Factual error: In Sue Ellen's resume that she types up, the zip code of GAW is revealed at the top of the page as 90042. GAW is later shown as being in the Downtown LA area. The zip code 90042 is in Highland Park - a suburb several miles away from the Downtown area.
Factual error: The U.S. army would never intervene in a hostage situation on American soil. Legally they're never be deployed for any reason on U.S. soil unless invaded by a foreign military. The F.B.I, S.W.A.T, state and local police agencies could have easily dealt with the events at the school.
Suggested correction: They could have been National Guard forces, called out by the Governor. However, the federal Insurrection act of 1807 does allow for The President to Federalize National Guard Troops and also call the US armed forces into service. This act has been invoked many times, the last by President George H.W. Bush in response to the 1992 L.A. Riots.
But the chances of the president deploying any type of military faction whether it be state or our military would be slim to none. Local agencies could have easily dealt with this.
Suggested correction: With the exception of a few scholarship students, the prep school students were the sons of the elite - wealthy and powerful, or "privileged" (e.g, bankers, major corporate heads, contractors, governors and even the Mafia). Even if they weren't part of the military-industrial complex, they make (and use) the rules to suit themselves. As the saying goes, rules were made to be broken. Also, loopholes can be found that enable re-interpretation and re-application to allow the use of the military.
And the heavily armed terrorists could be viewed as the functional equivalent of a foreign military, thereby justifying the use of the U.S. army.
Yep. Just like when the Army (eventually) responded to the insurrection at the Capitol in DC. As the first correction says, the rich and powerful do what they want and justify it later. Realistically, the audience would find it believable and doesn't care about the legal issues. This IS a valid legal mistake, but just barely a movie mistake.
Factual error: Hawking explains how time slows as one approaches a black hole's event horizon. To illustrate this a CGI-animated analog wristwatch is shown ticking away the seconds progressively more slowly. It's the kind of watch that ticks intermittently: once each second the hand sweeps one second-long increment around the dial and then waits one more second to sweep another increment. In the animation, the frequency of the ticks lessens, but the speed at which the hand sweeps each increment stays the same. To be consistent, the sweep-speed needs to slow down just as much as the tick-frequency. (00:36:30)
Factual error: In the deli, which is obviously not a kosher one since one of the items on the menu is "shrimp salad," a Chassidic Jew can be seen eating there. This would not happen in real life, as Chassidic Jews keep the laws of kashrus and would not be eating in a non-kosher restaurant.
Suggested correction: You seem to be referring to the deli in Jack's delirious dream when he wrote the deli into existence. Being a New York delicatessen, he would have simply written about the Jewish person being there. Of course, the Jewish person seen isn't real, he's part of the dream. The real deli at the end doesn't have a Chassidic Jew in it.
Factual error: In the Steve Martin segment, the bus hijacker makes a sharp left, which would throw the passengers to their right, but the film shows them being thrown to their left. (00:25:35)
Factual error: I drove a tow truck for almost 20 years, and there was never a lever under the dash that would permit the driver to drop the towed vehicle.
Factual error: Towards the end of the movie Ritchie visits Chas the Chair. Chas tells one of his guys to wire a police scanner in the GNX parked in the garage. As we see the car once Richie's in it, it's very easily noticeable that it's not a Buick GNX, it's the regular Buick Grand National. The badges are on the fenders where the fender louvers should be on a GNX, the hood has the 3.8 SFI Turbo, among other differences. Trust me, I've owned one and have driven many.
Factual error: Lieutenant Commander Cole goes to the skipper's office with his hands in his pockets and proceeds to talk to him, and not once does he remove his hands from his pockets. This is a military no-no. A person in uniform NEVER walks or talks with his hands in his pockets.
Suggested correction: Not necessarily. 1) This was during the Vietnam war, a lot of regs are overlooked. 2) The old military phrase "RHIP" (Rank has its privileges).
I respectfully disagree. I was an officer in Vietnam during the war, and the Air Force would not tolerate it even there. Maybe the Navy was more lax.
Factual error: While the 1960s-70s era Hong Kong vehicle licence plates were period-correct as far as number sequence (no letter prefix) and having white plates front and back, the type of plastic, retro-reflecting plates shown are from the modern era (post-1983). Cars in HK from that period had non-retro-reflecting plates, with either numbers painted on with stencils, or individually mounted plastic letters.
Factual error: In the scene inside Channel 3's open space, there are several wall clocks, but they are wrong. When it's 10:05 in New York it's not 3:05 in Frankfurt, London and Paris; besides, 3 clocks out of 6 which always point the same time is really wasteful - not that London is in the same timezone as the other two, but here they all point at the same time. (00:37:25)