Breakdown (1997) - 15 mistakes

Continuity: When Kurt Russell gets his Jeep running again, after discovering the disconnected wires, the front wheels are pointing to the right. In the very next shot they are pointing to the left.

Continuity: In the beginning of the movie Jeff and his wife were moving to San Diego from Massachusetts. Well, they were driving in their new Jeep (with Massachusetts plates) through Arizona. When Amy comments about how fast Jeff is driving, the camera shot shows the speedometer at 80 mph and the odometer shows the Jeep has only 245miles. That must be a new record from MA to AZ..... (Note: not visible on DVD version of film.)

Visible crew/equipment: Just after the beginning credits end, you can see the reflections of the boom, the crew and other things as they pass the 4x4.

Factual error: Any auto mechanic will tell you that there are no wires underneath the area where Kurt Russell is looking on a Jeep that will prevent it from starting.

Revealing: During the ending sequence, just as J.T. Walsh is pushing the truck on the bridge, there is a shot looking at the front of the semi and you can see that it is not J.T. Walsh driving. The stunt man is noticeably heavier than J.T. is, and his hair is messier.

Revealing: Near the end, when Kurt Russell and his wife are in a beige utility truck which is being rammed through a bridge railing by the semi-tractor, there are at least two close up shots in which miniature models were very obvious.

Revealing: When Kurt is being chased after in the truck at the end, he pulls out onto the main highway and the truck skids. There are several tire marks where they practised this skid before. Also, at the very end when the truck is being pushed by the semi, look ahead of the front truck tire, more previous tire marks.

Visible crew/equipment: During the scene where the car breaks down and pulls to a stop in the middle of the road there is a shot of Kurt Russel getting out of the car. Look in the passenger side door, you can make out a camera reflection. Also, look out for the reflection of a reflecting light in the window as Kurt goes to get the cell phone. This is most obvious when the door swings open.

Other: At the end of the movie when the truck falls off the bridge and hits the water, the hood breaks off and you can see that there is no engine or transmission in the truck.

Other: In the bank scene, the monitor on the bank manager's desk goes from being connected and has a power cord, however when Kurt rises to go to the bathroom, the back of the monitor shows no cords whatsoever.

Continuity: When Kurt Russell's character is parked up on the highway with the truck driver and police, notice how in between shots, the cloud cover completely changes in an instant, not to mention the time of day which is clear from the different shadow angles cast from the Jeep.

Revealing: When Jeff and Amy are being chased by Red near the end and Red's truck begins to jackknife, you can see how they made the trailer slide in that direction. It seems that they constructed or used a trailer that had a set of wheels that would turn. They were turned in the direction of the slide.

Visible crew/equipment: During the confrontation between the bad guy and Kurt at the first gas station (where he leaves his hood open,) the camera and two crew members can be seen in the passenger side window as the camera follows the bad guy walking along the Jeep. Look out for the boom mike reflected in the windshield in the same shot as well. Both are really obvious.

Continuity: When Russell is kidnapped and is in the trunk of the Trans Am talking to the kidnappers, on the shots where they show the kidnappers from his point of view you can see a distinct curvature at the end of the trunk lid. Trans Ams of that era had flat trunk lids, that was obviously a trunk lid of a different car.

Continuity: When Kurt Russell is fighting in the car with the guy he gave the ransom money to, the car sideswipes a rock wall and the passenger-side rearview mirror gets torn off. A couple shots later it's right back where it should be.