Best thriller movie factual errors of 1983

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Octopussy picture

Factual error: In the balloon scene, it seems like Q can circle around and land on a spot where he flew past previously. A balloon can only fly in the direction of the wind.

Jacob La Cour

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WarGames picture

Factual error: At the end of the movie WOPR tries to crack the launch-code using brute force. So far so good. When WOPR finds out one digit of the 10 digit code, the first digit locks and the search goes on with the remaining 9 digits. Then he finds the second one, it locks too and so on. Problem is, brute force doesn't work that way. It would be too easy (26 letters and 10 numbers = only 36 possibilities for one digit). Brute-Force works only "all or nothing", you can't sneak your way to the whole code one by one.

Goekhan

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Jaws 3-D picture

Factual error: When the shark swims towards the glass, it doesn't move its tail. Sharks have to swing their tail in order to swim. There is no way this shark could be moving.

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Never Say Never Again picture Never Say Never Again mistake picture

Factual error: When we first see Fatima Blush, she is waterskiing. She is doing several stunts, which are only possible with one ski, the most notable being skiing backwards with one foot in the air. However, when she releases the tow rope and skis up the ramp into James Bond's arms, she is on two skis. (00:45:55)

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Christine picture

Factual error: When Christine is about to crush Moochie you see the car is a few inches wider than the entrance to the loading dock. Even a small box truck that you can rent is 7'3" wide so that opening would have to be wider than that for the truck to back in. A 1958 Plymouth Fury is only 6'6" wide. Christine would have had plenty of room to just drive in and crush Moochie. (01:45:45)

thetaz00

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Suggested correction: Just to the side there is a sign saying fork lift loading area. A fork lift is much narrower than a truck or a car.

Not disagreeing that a forklift couldn't go down there but @ 1:05:28 you see DANGER spray painted on the right in yellow on the bricks. Below that you see a yellow sign with black letters that say FORKLIFT AREA. Does not say "loading area." Also notice the black rubber bumper that goes across the entire length of the loading dock. That is there to cushion the trailer or box truck when it touches the loading dock. Then the yellow black yellow bumper that goes around the inside of the area is there to protect the building when the driver is backing up with either a trailer or a box truck.

thetaz00

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Brainstorm picture

Factual error: When the Brainstorm project is taken over by the sinister military operative Landan Marks, he begins weaponizing the brain-interface technology and testing it on the human guinea pig Gordon Forbes. As Gordon is subjected to increasingly difficult fighter-jet simulations, Landan Marks gleefully exclaims to military observers, "Now watch this! He can take a full 10-G rollout without losing control, just by thinking about it!" In the flight-simulator cockpit, Gordon grimaces, but the Brainstorm device allows him to remain conscious and maintain control despite his physical distress. But the fact is that no flight simulator in the 1980s or even today would be able to simulate extreme G-forces as described in this film. In fact, flight simulators then and now can't approximate even low G-forces. Only a giant centrifuge can produce such forces; but Gordon is not in a centrifuge for this scene. It's simply a flight simulator.

Charles Austin Miller

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Silkwood picture

Factual error: Karen points out to Thelma that she should have given a nasal swab (to detect internal contamination) after being 'cooked', yet on both occasions when Karen is being scrubbed after being contaminated she has blisters all over her face - something which should be avoided when performing decontamination as this can allow contamination to enter the body.

Andy Benham

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Sudden Impact picture

Factual error: In the final gun battle at the end of the film, Harry shoots the last bad guy so he falls off a high spot on the roller coaster and through the roof, into the carousel building. Yet as the credits roll, there is an aerial shot and you can see the carousel building at the left of the screen, with no hole in the roof. Also, the carousel building and the roller coaster are about 200 yards apart.

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Cujo picture

Factual error: The car is equipped with shatter-resistant glass yet Cujo manages to break through - even rabid, this should not be possible.

Erik M.

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10 to Midnight picture

Factual error: When the coroners are taking Betty Johnson's corpse on a stretcher, her head is uncovered. They cover the heads of corpses. The head is only uncovered if the patient is alive. (00:12:35)

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The Dead Zone picture

Factual error: When the milk tanker detaches from the truck hauling all of the side lights remain lit. The lights are powered from the truck through cables that would definitely disconnect in this scenario. (00:08:10 - 00:09:00)

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Bad Boys picture

Factual error: I don't know of any court system in the U.S. that will allow a person, teenager or not, to get into shootouts, steal a car, and maliciously run over/kill someone while fleeing a crime, and all they get is time in a juvenile detention center because they're underage. Whether you're a teen or not, if you commit crimes like that, you get tried as an adult, no exceptions, which means prison.

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The Haunting Passion picture

Factual error: When Julie's undressing in the shower scene she steps out of a slip. Impossible as she was wearing pants, women wear slips only with dresses.

Rob245

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Curtains picture

Factual error: One patient had a lobotomy. Impossible as those were abolished in the 1950's by the AMA and patients wouldn't be housed in the same room, too risky as they might attack each other.

Rob245

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