Other mistake: After speaking with Dave Bowman on her TV, Betty lays her head on the table and we see an obvious cut & paste as her form shifts slightly. (01:09:35)
2010 (1984)
1 other mistake - chronological order
Directed by: Peter Hyams
Starring: Helen Mirren, John Lithgow, Roy Scheider, Bob Balaban
Continuity mistake: All the monitors aboard Discovery-1 are standard CRT screens of 1980s vintage (curved face), yet in "2001", they were all flat screens. and there's been no upgrading between the events of the two films.
Walter Curnow: I feel so stupid. How do you say, 'stupid'?
Maxim Brajlovsky: Durak.
Walter Curnow: That's me.
Maxim Brajlovsky: You shouldn't feel like that. The same thing happened to me the first time I did this.
Walter Curnow: When have you ever done this before?
Maxim Brajlovsky: Never.
Trivia: While it's well-known the voice of HAL in "2001: A Space Odyssey" is Canadian actor Douglas Rain, who returned to reprise his role in this film, it's less known that the voice of SAL is credited to "Olga Mallsnerd" which is a false name used by none other than Candice Bergen. (00:14:05)
Question: In the original film, the Discovery's onboard computer states: "I am a HAL 9000 Computer, Production Number 3. I became operational at the HAL plant in Urbana, Illinois, on the 12th of January, 1992." So, "HAL" was a manufacturer identification prefix (standing for Heuristically-programmed ALgorithmic Computers), "9000" was its model number, and "No.3" was its production lineage. In this sequel, however, Dr. Chandra is chatting with one of HAL's earth-based twin computers which has a feminine voice and is called "SAL"; but how can they arbitrarily change its manufacturer identification prefix? Being produced by the HAL plant in Urbana, Illinois, and being identical to the computer aboard the Discovery, the twin's name should have a different production number, but it should still be called "HAL," should it not?
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Answer: The most likely reason the name was changed was probably a literary one. It makes it easier for the audience to differentiate SAL from HAL, showing how they are two distinct computers playing different roles in the film. It may also just be a feminine nickname being that SAL has a female voice.
raywest ★
I thought perhaps "SAL" was a nickname, also, until I saw that the computer's maker nameplate reads "SAL 9000" (visible in close-ups of SAL's glowing eye).
Charles Austin Miller