Behind Enemy Lines (2001) - 61 mistakes

Continuity: After seeing his pilot get shot, Owen Wilson's character starts running uphill while being shot at. Of course you know he's being shot at because you can see the tracers. However, after cresting the hill, and starting down the other side, you STILL see rounds going past him. How did they get smart bullets?

Factual error: Just prior to taking off from the carrier, you see clear shot of the pilot activating the "master arm switch". This arms all the weapons on board the aircraft. You would never arm your weapons until airborne.

Continuity: The three Marine helicopters leaving the carrier are three UH1N Marine model helicopters. When they arrive in Bosnia to rescue the downed Navy pilot the same helicopters become two Bell model 205C and a Bell 412. When landing back on the carrier with the rescued pilot, they are again N models.

Factual error: Shortly after our hero ejects you see the pilot flailing around trying to pull the ejection handle. In a Navy aircraft with two crew, the NATOPS manual (Naval Aviation Training and Operations Manual) clearly states that the seats must be set in the "command eject mode". This means, regardless of who initiates the ejection procedure, the rear seat goes first, followed by the pilot 1/2 later. There is no need for the pilot to pull the ejection handle.

Continuity: Owen Wilson's character is being chased and falls into the mass grave covering himself with another body. As he crawls out he is covered in mud. In the following scenes neither he nor his uniform have a trace of ever being in mud.

Plot hole: As Burnett runs through the minefield, he clearly runs right into much of the exploding debris. Why does not even one bit of shrapnel hit him?

Continuity: Barnett takes a drink of the Coke from the girl. When he goes to have another slug of the Coke, there is more in the bottle.

Continuity: Gene Hackman's character, Riegart, begins the movie as a two-star rear admiral. Later in the movie, however, shortly after the second stand-down ordered by NATO Admiral Piquet, he wears three stars on his collar, signifying a promotion to vice admiral. This is highly unlikely, as he spends nearly all of the movie in the grease with his superiors.

Visible crew/equipment: Just after Stackhouse is executed, Burnett runs up then down a hill. Once he's over the other side he falls and rolls down a steepish incline. In the background (top left of screen) you can see set vans lined up nicely along the side of a road.

Continuity: During the scene in which in the downed Navy pilot is roughing it out in the abandoned factory, before the mines start exploding, you can see that the spot of blood on his left cheek keeps on mysteriously disappearing & reappearing.

Continuity: When Chris Burnett (Owen Wilson) jumps in front of the red truck to get a ride it slides to the right while the skid marks slide to the left.

Continuity: During the ejection sequence there is a major problem with the parachutes used by the crew. When you see the first parachute open, it is a standard Navy Conical round canopy with 3 colours; Orange, Green and White from the bottom view. A moment later they are flying ram air rectangular parachutes with different colour patterns.

Other: When Stackhouse and Burnett are being chased by the SAM, they pull to the right after deploying flares and you hear a voice on the radio say "Chaff, Chaff, Chaff". Chaff is a cartridge of small metal strips released as a countermeasure for radar guided missiles. These small strips add noise to the radar and clutters it up giving the pilot about 5 seconds to evade the missile. Throughout the scene, several indicators such as the flares and exploding fuel tanks suggest that they are fleeing from a Heat-seeking missile, not a radar guided one. To add to this, the voice on the radio wasn't that of Stackhouse or Burnett and was added for radio effect.

Continuity: When the pilots are talking about the DMZ, they point to the left of the plane (port side) then you see the forest move from right to left. The plane is now headed in the opposite direction.

Plot hole: After Burnett changes his uniform and runs away from the soldiers, he and the other man run to the pick up site just to watch the chopper turn around. During that time, the Bosnians release TV footage of a dead man telling Americans it's Burnett, and the American TV does a little news update about it. But the run only took them ten minutes, how could anyone have enough time to release news about it?

Factual error: Gene Hackman's aide was a Master Chief. In the real Navy, an admiral would have a commissioned officer as an aide, such as a Captain or Commander, not a non-commissioned officer, such as a Master Chief.

Plot hole: According to the last radio conversation between Owen Wilson & Gene Hackman, the final "RP" was "5 clicks East". Why then, after a short run to the pickup ride, did he travel 26km in the pickup to the war-torn town of "Haq"?

Continuity: In the scene where Burnett falls into the graves, those watching the infrared satellite image on the carrier say that after Burnett falls, he never moves. If he doesn't move, then how did get under a body?

Factual error: The SAM that shoots the heroes down is absurd. While AGM's can look for their targets on the ground, a SAM will not turn around repeatedly once it has passed its target.

Revealing: Gruesome but wrong. When the other pilot is murdered, the killer shoots him in the neck pointing downwards, but the spray of the blood-pack is from his forehead up high.

Factual error: In the opening voiceover, the narration refers to the Cincinnati Accords, when in fact the Bosnian peace talks were held in neighbouring Ohio city Dayton, and commonly called the Dayton Peace Accords.

Factual error: When Bosnian Muslims pick Owen Wilson's character, the car in which they drive has licence plates used only after the Bosnian War.

Continuity: Owen Wilson was carrying an AK47 with a wooden full stock when going to start the beacon on the ejection seat. When Owen was retrieving the film from the ejection seat, his AK47 rifle had a side-folding stock metal wire stock.

Visible crew/equipment: When Burnett haves a sip from the Coke a boom mike is reflected in the bottle when he lowers it.

Factual error: There is a short discussion about famous persons dying on plane crashes with John Denver being mentioned. The movie is set in 1996. John Denver was perfectly alive and well. He died in late 1997.

Continuity: The plane's weapons are there in some shots and not there in some shots. At 14:22, on the carrier you can clearly see 2 sidewinder missiles on the tips of the wings. At 14:52, they are there but are now blue. At 14:53, as it goes past "SHOOTER" they are gone. 14:57 there again.

Factual error: The aft cockpit of the F/A-18F is not simply a 'Navigator' as they say several times in the movie. It is the Weapons Systems Operator, or WSO (Wizzo).

Continuity: When the tank fires into the building Burnett and the other man flies through the air landing on the floor. When they are about to get up we see broken glass beside Burnett. When it cuts the glass is gone. Also when they land Burnett's head is facing the man. When it cuts they lie feet against feet.

Continuity: After takeoff is aborted, the crew leaves their aircraft on the catapult, still facing the bow of the ship. When Owen Wilson grabs the football and runs to the bow of the ship, in the background there is no aircraft lined up on the catapult.

Continuity: Right after Stackhouse and Brunett has been spotted flying by the serbian soldiers and the soldier enters Lokar's office, we see Lokar resting his head in his hand while holding a cigarette. When it cuts he is no longer resting his head but he takes a lung full up smoke instead.

Continuity: In the launch scene of the recon mission, one camera shot is centered on the aircraft's lower fuselage as it is moving on the catapult towards and to the right of the camera. If you look closely, you will notice that there are rounded intakes on the aircraft. Those intakes are only on the regular Hornet (F/A-18A-D). The Super Hornet (F/A-18E/F) has rectangular intakes like the Tomcat.

Factual error: During the Recon flight launch, one shot shows the Super Hornet taking off with a blue Sidewinder. These blue missiles are simulation Sidewinders, and as stated in the Top Gun mistakes (same missiles used), all they do when launched is drop from the aircraft.

Factual error: The French NATO rescue team is flying an old, Russian-made Mi-17 helicopter which is not in service in France. It was probably rented in Slovakia where most of the film was shot. The Mi-17 is easily distinguished from the French multi-purpose helicopter Puma: the Mi-17's landing gear is supported by huge rods, its side windows are round, and it has a sleek boom with the tail rotor on the left side. The Puma has smaller gear support, rectangular side windows, and a thicker boom with the tail rotor on the right side.

Continuity: When the man walking with the tracker steps on the mine, one shot the mine is pushed forward and in the next it has been pushed backwards.

Continuity: Towards the beginning of the movie when the F-18 is taking off to go on the recon mission, it shows a lot of different shots of an F-18 taking off. One of these shots is actually of an F-14.

Continuity: When Burnett takes off, the wheels start to retract in one angle. Camera cuts and they're back out.

Revealing: When Burnett stabs the trackers with the flair, you can see the outline of the padding.

Factual error: When Burnett and Stackhouse eject from the jet, one of the seats (most likely Burnett's) lands with extreme force near the statue with half a face. But the pair seem to travel several miles away from there very quickly, and Burnett does not reach that place until the end of the film and many clicks later.

Factual error: When Admiral Reigart is talking to Lt Burnett in his office about Burnett's resignation papers, they talk about being at war or not. The admiral says that they are always at war unless tied up in San Diego bay. No ship that size would be in San Diego bay. They are based in San Diego Harbor. This is not a mistake the admiral would make.

Continuity: The metal rod Burnett uses to stop himself from sliding down, while being shot at by the sniper, changes after he grabs it.

Visible crew/equipment: When Burnett jumps and Glen catch him hanging in the air, Leslie shouts "Pull up. Pull up.", it cuts and the security wire attached to Burnett's right shoulder is visible.

Revealing: When the tank has bursts into the building it fires and Burnett flies through the air landing on a table. It is it's a stunt double, cause his hair is shorter and darker.

Continuity: When Burnett is on the phone with his dad a man writes "Stackhouse/Burnett" on a board. Later in the close-up the handwriting has changed.

Revealing: When Owen Wilson is trying to restart the beacon in his ejection seat, his right hand is ungloved. Yet in the scene before, he took off his left glove. It is my belief the negative is reversed, as you can catch a quick view of a Duracell battery with the letters mirrored.

Factual error: The two SAMs are shot 5 to 10 seconds apart. Yet the second SAM catches up to the first and begins to travel at the same speed.

Continuity: In the scene where Serbian soldiers are searching for Owen Wilson's character almost all of them following the tank in that shot are left-handed. A few minutes later it happens again. In all other scenes most every soldier is right-handed. The odd shots are flipped.

Visible crew/equipment: When Burnett cuts away from his parachute and falls to the ground from the tree, you can see the crash pad he lands on.

Factual error: Most of the film footage shows the F-18E/F model "Super Hornet." At the time of the Bosnian conflict, this aircraft was not yet in service and was not slated to enter service until 2002. First flight: December, 1995. First carrier landing test: 1997. Entered Service: 2002/03.

Plot hole: When Burnett is hiding in the mass grave, the people on the ship are watching a thermal image of him. When he falls, his arm is at an angle and stays at that angle. To move under the bodies in the grave he would had to have moved his arm. But it stays at the same angle throughout, so how could he move under the bodies, without his thermal image moving?

Continuity: After Stackhouse and Brunett has been shot down, we see the front part of the plane land and the inscription "Made in U.S.A" is writing on the right front of the plane. That wasn't there earlier.

Audio problem: When Burnett is running over the bridge yelling for the car his mouth doesn't move.

Other: The Admiral gives Burnett a dressing down for his bar fight on Sept 23 and then a month later another complaint at a Chinese New Year party. This would mean the New Year was in October, but they are always in January or February.

Revealing: When Chris Burnett runs out in front of the pickup truck to get a ride, the pickup skids to a stop - you can see a person sitting in the bed of the truck and he does not get even slightly startled by the truck's sudden stopping.

Factual error: Gene Hackman is the Adriatic Fleet Admiral. While onboard the aircraft carrier, he carries out duties as the captain of the carrier. The only people who can give orders on a carrier are the ship's captain or the airwing captain. Gene Hackman could only give orders to the captain, who in turn would give orders to the crew.

Factual error: When the football falls in the water, the crew yells "Wilson". This is not a reference to the actor's real name but a semi-obscure reference to the ball in the movie "Cast Away". These movies were released very close together and so the likelihood that a movie-viewer would get the joke is certainly possible. However, the movie takes place in 1996, and "Cast Away" was released in 2000.

Continuity: In the scene where Burnett stops the Pickup truck and it skids. The blond haired passenger on the truckbed is leaning on the rail and suddenly on the next shot he is leaning on the truck cab.

Factual error: In the opening carrier takeoff scene, someone says "OK for start" when the aircraft is already on the catapult, ready for launch. Then, there is a shot of the instrument panel showing the left engine coming up to speed. The engines have to be started to taxi the a/c into position, and they idle at about 70% RPM.

Continuity: When Owen Wilson parachutes through the trees, his oxygen mask goes from being on, covering his face, to being off and dangling. This repeats when he drops from his tangled chute. When he initially cuts free, his mask is over his face, then when he gets up it is off. A pilot should keep his mask on and visor down after ejecting over land to prevent injuries to his face and eyes should he wind up in the trees like Wilson did.

Visible crew/equipment: In several shots above the Stackhouse and Burnett's plane you are able to see studio lights.

Visible crew/equipment: When Burnett is running through the mine field you can see a camera right in the shot. The camera takes up half the screen, but it can only be seen in slow-mo. (The use of slow motion is permitted when crew/equipment are visible.)

Other: When they show the Super Hornet ready to take off on the carrier we see lots of people standing around watching on the deck. The people are there because it is file footage of the aircraft's first carrier trials on the USS Harry S. Truman in 1998. As they bothered to CG paint over the trial markings on the plane, they could have erased the people at the same time.