Factual error: Towards the end, the Oregon license plate on a Ford is shown. The plate reads "WIE 1Z0". Oregon does not use the letters "I" or "O" on its license plates as they may be mistaken for "1" or "0". (01:28:00)
Bishop73
1st Nov 2007
Mr. Brooks (2007)
Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.
Suggested correction: Filmmakers usually substitute fictional information for addresses, phone and drivers licenses for privacy and liability reasons. For instance the '555' exchange is often used for phone numbers since that exchange does not exist in the USA. By using the 1 and the 0 on the license, there is no possibility that a real license number could be identified.
The "555" analogy is wrong since the mistake is saying Oregon wouldn't use the numbers, so it would be like having a phone number with letters or the wrong amount of numbers (both of which would also prevent a real number being used).
Just FYI changing types is an option - some entries get the type "locked" to stop repeated back and forth attempts to change them, but many don't. That said I've just amended the setup so all members can now submit proposed type changes even for "locked" entries.
16th Jul 2004
The Core (2003)
Corrected entry: When the FBI raid Rat's apartment, he tosses the CDs in the microwave, and the timer starts at around 6 minutes and right after that the FBI comes in. About 5 seconds later you hear the FBI yell "FREEZE" to Rat and the microwave stops. The microwave was set to over 6 minutes, not under 5 seconds.
Correction: This mistake is wrong. The display on the microwave was showing the time of day, not the length of time to microwave. This is made obvious by the fact that it was showing the time (6:42) well before Rat touches anything. He doesn't set the microwave. He puts the CDs in, then hits a preset.
All well and good except one thing...when Rat hits start, the timer starts counting down from 6:42 to 6:41. He must have had it at 6:42 remaining on the last thing he cooked and just hit start on it to resume cooking.
I agree, the 6:42 is not the time of day but the cook time and begins to count down. It's even possible with everything else he had ready to destroy his equipment he kept the microwave ready too. He starts the microwave after the Feds break down the door, and there's no way a group of Feds would take over 6 minutes to find Rat in that apartment.
31st Jan 2006
Dirty Mary Crazy Larry (1974)
Revealing mistake: When the Charger hits the red truck, the truck turns over with the assistance of a 'pipe cannon' (note the sudden eruption of white smoke from under the truck). This device is like a large gun, pointed down that fires a cylindrical wooden 'bullet' at the ground, and the pressure behind it forces one side of the truck upward, causing the flip. Evidence of its use is seen when the passing cop drives away and in the street is a perfectly circular 'dent' in the asphalt with a burn mark surrounding it. (01:12:50 - 01:16:20)
Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.
Suggested correction: A cannon roll uses a large device, usually a metal pipe that is pointed down, but it does not fire a "bullet" wooden or otherwise. It is just the force of the explosive charge focused downwards that causes the cars to roll over.
A cannon roll shoots out a wooden log to flip a vehicle, it's not just shooting out air.
This is just nonsense, a wooden log would be too dangerous to use, would be highly conspicuous on screen, and would take up room inside a vehicle.
Then you don't know how they use to do car stunts. It does take up room, but even modern methods do. Cars have to be modified heavily and of course it's dangerous, they're flipping a car with a driver inside. Film makers do everything they can to avoid the stunt car from being detected (just the same way they do everything that can to avoid a dummy being detected). Here's a article that talks about car stunts before the pneumatic flipper. Https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a15364815/the-inside-story-of-the-academy-award-winning-car-inversion-device-or-how-to-flip-cars-real-good/.
Bishop73 is right. For example, from Raiders of the Lost Ark: https://www.moviemistakes.com/picture6238.
17th Jan 2011
2 Fast 2 Furious (2003)
Factual error: During the scenes where the drivers are all racing to the impound lot, Verone and Fuentes are doing background checks on the drivers. When they show the shot of Roman Pearce's California driver's license information, it shows his DOB as Apr 12, 1973, A License issue date of 03/24/90, and Expires Date of 03/24/01. Driver's licenses don't expire on the anniversary of the issue date, they expire on the driver's month and day of birth. So his driver's license should show an expiration date of something like 04/12/01 instead. (00:31:45)
Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.
Suggested correction: Not all state's driver's licenses expire on their birthday, or at least not anymore. Example: my current driver's license expires on the anniversary of when I got it Aug 16th, but my birthday is in June.
I've never heard of a State license doing this. Which State is this? Although the mistake is valid.
According to google, "Every California license expires on your birthday five years after it's issued" (I can't seem to access the CA DMV website at the moment) but it does seem as though the mistake is, as you say, valid.
My reply was to the corrector who claims his/her State's driver's license expires on the issue date, which is something I've never heard of. So I was asking which State his/her license was from, not the movie's license.
Sorry, my mistake. On my page it was formatted as though you were replying to Sammo. Looking online, Delaware is one state where the licence expires 8 years after issue and not on your birthday (at least from what I can see).
Delaware driver licenses, while issued for 8 years, still expire on the driver's birthday.
26th Jun 2019
The Undefeated (1969)
Corrected entry: When the government men were going to purchase the wild horses for the army, they offered to buy them at twenty five each. The Mexican men offered fifty five each, but John Wayne said he was selling them for thirty five each. So which is it? (00:30:15)
Correction: No, I just watched it, and they say $35. The French accent makes it sound weird.
23rd Jan 2008
General questions
In American movies, I sometimes notice little flag shaped things on people's letterboxes, that can be moved up and down. In Australia, where I live, I've never noticed these, nor have I noticed them in countries I've visited (I haven't visited America). What is the purpose of these flag shaped things, and are they solely American?
Chosen answer: It's actually a very practical device, and they are mostly used in rural areas that have roadside letterboxes. The homeowner raises it when there is outgoing mail to be picked up. The postal carrier can put the flag in the "up" position when there's a delivery.
I've never heard of any mailman doing that. The signal flag is only for outgoing mail.
I think the question is about the "little flag" (usually yellow), not the standard red flag that the owner raises when s/he puts outgoing mail in the box and doesn't want the postal carrier to bypass the mailbox if there is no mail to be delivered to that address that day. Regarding the small yellow flag that is near the bottom of the door (whereas the red flag extends above the box to be more visible), the yellow flag pops up when the mail box's door is opened. The carrier doesn't have to "put the flag up" to indicate a delivery - it is automatic - again, the flag goes up when the door goes down (is opened). The yellow part usually faces toward the house so that the homeowner (or renter) can see from the window if any mail has been delivered. With mailboxes that do not have the little flag, people have to walk to the mailbox to see if there is any mail. The mailboxes with the little flags can be bought on-line but are becoming obsolete with "informed delivery" emails.
Answer: Outgoing mail to be picked up? The US doesn't have post boxes? How strange.
The US does have post boxes, but if someone decides to install a full service mailbox, it's more convenient. Generally using the post box can be a bit faster since the mail carrier who picks up the mail might not return in time for the mail to be processed that day.
31st Aug 2020
Halloween 4 (1988)
Question: Why transfer him at night in bad weather? That and given his past why not have him cuffed to the gurney and have armed guards there regardless of his comatose state?
Answer: The best in-universe answer I could give you to your first question is that Michael just happened to be scheduled to be transferred at night and the weather ended up being crummy. I've been transferred between hospitals at night before. (Albeit, I'm not a homicidal maniac.) But honestly, the real answer is simply... "because movie." It's a horror movie - it's just more dramatic for the scene to be set at night during lousy weather. It wouldn't be nearly as effective a scene if it was during the day in nice weather. A dark, stormy night is sort-of a convention of the genre. As for the second question, he was severely burned in a fire and has been in a comatose state for years and years. Realistically, it was safe to assume he wouldn't wake up, and even if he did, a normal person's muscles would have likely softened into jelly in the meantime. They assumed they'd be safe... but they were wrong.
The question would be why did the characters transfer him at night in bad weather, not why did the film makers set it up like that. The viewer may thought he or she missed the in-film explanation or was looking for someone with expertise in transferring patients to provide an answer. And again, was there any in-film explanation given or persons with experience in transporting patients like Michael (albeit without supernatural powers). Pointing out the caveat of character's actions isn't realistic because it was scripted that way is fine, but pointing out that a movie is a movie isn't a valid answer (or correction).
I did amend my answer slightly before I saw your response. I really don't think my initial answer was that invalid though. That's honestly the truth - it was done that way for dramatic purposes, and any other answer would be pure speculation.
If no in-film explanation is given, speculation is OK as long as it aligns with something that would happen in real life (although I would suggest saying it's speculation). Sometimes people do ask question about why film makers would do something, and an answer like "to make it more dramatic" would be acceptable.
31st Aug 2020
Total Recall (1990)
Other mistake: When Quaid goes through the x-ray machine the first time, the person behind the man with the dog isn't shown to be carrying anything (there's no purple object shown). But then later the purple object is seen.
Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.
Suggested correction: Could simply be someone else with an item passing the person without any. He was walking very slow and certainly 1 person passed him, could be another one did as well.
Two people would have had to pass him and there's nothing to indicate 2 additional people were walking that much faster than him, or close to him.
They were off camera before. 1 person definitely did pass him so a second person doing the same is not unlikely.
They weren't off screen long enough.
I've seen this part multiple times. Who you see behind Quaid before entering the machine is first a woman with a handbag, then a man with mustache and case, then a blind man with a dog, after him a woman with a handbag again and more people. Now, the man with the mustache and case and the second woman with the handbag probably paused before entering the machine because we don't see them when Quaid passes, only the first woman with a bag, then a blind man with a dog and then a man with nothing. So both must have then sped up and then passed the man holding nothing. You see them walking faster than the others too. Not illogical when people are rushing to work or home either.
27th Aug 2001
Total Recall (1990)
Revealing mistake: After the fight with Richtor, Arnie throws his severed arms off the elevator. If you look closely at the bottom of the elevator you can see the arms do not fall all the way down. They disappear once they hit the floor of the stage Arnie is acting on - they forgot to animate some arms falling on the bluescreen image.
Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.
Suggested correction: Rictor's arms were torn off when the elevator passed through a floor or a tier or something. Is it not possible that this is where the arms fell to? I don't think they were meant to fall all the way down...
You missed the point of the mistake. It's not about the arms falling to the Mars ground. As the elevator platform is moving up, we can see the background below the platform. When the arms are tossed over, they should be visible below the platform as they fall, since it's open space. But in the scene, the arms just disappear once they hit the real life stage ground because they weren't added in during post.
11th Dec 2006
The Italian Job (2003)
Factual error: When Mark Wahlberg is trying to evade the helicopter, he runs into a dead end made up of two buses attached to a tow truck. The problem is that they're MUNI buses, and MUNI only runs in the San Francisco bay area, so these would be no where in the Los Angeles area.
Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.
Suggested correction: The Muni bus is not exclusive to San Fran. I lived north of Halifax NS, and there were 18 GMC silverside MUNI buses.
"Muni" buses aren't a brand or model. Muni is short for San Francisco Municipal Railway, which is a transit service owned by the San Francisco Municipal Transit Authority. The SFMTA does not operate anywhere else in California, and certainly not in a foreign country. Los Angeles is served by Metro, not Muni.
8th Sep 2013
The Italian Job (2003)
Other mistake: In the opening boat chase in Venice, the safe is supposedly represented by a metal pipe structure covered by cloth. But it doesn't flap or wave in the wind at all. On the contrary it has completely straight sides. It is quite clear that there must be a box underneath. (00:10:00)
Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.
Suggested correction: It may seem like that, in actuality there is a military grade fabric Lycra-Kevline that does not buckle or wave like ordinary fabrics.
This correction seems to have been made without watching the scene and understanding the mistake. Plus I think they meant to say "Kevlar." But, whatever material they're thinking of wouldn't behave like a solid piece of wood by not moving in the wind. And, the material wouldn't magically make rounded corners straight edged.
22nd Jan 2004
Jaws 2 (1978)
Continuity mistake: In the scene where Chief Brody comes home drunk, Deputy Hendricks comes over to express his sorrows. When he's leaving/already left, Both Ellen & Chief Brody comment on Hendricks as "Poor Jeff." In the first Jaws film, Brody calls him Lenny. Jeff is actually the first name of the actor who played Hendricks.
Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.
Suggested correction: It was a retcon from the filmmakers. Originally his name was Lenny, and then they changed it to Jeff. Same thing with The Mayor's children in the first movie. In the sequel, he only has one son; Larry Jr.
Not really a retcon, simply a mistake. Not every change, intentional or not, can be hand-waved away as a retcon.
The correction is valid. The person who submitted the mistake didn't watch the scene. They never said "poor Jeff", it was "poor Hendricks." But both Martin and Ellen call him "Jeff" in the scene and his name is said 3 times. Plus, if you read over the original script, the name "Jeff Hendricks" is mentioned 4 times.
8th Nov 2004
Airplane (1980)
Revealing mistake: When the plane crashes through the glass at the beginning of the movie, you can't see any wings on the plane. (00:04:30)
Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.
Suggested correction: Wings don't sprout out of a plane's nose. They would be significantly further back on the fuselage and out of sight.
Except you can see on either side of the nose, there's nothing blocking the view of the wings. There's no way for them to be so far back that you couldn't see them.
21st May 2020
Common mistakes
Factual error: In movie plots that take place hundreds or even thousands of years ago, the characters have perfectly white, straight teeth. It is a known fact that Queen Elizabeth I was virtually toothless by age 40. Good dental hygiene didn't really exist until after WWII. Some movies get it right, but only for the bad guys.
Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.
Suggested correction: False teeth have been around for centuries; they could be made from a variety of materials including wood, porcelain, or even human teeth taken from corpses or people who willingly sold their teeth to make some quick cash. People with the means to do so could acquire them quite easily, and they were often indistinguishable from a person's own natural teeth.
Your reasoning is very weak. Yes, false teeth have been around for centuries, but even today with much better technology, with close observation you can tell someone has false teeth. Everyone knew G. Washington had false teeth. No, these characters from 500 years ago are not ALL wearing false teeth.
Australian Aboriginals have (had, before colonization) almost perfectly white, straight teeth and it's known that this is somehow related with their foraging diet. If it's true, then most people back ago could have almost perfect teeth too.
Furthermore, widespread tooth decay before great age was only a rich person's problem until refined sugar became cheap, so the peasants wouldn't have bad teeth either.
Tooth decay is not caused by refined sugars. Any carbohydrates will promote bacterial growth, which can cause tooth decay. Additionally acidic food and drinks and alcohol (which can be high in carbohydrates) can damage the teeth and promote bacterial growth. And the mistake is talking about movies in general with countless characters, not a few select characters with significant means.
Thanks for your response. You said it better than I could have.
I mostly agree with you, but I am talking about characters who are rich with perfectly white teeth (and more importantly) great gums - no recession. What I disagree is that only sugar causes teeth decay. Not true. Virtually all food breaks down into simple sugars with enzymes in your saliva.
14th Aug 2020
Frequency (2000)
Factual error: A ham radio requires the person to hold down the button while talking. Numerous times in the movie they are talking without pushing the button.
Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.
Suggested correction: This is actually subtly addressed in the film. The magic which allows the radio to work across time also allows the two men to speak without pressing the button. There is a moment where Frank wonders what is going on with the radio and presses the button a few times to talk but then notices that he doesn't have to press the button to be heard.
If that was true, then it wouldn't make sense for them to continue to show Frank and John hitting the squawk bar throughout the film.
That is a separate issue. The mistake entry states that you need to hold the button to talk on a ham radio, which is true, but the magic ham radio in the film doesn't require it. If the actors continue to occasionally press the button that could be considered a character mistake but it could also simply be a force of habit by the characters.
5th Oct 2006
Mama's Family (1983)
Corrected entry: In this episode when talking to Fran, Mama states, "I used to iron with my right hand, mash potatoes with my left, with four screaming kids under me." However, Mama only had three kids on the show: Vint, Unice, and Ellen. Where did the fourth kid come from?
Correction: It's an exaggeration implying that she worked herself to the bone taking care of them as kids. (Research "Uphill Both Ways In The Snow To School" for a classic example).
It could have been Iola because she hung out at their house when she was a little girl.
The mistake isn't about her exaggerating, it's about her not knowing how many kids she had. She only had 3 kids and there's nothing to indicate she was raising someone else's kid, and the show never mentions some unnamed son out west.
She has Phillip as well? Just never in the dream sequences, which is odd to me.
Correction: She had another child, a son out west.
I don't ever remember this being said.
Her other son was never mentioned on the show (Mama's Family), but there was a skit on the Carol Burnett Show that included him.
26th Mar 2002
Ghostbusters 2 (1989)
Corrected entry: The film takes a large liberty when portraying the Titanic. The Titanic we see is complete with a huge hole in one side. The real sinking was nothing like this with small gashes made along the front of the ship, which eventually split in two. There was no large gaping hole like that made when she hit the iceberg. The Titanic was found four years before the film was made, so it was known at that time what condition the Titanic was in. (01:20:35)
Correction: It's a ghost ship, so I think we can forgive them for this, just like the ghost train in the subway scene, because it was a steam engine, which never would be in a subway tunnel like that.
This isn't a valid correction. The ghost train appearing on the subway tracks is different and had nothing to do with the way the Titanic ghost ship looked.
They are both ghost vessels, not the actual machines, it is understandable that they will look different on the etheric plane.
They aren't the actual machines sure, but there isn't any reason why a ghost ship would pick a physical appearance with severe damage that is in a different spot from the original. The explanation is not in 'the etheric plane' but in poor research (not that in a movie like this matters) or the fact that it simply is more impactful visually to show that sort of gaping hole. It is a factual error even if we understand very well why it was made - call it Deliberate Mistake if you will.
The people are the ghosts, not the ship. The ship never picked the appearance. One can assume the ghosts made the Titanic alongside themselves, from memory. Since the victims never actually saw the damage, this is what they thought it looked like.
We don't know who picked the appearance of the Titanic or the ghost train and how any of the 'supernatural' works, other than the end result is factually inaccurate. There's no reason to try to find metaphysical justifications for a clear creative liberty the art department took without giving it a second thought. Which is exactly what the original poster said; "The film takes a large liberty when portraying the Titanic."
It's just a matter of opinion whether they are allowed to take that liberty or not. If they did it intentionally, it's not a mistake.
The thing is, 99% of Factual Errors in movies are very likely to be liberties taken for convenience of the plot or better visual impact (like I said, Titanic=big hole in the hull from iceberg, the audience instantly makes that mental association and feels more real than reality). That's why as long as the observation is accurate and not strikingly obvious (such as "ghosts don't exist") I wouldn't try to read the intent in it too much.
16th Sep 2011
Ghostbusters 2 (1989)
Question: When the Ghostbusters went on trial, did they CHOOSE to waive their right to trial by jury and be tried by the judge? Given the obvious bias of this judge against them, if I were them, I would certainly not have waived my right to a jury trial.
Answer: Violating a restraining order is regarded as Contempt of Court, and thus is not subject to trial by jury.
But what about the other charges, willful destruction of public property, fraud, and malicious mischief? (Also, it should be noted that no-one goes to trial a day or two after they're arrested, so it seemed it was written as a bench trial just so the judge could later reverse his decision).
Louis is a tax attorney and since he got his degree in night school, it's implied that he has very little experience even being a tax attorney, let alone a criminal defense lawyer. I took it as the underlying humor in this scene being that everything went wrong, yet they still managed to save the day.
The charge that the prosecution really wants to stick them on is Ghostbusting and therefore, violating a restraining order. So that's what they're pushing for.
11th Nov 2015
Little Women (1994)
Question: When Amy is told that she cannot go to the opera with Meg and Jo, Beth tells Amy, "Evangeline and I will make you some ginger tea." The cook/maid's name is listed as Hannah in the cast credits, and she is referred to by the name of Hannah a few times in the movie. Who is Evangeline?
Chosen answer: Evangeline is their cat.
Answer: The cat is named Evangeline. She's holding her while she says that line.
So the cat named Evangeline is going to make tea for Amy?
Not literally. She was just humanizing her cat. It's something people do, just like how you can buy greeting cards "from the cat" or "from the dog."
Beth was trying to be funny by saying the cat would help make the tea.
15th Jul 2008
Frasier (1993)
Match Game - S11-E18
Corrected entry: The younger girl that Frasier goes on a date with has to be 20 years old or younger, since she mentions that cops took a fake ID from her (she wouldn't need a fake one if she were 21). Isn't it unlikely that someone that age would have been able to pay the $10,000 fee for Charlotte's dating service?
Correction: As Guy said, Charlottle was finding random women for dates. Also, it is not impossible that a twenty-year-old would have $10,000. Inheritance, lawsuit settlement, lottery ticket, large gift from a family member, a savings account that a parent once opened for her (which she might be able to access now because she is past the age of eighteen), etc.
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