Corrected entry: During the final scene when the train car crashes onto the road, the way the glass shatters into very very small fragments indicates that it is not real glass, and likely sugar glass.
johnrosa
9th Jun 2008
Speed (1994)
3rd Jun 2008
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Corrected entry: When Indy and Marion are tied to the stake while the Nazis are opening the Ark, there are a few shots where R2D2's helmet is perched on top of the stake.
Correction: Not true. There is a large domed reflector around a lamp, shown lit at 1:44:45.
27th Jan 2004
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)
Corrected entry: In the scene where Uhura comes to the bridge to bring Scottie his "dinner", look carefully at Scottie's right hand when he grabs the packet. His middle finger has been missing since before he was originally hired for the TV show but they hid that fact (even bringing in a hand double when close-ups of Scottie's hands were needed). Here, however, you get a clear view of his missing digit. (James Doohan lost his finger during WWII) (00:16:20)
Correction: Scotty having all his fingers 20 years earlier, and then missing one here only suggests he's lost one at some point along the way. Doohan's missing finger can only be an error if he's shown to have it and not have it moments apart (like a hand double, then his real hand during the same scene), not years apart. The writers are not required to explain everything the characters do while off camera and in the time between the shows and films.
27th Aug 2001
The Final Countdown (1980)
Corrected entry: Right before the end credits, you see the black limo driving down the pier, away from the Nimitz. Though she is supposedly docked in Pearl Harbor, the pier in question is actually "Pier 12" at Norfolk Naval Station and if you note the direction the chauffeur is headed, the occupants are about to get very wet... he is heading the wrong way... off the end of the pier!
Correction: The limo is simply heading toward a less congested portion of the pier so it can turn around safely. The camera pans away long before it runs out of room to do so.
18th Apr 2008
Dan in Real Life (2007)
Corrected entry: In the beginning of the movie, Dan drives into a gas station in New Jersey and pumps his own gas. It is illegal to pump your own gas in the state of New Jersey.
Correction: Dan is traveling from New Jersey to Rhode Island. Nothing suggests he hasn't already gotten as far as New York, Connecticut or even Rhode Island during the fuel stop scene. We see a sign for Interstate 95 prior to the fuel stop, which tells us he's already been on a highway. Also, he's pumping diesel fuel, not gasoline.
21st Sep 2002
Top Gun (1986)
Corrected entry: At Top Gun, Maverick does a fly by of the tower. He flies by, the camera cuts to the guy drinking coffee who spills it on himself. Then the camera cuts back to the sky and Maverick flies by again.
Correction: This is an artistic choice to heighten the impact of the moment, not a mistake of editing, just as "slow-motion" isn't an accidental drop of film speed that makes everything happen unrealistically slow.
7th May 2004
Top Gun (1986)
Corrected entry: When Cougar lost the edge after, he wouldn't have given his wings to his Commanding Officer. Handing in your wings is merely a phrase, not something people do.
Correction: Character choice. It may not be required, but it's certainly his option to hand them in, throw them out or even swallow them.
27th Aug 2001
Top Gun (1986)
Corrected entry: During the opening sequence of "cat shots" off the carrier deck, an F-14 is hooked into a catapult. As it's being launched, the camera switches to a deck member ducking as it goes by in the background. However, the plane going by is actually an A-6 Intruder.
Correction: This is a montage of shots randomly depicting the daily routine of carrier duty on the deck. The shots are not meant to be a continuous stream of real time. No mistake.
5th Apr 2007
Top Gun (1986)
Corrected entry: The film makes several references to a 'MiG 28' when in fact all MiG aircraft are odd-numbered. No 'Mig 28" ever did or ever will exist.
Correction: And "Maverick", "Goose" and "Iceman" don't exist either. The jet was actually an American F5, not a MIG at all, and since it doesn't look like any real MIG, the makers created a ficticious MIG model for the ficticious pilots to ficticiously fight. It's a fantasy, not a documentary. The MIG-28 designation was intentional, not a "mistake".
8th Mar 2008
The Assassination of Jesse James (2007)
Corrected entry: In the scene where Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck are sitting in Jesse's house, right before Casey kills him, Jesse's wife yells out from the kitchen to them that breakfast is ready. You can see Brad Pitt is mouthing her line.
Correction: Zee never announces breakfast. The closest she comes is to yell to Bob that the food is getting cold. As we hear this, the camera is on Bob, not Jesse, and Bob's mouth doesn't move at all. Several scenes (and about 8 minutes) earlier, Jesse gives Bob a gun as a gift. It is evening and Zee yells that "supper is ready". Here, the camera is on Pitt, and his lips flex a bit, but do not come close to forming anything remotely like Zee's words. Jesse is merely in deep thought, almost mumbling his thoughts to himself. He is still gauging Bob's intent and character, as he feels something is coming, but he doesn't know what for certain.
13th Jul 2007
The West Wing (1999)
Corrected entry: The title card tells us it's 12/23 sometime in the morning. Sam mentions he's going to Bermuda in 27 hours (so noonish on 12/24?). Later that day CJ asks if Sam and Josh are doing anything, "tonight?" Sam acts guilty and CJ offers to cook them dinner. Sam says he's leaving for Bermuda that night, which is not in the 27-hour time period previously mentioned. The next day, marked 12/24, Sam is in full black suit hanging around the White House. Granted, the flight could be leaving around noon and it may be only 9am. But no further mention is made of Bermuda.
Correction: The title card indicates 7:30am. Time passes without being marked, but the President meets with a large group of small school children (which we can assume isn't at 7:30am, but perhaps as early as 9am). Still later, Sam mentions to his assistant that he's going to be in Bermuda in 27 hours. Assuming that is around 10am, 27 hours is 1PM on 12/24. Later, Sam tells CJ he's leaving for Bermuda "tonight" but he's lying (poorly) to cover his visit with Josh to Laurie. The next morning (and we've established he's there 7:30am the previous day), Sam is in the office while CJ is heard telling reporters that today is a "half day". The episode ends still early that morning. Thus, Sam is putting in a couple of hours work on the 24th, then leaving for the airport in time for a less-than-two-hour flight that arrives in Bermuda in the early afternoon. No mistake.
27th Oct 2007
The Darjeeling Limited (2007)
Corrected entry: In the first part of the film, Jack's iPod switches from an early model with four buttons at the top to a later model with a click wheel.
Correction: In every shot it appears in, it has a click-wheel. The wheel is less visible early on as there is more light in the room, so the wheel seems almost as white as the rest of the unit. In lower light, the wheel stands out a bit more as if a light gray.
28th Oct 2007
The Darjeeling Limited (2007)
Corrected entry: The Bose iPod player Jack uses cannot be used on batteries. However, it plays while the boys are sitting around a fire in the wilderness, with no power outlets around.
Correction: The portable version (available in black or white) uses Lithium Ion batteries. See: http://www.bose.com/controller?event=VIEW_STATIC_PAGE_EVENT&url=/home_entertainment/sounddock_systems/sounddock_portable/features.jsptabs.
22nd May 2008
Cloverfield (2008)
Corrected entry: When the Statue of Liberty's head lands and stops sliding accross the street, a street sign painted with 'dead end' is visible to the right. Any other shot after this, the sign is not there.
Correction: I can clearly see "D_AD DE_D" spray-painted on the back of the street sign as it's partially obscured by the pole. Perhaps it says "Dead Dead"? Regardless, the sign is seen while Hud is standing on the sidewalk just as the head settles into the street. Hud then walks into the street and all remaining shots are from the street so that the sign and pole are off screen to our right. The pole (but not the sign) is briefly seen as they are running into the store.
29th Nov 2003
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)
Corrected entry: During the hearse chase (before the hubcaps fall off), the hubcaps of the hearse change from spokes to flat. (00:57:42 - 00:58:37)
Correction: Untrue. The wheel covers are the same type. They start out with a heavy hex-shaped center cap with a round, red emblem in the center (this cap is normally held on with a single screw on the backside, and they are notoriously known to loosen and fall off). As the chase progresses, at least one of these caps (front/left) is lost. At that point, the spokes blur to appear as if the wheel is a solid dish, but it's an illusion caused by rotation speed and the shutter speed of the camera, just as those instances where a forward-moving vehicle's wheels appear to be rotating backwards.
8th Jul 2003
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)
Corrected entry: At the cemetery the T-850 throws the casket through the back window of the hearse - obviously breaking the glass. A few moments later, Connor opens the casket and talks with the T-850 (now in the driver's seat). The back window, behind Connor's head, is now intact.
Correction: Untrue. Glass debris is clearly seen on the shelf to John's right (our left), as dust/smoke passes right-to-left behind the car. The broken portion of glass that remains in the window frame is blocked from view by the curtains, but there is nothing in the shot to suggest the unbroken glass is back in place.
14th Jun 2006
The West Wing (1999)
Corrected entry: CJ is awakened at 03:45 Eastern time by Kate telling her about the British plane being shot down. This would have been 08:45 GMT and 12:15 Tehran time, so the Iranian Air Force must be pretty stupid shooting down a commercial airline in the middle of the day thinking it was a US spy plane. Plus when the radio transmissions come through to the President and Marbury we get told the Iranians can shoot the plane down at 02:33 GMT which would be 21:33 Eastern. So all the times between the US, the UK and Iran are pretty screwed, or Bartlett's administration isn't on the ball.
Correction: Regarding the suggestion that the Iranians would be 'stupid' to mistake a commercial jet for a spy plane (and thus it's a "movie mistake"), I submit that the US Navy shot down an Iranian passenger jet, thinking it was an F-14 Tomcat, in 1988 at about 10:35am local time (nearly the middle of the day)- proof that 'stupid' things can and do happen. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_Air_Flight_655.
19th May 2008
Iron Man (2008)
Corrected entry: Why do the jihadis in the beginning want Stark to make them the jericho missile system? They obviously were able to buy it from Obidiah anyway.
Correction: This is a question about character choices, not a mistake.
22nd Dec 2004
Full Metal Jacket (1987)
Corrected entry: When Cowboy's platoon commander is hit by shell fragments while walking behind the tank, focus your attention on the commander's back. You will notice that the light from the explosion is reflected onto his back, but the explosion was in front of him.
Correction: This is not a reflection on his back, but a 'lens flare' within the camera lens, similar to the light flares you'll see at night when headlights are moving left-to-right and a mirrored and flipped version of the lights travels right-to-left.
7th May 2008
Cloverfield (2008)
Corrected entry: When Rob is in the electronics store looking for a battery for his cellphone, he picks up a Nokia battery case so he can retrieve his messages. But as he ends the call the sound his cellphone makes is clearly one of a Motorola phone. (I sell both Nokia and Motorola cellphones which is why I know).
Correction: Cell phones allow the user to customize many of the features, including sounds. I know a guy that has a very expensive, advanced-looking, top-of-the-line phone that rings like an old desktop phone with a hard clanging metal bell (very cool). There's no reason Rob couldn't have installed the Nokia sounds out of preference for the sounds his previous phone made (familiarity/comfort).
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Correction: Or it is tempered glass for vehicle use, which is designed to granualate to prevent slicing / chopping injuries in the case of breakage - just like the glass in car windows.
johnrosa