Best sci-fi movie character mistakes of all time

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

Moonraker picture

Character mistake: When James enters and exits the laboratory, the door has a sign on it that warns for radioactive materials. The laboratory actually contains a biological weapon. Therefore the door should be marked with a bio-hazard symbol. (00:41:00 - 00:42:00)

More Moonraker character mistakes
Superman picture

Character mistake: In the Air Force One scene, when lightning destroys one of the plane's engines, one of the pilots tells a co-pilot to inform Metropolis Airport that the president is on board the plane. The crew is unnecessarily repeating themselves: just a few moments before, they radioed in that "Air Force One" was on approach; the plane would only have that call sign if the president was on board.

Cubs Fan

More Superman character mistakes
Inception picture

Character mistake: In the final scene Cobb's children class him "daddy!" but Cobb's son also calls him "Leo!"

More Inception character mistakes
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen picture

Character mistake: In the original Transformers, the final battle takes place in a fictional city known as Mission City, which according to Lennox is 22 miles away from the Hoover Dam, putting it close to Las Vegas. However, when Sam is in his dorm room, it's stated that the battle was in LA.

More Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen character mistakes
Spaceballs picture

Character mistake: During the scene in the diner, there is a sign that reads "EMPLOYEE'S ONLY." There shouldn't be an apostrophe.

Low Cow

More Spaceballs character mistakes
Little Shop of Horrors picture

Character mistake: Both in the movie (and stage) versions, Mushnik makes a verbal mistake. Seymour shows Mushnik his new plant (Audrey II) for the very first time, but seconds later when the plant suddenly droops, Mushnik asks Seymour, "Why is it always wilting like that?" Always? He's just seen the plant! The line should be, "Why is it wilting like that?" Some smart stage directors of the play version have wised up and changed the line.

CCARNI

More Little Shop of Horrors character mistakes
Men in Black 3 picture

Character mistake: Griffin states about the New York Mets saying "They were in last place every single season until they won it all". That is not true. They came last ever since they started in 1962 to 1967. In 1968, the year earlier, The New York Mets came second to last where as The Houston Astros came last. (01:07:30)

Casual Person

More Men in Black 3 character mistakes
Journey 2: The Mysterious Island picture

Character mistake: When Sean and Hank are trying to get to the Nautilus, they swim right through a big school of jellyfish. Seems really unlikely that Sean, raised by a scientist and Hank, an ex Navy man would do this, considering how many species of jellyfish can give a sting ranging from agonizing to deadly. And, while they have a limited oxygen supply in this scene, and time is a factor, the scene shows there is room to swim under them. They actually pause in the middle of the school to grin at each other. There would have been sufficient time and oxygen to avoid the school.

Grumpy Scot

More Journey 2: The Mysterious Island character mistakes
Plan 9 From Outer Space picture

Character mistake: The pilot says to his wife that the flying saucer was cigar-shaped. The actual shape was more like two dishes attached together. (00:04:45 - 00:12:20)

More Plan 9 From Outer Space character mistakes
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra picture

Character mistake: Scarlett says that since McCullen is from Scotland, he speaks Celtic. Celtic is a group of languages, not a language unto itself (something a genius like Scarlett would most likely know); it would be like saying someone speaks Semitic or Germanic. McCullen would probably speak Scots or Scottish Gaelic, the official languages used in Scotland.

Jedd Jong

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

Suggested correction: Scarlett certainly took this into account when she suggested the words for Ripcord to speak. Scottish Gaelic is a Celtic language so Scarlett was still correct, she was just simplifying for expediency.

Phixius

No she wasn't correct. There is no such language as "celtic."

More G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra character mistakes
Avengers: Endgame picture

Character mistake: When they infiltrate the military facility, Steve and Tony are trying to blend in. Steve wears his hat the entire time he's indoors. He's a soldier, taking his hat off when he comes through the door would be second nature to him. Not removing it would make him stand out as someone who doesn't belong - Steve knows better than that.

ssgemt

More Avengers: Endgame character mistakes
Captain America: The First Avenger picture

Character mistake: Dr. Erskine says he lives in Queens at 73rd Street and Utopia Parkway. Actually, 73rd Street is well to the west of Utopia Parkway (both run north-south). Erskine must have meant 73rd Avenue, which does cross Utopia Parkway.

More Captain America: The First Avenger character mistakes
Zack Snyder's Justice League picture

Character mistake: Diana categorizes without a doubt Aquaman as "a mixed blood" Atlantean because Bruce tells her that he could breathe air. However Steppenwolf interrogated one of the guards from Atlantis on the ground, and he could breathe just fine.

Sammo

More Zack Snyder's Justice League character mistakes
Wild Wild West picture

Character mistake: When Gordon describes Leonardo Da Vinci's idea for a flying machine, he mentions Da Vinci designed it in 1540. However, designs for Da Vinci's flying machines were dated as early as 1488 and Leonardo Da Vinci died in 1519.

Darius Angel

More Wild Wild West character mistakes
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 picture

Character mistake: When Barb introduces herself to Flint, Steve calls her a monkey, and she corrects him saying that she's an "Orangutang", pronouncing the G at the end. But the correct word is Orangutan, with no G sound. Barb would surely know this, as a genius ape.

immortal eskimo

More Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 character mistakes
Outbreak picture

Character mistake: Salt states that the range of their Hughes OH-6A helicopter is 400 miles. The actual range of this model is 267 miles. (Source: FAS.ORG).

wizard_of_gore

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

Suggested correction: The FAS site lists 4 different ranges, but according to Boeing's own website, the range was 413 miles.

Bishop73

Suggested correction: The range of the OA-6 is 380 statute miles.

More Outbreak character mistakes
See You Yesterday picture

Character mistake: Right at the beginning of the movie, introductory technobabble. "In this canister, there's a solution of protons. The canister is attached to a rotor circuit that generates the protons to the speed of light." I believe the science genius and creator of time travel mixed up the words "generate" and "accelerate" here. (00:00:50)

Sammo

More See You Yesterday character mistakes
More Journey to the Center of the Earth character mistakes
The First Purge picture

Character mistake: During an intermission following Dmitri's revenge after the attempted hit on him, the Chief of staff discusses the data with Dr. Updale. There's a pie chart in the screen in the background, and the segments are; 5%, 25%, 16%, 14% and 50%, which add to...110%. It's not a pie chart, it's a pie and a slice. (00:50:15)

Sammo

More The First Purge character mistakes
Quatermass and the Pit picture

Character mistake: Colonel Breen theorises to Quatermass that the spaceship is an experimental German V-weapon from the second world war: However according to the story, the underground station (Hobbs End) was dug in 1927: The V-weapons first landed in London in 1944, so how was it possible for a V-weapon to land where it did underground, impacted soild in clay right next to a deep level underground railway station seventeen years later without anyone noticing at the time? Breen should realise that his theory makes no sense.

Will

More Quatermass and the Pit character 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.