Continuity mistake: When Munchausen is about to be executed for the second time, right after the Sultain sais: "Executioner, execute!" we see the executioner raising the axe. The axe is facing the wrong way. In the next shot it's the right way. (01:39:45)
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988)
1 continuity mistake - chronological order
Directed by: Terry Gilliam
Starring: Robin Williams, Uma Thurman, Eric Idle, Oliver Reed, Sarah Polley, John Neville
Visible crew/equipment: In the scene after the storm, the ship moves in the sand. Look at its front and you'll be able to see a wire that moves the ship. It's very visible.
Baron Munchausen: Everyone who had a talent for it lived happily ever after.
Trivia: Early in the film, as the Salt and Son theatrical troupe performs their stage version of Munchausen's adventures, the Baron is eaten by a giant fish; two mermaids immediately enter stage-left and sing a mournful ditty modestly accompanied by the pit orchestra: "What will become of the Baron? Surely this time there is no escape!" To those with sharp ears, this ditty is the same tune as the soaring, symphonic Baron Munchausen theme music featured throughout the movie.
Question: When Baron Munchausen and his cohorts clean out the Sultan's vault, the Sultan's horrified Treasurer crosses himself in the Catholic fashion. But, in this film, the Sultan is head of the Ottoman Empire (a Muslim empire), and the closest members of his court (such as his Treasurer) would surely be Muslim. So the treasurer's Christian gesture stands out as unlikely, at best. This seems to be a character error, but was it intended as a deliberate joke? If so, what was the joke?
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Answer: The Baron is a teller of tall tales and massively exaggerated stories, so it is all from his limited point of view. The Ottomans did have Christian members of staff, especially doctors and such but the treasurer would never be a non-Muslim.