Best sci-fi movie factual errors of 1980

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The Final Countdown picture

Factual error: Listening to a radio broadcast, live, since no other indication is given, Joe Louis is completing the 12th round of a fight. This is December 6, 1941. Joe's last fight of 1941 occurred in September, his next fight was January 1942. (00:00:10)

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Superman II picture

Factual error: After Superman accidentally frees the phantom zone villains with the exploding hydrogen bomb, they start flying towards the moon. The sleeves in their clothes can be seen fluttering around. This would be impossible because there is no air in outer space, hence nothing to cause resistance against the clothes.

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Flash Gordon picture

Factual error: A meteorite falls onto Munson's bed, setting fire to it. He covers it up with blankets. But the meteorite is still red hot and would surely burn through, and set fire to his bed again.

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Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back picture

Factual error: There are three major mistakes regarding gravity in the escape sequence in the asteroid field. Han and Chewie take the Millennium Falcon to refuge on an asteroid that, while visually huge, is still far too tiny to have sufficient gravity to allow humans to walk in anything like a normal fashion; yet, they walk normally both inside and outside of the ship. They also do not use pressurized suits outside of the ship, even though the asteroid's gravity should be far too weak to accumulate any significant atmospheric pressure; they use oxygen masks, but their blood should have boiled in near-zero atmospheric pressure. Finally, and most ridiculously, they fly straight down the giant cave worm's throat and land on the side of its throat (this is obvious in the shot where the Millennium Falcon lifts off and heads toward the toothy exit), and they get out and walk around on the side of its throat, which would mean the asteroid's gravity was impossibly perpendicular to its mass. (00:57:50)

Charles Austin Miller

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Suggested correction: However, size isn't everything. The more mass an object has, the greater its gravitational field will be. Nothing is known of the asteroid's composition. It could have a high mass, resulting in a higher gravity than an equivalently sized body of lower mass. This would also address the atmosphere issue. Also, there is no evidence that the throat was vertical when they landed on it. Clearly, the creature was further down the tunnel perpendicular to the surface, then changed position as they flew out.

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