Dunkirk
Dunkirk mistake picture Video

Deliberate mistake: The Messerschmitts have painted yellow fronts, this wasn't done by the Germans until after Dunkirk. Christopher Nolan has admitted doing this deliberately so the audience could tell the difference between the Spitfire and the Messerschmitt during the combat scenes.

Deliberate mistake: Christopher Nolan admits he used a French destroyer instead of a British destroyer, for practical purposes (most people won't notice). The giveaway is that it has a closed bridge. British warships were built with open bridges till after the end of the Second World War, as can be seen by looking at HMS Cavalier (http://thedockyard.co.uk/explore/three-historic-warships/hms-cavalier/), which was built in 1944.

Factual error: When the returning soldiers are on the train at the end of the film, it's an open plan post-war British Rail Mark I type, which where built from around 1950. Also the blue upholstery on the seats looks to be the corporate blue introduced by British Rail in the 1960s, used by the preserved railway owning the stock, and not what would have featured in Southern Railway carriages of the time. The carriages also have horizontally-sliding windows, which are far more contemporary than wartime trains, which had windows with a much larger vertical opening, held in place by a leather strap.

More mistakes in Dunkirk

Commander Bolton: Well, we'll know in six hours' time.
Colonel Winnant: I thought the tides are every three.
Commander Bolton: Then it's a good that you're Army and I'm Navy, isn't it?

More quotes from Dunkirk

Trivia: There are only two women with speaking parts in the whole film, with 47 words between them.

More trivia for Dunkirk

Question: Why did the spitfire pilot land on the beach at the end of the movie facing certain internment when he could have ditched and be taken back to Blighty?

Answer: After running out of fuel, he kept his craft aloft as long as he could so he could shoot down the enemy plane. He then landed when and where he safely could, which was on the beach but in enemy territory. Ditching a plane in water is dangerous and would have meant far less chance of survival.

raywest

More questions & answers from Dunkirk

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.