Best movie factual errors of 1998

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U.S. Marshals picture

Factual error: During the plane crash scene, the vertical stabilizer snags a hydro line, which rips it off. There is no way that the tail of a commercial jet would be so fragile. It is far more likely that the lines would snap.

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Gods and Monsters picture

Factual error: The supposedly Great War vintage gas mask James Whale finds and later gets Clayton to wear is in fact a British style introduced in the 1930's, and the specific variation shown was not made except during WW2. In addition, during the flashbacks to WW1, various pieces of WW2 equipment crop up (e.g. helmets with spring-loaded canvas covered chin straps instead of leather chin straps, and WW2 British pattern gas mask bags).

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Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas picture

Factual error: The movie is set in 1971, but during the start of the motorcycle race several of the bikes are obviously early 90's Honda CR's and Suzuki RM's. You can tell this from the disc brakes on the front wheels of the bikes and the 90's style plastic fenders and bike colors. Bikes in the 70's generally had metal fenders and definitely no front disc brakes.

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The Legend of 1900 picture

Factual error: In the opening narrative about the first person to call out "America", as the ship passes the Statue of Liberty, it's traveling in the wrong direction - with the Statue entering the screen from the viewer's left and moving toward the right; a direction that would have taken the ship from Manhattan to Staten Island (or through the Straits into the Atlantic).

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Halloween: H20 picture

Factual error: Near the end of the movie, Jamie Lee is speeding down a road in the coroner's van she has stolen and Michael is attacking her from the back of the van. She slams on the brakes, and he flies into the front windshield, which shatters into many pieces. Windshields are made of laminated glass, which contains a sheet of plastic, sandwiched between to sheets of glass. It does not shatter when struck.

stevewaclo

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The Big Lebowski picture

Factual error: This film takes place in the early 90's. When Walter and the Dude are talking about the toe in the cafe, you can see late model cars driving by on the street, such as a late model Ford Explorer and a Cadilac. This is also evident when the Dude gets kicked out of the cab and a mid '90s Nissan Maxima drives by.

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The Big Hit picture

Factual error: When the hitmen shoot out the windshield of the yellow Firebird, it shatters into pieces and falls apart. All DOT windshields have a plastic coating on both sides of the glass so that it remains one big sheet, regardless of the many pieces the glass in-between shatters into. No US windshield in the last 40 years is tempered - they are all coated. Side and back glass are tempered. As for objects poking holes and other "possibilities", watch the film before suggesting things that do not occur in this specific crash.

johnrosa

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Blues Brothers 2000 picture

Factual error: When Cable calls his mother in Phoenix from his desk in Chicago, he only dials seven digits, as if making a local call.

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A Murder of Crows picture

Factual error: After we are shown an aerial shot of New Orleans, then we see the scene where Lawson Russell pulls up in a New Orleans cab outside of a skyscraper. The only problem is, the skyscraper is the Library Tower, which is situated in downtown Los Angeles. (00:38:00)

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The Lion King II: Simba's Pride picture

Factual error: Near the end of the song "One Of Us" when Kovu is exiled, the beisa oryx at the front of the animal chorus (the one shaking her head slowly) has incorrect facial markings for her species. The other beisa oryx in the background has the correct markings. When she sings "He is not one of us," solo, she has correct facial markings, but lacks the correct leg markings, which she had when her facial markings were incorrect.

Blue Phoenix

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Pecker picture

Factual error: At the beginning of the movie, Pecker is at the Washington Monument in Baltimore when he boards the 27 bus to Hampden. The 27 bus does go to Hampden, but the closest it ever comes to the monument is Howard Street, three blocks to the west.

DavidK93

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Hornblower: The Even Chance picture

Factual error: When Pellew engages the first French warship, he gives the order to his helmsman, "Hard to Larboard". In the 18th century, helm orders were given in relation to the position of the tiller, rather than the rudder. A helmsman would push a tiller in the opposite direction he wanted the vessel to turn. This practice continued even when a ship was steered by a wheel, so the man at the wheel would have turned the wheel to starboard..except that he didn't.

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And Justice for All picture

Factual error: When the helicopter crashes in the water, it is most obviously dropped straight down from a crane. Even though it ran out of gas, the rotor blades would still be turning somewhat.

William Bergquist

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Rush Hour picture

Factual error: When Carter is meeting with Clive in a diner car park, as Clive is escaping in a car with a trunk full of C4, Carter starts shooting at the car. It eventually blows up leaving Clive badly injured. The explosion is caused by Carter's bullets reacting with the C4. However, C4 is inert and if a bullet hit it, it wouldn't create an explosion. You could also argue that this explosion was caused by Carter shooting Clive's gas tank, but this is another myth created by Hollywood to please audiences.

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BASEketball picture

Factual error: The very last thing we see before the camera fades to the credits is a waving American Flag. You will notice that the flag is that of the 48 states, not the 50. The stars printed are not in the correct sequence.

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Beloved picture

Factual error: When Beloved wakes up and starts talking to Denver for the first time there's a close-up of her face where her contact lenses are visible. (00:38:40)

NancyFelix

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Small Soldiers picture

Factual error: In order to incapacitate the Fimples, the Commandos fire sleeping pills into their drink via a mouse trap converted into a catapult. But in every spring- or torsion-powered one-armed catapult, a horizontal bar is required which stops the arm as it swings forward, or otherwise the load would be smashed into the ground in front of the weapon.

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SLC Punk! picture

Factual error: When the crew head into Wyoming to buy alcohol, there is a shot of the sign the marks the Wyoming border. That particular design of the sign didn't come into use until after 1993, when Wyoming changed its license plates to that design.

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