Best action movie character mistakes of 2004

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Flight of the Phoenix picture

Character mistake: It's all very heroic and manly but the effort put into dragging the Phoenix into its takeoff position once the engine is started is totally wasted. Townes and A.J. are both experienced pilots and Elliott is supposedly a genius aeronautical engineer - they must surely be aware that the engine power required to taxi an aircraft is trivial compared to that required to lift it into the air. Even taking into account the drag of the skids and wheels, if that engine cannot propel the aircraft at a few kilometers an hour on the ground it cannot propel it to take off speed, nor keep it up once airborne. They are not there to steer the aircraft - they are taking the strain of the whole weight of the air-frame, dragging it into place, and the energy input of eight exhausted, underfed people would add nothing to the contribution of a 2500 bhp aircraft engine in moving the Phoenix. They are not trying conserve fuel - they had enough fuel for an extended flight with both engines at full throttle, so they have easily enough to run one engine throttled back to reduce stress on the air-frame, which they say they are going to do.

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The Day After Tomorrow picture

Character mistake: When Jack arrives in New York he's right next to the Statue of Liberty. However when he reaches the library he comes from the East River and walks west. That is a pretty big detour around the southeastern corner of Manhattan, instead of taking the direct route. (01:47:00 - 01:48:20)

Jacob La Cour

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Suggested correction: Easier to walk in an open area and have a short distance walking between buildings rather than walking through the city where the terrain may not be the best even with the snow/ice.

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Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow picture

Character mistake: After the robots first attack New York City, a series of newspapers is shown. One of the headlines in the French one reads "La Tour Eiffeil est détruite". The proper spelling is "Eiffel" (00:15:55)

Dr Wilson

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National Treasure picture

Character mistake: Nick states that Wall Street was originally a wall (correct) built to defend against the British (incorrect). The original wall was a wooden palisade built in the 16th Century to defend the Dutch colonists against invading natives and to prevent livestock from wandering uptown.

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Suggested correction: He says Morrison clear as day.

Steve Kozak

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Man on Fire picture

Character mistake: The mother is supposed to be American, but she speaks in her native Australian accent near the end when she says, "I don't think I can take anymore of this" upon finding out that Pita may be alive.

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The Bourne Supremacy picture

Character mistake: When Marie joins Bourne in the bathroom while he's getting medicine, Marie says he's burning up. She gets a washcloth, wets it and dabs Bourne's neck. She only had what couldn't have any more than a tablespoon of water and dabbled it less than a few seconds. It couldn't have had any effect on someone who was burning up.

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Resident Evil: Apocalypse picture

Character mistake: Jill states that a 5 kiloton nuclear weapon will sanitise the city, however, such a yield is far too small to destroy the city. (00:42:00)

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The Librarian: Quest for the Spear picture

Character mistake: Flynn has been reading for a while, taking notes, spreading books around, etc. - when Nicole arrives and says that it was nice to watch take-off from the cockpit. The plane must have been in the air for a long time by then.

Jacob La Cour

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Hellboy picture

Character mistake: Tom Manning criticises Hellboy for using a lighter, (correctly) telling him to use a wooden match instead. But he then lights a match and immediately puts it to the cigar, instead of waiting for the sulphur to burn off and using a pure wood-fuelled flame to light it. He's not as well informed as he thinks.

Jon Sandys

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The Punisher picture

Character mistake: When Howard's men bail the guy out who was with Bobby Saint at the arms deal, they are beating him up in Saint's club. Howard Saint (John Travolta) shoots the man responsible for not watching his son. The man fall down to his knees and then says the name John instead of Howard.

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Suggested correction: John is the name of Howard's other son, who is also in the room. Bobby told the man to stay behind, and John was there when it happened, so he was asking John to vouch for him to Howard. This scene actually appears in the extended cut of the film.

Phaneron

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