Mistakes in top cinema/rental movies

Oppenheimer picture Oppenheimer mistake picture

Factual error: After the successful Trinity test in 1945, people in a crowd are holding small US flags with 50 stars on them (offset rows). At the time there were only 48 states and the flag had 48 stars in even rows. The 50 star flag didn't exist until 1960, after Alaska and Hawaii were made states in 1959.

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: While this is correct, an argument can be made that since the colour scenes are meant to be subjective and the black and white scenes are meant to be objective, Oppenheimer could have been unintentionally mapping the modern US flag onto this scene.

THGhost

That's a ridiculous stretch with zero evidence, not least as 48 star flags are seen in colour in other scenes. Sometimes a mistake is simply a mistake.

There is evidence, though. Nolan said so himself. Look it up. As for the mistake itself, I'm merely repeating what I've read on Twitter, and this correction was merely a suggestion. Seeing the 48 star flags in other colour scenes still doesn't disprove this theory. It is just a theory though, so no need to shoot it down so hard.

THGhost

He's said subjective in terms of the colour scenes being "first person", and maybe not strictly factual in terms of creating moments between characters and conveying emotion, but nowhere does that stretch to "one random scene happens to feature 50 star flags because Oppenheimer is mapping the modern flag onto it, when nothing like that happens anywhere else in the film."

Meh, take it up with Twitter. I just thought it was interesting, and certainly don't see it as a stretch, so I posted it here for a different point of view/perspective for others to read. It is most likely bull**** though.

THGhost

The fact that a director realized they had made a mistake and retroactively made up a deus ex machina explanation for it in no way invalidates the mistake. Nice try, Mr. Nolan but this posting is absolutely valid.

While Christopher Nolan's talked about the subjective/objective colour/black and white thing, which is entirely fair and no doubt exactly his intention, I don't think he's actually tried to "excuse" this by using that explanation, that's just other people trying to connect the two things. I'm not sure Nolan has commented on the flag issue in interviews at all.

Precisely, and I was in no way trying to invalidate the original mistake. I just found the whole theory interesting and posted it here. It is rather hilarious that a director with such attention to detail like Nolan would have missed something like this. We shall see if he gets it fixed for the streaming/physical release.

THGhost

It's not fixed in the home video version. However, the behind-the-scenes materials provide a reason for the mistake, in that putting a crowd in the scene was apparently a spur-of-the-moment decision. It's like that in their haste to bring in the crowd, the set decorators bought some modern miniature flags and put them into the scene without anyone realizing the 48/50 discrepancy.

Vader47000

Biggest mistakes of all time

Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade picture Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade mistake picture

Visible crew/equipment: After Indy and Henry have escaped from Castle Brunwald, Indy jumps into one of the boats, pulls the motor starter cord and jumps back out, then just as he bends over to release the boat from the piling, right between Indy's legs the black covered arm of a hidden crew member appears from under the tarp taking hold of the throttle, steering the boat away from the pier. (01:02:40)

Super Grover

Best pictures

Revealing mistake: During Quidditch tryouts, when Ron blocks the Quaffle with his head in the closeup, Ron's body disappears at the bottom of the screen below the digital editing line. (Only visible on fullscreen DVD).

Super Grover

Best recent entries

Best trivia

Gone with the Wind picture

Trivia: Hattie McDaniel's portrayal of Mammy earned her an Academy Award, the first to be given to an African American.

Biggest Star Wars mistakes

Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones picture

Revealing mistake: When Amidala and Anakin are eating and he cuts her a piece of the fruit and "floats" it back to her, the bite appears in the fruit a split second before she actually eats it. [This appears to be fixed in rereleased versions]. (00:53:40)

Biggest Marvel mistakes

Black Widow picture

Factual error: The sisters run out of fuel for the helicopter, which is then shown slamming down on the ground and essentially destroying itself. All helicopters are capable of autorotating safely to the ground in the event the engine(s) quit. Of course, that would not have been as dramatic. (01:05:15)

toroscan

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: You may have noticed the helicopter was severely damaged, it may not have any rotating capabilities left after the fuel was gone.

lionhead

I did notice it, but it did not look that any damage would prevent it from autorotation.

toroscan

Perhaps the sisters (not being experienced helicopter pilots) couldn't use the autorotation properly.

OK, while that may be a possibility, if they have a helicopter pilot's license they would have had to demonstrate autorotation as part of both the curriculum and the practical exam. But listen, it's just a movie. The way they did it makes it more dramatic.

toroscan

Biggest Disney mistakes

The Little Mermaid picture The Little Mermaid mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When Carlotta brings the plates for the meal they all have a dome cover with a top handle, but when Sebastian runs across the table those handles have changed. (00:54:50)

Super Grover

Biggest Pixar mistakes

Coco picture

Continuity mistake: When they jump in the pool, they drop the guitar. When they jump out their guitar is no longer in the pool.

Best questions

Van Helsing picture

Question: In the beginning of the film, where Dracula is talking to Viktor vonFrankenstein, he slams the chest shut and begins yelling at him. Before this, Viktor was looking over his shoulder and his attention immediately snaps back to Dracula, but he then turns once more to look behind him before staring at Dracula again, can someone explain why he looks over his shoulder a second time?

Answer: During their conversation Dracula is able to move around the room without Viktor noticing it. Then Dracula is standing on top of the fireplace behind Viktor, that's why he turns his head the first time. When Dracula suddenly slams the chest Viktor is surprised to see Dracula suddenly standing in front of him so he instinctively turn his head to look at the fireplace to believe his own eyes.

Mortug

Best quotes

Sweet Home Alabama picture

Jake: The only reason I ain't signing is cause you've turned into some hoity-toity Yankee bitch, and I'd like nothing better right now than to piss you off.

Movie quote quiz

What movie is this quote from? Might be obvious, might be obscure... Take your pick and see how others did!

"If your laws don't include me, well then, they don't apply to me either."
Please create a free account and log in to track your score better, be credited for things you add, and more. Premium membership is also available for just $12 a year, which removes all adverts, prioritises your submissions, and more.
Member Entries & comments
Sammo 187
TedStixon 83
zenee 69
Casual Person 54
Sacha 31
Phaneron 16
manthabeat 13
raywest 5
eric 64 4
Ilovepurple 3
Mistakes/trivia books

Directors on moviemistakes.com