Best action movie factual errors of all time

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Godzilla vs. Kong picture

Factual error: Let's go by the movie geography; our planet is a big matrioska. By diagrams shown, this Hollow Earth would be by the Earth's core, thousands of miles deep. They enter from a portal in Antarctica. And yet, Godzilla later in the movie burns a random hole in the ground in HK deep enough to reach it, roars through it and Kong hears it, and the ape easily climbs it to poke back to the surface. Even admitting you can do the magic "1,000 miles in 2 seconds" warp anywhere, the scale is ludicrous.

Sammo

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Airport 1975 picture

Factual error: The scene in which the Beechcraft Baron hits the Boeing 747 in flight plumbs new depths in cinematic absurdity. Assuming both aircraft are at their normal cruising speeds - they appear to be - and the Beechcraft has half a fuel load left, it will hit with the same energy as 7,700 kgs of TNT. The Beechcraft Baron weighed 3,200 kg and the two aircraft would have a closing speed of something like 700 kmh. Even a glancing blow would tear the entire front half of the 747 to bits - there would be virtually nothing of the fuselage left intact all the way back to the wings, and the film shows the two aircraft on course for a head on collision.

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Suggested correction: What matters is how much of the small plane's kinetic energy was deposited in the 747's structure. A glancing blow would deliver less energy than a head-on collision, because it lessens the total time interval of the impact. Another important thing is if the small plane shattered or stayed largely in one piece during the collision. If it promptly shredded on impact, then each little fragment carried away its portion of the total energy. Smaller pieces of something as light as that plane would immediately get caught in the powerful airflow and be diverted around the 747.

Absolute rubbish. Airliners do not survive mid air collisions.

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Eternals picture

Factual error: Druig leads several warriors outside Tenochtitlan as it was sacked by the Spanish conquistadores, and they live peacefully in the nearby forest, for 500 years. The forest is of course the virgin Amazon forest, as captions say. Small problem; Tenochtitlan was in Central Mexico.

Sammo

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Suggested correction: It never says that the people who live with Druig in the Amazon in the present day are descendants of the people from Tenochtitlan. Nor does it ever say that the forest outside Tenochtitlan is the Amazon. He's probably been moving around for the last five centuries just as the other Eternals have.

Necrothesp

Never ever? He literally says "Do you remember this forest? Beautiful. It's the last place we all lived together. I've protected these people for 20 generations." They split after their argument during the sack of the town. If their base of operations exterminating the mutant space dogs in Mexico was in the Amazon forest, their logistic could use some work.

Sammo

Just because the last time they fought together was in Tenochtitlan doesn't mean that was the last time they lived together. They may have spent some time living peacefully in the Amazon before moving north to do their business in Tenochtitlan. And just because he's protected the people for twenty generations doesn't mean they're descendants of the people from Tenochtitlan. He may have found them later. We don't know every detail of the Eternals' history. You're just making assumptions.

Necrothesp

You are assuming the presence of a third party stranded for 500 years that the movie never showed before, different from the people that he led out of the city and that we have then to postulate he let go, in a location far off from the one of their last encounter. It's an assumption on entirely new details that you had to make up. My only assumption is to think that what is shown in the movie had purpose and fits, and someone just borked a caption.

Sammo

Who says they're stranded? He just said he had protected them for twenty generations. They'd probably always lived there. You're making the assumption that they must be the same people because nobody said they weren't. But nobody said they were either. Nobody in the film ever made a connection between the people in Tenochtitlan and the people in the Amazon. No mistake has therefore been made in either the dialogue or the captions.

Necrothesp

I noticed the same problem, the scene indicates the location as "Amazon" (it could be any of the Spanish speaking countries that have part of this forest), but then, Druig comes with the affirmation you pointed. It's obviously a geographical inaccuracy.

They don't speak Spanish in the Amazons.

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Dark Phoenix picture

Factual error: In the car at the beginning of the movie, Jean uses her telekinetic powers to switch the radio from a station playing "By the time I get to Phoenix" by Glen Campbell to Warren Zevon's "Werewolves of London." It's 1975, and Zevon recorded the song only in 1978 (although the song itself had already been written in 1975, other artists played it in live concerts in the Fall of that year). (00:01:30)

Sammo

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The Pacifier picture

Factual error: Shane is a lieutenant and the Principal is Petty Officer first class. Shane states the Principal is the senior officer. This is wrong as the Petty Officer is a Non Commissioned Officer, while Shane is a commissioned officer. Shane outranks the Principal.

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Rogue One: A Star Wars Story picture

Factual error: When they are trying to navigate the shuttle through Eadu, the shuttle abruptly collides with a rock, which causes Bodhi to jolt backwards. If the shuttle hitting the rock had caused the shuttle reduce speed so abruptly, in the way that was shown, then Bodhi would have jolted forwards, not backwards. (00:57:05)

Casual Person

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xXx: Return of Xander Cage picture

Factual error: When Xander Cage is chasing Xiang on the dirt bikes, he lets his bike get entirely submerged, which would flood the engine.

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Frequency picture

Factual error: A ham radio requires the person to hold down the button while talking. Numerous times in the movie they are talking without pushing the button.

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Suggested correction: This is actually subtly addressed in the film. The magic which allows the radio to work across time also allows the two men to speak without pressing the button. There is a moment where Frank wonders what is going on with the radio and presses the button a few times to talk but then notices that he doesn't have to press the button to be heard.

BaconIsMyBFF

If that was true, then it wouldn't make sense for them to continue to show Frank and John hitting the squawk bar throughout the film.

Bishop73

That is a separate issue. The mistake entry states that you need to hold the button to talk on a ham radio, which is true, but the magic ham radio in the film doesn't require it. If the actors continue to occasionally press the button that could be considered a character mistake but it could also simply be a force of habit by the characters.

BaconIsMyBFF

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Hunter Killer picture

Factual error: When the order is given to activate the US Navy 6th Fleet, the warships are shown with their crews standing on deck in their dress white uniforms, which is only done when pulling in or out for a deployment, or ceremonial port call (fleet week). (01:33:00)

Snag.1

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Uncharted picture

Factual error: The Skycrane helicopters have a max takeoff weight of 42,000 lbs. With them weighing in at 19,200 lbs, that leaves 22,800 lbs that they could lift. Even small carracks, the ships, weigh around 180,000 lbs.

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Flightplan picture

Factual error: Jodie Foster states that as a propulsion engineer, she knows the internal structure of the plane by heart and has worked extensively on it. The problem with that is that propulsion engineers work on the jet engines - which are all on the outside of the plane, on the wings. Sure, a propulsion engineer might have some basic knowledge of the plane's interior design and engineering, but the in-depth knowledge she claims comes from her job simply isn't right - that's the job of avionics engineers.

swordfish

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Shoot 'Em Up picture

Factual error: In the final standoff, Smith shoots Hertz by holding cartridges between his fingers in the fire. This is not remotely believable. The casings, weighing much less than the bullets, would have been blasted off while the bullets themselves would have gone nowhere. (01:15:15)

throcko

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Dawn of the Planet of the Apes picture

Factual error: When Koba steals an Armored Security Vehicle class M1117A Guardian, he kills the gunner from the turret and then somehow manages to use the 240B attached to the turret. First, it takes three men/apes to operate the ASV, and second, the ASV cannot be operated from the turret. In that scene, it is assumed that Koba is operating the entire vehicle, something most humans cannot do or do not know how to do. Let alone a 240B, MK19, or .50 Cal M2 Browning. The ASV turned in the direction of the wall, which was the only way that the Apes were able to breach the city walls. This is also kind of an important plot hole blunder too because if it were not for the breach from the ASV, the Apes would not have won. The other blunder from this is that the gunner would not have been exposed from the hatch, since the ASV was using .50Cal and MK19. No need to use the 240B.

Bradley Holmes

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Plane picture

Factual error: After a power outage the captain states that operating on batteries (?) he has 10 minutes of power, followed by an uncontrolled descent. That is ludicrous. Aircraft can glide to a landing with no power or engines. Further, commercial airliners have a Ram Air Turbine that can supply hydraulic as well as electrical power even if the engines are not functioning.

toroscan

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Where Eagles Dare picture

Factual error: The Germans in the castle are using Bell 47 helicopters which a) were American, not German, and b) weren't even in operation until 1946.

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Back to the Future picture

Factual error: The electric guitar Marty plays at the "Enchantment Under the Sea Dance" is a Gibson ES345. This guitar model debuted between 1957 and 1958 yet he's supposedly playing it in 1955. It would have been more accurate to have him using a Fender Telecaster (1950) or Stratocaster (1954) or a Gibson Les Paul (1952). (01:23:50)

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Cliffhanger picture

Factual error: How is it that when Sly comes out of the freezing, icy water, his hair and clothes are bone dry? I don't know too much about hypothermia, but I would imagine that his fairly thin sweater isn't wind proof. I'm sure by the time the movie ended, he would be suffering from more symptoms of hypothermia other than chattering teeth.

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Saving Private Ryan picture

Factual error: The Tiger tanks portrayed in the movie are actually Soviet T-34s. You could tell by looking at their wheels. Real Tigers had interleaved wheels. These Tigers had the T-34 suspension. Obviously, Tigers are so rare (only one operational Tiger left) that another tank had to be substituted. But an excellent job was done to make the T-34s look like Tigers.

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Superman IV: The Quest for Peace picture Superman IV: The Quest for Peace mistake picture

Factual error: If the Russian cosmonauts need special suits to survive out in space, so should Lacy when she is abducted by Nuclear Man. (00:02:50 - 01:20:20)

Sacha

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