Corrected entry: Several times in the film it is mentioned that the rig is on the ocean floor some seventeen hundred feet below the surface. Yet Lindsy swims without any protection from the wrecked submersible to the rig, and Bud and others swim from one module to another. The absolute maximum depth the unprotected human body can stand is less than six hundred feet, and that is in the case of superfit divers who spend years training for their record dives (and some die trying). At seventeen hundred feet the water pressure would crush an unprotected human being like a schnitzel.
Aerinah
22nd Jul 2004
The Abyss (1989)
Correction: For a moon pool to work, the pressure inside of the underwater habitat the pressure inside would have to be equal to the water pressure outside. 1700' would be 518 meters underwater, with a air pressure of nearly 53 times that of the surface. FYI The deepest scuba dive to date was 332.35 m. With scuba divers, you start to be at risk of oxygen toxicity at 6-7 atmospheres and symptoms increasing the longer the exposure. So the grew of the underwater habitat would have all died from oxygen toxicity pretty quickly, let alone the effect of nitrogen at 53 atmospheres on the body.
You're right that compressing normal atmosphere like that would cause problems with oxygen and nitrogen, but they're not breathing highly compressed normal air. When you go that deep, you breathe a special mix that has a much lower percentage of oxygen and nitrogen. Typically, helium is added since it is inert. Look up heliox and triox.
If they were all breathing the oxygen/helium mix used by deep-sea divers, they would all be talking like Mickey Mouse, and they aren't. Obviously, the filmmakers wanted to avoid this comical side effect of breathing in helium, but it still reinforces this mistake.
5th Oct 2022
The Black Phone (2021)
Corrected entry: In addition to Finney not being seen cutting the phone's cord (and not having anything to cut it with), the part of the cord that he held was longer than would be expected (even giving allowance for stretching). Also, the phone line that was attached to the wall phone was black before it returned to off-white. (01:27:00)
Correction: We do see Finney cutting the phone cord; as soon as he hangs up with Robin he uses his toy rocket ship to strip and rip the cord. Also, throughout the film the spiral phone cord is always several feet long (even when not stretched), and we see him rip it about halfway down, so later it is not longer than would be expected.
28th Oct 2021
The Martian (2015)
Corrected entry: When the HAB breached, killing all the live plants and bacteria in the soil they could have been replaced. He had plenty of potatoes to use as starters, and he had his human waste from the time of the first planting to replace the biomatter and bacteria. It may have been a smaller "garden" but he still would have been able to replant. (01:07:00)
Correction: He can't use the potatoes that he has to grow more. They were all flash frozen and killed, like the plants. He can still use them as food, but they won't sprout. The potatoes he uses to start the crop initially were never frozen; they were fresh potatoes sealed in plastic, brought on the ship with the crew.
10th Aug 2020
Aliens (1986)
Corrected entry: It's true that the queen was going to use the elevator to follow Ripley and Newt as they were trying to escape. But, how would she know where the elevator stopped? It's not like there's only two levels. More so, she would have to hit the button before the first elevator even stopped to follow them up as quickly as it did. Either way, she shouldn't have been able to know where they get off and wind up on the exact same floor as Ripley and Newt.
Correction: It's not necessary that the queen knew what floor they were heading to, or even how elevators work at all. This human just killed all her eggs and is escaping by getting into a moving box. Then another moving box arrives. It's a pretty good guess it'll take the queen to the same place. And she didn't have to push any buttons - most elevators return to the main floor when not in use or if no buttons are pushed.
31st Dec 2021
Into the Storm (2014)
Other mistake: They had two cameramen, one meteorologist, and one driver who ran the imax camera. One camera man dies before they get in the church then when they talk about why he died you see another camera man or crew member holding a camera. He's seen twice then never seen again.
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Suggested correction: Lucas, the 3rd cameraman, is in the background throughout (or we're seeing through his camera). He goes with Allison and the others after the church (Pete: "Suit yourself"); he gets out when they reach the industrial park, but is filming instead of helping rescue Donnie and Kaitlyn; he's behind Pete when they're all crammed in the Titus; he gets back in the Titus with Pete at the school (Pete: "Lucas, you getting this?"); and he's there in the storm drain and when they come out at the end.
1st Sep 2014
Into the Storm (2014)
Continuity mistake: In the scene where they're leaving the school, there are a ton of cars behind them on the highway and then all the cars just disappear.
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Suggested correction: Our heroes are in the last bus. There are a few cars exiting behind them, but you see at least one of the cars pass the bus and get ahead of it. In the first aerial shot of the highway, you can only see two cars behind the last bus. When the tower falls, it lands just behind the second-last bus, cutting off 3 cars, then our heroes' bus, then the Titus and another 2 cars. At no time is there a line of cars behind the last bus that disappears.
6th Feb 2019
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 (2011)
Corrected entry: The first night Bella and Edward arrive at the island, Bella is frustrated with Alice because she didn't pack her any bathing suits so she had to skinny dip. However, the next few scenes, she magically has a white bathing suit for the waterfall.
Correction: Bella's not frustrated because she can't find a bathing suit; she's freaking out because Alice has packed all kinds of embarrassing sexy lingerie.
9th Jul 2018
Ready Player One (2018)
Plot hole: During the final battle, we see all the other players charging over the hill and running into battle. We later see that these are just players standing on the streets wearing VR visors. But unlike our hero who is dangling on wires (and used a treadmill earlier on)...nobody on the streets is using any such thing. Which means when they are charging or running, they would all be crashing into walls or any obstacles that get in their way. Certainly nothing like the film.
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Suggested correction: How much you have to move in the real world depends on how much and what kind of haptic gear you're wearing. If you have a boot suit and an omnidirectional treadmill, for example, you do all your own walking, running, and jumping, because you have the space to do it and the haptics to respond to your movements. People with minimal gear-like those we see on the streets-might have only a visor and gloves, say, and they have to do all their "running", "fighting" etc. with signals from their hands. It's like if you don't have a joystick, you have to use the arrows on the keyboard.
I disagree with this. At one point during the big fight you see a group of players as Spartans running along the street, with visors on. They definitely would have run into a wall or other person at some point. I'm sure they were not the only ones. I'm sure it's possible to use something for movement control besides actual physical movements but that scene shows not everybody is using it and there should be a lot of accidents with people running into things and each other. At the start of the movie you see a mom climb upon her couch to imitate climbing up a rock in the game, physically imitating the movement. The lack of showing this disability for players on the streets might not be so big as to be a plot hole, but definitely a factual error.
Here's a clip of the Spartans https://youtu.be/D_eZxSYRhco?t=1m36s that shows they are definitely moving in exactly the same way in the Oasis as they are in real life, so even though yes it would make perfect sense for there to be different control schemes depending on the level of technology a person has, the film appears to show that it's a one-to-one translation of movement regardless of practicality or safety.
I don't think it's an issue. Note that several times in the movie people are also shown to be playing the game while just sitting down at a table. Case in point, the guy that dies on Planet Doom and then immediately jumps up from his work desk and tries to run to the window to jump out. He was sitting down but still playing in the PVP on planet doom. Same is true for right as Wade is telling that when you die all your money and everything you work for is gone. The scene shows Sho stabbing a person's avatar on Planet Doom that then shows the person who was playing that character falling out of a chair he was sitting in. With another person sitting across from him also in a chair.
I think in the end we can all agree its a mistake in the movie but not as big as a plot hole. Some people running, some people sitting down whilst playing, could be a matter of taste, but the Spartans running across the street with a visor on is definitely not logical.
The players have the ability to see the real world because the glasses of most people are transparent, Art3mis even looks at Sorrento approaching in IOI, which Wade even asks why she is looking in that direction if there is nothing there, so the players would not hit the wall when running.
11th Oct 2015
The Martian (2015)
Corrected entry: After being rescued on Sol 561, Watney tells his crewmates he hasn't showered for "a year and a half." But the day he leaves the Hab, Sol 461, Watney steps out of what is the shower, naked and toweling off his wet body and hair. So it has only been 100 Sols since he last showered. Even in Earth time that's less than 4 months - nowhere near a year and a half.
Correction: He took baths, but those aren't exactly the same, and regardless I'm pretty sure he meant a proper bath/shower, one that involved soap.
Then why he couldn't grow more potatoes if he had water?
Lack of water is not the reason Watney can't grow more potatoes after the blowout. He can't grow more potatoes because the potatoes and potato plants were all killed by the cold-there is nothing left to grow. Also, if he had lost his entire water supply...what would he drink?
He would not be able to make that amount of water again, the whole machinery got blown out. And he did not have enough fertilizer (aka poop) at that point.
No we saw him take multiple showers. I came to this site specifically for this error. He took showers. Naked with a towel drying off his very wet hair. So for him to say he hadn't taken a shower the whole time he was there, is a straight error.
Correction: This issue isn't the water. As stated in the NASA conference room on Earth after the HAB blowout, the freezing temperatures killed the bacterial microbes in the soil which would be required for the plants to grow.
I didn't review the movie, but if NASA said that, it's wrong. Many, probably most, soil bacteria would survive freezing, the colder and dryer the conditions the better. Maybe this is a new mistake?
NASA did say they thought all the bacteria had died. (In the book Watney figures out some survived, as you indicate, but they don't go into this in the movie.) However, the bigger issue is that all the potatoes and potato plants were killed when the Hab blew out and everything inside it was instantly depressurized and frozen. So there is nothing left alive for Watney to grow.
The problem was the potatoes. After being frozen they were no longer able to grow a plant. He had plenty of water and could have got more bacteria from his own feces, so it was the potatoes.
The real problem regarding not being able to grow more food is that all the potatoes and potato plants were killed when the Hab blew out. Watney figures out in the book that some bacteria did indeed survive, as you suggest, and he could indeed make more water (and more poop!). But it doesn't matter because now he has nothing to grow.
Correction: He would not be able to make that amount of water again, the whole machinery got blown out. And he did not have enough fertilizer (aka poop) at that point.
10th Aug 2016
The Shallows (2016)
Corrected entry: After the shark dies when Nancy shoots it, it leaves no bullet holes or blood sticking out.
Correction: Nancy isn't firing bullets at the shark, she's shooting flares. They don't leave bullet holes. Also, she doesn't kill the shark by shooting it; she kills it by making it impale itself on the sharp metal rebars sticking up from the buoy's anchor. And when this happens, the shark does indeed bleed.
23rd Nov 2016
Doctor Strange (2016)
Corrected entry: When Doctor Strange is operating he asks his colleague to cover his watch. When asked he is not wearing a mask, but in the next shot he has a mask on while covering the watch.
Correction: There's actually a brief time jump between the two moments you describe. Drs Palmer and Strange discuss using an imaging tool that Strange says they have no time for; then we fast-forward a bit to where Strange is actually going in to retrieve the bullet - and everyone, not just Nick but Strange, Palmer, and the nurse, is now wearing a mask.
23rd Nov 2016
Doctor Strange (2016)
Corrected entry: At least twice in the film Strange refers to Pangborn's spinal cord injury as having occurred between C7 and C8 - meaning the 7th and 8th cervical vertebrae. But humans only have 7 cervical vertebrae. An injury in this location would actually be between C7 and T1 (the first thoracic vertebra). There is absolutely no way Strange - a brilliant surgeon with a photographic memory - could get this wrong.
Correction: While it's true there is no 8th cervical vertebra, there is a C8 spinal nerve (below the C7 vertebra). So it's not a mistake for them to refer to an injury between the C7 and C8 nerves.
Correction: As the original corrector already explained, there is such a thing as a "C7 or C8" spinal cord injury. The problem is that a C7 or C8 injury would affect the victim's middle finger, ring finger, and pinkie finger on both hands. A spinal injury that would affect the legs would be signified with either a L# or a S# since those spinal injuries deal with the legs.
25th Jun 2014
World War Z (2013)
Corrected entry: At WHO in Wales, when the Israeli girl, Jerry and another man are sneaking into B wing, as they bend down and creep past an open area, trying not to attract attention from the zombies, the girl leaves her baseball bat behind, but, later, she has it back.
Correction: Watch closely - she has given the baseball bat to the WHO man (you can see him holding both it and his own crowbar), both right before and right after they have both crossed in front of the doorway. At some point after this, he gives it back to her, which explains why she has it again later.
22nd Sep 2013
World War Z (2013)
Corrected entry: When Gerry checks out the rear cabin in the Belarus plane, he opens the curtain to see everyone screaming as the virus rages through the cabin. It's a curtain, not a soundproofed steel door - 1) there's no way that the front cabin passengers would not hear the screams just yards behind them, and 2) it's not reasonable to believe nobody would have run down the aisle and into the front cabin as they tried to escape. (01:16:55)
Correction: (1) People in the forward cabin did hear the screams and other noises of the attack; that's exactly why Gerry went back to see what was going on, and why the other passengers near him were looking around and asking what was happening. And (2) the zombie outbreak started in the little crew area between the two cabins, right near where Gerry peeked around the curtain. No one was able to run forward to escape the zombies because the outbreak started at the front of their section, so they would have had to somehow get through or around the zombies to escape into the forward cabin.
For the first point, you are correct about the people's reactions and the fact that they did hear the noise: they did respond appropriately to what they did hear, but in reality, the sounds of screaming should have been much louder and clearer than presented in the movie because, as DavidRTurner puts it, the curtain is not a soundproofed steel door. In airplanes, you can hear what happens through the curtains, and opening them doesn't affect hearing at all really. Therefore, the people would have been much more aware of what was really happening when hearing the noise, and not acting confused as to what the noise could be. As for the second point, you would be correct, Aerinah.
11th Mar 2015
Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)
Corrected entry: Given how close the Enterprise and Vengeance were to Earth, the fact that Uhura can get a communications signal to New Vulcan to reach Spock Prime but not one to Starfleet Command which is literally outside their viewscreen window is preposterous.
Correction: At no point does anyone say that they can't get a signal to Starfleet Command. Spock chooses to try to contact Spock Prime because he may be able to offer valuable advice on dealing with Khan. On the other hand, Spock is probably reluctant to contact Starfleet Command at this point because he doesn't know what Marcus (who is, remember, in charge of Starfleet) has told them about the situation (remember, Marcus' story is that the Enterprise crew 'went rogue in league with Khan, leaving him no choice but to destroy them'). Right now Starfleet Command will almost certainly take Marcus's side, and Spock doesn't have the time to persuade them to side with him instead.
21st Dec 2015
The Martian (2015)
Corrected entry: Near the end while inside the Rover, Watney is leaving a note to future astronauts: "Take good care of this Rover it saved my life," signed Watnay instead of Watney. (02:00:00)
Correction: You're right that it kind of looks like an "a", but that's only because Watney made the loop so round it mostly obscures the bottom tail. If you look closely you can see it is indeed an "e".
7th Oct 2014
The Abyss (1989)
Corrected entry: Why didn't everyone just use the two remaining mini-subs to escape up to the surface?
Correction: They couldn't take the subs to the surface without decompressing first - as Lindsey explains to the SEALs, "the worse news is it takes three weeks to decompress" before they can leave. If they'd taken the subs to the surface they would all have died of decompression sickness.
1st Jul 2014
Edge of Tomorrow (2014)
Corrected entry: There is no reason why Rita and Cage would try to escape the building after receiving the device from the general. Cage could have just simply stuck himself with it in the general's office and get the right vision without risk of being shot at and have his blood replaced, about which Rita warned him several times. After receiving the vision Rita could have just shot him and up the beach they go again towards the Louvre. The general would have not intervened, as at that moment he believed him.
Correction: The device is untried and they don't know exactly how it will work on Cage (ie. if it will incapacitate him) or how long the process will take, so it's not a good idea to try to do it in front of the general, who might need only a single moment of distraction to call for backup, or to disarm Rita and kill them or take them prisoner. It would not be wise to suddenly trust the general completely just because he finally gave them the device (at gunpoint, remember). You're also incorrect to say that 'at that moment he believed them'; he actually just wanted them to think he'd taken their side, so he could have the soldiers attack them as they left... The same thing he did to Cage during the blackmail scene.
8th Jun 2014
Sherlock (2010)
Corrected entry: When Sherlock and John are in the cab going to see the lady in pink's crime scene, John is on the right side of the back seat, Sherlock on the left. During one shot, they are on the opposite sides. The next shot they are back to the original.
Correction: If you look closely you'll see that in the shot where their positions appear to be reversed, we are actually seeing the view in the cabbie's mirror - so it's not a mistake.
18th May 2014
Sherlock (2010)
Corrected entry: In the viewing-a-flat-scene, Sherlock has just moved in and Inspector Lestrade enters the location asking for his help in the case of the serial murders. But how does he already know that Holmes is at this address? (00:15:15 - 00:16:00)
Correction: Obviously, Sherlock gave Lestrade the new address in case Lestrade needed him. There was plenty of time for Sherlock to have done this off-camera, or even in the time before the show started. We also know (from Sherlock's texts to Lestrade and the reporters at the press conference) that Sherlock is eager to get involved in the 'serial suicide' case, so it is logical that he'd make sure Lestrade knows where to find him at all times, in case Lestrade does decide to finally call him in.
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Correction: As a deep sea SAT diver I have worked on many rigs as in the film. The air pressure in the rig is the same as the water pressure. That's why the sea doesnt pour in through the moon pool. You can swim from the rig without a problem, I have done it many times with just a wet suit to stop the cold killing me. You cant swim to or from the surface though as you would change pressure to fast and your lungs would pop.