Continuity mistake: Ruth walks to the ship, followed by Rose and Cal. When she is about to enter, the angle cuts and suddenly several women with dogs haven taken her place, followed by a lady who looks nothing like Ruth. Then in the following close-angle the group is meters behind from where they first were, repeating the walk towards the door. (00:22:15)
Factual error: Cal and Rose are supposedly in cabins B52-54-56, but in reality this was the suite booked by JP Morgan, and subsequently believed to be occupied by Chairman Bruce Ismay. (00:22:20)
Factual error: A small one & probably only noticed by dog trainers like me. When the dogs are being brought on board, they are on leather leashes made by J&J Dog Supplies, invented in the 1970s. It is the type of leash preferred by professional trainers, who probably supplied the dogs for the movie, and is distinguished by the "braid" near the snap, rather than by a sewn or riveted section. J&J's website is: www.jandjdog.com. You can see the leashes there. (00:22:50)
Factual error: When the camera pulls back through the pub window to reveal the card players, if you look carefully in the background you will see a steam engine on the dock. Unfortunately the computer generated loco more closely resembles a German tank locomotive rather than a British one, having two domes and several appliances on top of the boiler. British railway engines usually had a single dome, if any, as well as a whistle and safety valve on the boiler, thus having cleaner, uncluttered appearances. There were extremely few locomotives in Britain that had two or more domes, particularly prior to World War I, and the ones that did (which were mostly American imports) were not even remotely similar to the one in the film. It also is shunting what looks like a carriage - again, more closely resembling those of continental Europe. Carriages were rarely seen at docks, except if a train was connecting to a ship, and this was not common until the 1920s. (00:23:10)
Continuity mistake: Before winning the poker game, right when we meet Jack, his cigarette swaps from worn out and dirty to perfect and spotless. (00:23:10)
Continuity mistake: When the ship is about to leave the dock, there's a lot of people saying goodbye to the ones that are going to leave the city. In the following shots, you can see Jack and his friends playing cards inside the pub. If you look through the window you won't see anyone. In the next shot, when Jack leaves the pub, the crowd is there again. (00:23:15 - 00:25:05)
Audio problem: In the poker scene, when Jack picks up a card from the deck, it makes a very loud and long noise. Much louder and longer than the movement of the card against the deck would justify. (00:23:15)
Factual error: In the beginning of the film, when Jack is running to the boat on the pier, his rucksack is a Swedish Army rucksack, model 1939, and nowadays widely sold as army surplus. (00:25:10)
Revealing mistake: When the [CGI] Titanic leaves the dock, watch a man in a green jacket close to the bottom part of the screen. He is waving goodbye to 'nowhere', for that part of the boat is empty and its prow is pointing away from where he is staring. This reveals he was looking at a green screen, with no idea whatsoever of what was going on. (00:25:40)
Revealing mistake: As the Titanic is leaving you can see the news guy holding a hand cranked camera. He's cranking it left-handed, but all hand-cranked cameras are right handed. Either a construction mistake or revealing that the shot was flipped - a mistake either way. (00:25:50)
Factual error: When Titanic is leaving Southampton she accelerates in few seconds to a incredible fast speed. That was impossible then, when large steamers were helped off by tiny tugboats. In the long shot in fact, you can see the tugboats - no way she could accelerate that fast if being towed. (00:26:40)
Factual error: When Jack and Fabrizio are searching for their cabin, Jack can be heard muttering the cabin number - G60. Not only did G60 not exist, it would have been in Second Class, as third class cabins weren't prefixed with their deck letter. Cabin 60 itself was on F deck and bunked 8 people rather than the small cabin in the movie. (00:27:10)
Continuity mistake: When Rose has just boarded titanic and is looking through her "finger" paintings, she is holding a painting, then slides it down her fingers. When she slides it down, she slides it almost to the end of the painting's frame, but in the following shot she isn't even close to the edge/end of the painting. (00:27:45)
Factual error: Margaret Brown never went by the name of "Molly" Brown during her lifetime. It was not until after her death that she was referred to as "The unsinkable MOLLY Brown". (00:27:50)
Continuity mistake: At the beginning of the film when Cal sees Rose putting her paintings up, if you watch closely in the background, in one shot Cal walks into the room with his glass at his side, in the following shot it is at stomach level. (00:27:50)
Continuity mistake: The pipe on the starboard side of the forward smokestack changes by the time the ship sinks. When Captain Smith tells Murdoch to speed up the ship it bends at the top and creates a half circle. When it is collapsing behind Cal, it has the shape of a "P." (00:28:20 - 02:28:00)
Continuity mistake: When Captain Smith says to Mr. Murdoch "let's stretch her legs" the light comes from the port side. When Murdoch enters the bridge the light comes from starboard. (00:29:00)
Continuity mistake: While with Fabrizio on the front of the boat, Jack's hair moves wildly, yet a frame later, from a different angle it's still. (00:29:50)
Continuity mistake: When we see Jack and Fabrizo at the front of the ship, in one shot we see the wind blowing Jack's hair and jacket. In the next shot it's not. (00:29:50)
Continuity mistake: At the beginning when Jack and Fabrizio go to the front of the ship, you can see the anchor section at the front, yet when Jack is waiting for Rose, the camera pans up, and its a completely different design, than from the first look at the beginning. (00:30:10 - 01:17:10)
Answer: Yes, it was. At the time, the big cruise lines were all trying to outdo each other with the largest and most opulent cruise ships. The Olympic class ships were the White Star Line's entry in the size race, with Olympic, the first built, taking the title in 1911, before losing it to her sister ship, the Titanic, the following year.
Tailkinker ★