Sherlock Holmes

Add to My Movies

Sherlock Holmes Trivia

It's the second movie that Geraldine James (who plays Mrs. Hudson) makes about Sherlock Holmes. She was previously in The Hound of the Baskervilles (2002) (TV).
The letters "VR", visible throughout the film, stand for "Victoria Regina," the Royal Cypher (monogram) of Queen Victoria, who ruled England at the time.
Guy Ritchie's first film to be rated 12 in his native country U.K, and his first film where he has not been part of the writing process.
Sienna Miller was in talks for a role before her ex-fiancé Jude Law was cast as Watson.
Robert Downey Jr. read many Sherlock Holmes stories and watched Sherlock Holmes (UK) by Granada Television (starring Jeremy Brett) in order to learn more about the character.
Sam Worthington was considered for the role of Watson.
Although Sherlock Holmes takes a number of liberties with the original Holmes stories, it also contains numerous references and allusions to the earlier works. The film quotes the Conan Doyle novels and stories on several occasions, including: "The game is afoot" ("The Abbey Grange," as well as the original source of the phrase, Shakespeare's Henry V); "Because I was looking for it" ("Silver Blaze"); "You have the grand gift of silence, Watson. It makes you quite invaluable as a companion" ("The Man with the Twisted Lip"); "Crime is common, logic is rare" ("The Adventure of the Copper Beeches"); "My mind rebels at stagnation. Give me problems. Give me work" (The Sign of the Four); "It makes a considerable difference to me, having someone with me on whom I can thoroughly rely" ("The Boscombe Valley Mystery"); "Data, data, data-I cannot make bricks without clay" ("The Adventure of the Copper Beeches"), "...one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts" ("A Scandal in Bohemia"), and "There is nothing more stimulating than a case where everything goes against you" ("The Hound of the Baskervilles").
Robert Maillet accidentally knocked out Robert Downey Jr. while filming a fight scene.
The outfits worn by the navvies are the same ones worn by the railway workers in "Cranford" (2007) {Part One: August 1844 (#2.1)}.
Early rumors had Brad Pitt as Moriarty, but were quickly denied.
The scene in which Holmes and Watson make a series of deductions from a dead man's watch closely mirrors a similar sequence in The Sign of the Four (as does Holmes' ability to follow the carriage's path whilst blindfolded), in which Holmes uses nearly identical observations (scratches around the watch's keyhole, pawnbroker's marks on the inside of the case) to deduce information from a watch belonging to Watson's late brother. Holmes's passing reference to locking Watson's checkbook in his desk parallels a similar statement in "The Adventure of the Dancing Men," which commentators such as William S. Baring-Gould have taken to mean that Watson had a gambling problem, an interpretation that the film adopts. Holmes also uses a riding crop as a weapon throughout the film, as he does in "A Case of Identity". In the "Six Napoleons", it is described as his "favorite weapon".
The part of Sherlock Holmes has been previously played by Michael Caine, while Watson is played in this film by Jude Law. Law took over Caine's role in Alfie and Sleuth, appearing together with him in the latter film.
A number of the film's details recall "The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone." The first is the name of the primary antagonist, Lord Blackwood, which parallels that of "Mazarin Stone" villain Count Negretto Sylvius (Negretto is Italian for black and Sylvius is Latin for woods). (As Holmes scholar W. W. Roberts notes, this is "presumably a private joke at the expense of Blackwood's Magazine, long and unavailingly courted by Conan Doyle in the 1880s.") Another common detail is the Crown Diamond, an alternate name for the Mazarin Stone, which hangs around Irene Adler's neck in the film. "The Mazarin Stone" is also the first story to mention that the 221B Baker Street apartment had multiple exits and a waiting room. The extra exit, which was through the bedroom, is employed by Holmes to follow Irene early in the film.
Guy Ritchie's first film not to be Rated R in the US.
Attempting to escape the clutches of wearing a tight corset every morning, Rachel McAdams would trick the costumers by pushing her stomach out or eating a big breakfast of oatmeal before being laced up. However, they eventually caught on to her ruse.
Before the scene where Sherlock Holmes reenacts the black magic ceremony, we see a brief shot of an Inn called The Punch Bowl. The Punch Bowl is the name of Guy Ritchie's pub in Mayfair, London.
Colin Farrell was in talks to play Watson before Jude Law was cast.
Although Irene Adler plays a large role in the movie, she only appears in one Sir 'Arthur Conan Doyle' story, "A Scandal in Bohemia", briefly referenced in the movie.
At one point, Holmes drinks something that Watson notes is meant "for eye surgery." In the Sherlock Holmes novel The Seven-Per-Cent Solution, Watson laments that the cocaine mixture that Holmes was addicted to was originally meant for eye surgery.
The four symbols referred to in the movie, the Man, the Lion, the Ox and the Eagle, are also attributed to the four Gospels of the Christian Bible: Matthew (Man, the humanity of Christ), Mark (Lion, for courage and for action), Luke (Ox, for strength and perseverance), and John (Eagle, for clarity of sight and for divinity).
The line "Never theorize before you have data. Invariably, you end up twisting facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts." which Holmes delivers to Watson when they are searching for the red-headed midget is a direct reference to the 'Arthur Conan Doyle' short story "A Scandal In Bohemia" , where the quote reads as "It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist the facts to suit theories , instead of theories to suit facts." The short story also happens to feature Irene Adler, a character that is included in the movie.
Watson's line to Holmes, "You know that what you're drinking is for eye surgery," is an obscure reference to Holmes's cocaine usage. At the time, cocaine was used as a topical anesthetic for eye surgery. In the stories, Holmes injects cocaine.
The story The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual mentions that Holmes practiced shooting his pistol by putting VR (Victoria Regina) on his wall with bullet holes. In the movie, Holmes shoots VR in the wall in his room with a gun.
Among other references to the earlier stories, Holmes retains the portrait of Irene Adler acquired for his services in "A Scandal in Bohemia" and also once refers to her as "woman" as he does in the latter story. The "V.R." design that Holmes shoots into the wall at Baker Street is mentioned in "The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual," in which Watson reports that Holmes used a pistol to adorn the wall "with a patriotic V.R. [for Victoria Regina] done in bullet-pocks." The bulldog that appears throughout the movie is first referenced in A Study in Scarlet, in which Watson says "I keep a bull pup." The dog's name, Gladstone, is taken from an episode of "The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" (A radio show in the USA in the 30's and 40's) . Although the dog is never mentioned again in the original stories, its treatment in the film recalls the speculations of commentators (as summarized by Baring-Gould) that "the pup was a victim of one of Holmes's chemical experiments...[or] the dog, unable to stand the Baker Street menage, deserted."
The set for Sherlock Holmes's home in this film was previously used as Sirius Black's home in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
Rachel McAdams, Jude Law and Robert Downey Jr. reportedly did most of their own stunts.
Other quotes that have been taken directly from Conan Doyle stories and placed into the script: "It makes a considerable difference to me, having someone with me on whom I can thoroughly rely." - The Boscombe Valley Mystery "You have the grand gift of silence , Watson. It makes you quite invaluable as a companion." - The Man With The Twisted Lip "Crime is common. Logic is rare." - The Adventure of The Copper Beeches "Data , data , data. I cannot make bricks without clay." - The Adventure of the Copper Beeches
After Guy Ritchie signed on as the director, he insisted that the two most common clichés of Sherlock Holmes - the "Elementary my dear Watson" quip and Holmes's deerstalker - be dropped entirely.
Delivered to some theaters under the fake title "Elementary Education".
When Sherlock says "Now that you're sitting comfortably, I shall begin" to begin explaining Blackwood's plot, it is reference to a BBC children's radio program from the 1950's, Listen With Mother, which was famous for it's opening line "Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin."
The name of Holmes and Watson's English bulldog is Gladstone. He seems to be named after William E. Gladstone, four times Prime Minister under Queen Victoria. A Gladstone is also a type of bag, named after the man, which was sometimes used by doctors in this period to carry their medical equipment.
Sphinxes are shown throughout the movie in several of the scenes: the graveyard, Blackwood's father's black magic room, and Reordan's makeshift laboratory.
The first Sherlock Holmes film to reach U.S. movie theaters in over twenty years, since the 1988 comedy Without a Clue with Michael Caine as Reginald Kincaid/"Sherlock Holmes".
Director of photography Philippe Rousselot used a special high-speed digital camera specifically to film the Punchbowl fight sequence. The key moment where Holmes punches his opponent's jaw, was filmed one second in real-time and turned into a seven-second shot without additional post-production aid.
The song that plays from 1:03 to the end on the second trailer is a piece called "Unstoppable" by the group E.S. Posthumus (specifically 1:47 to the end on the track).
In the stories, Holmes is described to be an expert in Baritsu. In the film however, the martial art that Holmes used is the Wing-Chun Kung Fu (famously used by Ip Man and Bruce Lee). Robert Downey Jr. is a practitioner of the art in real-life and the fight scene between him and David Garrick (II) at Punchbowl Pit was coordinated with the help of his trainer.
The bare-knuckle fight between Holmes and McMurdo references the Holmes story The Sign of Four. In the story, Holmes encounters McMurdo and says to him, "I don't think you can have forgotten me. Don't you remember that amateur who fought three rounds with you at Alison's rooms on the night of your benefit four years back?"
Jude Law previously appeared in the Granada TV series "The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes" (1991) with Jeremy Brett. He appeared in the episode, "Shoscombe Old Place."
SPOILER: The three murders of the men and the attempted murder of Parliament coincide with the four Greek elements. The first was a burial crime scene (Earth), second was drowning (water), third was immolation (fire), and fourth was poison gas (air).
SPOILER: Guy Ritchie has stated in interviews that he is a fan of (and a practitioner) Brazilian Jujitsu, made popular in mixed martial arts. Towards the end of the movie Holmes and Watson fight Dredger and finally manage to subdue him with an arm-bar and a modified rear naked choke, both popular Brazilian Jujitsu submissions.
SPOILER: At the end of the film, Mary asks Watson if she could read his journals of his adventures with Sherlock Holmes. Of the 60 'Arthur Conan Doyle'-penned stories of Sherlock Holmes, all but four have Watson serving as the narrator.
SPOILER: All events take place in the year 1891. After Holmes and Watson are released from custody following the events in the shipyard, Inspector Lestrade hands a newspaper ("The National Police Gazette") over to Holmes. The title on the newspaper is "LONDON IN TERROR", and the date is Friday, November 19, 1891. This sets the story during the period which, in the original Sir 'Arthur Conan Doyle' stories, Holmes was believed dead. According to "The Final Problem," Holmes and Professor Moriarty apparently plunged to their deaths over the Reichenbach Falls in May 1891. Holmes did not reveal he had survived until the spring of 1894, as described in "The Adventure of the Empty House."
SPOILER: A raven is visible every time a character is killed or thought to be killed.