and he joins his neighbors for a cookout. That isn't February in Detroit.
Factual Mistake
The Gran Torino's Michigan license plate number has 3 letters, followed by 3 numbers, then by 1 letter. Michigan license plates have 3 letters followed by 4 numbers.
Continuity
The cigarette burn on Thao's face changes several times.
Continuity
When the priest goes to Walt's place and they share a beer, Walt originally holds his cigarette and his beer in his left hand, then they both jump into his right hand.
Crew/Equipment Visible
In the bathroom scene when he is bathing and smoking, the reflection of the camera man's legs are visible on the bathtub.
Continuity
In the beginning we see that the houses around Walt need painting. At 1:11:00, while the kid is gardening, we see the backs of the three houses next to Walt's that don't need paint.
Continuity
When Walt rescues Sue and Trey from the three thugs, Sue and Walt drive away. If you watch the buildings in the background, they drive by the same school more than once.
Continuity
When the Hmong gangbangers drive up to the Mexican gangbangers, Spider drives, forward, then drives in reverse without changing gears. Then a break in the scene shows his car's backup lights.
Continuity
There is a scene during the reception for Walt's wife, at the house. From the inside, looking through the front door, the sun is seen as shining strongly. However, when they go outside (next scene), it is cloudy.
Continuity
Walt has Thao paint the neighbors house. The painted house is clearly visible at one stage. Near the end of the movie, when Walt is mowing his lawn, the new layer of paint disappears.
Continuity
When Walt is in the bar and the priest wants to talk to him, he takes off his hat with right hand, and his left hand is down. In the next shot, both hands are on the table, and the hat is gone.
Continuity
When Walt drinks beer in Sue's kitchen, the level of the beer gets higher the longer he drinks it.
Continuity
In McKay's office, Walt picks up 2 paper cups for coffee. In the next shot, he is holding a single cup.
Continuity
In the scene where Thao goes along with Walt to the barbershop, the barber's jacket zipper changes position several times.
Continuity
At the medical office, the physician introduces herself as Dr. Chu. In the credits, she is Dr. Chang.
Continuity
When Walt goes downstairs during the barbecue, he places his beer on the washing machine. In the next shot, the beer is in his hand.
Character Error
The medical forms list Walt's address as 5962 Delco St. When Walt stands on his porch, his house number is 238.
Character Error
In the bathroom scene, Walt says to the dog to give him a break because it's the first time he's ever smoked in the house. Actually, he smoked the night before when Father Janovich was with him inside the house and they also drank beer.
Character Error
When the Hmong ladies feed Walt in Sue's kitchen, Sue's mother Vu puts a large spoon into a bowl of salad, then moves to transfer the contents to Walt's plate, even though most of the salad fell out of the spoon back into the bowl. Either the actress either didn't notice, or she decided to keep going with the scene.
Character Error
The front license plate on Walt's truck is missing. Michigan doesn't require a front plate, but it looks it was recently removed. That wouldn't make sense, since he likely bought the truck new.
Miscellaneous
When Walt and Sue start to sit to talk on Walt's back porch, the boom mic appears ever so slightly.
Miscellaneous
During Walt's second phone conversation about his medical records, a boom mike appears in Walt's son's house, above the kitchen table.
When Walt gets angry and punches his hand through the glass cabinet, the glass is clearly a prop piece.
Continuity
After Sue is raped, Walt comes home and punches through his cupboard doors. The next day, when he is sitting in the kitchen with Thao, the cupboards in the background are undamaged.
Factual Mistake
The gangsters are shown shooting up Thao's house with Mac-10 submachine guns, firing for twelve or thirteen seconds. These weapons are known for their extremely high rate of fire, around 1,200 rounds per minute. The gangsters should have run out of ammunition after around two seconds, or at the very least paused to reload.
Continuity
Throughout the film, one of the balusters in the railing on the front porch of the Hmong house is missing. At the end, when the brother and sister get into the Checker cab to go to the funeral, the house still has bullet holes and boarded up windows, but the missing baluster reappears.
Continuity
After Walt punches in his kitchen cabinets and is sitting in the chair smoking, both of his knuckles are bleeding. At one point his right hand appears without blood while his left is still bloody (dried at this point). In another shot of the same scene, where he's talking with the priest, both hands are bloody again.
Miscellaneous
When Walt rescues Sue and Trey from the three thugs, he tells Trey that he should not have said "bro" to them. This would have been impossible for him to know; he pulled up to the stop sign after the incident.
Factual Mistake
The sides of the folding chairs flip by the time Walt takes the 2 folding chairs from the basement to the upstairs; the curvatures of the chairs clearly show this.
Miscellaneous
When Walt touches the little girl's head, the Hmong react very negatively, and Sue tells him that is wrong. Several scenes earlier, Kho Khue patted the baby's head, and no one reacted. Certain elders have the right to touch people on the head, including an elder shaman performing a soul-calling ceremony during a birth celebration. Also, when Sue musses Thao's hair in the back yard, she musses the side of his head, behind his ear, not the top.
Miscellaneous
In the church, Walt's grandchildren genuflect (kneel briefly and make sign of the cross while facing the altar). In the Catholic religion, the cross is made with the right hand. The granddaughter crosses herself with her left hand. However, the grandchildren were established as disrespectful, both in attire and behavior (one even parodies the spoken prayer), so they could very likely use the wrong hand.
Factual Mistake
It is raining when Walt works with Thao, but the blue sky is reflected in the house windows. Sometimes large patches of blue sky appear during rainfall.
Factual Mistake
While Walt is on the phone with his son, the medical forms show Detroit, and a Michigan ZIP code, but lists the state as California. If you look closely, the California address is Walt's brother, as next of kin.
Miscellaneous
Walt says he used the M1 Garand rifle in Korea. U.S. Military personnel are usually not allowed to keep their service weapons. However, some rifles, identified by serial number, were available for purchase through the Civilian Marksmanship Program after they were deemed obsolete or unfit for service. Enlisted and commissioned personnel also frequently "liberated" their weapons.
Miscellaneous
The medical form shows Walt's marital status as "married." The film opens with his wife's funeral. It is Walt's first visit to the medical center since his wife died. Based on the conversation with Dr. Chu, it had been more than 3 years since his last visit (long enough that he wasn't aware that his former physician Dr. Feldman had died, and been replaced by her). With all that was going on in his life at the time of that visit, he could have simply forgotten to update his marital status.
Factual Mistake
Walt tells his neighbors that he installed the steering column in his Gran Torino in the factory at Ford. The Gran Torinos of that time were made in Lorain, Ohio. None of the Torino models were ever assembled in any Metro Detroit area Ford plant.
Factual Mistake
Kowalski's son gives him a Walker amplified phone, so the curly handset cord should be plugged into the side, not the back.
Factual Mistake
Walt's medical form lists date of birth as February 1930. When his family celebrates his birthday with him, the grass is green, and he joins his neighbors for a cookout. That isn't February in Detroit.
Factual Mistake
The Gran Torino's Michigan license plate number has 3 letters, followed by 3 numbers, then by 1 letter. Michigan license plates have 3 letters followed by 4 numbers.
Continuity
The cigarette burn on Thao's face changes several times.
Continuity
When the priest goes to Walt's place and they share a beer, Walt originally holds his cigarette and his beer in his left hand, then they both jump into his right hand.
Crew/Equipment Visible
In the bathroom scene when he is bathing and smoking, the reflection of the camera man's legs are visible on the bathtub.
Continuity
In the beginning we see that the houses around Walt need painting. At 1:11:00, while the kid is gardening, we see the backs of the three houses next to Walt's that don't need paint.
Continuity
When Walt rescues Sue and Trey from the three thugs, Sue and Walt drive away. If you watch the buildings in the background, they drive by the same school more than once.
Continuity
When the Hmong gangbangers drive up to the Mexican gangbangers, Spider drives, forward, then drives in reverse without changing gears. Then a break in the scene shows his car's backup lights.
Continuity
There is a scene during the reception for Walt's wife, at the house. From the inside, looking through the front door, the sun is seen as shining strongly. However, when they go outside (next scene), it is cloudy.
Continuity
Walt has Thao paint the neighbors house. The painted house is clearly visible at one stage. Near the end of the movie, when Walt is mowing his lawn, the new layer of paint disappears.
Continuity
When Walt is in the bar and the priest wants to talk to him, he takes off his hat with right hand, and his left hand is down. In the next shot, both hands are on the table, and the hat is gone.
Continuity
When Walt drinks beer in Sue's kitchen, the level of the beer gets higher the longer he drinks it.
Continuity
In McKay's office, Walt picks up 2 paper cups for coffee. In the next shot, he is holding a single cup.
Continuity
In the scene where Thao goes along with Walt to the barbershop, the barber's jacket zipper changes position several times.
Continuity
At the medical office, the physician introduces herself as Dr. Chu. In the credits, she is Dr. Chang.
Continuity
When Walt goes downstairs during the barbecue, he places his beer on the washing machine. In the next shot, the beer is in his hand.
Character Error
The medical forms list Walt's address as 5962 Delco St. When Walt stands on his porch, his house number is 238.
Character Error
In the bathroom scene, Walt says to the dog to give him a break because it's the first time he's ever smoked in the house. Actually, he smoked the night before when Father Janovich was with him inside the house and they also drank beer.
Character Error
When the Hmong ladies feed Walt in Sue's kitchen, Sue's mother Vu puts a large spoon into a bowl of salad, then moves to transfer the contents to Walt's plate, even though most of the salad fell out of the spoon back into the bowl. Either the actress either didn't notice, or she decided to keep going with the scene.
Character Error
The front license plate on Walt's truck is missing. Michigan doesn't require a front plate, but it looks it was recently removed. That wouldn't make sense, since he likely bought the truck new.
Miscellaneous
When Walt and Sue start to sit to talk on Walt's back porch, the boom mic appears ever so slightly.
Miscellaneous
During Walt's second phone conversation about his medical records, a boom mike appears in Walt's son's house, above the kitchen table.
Trivia:
The movie opens and closes with a funeral. It opens with Walt's wife Dorothy's and it ends with Walt's himself.
Walt fires a weapon only once in the movie, accidentally.
Body Count: 1 (2 if you count Dorothy Kowalski).
Sue Lor, while on a "date" is assaulted by three youths. The filming location for the assault is the intersection of Charlevoix and Drexel near Grosse Point Park.
Walt is never depicted driving his beloved Gran Torino. He only drives his old F100; only Thao is seen driving the Gran Torino.
There is a Hmong gang member with a tattoo on his upper chest. The tattoo is of Chinese characters and means "Family".
When Walt is at the Hmong's party, he pats the head of a young Hmong girl passing through, causing the family members to audibly gasp. In Hmong culture, the human head is believed to house the soul, and any touching of the head is believed to jeopardize this, and is thus considered very disrespectful.
Writers Nick Schenk and Dave Johannson knew some of the Hmongs near the steel mill where they worked. They wrote the script on pieces of paper during lunch breaks.
Eastwood's son, Scott Eastwood plays Trey. And his oldest son, Kyle Eastwood provided the music score.
Gran Torinos were built in Lorain, OH, about two hours from Detroit. The truck Walt drives, however, could have been built in Wayne, Michigan, twenty miles from Highland Park.
The jersey Walt's grandson wears at the funeral is that of former Lions wide receiver Roy Williams.
In box office terms, the most successful Clint Eastwood movie ever, both in the U.S. and the U.K, but not with inflation. Taking inflation into account, his most successful films are Every Which Way But Loose and Any Which Way You Can.
The "cool medal" the kids find in Walt's basement is the Silver Star, the U.S. military's third highest award for valor in combat. Despite its predominately gold color, it gets its name from the smaller silver star (based on the small silver World War I Citation Star) set inside the large gold star.
Shot in 33 days, scheduled for 35.
One of the first films to take advantage of a new Michigan law providing tax incentives to film productions.
Walt Kowalski's gun collection seems to consists of weapons he used in the military. His rifle is an American M1 Garand, a 9.5lb .30-06 gas-operated rifle. It was first issued during WWII, then re-issued in Korea before being phased out by the M14 selective fire .308 rifle. His pistol is an M1911A1, a .45 ACP semi-automatic handgun also issued during the Korean war.
Clint Eastwood's character's name, Walt Kowalski, is the real name of legendary wrestler, 'Walter "Killer' Kowalski'.
Kowalski is by far the most popular surname in Poland, practically like "Smith" which as a matter of fact it means, in adjective form usual in Polish names. (Kowalczyk - Marilyn Monroe's name in Some Like It Hot is closely related to it - meaning "Smithson"). The name "Kowalski" identifies a person as a Pole.
Open casting calls for Hmong actors were held in Hmong communities in Detroit, Michigan; Saint Paul, Minnesota; and Fresno, California. Only Doua Moua had been in a film before.
Clint Eastwood encouraged the Hmong actors to ad-lib in Hmong.
This film was once falsely rumored to be a final installment in the Dirty Harry series.
Walt fires a weapon only once in the movie, accidentally.
Body Count: 1 (2 if you count Dorothy Kowalski).
Sue Lor, while on a "date" is assaulted by three youths. The filming location for the assault is the intersection of Charlevoix and Drexel near Grosse Point Park.
Walt is never depicted driving his beloved Gran Torino. He only drives his old F100; only Thao is seen driving the Gran Torino.
There is a Hmong gang member with a tattoo on his upper chest. The tattoo is of Chinese characters and means "Family".
When Walt is at the Hmong's party, he pats the head of a young Hmong girl passing through, causing the family members to audibly gasp. In Hmong culture, the human head is believed to house the soul, and any touching of the head is believed to jeopardize this, and is thus considered very disrespectful.
Writers Nick Schenk and Dave Johannson knew some of the Hmongs near the steel mill where they worked. They wrote the script on pieces of paper during lunch breaks.
Eastwood's son, Scott Eastwood plays Trey. And his oldest son, Kyle Eastwood provided the music score.
Gran Torinos were built in Lorain, OH, about two hours from Detroit. The truck Walt drives, however, could have been built in Wayne, Michigan, twenty miles from Highland Park.
The jersey Walt's grandson wears at the funeral is that of former Lions wide receiver Roy Williams.
In box office terms, the most successful Clint Eastwood movie ever, both in the U.S. and the U.K, but not with inflation. Taking inflation into account, his most successful films are Every Which Way But Loose and Any Which Way You Can.
The "cool medal" the kids find in Walt's basement is the Silver Star, the U.S. military's third highest award for valor in combat. Despite its predominately gold color, it gets its name from the smaller silver star (based on the small silver World War I Citation Star) set inside the large gold star.
Shot in 33 days, scheduled for 35.
One of the first films to take advantage of a new Michigan law providing tax incentives to film productions.
Walt Kowalski's gun collection seems to consists of weapons he used in the military. His rifle is an American M1 Garand, a 9.5lb .30-06 gas-operated rifle. It was first issued during WWII, then re-issued in Korea before being phased out by the M14 selective fire .308 rifle. His pistol is an M1911A1, a .45 ACP semi-automatic handgun also issued during the Korean war.
Clint Eastwood's character's name, Walt Kowalski, is the real name of legendary wrestler, 'Walter "Killer' Kowalski'.
Kowalski is by far the most popular surname in Poland, practically like "Smith" which as a matter of fact it means, in adjective form usual in Polish names. (Kowalczyk - Marilyn Monroe's name in Some Like It Hot is closely related to it - meaning "Smithson"). The name "Kowalski" identifies a person as a Pole.
Open casting calls for Hmong actors were held in Hmong communities in Detroit, Michigan; Saint Paul, Minnesota; and Fresno, California. Only Doua Moua had been in a film before.
Clint Eastwood encouraged the Hmong actors to ad-lib in Hmong.
This film was once falsely rumored to be a final installment in the Dirty Harry series.
