A Fish Called Wanda

A Fish Called Wanda (1988)

112 mistakes - chronological order

(4 votes)

Audio problem: When Otto is being run over by the steam roller at the airport, he starts screaming as he is being run over and when the camera angle changes you can still hear him screaming but the stuntman's lips aren't moving as the steam roller goes over him and he's sinking into the wet cement. (01:43:00)

MCKD

Continuity mistake: When the steamroller is going over Otto, you can plainly see that the cement is still very wet and loose, but only moments ago Otto's feet were stuck in the cement because it was hard and thick. (01:43:01)

MCKD

Continuity mistake: Right after Ken runs over Otto in the steamroller, Archie starts running away and in the background you see the steamroller being put into reverse. The camera angle changes to a closeup of Ken and the steamroller is going forward. (01:43:09)

MCKD

Continuity mistake: As the plane is taking off, Otto is trying to hang on but the wind pushes him off. The camera angle changes to a wide shot of the plane taking off, and Otto is not seen anywhere but you still hear him screaming. (01:44:30)

MCKD

Continuity mistake: After Ken reverses the steamroller after running Otto over with it, you can see a red patch signifying his splattered body in front of the roller. However, a few scenes later, Otto is seen alive. (Otto was originally meant to die, until test audience feedback influenced a change of mind on the part of the filmmakers.)

james1000

Plot hole: Archie goes from being waist-deep in a barrel of oil to walking onto the airplane and sitting next to Wanda. She greets him, etc. But there's no oil on his pants, no logical question by Wanda: What the heck happened?

Plot hole: Wanda takes an unmarked (established earlier) safety deposit key to the hotel, and somehow the hotel staff not only know what safety deposit box it fits, but allow them access even though they didn't open the 'account'.

A Fish Called Wanda mistake picture

Revealing mistake: During the trial, George calls Wanda a b*tch and runs towards her, jumping on the tables. The actor is replaced by a very obvious stuntman: younger, with a fuller moustache, and with longer and darker hair.

Sacha

Continuity mistake: Ken is trying to kill the witness and crashes his car against a garbage container. The garbage swaps from being on the center of the hood to on the left side depending on the angle.

Sacha

Continuity mistake: When Wanda arrives at Archie's office, there are piles of papers/books on the mantel beside the door, stacks of papers/books, a lamp and draperies behind Archie. During Wanda's visit, things behind Archie change, disappear, then reappear, the lamp changes the direction it points, the draperies change, and part of the piles on the mantel change entirely.

Super Grover

Revealing mistake: Towards the end when Archie is driving Wanda to the flat in his car, during the shot when she asks him to "say something in Italian" you can see John Cleese is trying desperately hard to keep a straight face (and not altogether succeeding).

Otto: I'm, uh, Harvey. Manfred... Jen... Sen... Den.

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More trivia for A Fish Called Wanda

Answer: John Cleese was reciting the poem "Molitva" by Mikhail Lermontov. He learned and memorized it phonetically and has admitted that he had no idea what the words actually meant.

Angela Brown

Answer: Archie indeed recites the second and third strophes from Lermontov's poem, "The Prayer." "There is a might inspiring Each consecrated word, That speaks the inconceivable And holy will of God. The heavy load slips from my heart, Oppressing doubt takes flight, The soul believes, the tears break forth, And all is light, so light!"

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