Best drama movie deliberate mistakes of all time

Please vote as you browse around to help the best rise to the top.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife picture

Deliberate mistake: When the kids are about to jump start the trap Phoebe hides behind the school bus door. Half a second later, when the trap opens, she's nowhere to be seen, not even jumping or stepping inside the bus. Then half a second later she has managed to get inside, turn around and protect her head while the bus windows burst. It all happens in real time for their hairs are still fluttering. It sure paces up the scene, but it's really awkward.

Sacha

More Ghostbusters: Afterlife deliberate mistakes
Beneath the Planet of the Apes picture

Deliberate mistake: There are no lights ever to be found in the underground world and the ceiling is literally the surface's ground, but there is still a perfect level of lighting regardless.

Casual Person

More Beneath the Planet of the Apes deliberate mistakes
Moulin Rouge picture Moulin Rouge mistake picture

Deliberate mistake: During the finale, the backround looks like a sunset and there is a big door in the back. Watch closely and all of a sudden from one camera angle to the next (it's right after the big puff of smoke), the background changes to an elaborate background of layers of hearts, the door is gone, and there are about 60 more extras onstage. During the DVD Baz explains that they filmed the scene with both backgrounds and it just so happened that the beginning was better with one and the end was better with the other, so they put the puff of smoke in there to distract the audience so that they wouldn't see the change.

More Moulin Rouge deliberate mistakes
Cassandra Crossing picture

Deliberate mistake: The rail line was supposedly not used in 30 to 40 years, however, in the exterior scenes approaching the bridge where the mile markers were, the tracks are well maintained, has no vegetation, and the rails are shiny, indicating a lot of train use.

More Cassandra Crossing deliberate mistakes
More The Babe Ruth Story deliberate mistakes
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian picture

Deliberate mistake: When Peter and Miraz are fighting, Peter stabs Miraz and then brings the sword back up for the killing stroke. There is no blood on the sword. This is deliberate on the part of Disney, so as not to show blood, but a mistake nonetheless.

More The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian deliberate mistakes
Pearl Harbor picture

Deliberate mistake: In one of the dogfight scenes a Japanese Zero crashes into a tower. It's a quick shot, but you can still see that what crashes is an American P-40 with Japanese markings.

More Pearl Harbor deliberate mistakes
Miller's Crossing picture

Deliberate mistake: When the two assassins enter Leo's bedroom and try to gun him down, the one on the right has left his tan overcoat open. He's the one that escapes from Leo initially. Shortly thereafter, Leo guns him down, firing up into a second story window. At this point we see that the assassin's coat is now buttoned up, probably to conceal the numerous squibs used in his death scene. (00:41:00)

More Miller's Crossing deliberate mistakes
The Lion King picture The Lion King mistake picture Video

Deliberate mistake: At the elephant graveyard, little Simba claws Shenzi in the face. When Mufasa saves Simba from the hyenas, the cuts are gone, a few seconds later. [This was done intentionally, I'm sure, for two reasons. The first being, Disney doesn't let fresh scars linger on the screen too long. Secondly, during that same scene when Mufasa rescues Simba & Nala, he claws Banzai in the rear. To stress the point later in the movie, that severe scar is shown too, but only briefly, it too disappears because of reason 1. Still a "mistake", but there's why.] (00:21:50)

More The Lion King deliberate mistakes
The Great Santini picture

Deliberate mistake: After having wrestled with Santini in his office, Col. Virgil Hedgepath tells Santini, "And no more assaulting corporals in the latrine." Marines use the naval term "head" in refering to the restroom, and would never call it "the latrine." However, since "latrine" is better known to civilians, this could be a deliberate mistake by the film makers.

More The Great Santini deliberate mistakes
Top Gun picture

Deliberate mistake: In the shot where the F-14 and F5 canopies are only 3-feet apart, you can see that the writing on the side of MAVs F-14 is backwards. Also, if the F-14 was inverted, with the sun more-or-less above, its cockpit would be in shadow, not with sunlight on the nose, as seen. (00:08:55)

More Top Gun deliberate mistakes
The Interpreter picture

Deliberate mistake: When the Matoban delegation arrives at the UN, it shows the motorcade entering the circle in front of the UN Secretariat building and stopping at the revolving doors right at the front the staff entrance. Diplomats' motorcades always continue on to the delegates' entrance under a protective tent in front of the GA building so as to allow VIPs to alight from their vehicles to prevent potential snipers from having a view of them. The very next shot of the ambassador shows him riding the escalator, which is at the delegates' entrance, going up to the General Assembly building. This would not have been possible unless they made him walk about 300 meters outside in broad daylight. No chance of that seeing he was already being protested on 2nd avenue all the way from the Queensboro bridge. Obvious reason for this error: The shot of the delegation getting out of the cars looks far better in the open right in front of the UN secretariat building rather than inside a protective tent.

More The Interpreter deliberate mistakes
Sing picture

Deliberate mistake: The morning after the flyers are spread, Buster is sleeping in a drawer. When his alarm clock goes off, he hits his head at the top of the drawer, but later on, he can be seen standing up in it, easily visible when he is putting his coat on. The drawer obviously became wider for him to stand up in it.

More Sing deliberate mistakes
Vantage Point picture

Deliberate mistake: There are several large security mistakes that were obviously added to the film to move the plot forward. The takeover of "Control" would not happen that way. The Secret Service keeps it in a secret off site location which not even the security detail knows. This location is in some kind of very remote bunker to prevent what happens in the movie. Secondly, when the threat is identified and the switch to the double is made, the President would have been moved to a secure bunker created for the purpose until the threat was dealt with.

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: It actually could still be possible for a takeover of "Control" to happen even if it was a secret off site location/secure bunker. Depending on Taylor's security clearance and how high up he is in the secret service, he could have been one of the few in the security detail that knew where the secret location was. Since he's the one that got Barnes back on detail, he most likely has a high clearance.

No actually it couldn't be possible for takeover of control. No one in the security the detail knows where the secret location is. Even if Taylor had a high clearance it only grants access to a limited number of places. One of the places it doesn't grant access to is the secret location.

With a high enough clearance it could still have been possible. Not to mention there could have been more than one mole in the secret service other than Taylor who had the clearance to know the locations.

Read it again. "Even if Taylor had a high security clearance it only grants to a limited number of places. One of the places it doesn't grant access is the secret location." So Taylor would not have access to the secret location no matter how high his security clearance was.

Takeover control couldn't be possible if the location was an the location an off site secret bunker because the villains wouldn't be able to find it. Even if Taylor had a high security clearance he wouldn't know where the secret bunker because if he was ever allowed in there he would blindfolded to prevent him from learning where the bunker was. Taylor would get arrested if he learned where the bunker was.

Only the service officials know where the bunker is. Taylor is not a secret service official.

More Vantage Point deliberate mistakes
P.S. I Love You picture

Deliberate mistake: After the broken suspender clasp smacks Gerry in the face, in the close-up it lands under the dresser, within the wide strip of light reflection. In all other shots the entire area beneath the dresser is in shadow. (00:11:00)

Super Grover

More P.S. I Love You deliberate mistakes
Troy picture

Deliberate mistake: During the Trojan attack on the Greeks at the beach, before Hector and "Achilles" have at it, there are two separate close-ups of Hector's sword slicing across a man's face, who promptly spins around and spews blood. This particular man is enjoyed twice in two takes of the same shot, just before and after Odysseus' close-ups. Then as if that's not enough, a few shots later this spewing man is actually seen a third time, but this time from another angle. (01:42:30)

Super Grover

More Troy deliberate mistakes
Beauty and the Beast picture

Deliberate mistake: At the end of the film, Gaston shoots the Beast with an arrow and pushes the Beast out the window. When the Beast lands on the edge of the castle rooftop, the arrow has disappeared. Even if part of the arrow has broken off, a piece of it would still be in his back. [This, like many other incidents in the film, is a longtime Disney animated tradition. The company seems to believe that violence is less unpleasant if all evidence of it disappears quickly. This is why so many cuts seem to disappear or become less serious. The arrow vanishing is just another example.] (01:16:55)

More Beauty and the Beast deliberate mistakes
Platoon picture

Deliberate mistake: Throughout the entire movie, every time Charlie Sheen is not wearing his helmet, especially when he's out in the field in this tropical climate, his hair is always meticulously combed back, blow-dried and puffy. As a veteran, I know from personal experience that when you take your helmet off, especially in a climate like that, the reality is your hair will be messy, sweaty, pressed flat and most unattractive.

More Platoon deliberate mistakes
Chariots of Fire picture

Deliberate mistake: When we first see Eric Lidell, it is 1920 and he has just returned from China to his homeland of Scotland. Eric would've been 18 years old in 1920. Ian Charleson, who was 31 at the time the film was made, looks his own age.

More Chariots of Fire deliberate mistakes
Driving Miss Daisy picture

Deliberate mistake: During the ice storm, Hoke brings Miss Daisy coffee because he figured her stove was out. A few scenes before that they are frying chicken on a gas stove. Gas doesn't go out during power outages.

More Driving Miss Daisy deliberate mistakes

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.