Revealing mistake: The article Magnum reads in his Ferrari, by the title "Local judge offered high court seat" begins like this; "A former Los Angeles Veterans young actress, a bone of contention feet wide and eight feet high. Powered by electricity, it carries its own won't even pay that." Filler text can't get better than that. (00:21:25)
Revealing mistake: Right after Newton drags his girlfriend to the ground and before Magnum spots him and takes aim, Eric walks at the top of the barge...but it's not the Eric we see then in close-up; it's a burlier guy dressed the same.
Revealing mistake: In a fun bit of 'movie computer science in the 1980s' that ends up with a beeping alarm and odd full-screen warning in ugly vectors for protected data, Mac types the name of the Lt. Eric Tobin with keystrokes that can't possibly match those letters. (00:11:15)
The Curse of the King Kamehameha Club - S1-E11
Revealing mistake: When Henry Lewis falls forward in his surf ski, the boat keeps going and it wobbles the camera. (00:08:50)
The Ugliest Dog in Hawaii - S1-E8
Revealing mistake: Magnum punches the baddies who tried to dogjack them at the gas station. Old Mr. DiGorgio drives the car and picks them up. Not so old, actually, because Michael V. Gazzo is substituted at the wheel by a younger and leaner stuntman with a fake stache. (00:21:35)
The Ugliest Dog in Hawaii - S1-E8
Revealing mistake: The moment Mitch and the other goon walk away leaving Victor DiGorgio in the car, you can spot in the background Michael Hasegawa in his private cop uniform waiting for his cue to enter stage, and just pretend to randomly notice the parking violation. (00:03:10)
Never Again... Never Again - S1-E7
Revealing mistake: Magnum catches the boat that already sailed away through a great feat, leaping from the pier. The editing trick is fairly obvious; the stuntman's leap is not quite reaching, headed to a platform we can spot at the bottom. But it cuts then to Tom Selleck who with a true airwalking prodigy connects right with the top of the railing, pulling himself aboard. (00:43:25)
Never Again... Never Again - S1-E7
Revealing mistake: The day for night filming is particularly obvious at the entrance fence, and when the two mysterious guys try are kneeling outside of the house wondering how many people they have to deal with, with just 4 shots; you can see perfectly white clouds. It's even worse later in the episode when the Ferrari stops in front of the doctor's house; you can literally see the sun shine reflected by the car and the wet asphalt throughout the whole scene. (00:26:15)
Revealing mistake: The prosthetics for Magnum's war wound at the collarbone are off during the volley scene at the end, so it just looks like Tom Selleck has a worn-out patch sticking from his chest and about to come off. (00:48:20)
China Doll - S1-E3
Revealing mistake: When Higgins tells Magnum that he has to get into the safe first, Tom Selleck turns around and does a cheeky eyebrow-wiggle thing so well executed that will stay as the end shot for the opening of the whole series. A minute later, Higgins commands the lads to kill (!), and the turn and waggle are shown back in an obvious mirror shot. (00:47:45 - 00:48:40)
Revealing mistake: There's a neat and funny transition between the moment Rick tosses in the bin the orange juice bill that he knows Magnum will never pay, and a sponge being thrown into a bucket as Higgins polishes Robin Masters' Audi. The sponge though comes in from the right, way off Higgins' position. It's not John Hillerman that tossed it, but some stagehand. (00:16:40)
Thank Heaven for Little Girls and Big Ones Too - S1-E4
Revealing mistake: Rick is lurking in the pool; once the evil greenshirt Orson Welles-lookalike is hopping down the stairs, the cement in front of his hiding place has a big wet spot, no doubt from previous takes when the actor had to come out of the water dripping all over the deck. (00:41:00)
Thank Heaven for Little Girls and Big Ones Too - S1-E4
Revealing mistake: Throughout the whole episode, every street scene downtown shows moisture and light reflections on the camera lens.
China Doll - S1-E3
Revealing mistake: In one of the shots of the Ferrari driving away from the club and towards Uncle Han's residence, Mai Ling says "Some people have already been killed." This shot is a mirrored one; Magnum's head is on the passenger side and the license plate is backwards. (00:27:05)
China Doll - S1-E3
Revealing mistake: When Magnum drives away from the King Kamehameha club, in the shot where he drives off turning right and into the main road, a stunt double pudgier than Selleck is used instead. (00:27:00)
China Doll - S1-E3
Revealing mistake: Hit by the throwing star, Magnum drops the gun - actually, you can see Tom Selleck tossing it to the ground on purpose. (00:45:45)
China Doll - S1-E3
Revealing mistake: The guy who jumps off TC's chopper to face the bad guy for the final confrontation looks more like Lou Albano than Tom Selleck. (00:44:00)
China Doll - S1-E3
Revealing mistake: Magnum and TC are headed back to Kauai. Like earlier in the episode, the helicopter is piloted by someone wearing camel pants and not the blue jeans TC is wearing, but in addition to that, the passenger seat is empty, Magnum is nowhere to be seen. (00:42:40 - 00:43:20)
Thank Heaven for Little Girls and Big Ones Too - S1-E4
Revealing mistake: At the boxing gym, the litigious guy throws a punch that stays clear off Tom Selleck's face by a mile. (00:15:50)
Don't Eat the Snow in Hawaii - S1-E1
Revealing mistake: The bad guys open fire on Magnum during the car chase, and Magnum shifts gears. Is it Magnum though? The hand in close-up not only does not appear to be Selleck's (it appears to have virtually no hair as opposed to Selleck's that can be seen at the beginning setting the cassette player), but is also wearing the team ring upside down compared to how Magnum and everyone does. (00:34:40)
