Factual error: This film takes place in the early 90's. When Walter and the Dude are talking about the toe in the cafe, you can see late model cars driving by on the street, such as a late model Ford Explorer and a Cadilac. This is also evident when the Dude gets kicked out of the cab and a mid '90s Nissan Maxima drives by.
The Big Lebowski (1998)
1 factual error
Directed by: Joel Coen
Starring: John Goodman, Julianne Moore, Jeff Bridges, Steve Buscemi, Philip Seymour Hoffman, John Turturro, Tara Reid, Peter Stormare
Continuity mistake: When the Dude is in Jackie Treehorn's estate, he pencils over a pad of paper to see what Jackie wrote down while he was on the phone. He then hurriedly crumples up the piece of paper and shoves it in his wallet. Then, when we see the Chief of Police of Malibu looking through the contents of The Dude's wallet, the paper is there, neatly folded in fourths.
Goon: What the fuck is this?
[Picks up a bowling ball hesitatingly.]
The Dude: Obviously you're not a golfer.
Trivia: This isn't really a mistake, just something to note - throughout the whole movie the Dude is not seen bowling once. Also, every time you see Donnie (Steve Buscemi) bowl, he gets a strike, except for the last bowling scene, he does not get a strike, and he dies of a heart attack a few minutes after this.
Question: At the very end of the scene in which Walter and the Dude are spreading Donnie's ashes at the coast, a dark and unidentifiable figure appears for a few seconds in the upper right screen, apparently hiking a trail along the cliff. Was this an accidental walk-on by an actual hiker, or was it written into the script? With all the star-power in this film, I thought every bit of background action was supposed to be meticulously crafted.
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Chosen answer: There's no way of knowing. If the hiker was that far away, it could have been someone who happened to stray into the scene by accident. The filmmakers may or may not have noticed, but if they did, may have felt it added to the realism. I did this myself during the filming of a street scene for the TV show, "Northern Exposure." Filming was underway before I realised I was in the midst of it. I just kept walking like I was supposed to be there.
raywest ★