Planes, Trains & Automobiles

Continuity mistake: Neil returns to the station where he left Del at the end. As he gets off the train and goes into the station, it's not the same station he was at earlier. The background outside shows houses and trees. Where did the buildings of Chicago go?

manthabeat

Continuity mistake: When Neil is chasing the cab after Del stole it, the bags he is carrying change hands in different shots.

Continuity mistake: When Neal is racing Kevin Bacon for the taxi, he gets close to the cab and all lanes of traffic are at a standstill. Seconds later when he trips over the trunk, the lane he falls into is empty and a car has to brake hard to avoid hitting him, indicating it was travelling at speed already.

Continuity mistake: When Neal is walking to the space where his rental car is supposed to be, he looks down as he walks past stalls V-2 and V-3, yet after V-3 he passes two more cars before arriving at stall V-5.

Continuity mistake: When Neal is scanning the parking spaces in the rental car lot, the shot switches to Neal's POV and back. When the camera is on Neal, he walks completely past the Mercury Sable in stall V-2, yet when it switches to his POV he's only just beginning to pass the same spot. As he approaches V-3 in the POV shot, the camera switches again and he's now well past it.

Continuity mistake: When Neal and Del are waiting for Owen in the Braidwood parking lot, a couple of the cars change type and position between the overhead shot when Neal says "Just get me to the train station" and when we see Owen's truck pulling up. There was not enough time between shots for any cars to have moved.

Continuity mistake: When John Candy and Steve Martin are travelling from Jefferson City, Missouri to St. Louis they are crossing the Mississippi River to enter downtown St. Louis. This would not have been possible unless the bus driver overshot the entire city and ended up across the river in Illinois.

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Suggested correction: I agree with the original post. However, there could be several possibilities for this scenario: 1. Road closures, 2. Road construction, 3. Accidents, 4. Detours, and 5. Heavy "holiday traffic" could have contributed to the bus having to enter St. Louis from the east despite coming from Kansas in the west.

More mistakes in Planes, Trains & Automobiles

Del: You could kill a man like that, hitting him in the stomach. That's how Houdini died you know.

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Trivia: Just after Dell sells his shower curtain rings as earrings, he and Neal are eating lunch. Look between the two men and slightly out of focus, is a woman wearing Dell's curtain rings as earrings.

William Bergquist

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Question: This question is about the scene where John Candy is the driver, and Steve Martin is the passenger in the rented car. Steve is unaware at one point, that they are going the wrong way on the highway. He becomes aware, after looking out the window and down onto the shoulder of the road with the wet snow splashing up. As soon as he looks at that, he knows they are going the wrong way. What was it about the road that made him realize it?

Answer: The reason was that the snowbank was on his side (the passenger side) when it should have been on the driver's side if they were driving in the right direction. Also and I'm not sure if you could see this in the film but the deflecters on the road which separate the lanes if you are going in the right direction shine yellow and if you are going the wrong way shine red.

Tobin OReilly

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