Revealing mistake: After the real Leon Sprague is clubbed to death, Pavel Upenskoy and his accomplice toss him into the nearby river. Just before he is dumped, the corpses left hand flexes open and bends upward towards Upenskoy's head.
Firefox (1982)
1 revealing mistake - chronological order
Directed by: Clint Eastwood
Starring: Clint Eastwood, Freddie Jones, David Huffman, Warren Clarke
Factual error: When flying towards the Russian missile cruiser, Gant says that "infra-red detection beams" have locked onto the Firefox. There is no such thing - infra-red (heat) sensors are entirely passive, meaning they do not give out any kind of signals and cannot be detected.
Maj. Gant: But you want me to fly?
Buckholz: Yes, we want you to fly. We want you to fly the greatest warplane ever built.
Trivia: The movie Firefox is a Soviet built radar-invisible aircraft. In reality, the American F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighter was made possible by the work of a Russian physicist, Dr. Pyotr Ufimtsev. (Soviet designers thought his theories worthless!).
More questions & answers from Firefox
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Chosen answer: There was just an explosion in the hangar and in the resulting confusion none of them were sure why it was moving. To get it away from the fire is not unreasonable. Also, the Soviet military is not big on showing initiative. Unless told to disable it, none of the guards would risk severe punishment for damaging a valuable aircraft.
Grumpy Scot