Continuity mistake: Tom's spacecraft is first seen rotating on its axis while it travels upward along that axis. When the scene cuts from the exterior to the interior and Tom lands on the ground, the stars outside are no longer moving in a way to indicate rotation, although the illusion of upward motion is preserved. The fact that we see the stars moving at all is a bit unrealistic given how fast one would have to travel for this to be noticeable, but since this is fiction and in the future we can imagine it is possible. (00:07:25)
The Fountain (2006)
1 continuity mistake - chronological order
Directed by: Darren Aronofsky
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Rachel Weisz, Ellen Burstyn, Sean Patrick Thomas, Mark Margolis
Factual error: Izzi refers to the Great Orion Nebula, also known as M42 and M43, as Shabalba, the Mayan word for it. Although I could not verify if this is what they called it, and since this is fiction, one might easily ignore it. But the nebula is never referred to as the Great Orion Nebula or M42. Visually, it is seen roughly where it should be, the middle portion of the three "stars" that make up Orion's sword (below his 3-star belt), but through Izzi's telescope or from Tom's spacecraft it does not look very much like the nebula does either visually or photographically. Visually it looks gray, and in photographs it is reddish, as can be seen from my own photographs or any made by amateurs posted online. The shape is wrong, too. The biggest mistake about this nebula is that Izzi calls it a dying star when in fact it is a stellar nursery - a birthplace for stars. Since the themes of the film involve death and rebirth this fact should have equally worked in the script. To Aronofsky's credit, the nebula does appear more like a supernova remnant, such as the Crab Nebula (M1), which is a star which has exploded, or died. (00:08:10 - 00:21:55)
Tomas Verde: Behold.
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