Rat Race

Continuity mistake: When Tracy is in the helicopter, chasing Sean who's in the truck, look at the chopper's back wings/fins. The bottom one is very short, however during the chase after Tracy yells "I want my five bucks back," the back of the chopper lowers down, and the back bottom wing/fin hits the road - only in this shot it is much longer than it is in all the other shots. (00:45:20)

Hamster

Continuity mistake: When Vera and Merrill first meet, they sit down and Merrill puts her handbag on the table so that the side with the little pink flower at the top faces Vera. In the next shot it faces Merrill. (00:08:45)

Hamster

Continuity mistake: After dropping from the hot air balloon rope, Duane looks up and sees the car with Blaine on the hood, driving towards him. He gets up and starts to run away from the car, and behind the car in this shot is just field - previously there were cows in the field. The position of the cows change in a few following shots too. (01:01:45)

Hamster

Continuity mistake: Bev is ordering Randy to stop the car, but he won't, so she head-butts him. She is wearing a red jacket, however after she head-butts him, it goes to a wider shot outside of the car, but through the car windshield you can see she or, her stunt double, has a blue denim jacket on now. (00:40:20)

Hamster

Continuity mistake: When Vera and Merrill roll off of the cliff, into the pile of cars, the back tyres of the car aren't spinning in one shot, but are in the next, and then are still in the next shot again. (00:53:10)

Hamster

Continuity mistake: When the receptionist gives Nick his hotel bill, a Parker-type pen appears in Nick's hand between shots. (00:03:20)

Hamster

Continuity mistake: When Merrill and Vera meet for the first time in the hotel, they sit down, and Merrill puts her black handbag down on the table in front of her. It disappears in the next shot. (00:08:45)

Hamster

Continuity mistake: When Duane and Blaine are running to the front of the queue at the airport, to buy a ticket, the time on the clock at the receptionist desk is 10:20. In the next shot it is 10:38. (00:28:15)

Hamster

Continuity mistake: As everyone is grabbing money from the duffel bag, just before all the lights turn on at the "Feed the World" concert, Merrill is getting money from the bag in one shot, but in the next shot, as the lights turn on, she is now nowhere near the bag, and with money in both hands. (01:32:40)

Hamster

Continuity mistake: In one shot as Duane and Blaine drive over a big hill, while chasing the key-cutter, if you look at the hot-air balloon, the white rope that hangs from the basket has gone for this shot. Also, throughout the chase scene, the length of the rope differs. (01:00:35)

Hamster

Continuity mistake: As the woman slips at the top of the stairs, she has a handbag in her hand, however as she is rolling down the stairs, she doesn't, and even if she let go of it, it isn't on the stairs anywhere. (00:06:50)

Hamster

Continuity mistake: As the bikers smash Hitler's car, one of them smashes a headlight, and there's still glass and fragments in it, but in the next shot the whole headlight is intact again! (01:07:45)

Hamster

Continuity mistake: There is a shot of Blaine as he lays on the Cadillac's roof during the balloon/cow/keymaker/car chase. This shot is specifically for when Blaine snaps the hood ornament off of the Cadillac by accident, then stares at it in his hand. In the next shot of the car, the ornament is back on, and it stays on for the remainder of the scene.

redbaron2000

Continuity mistake: When Randy and the family enter the hotel room, they put the bags down and go round to the boudoir area. In the next shot the position of the bags by the door has changed. (00:10:05)

Hamster

Continuity mistake: When Seth Green and his brother are chasing the keymaker, they fly over two embankments. In both shots, upon impact they break the A-pillar in the car, resulting in the nose of the car pointing upwards and the area directly under the windscreen bent down, common in a stunt like that. In the next shot of them racing along the paddock, the car is perfectly normal.

Continuity mistake: At the "Feed the Earth" concert, as the lead singer sings "It's a cool place, and they say it gets colder..." watch the guitarist - a microphone on a stand appears in front of him between shots. (01:39:40)

Hamster

Continuity mistake: In the scene where everybody is racing downstairs, as they all fall in the corner you can see Vera is wearing high heels. Later on in the film, especially noticeable at the rocket car scene, she now has flat shoes on. What, did they take a trip to the shoe shop during their frantic race to Silver City? (00:22:00 - 01:14:25)

Hamster

Continuity mistake: At the monster truck ralley, in the first shot as the monster truck revs up, ready to jump the ramp, look at the huge advert signs behind it. One of them has "PowerBar" written on it, but in the second shot as the truck roars over the ramp, the same sign is now totally different. (01:23:25)

Hamster

Continuity mistake: When the car repair man cries "Oh Lord, I'm here. And I'm listenin'" the oil rag he holds in his hand changes from being dark red to a much lighter red between shots. (01:15:50)

Hamster

Continuity mistake: When Kimberley says she need to go to the bathroom, the family drive past a restaurants' sign, but in the next shot if you look through the back window, the sign has vanished. (00:35:00)

Hamster

Other mistake: When Rowan Atkinson is riding in the train, near the end of the film, he is looking out the window. He is looking forward, then quickly looks backwards. He does this several times in a row, as if trying to see things quickly as the train passes them. But, when the camera pulls back, Rowan's back is facing the direction the train is moving, thus he was looking the wrong way! You can tell by the way the scenery is moving as you look through the window. (01:28:05)

More mistakes in Rat Race

Donald Sinclair: I can do anything. I'm eccentric.

More quotes from Rat Race

Trivia: At the beginning the two brothers are in the casino taking quarters out of a feed the children donation box. It's ironic that they should get the gold coin with the quarters and race to Silver City and end up giving the money to the Feed the Children Foundation and the end.

More trivia for Rat Race

Question: Besides being played for comedic effect, would getting the coin toss wrong have really mattered?

Answer: It really would have mattered. This was over time and the winner of the coin toss gets the ball first. In 2001, NFL overtime was sudden death where a field goal wins the game. So having the ball first is a huge advantage. The messed up coin toss seems to be a joke about the 1998 Thanksgiving game between the Lions and Steelers where the ref messed up the coin toss in overtime because he heard the Steeler's player's call wrong. The Lions ended up getting the ball and winning. Not to mention that many people who bet on football games also bet on the coin toss.

Bishop73

More questions & answers from Rat Race

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.