The dolls were portrayed via motion capture by their respective actors and actresses.
In the first scene of the movie, as Cap'n Hogie is in flight and calling over the radio, he uses the call sign 'Foxtrot Uniform Charlie Kilo'...a way to use profanity using the NATO phonetic alphabet.
The person upon whom the film is based, Mark Hogancamp, was physically assaulted on 8 April 2000. Suffering injuries to every part of his body, Hogancamp was in a coma for nine days. His memories of his life before the assault have been virtually extinguished. Limitations of his health insurance prevented continued rehabilitation. Only three of his attackers went to prison, and all were released within two years.
In the hobby store, when Mark checks out the miniature medals, the Purple Heart he buys has a reference label next to it reading CRM-114. CRM-114 is a piece of radio equipment in Stanley Kubrick's "Doctor Strangelove". The code has then been used by Kubrick in latter films and by other filmmakers as a tribute to him.