Best movie character mistakes of 1995

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Species picture

Character mistake: Fitch, who professes qualifications in biology, genetics and biochemistry, says that they made Sil female because she's a natural predator and so she'd be more docile. In almost every species of predator on earth the females are the hunters, aggressors and killers. The males may be socially dominant but they are the 'docile' ones. There are exceptions but Fitch speaks as if female and docile are the same thing - and they definitely are not.

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Suggested correction: This entry is so wrong, I don't quite know where to begin. The idea that all species, without exception, have the females as the aggressors and the males as docile is absolutely one of the most ridiculous things I have ever read. It is not backed up by fact in the slightest. They also did use human DNA; they added the sample of alien DNA to it to create Sil.

The posting states that there are exceptions to the rule and specifically states "almost every species." The mistake is not that a female must be "docile". It is that a scientist professing qualifications in biology, genetics, and biochemistry would make such a stupid statement, believing it to be invariably true.

However, there are exceptions; any one species makes this possible. I will start with African Lions. In Africa, the female lions are the main aggressors.

Noman

Suggested correction: They never said Sil was a natural predator when they created her. She was half human and half alien and it was their belief that human females are more docile (i.e. more motherly, more gentle, more empathetic, and less aggressive than human males). Although the reply to "more docile and controllable" was "you guys don't get out much", meaning that girls aren't that docile and controllable.

Bishop73

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Friday picture

Character mistake: When Craig gets the milk out of the fridge he takes it to the table and pours it on his cereal. He looks surprised when there isn't much in the carton. He would've known this from the weight of the carton when he first picked it up.

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Tommy Boy picture

Character mistake: When Tommy is being shown his new office the glass reads "Thomas R. Callahan III, " but when Tommy is introduced as the new President of the company he is introduced as "Tom Callahan, Jr." which would be his dad. (00:11:35 - 02:11:55)

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Suggested correction: It is possible (probably not common) to be a "III" and a "Jr." If you are named after your father, and he is still alive you are a Junior. If you both share the name with another member up the family tree say your great grandfather, then your father would be a "II" and you would be a "III." But since your father is still alive, you can still go by junior. I've known one person in this situation.

I guess you missed the part of the movie where his father died. He's made the new president because his dad is dead, not alive, negating your main point.

Bishop73

His dad literally just died, and most people don't know the specifics of the naming rules. That would be a character mistake of the person introducing him.

When Tommy is made president and introduced, that's at the end of the film. So, no, his dad didn't literally just die. Plenty of time passed. But the correction is wrong on its premise, but that's not to say a different argument couldn't be made why the mistake is wrong.

Bishop73

More Tommy Boy character mistakes
Batman Forever picture Batman Forever mistake picture

Character mistake: When Bruce is looking at Chase's various clippings of Batman on her desk while she's tending to the tea kettle, there is a paper that says "Diagnosis Form #39," and just above it, the word "schizophrenic" is incorrectly spelled as either "schizofrenic" or "schizoprenic" (a metal clip is partially covering the last six letters of the word, so it's hard to determine whether it's an "f" or a lone "p" where the "ph" should be). (01:03:11 - 01:03:32)

Phaneron

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Crimson Tide picture

Character mistake: More than once the crew of the submarine salute the Captain while uncovered in the hallways of the sub. Sailors never salute without their cover on.

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Congo picture

Character mistake: When the group is escaping from the killer gorillas, they find a cave and Ross say "It's a geode, a giant diamond." A geode is not a diamond at all, it's basically a hollow rock with crystal formations inside.

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Grumpier Old Men picture

Character mistake: When Lucky the dog is chasing Slick the cat, into John and Ariel Gustafson's house, Ariel yells out her husband's name, she actually yells out the actor's real name Jack instead of John, the character's name. Pay close attention, it could be easily missed. (01:07:10)

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Darkman II: The Return of Durant picture

Character mistake: The reporter refers to a "box of ashes" being buried in Westlake's grave, whereas in the first film, all that was buried there was "an ear", which was all they could find of his body.

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While You Were Sleeping picture

Character mistake: Lucy asks the hot dog man for the usual: mustard and Coke. She gets the hot dog but no Coke.

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Goldeneye picture

Character mistake: When Bond is jumping from the dam in the opening sequence, you see him 'clip in' twice, once attaching the rope to his feet, and once attaching the rope to the dam. He is using screw-gate carabiners, large clips that have a small bevel gate on them that secure them shut. Yet Bond doesn't screw them shut - all it takes is a simple flick of the fingers and they're done. This means that they're not as safe as they should be, and could potentially open - particularly when doing something as stressful as diving off a dam. You would have thought that as Bond's parents 'had the luxury of dying in a climbing accident' as Trevelyan puts it, he would take more care over basic safety procedures when using ropes and climbing equipment. (00:01:10)

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Heavyweights picture

Character mistake: In the scene when they do the weigh in, the camera man recording Ben does not even have the tape door pressed into the camera, so nothing is being recorded.

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Casino picture

Character mistake: When the high roller Ikachawa returns to The Tangiers, Rothstein said he's betting $1,000 instead of his usual $30,000, so when he won, it didn't feel like he had won $10,000 (10 $1,000 bets), but felt like he lost $90,000, alluding to the fact that betting 1/30th of his normal bets made him feel even though he was winning $1k a hand he was missing out on the other $29k, or losing that. At ten hands won, at $1k/hand, he really would have felt like he was losing $290,000, not $90,000 as Rothstein says.

Michael Prete

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Jumanji picture

Character mistake: When young Alan is talking young Sarah, he says that he found a board game at the factory. Alan didn't find the game at the factory. He found the game across from the factory at a construction site.

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Suggested correction: The construction might very well be part of the factory, a new factory building for example.

lionhead

The sign at the construction site said it was an "Executive Office Annex" that they were building.

Bishop73

Even though the sign said it was an Annex, construction was still being done outside of the main factory where Alan found the game. Not inside of the main factory itself.

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Outbreak picture

Character mistake: Salt states that the range of their Hughes OH-6A helicopter is 400 miles. The actual range of this model is 267 miles. (Source: FAS.ORG).

wizard_of_gore

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Suggested correction: The FAS site lists 4 different ranges, but according to Boeing's own website, the range was 413 miles.

Bishop73

Suggested correction: The range of the OA-6 is 380 statute miles.

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Sudden Death picture

Character mistake: You can see many of the "terrified" people smiling when running through the arena hallways.

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Apollo 13 picture

Character mistake: When Marilyn asks Henry "Do they know they're not on the air?" her finger is pointing just below her face. In the next frame with the camera now facing the pair, her hand is down at her lap. (00:47:00)

Zim

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Die Hard: With a Vengeance picture

Character mistake: During the St. Ives riddle, Simon gives them 30 seconds to solve the riddle and call back. But it takes them 65 seconds to call, to which Simon says they're 10 seconds too late. And, after 42 seconds, McClane says they only have 10 seconds left.

Bishop73

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Billy Madison picture

Character mistake: When Billy comes back from high school to visit his 3rd grade class, Ms. Vaughn is teaching prime numbers. The board reads "1, 3, 5, 7, 11" with the words "prime numbers" below it. "1" is not a prime number and it is written on the board, and "2" is a prime number and it is not written on the board.

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Three Wishes picture

Character mistake: Tom states that the Republic of China released fifteen American POWs in 1955. The People's Republic of China (Communist China) might have done so, but the Republic of China (Taiwan) has always been an American ally and would not have been holding any Americans prisoner to begin with.

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Personal Vendetta picture

Character mistake: When Bonnie cuffs her first arrest she mistakenly cuffs the guy in front instead of cuffing his hands behind his back.

Rob245

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