2012

Factual error: Several scenes in the movie show the tidal waves and tsunamis sweeping people and objects away, which is utter fantasy. The air pressure wave that is in front of the tidal waves and tsunamis would blow people and objects away long before the water did.

GalahadFairlight

Factual error: After taking off from Las Vegas for Tibet, our heroes try to refuel the Antonov in Hawaii, only to find the islands devastated. The route from Las Vegas to Tibet takes you nowhere near Hawaii. In fact, Hawaii is only 500 km (300 miles) closer to Tibet than Las Vegas. Also, they expect to go down somewhere in the South China Sea, but the route from Hawaii to Tibet would take them just north of Japan and nowhere near the South China Sea, which is 3000 km (1900 miles) further south.

Factual error: When Adrian is looking at Jackson's license, it shows his first name, last name. As in: JACKSON, CURTIS. Should be last name first, first name last. As in: CURTIS, JACKSON.

Factual error: In the beginning of the film, when they are in India, the scientist says the temperature could reach 100 degrees Fahrenheit. India uses the metric system, not imperial.

Factual error: In the poster shot and in the film, the wave from the Atlantic carrying the carrier JFK into a collision with the White House comes crashing in from the west because the south portico of the White House is seen. The Atlantic Ocean is east of Washington, so the wave should come from the other direction. And even a wave coming from the east could not have made the JFK (CV-67) crash into the White House because the carrier was retired in 2005 and is berthed in Philadelphia, which is northeast of Washington DC. (01:30:10 - 01:30:40)

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Jackson Curtis: When they tell you not to panic... That's when you run!

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Question: At the end of the movie, it is stated that the Drakensberg mountain range in South Africa now has the highest altitude in the world, since the "entire plate of Africa has lifted". Isn't this highly unlikely, seeing as the Drakensberg is incredibly far away from any tectonic plate lines? Wouldn't it rather be Mount Kilimanjaro, which is not only already the highest point in Africa (the continental plate of which is implied to have been raised as a whole), but is also a volcano (thereby being more likely to be raised should there be lifting within the plate itself)? I am South African myself, and though I am incredibly proud of our mention, I wonder if it really is plausible.

Answer: It's really impossible to say, given all of the massive land shifting seen in the film. We see the entire coast of California fall into the ocean. It's reasonable (in the film) to assume some cataclysm struck Kilimanjaro to lower or destroy it, or that the continent has been tilted.

In the movie, it was implied that the continent of Africa as a whole remained unflooded. So it stands to reason that the millions of inhabitants of the various countries may have survived intact. And so, the animals and plant life as well. So the question of saving the human species may be moot in this scenario. It's ironic, since most of the scientific community believes that modern humans evolved there first anyway.

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