War of the Worlds

Continuity mistake: On the ferry, Rachel wears the purple/pink camouflage hoodie over her orange knit sweater with the colorful stripe sleeves, as usual. Now this is where things become strange. In the first shot as the trio come ashore, she is only wearing her orange sweater, she is not wearing the purple/pink hoodie - note the clear lack of fur hood. In the very next shot as they climb a bit more and then rest, Rachel is wearing the purple/pink hoodie - note the hood, but now it's on under her orange sweater. In the underwater shots she is also wearing it under the orange sweater. (This odd mistake has absolutely nothing to do with the very long wool cloak that Rachel wears in the next scene). (01:02:20 - 01:04:40)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: Whilst Robbie is helping the people onto the ferry in the overhead shot, Ray holds Rachel beside a red car down below as they are both avidly watching Robbie's heroism. However, in the next close-up Ray is just now approaching the car, amongst a greater crowd of people. (01:02:20)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: When we see the Hudson-Athens ferry boat captain from outside of his bridge, the video screens in each window above his head are positioned well below the tops of each window. In the next shot they're higher and we barely see them. (01:02:35)

????

Continuity mistake: In the interior shot, the Hudson Ferry captain walks toward and then stands at the doorway (seen clearly when he cast off earlier), as he stares at the growing whirlpool. However, in the next exterior shot he is standing at an open porthole window, staring at the water. (01:02:45)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: After the ferry disaster, the trio swim to shore and climb up the bank. In the side shot Ray holds Rachel's left arm and Robbie holds her right arm. However, in the next back shot Ray holds Rachel's right arm, and Robbie holds her left. (01:05:00)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: While the aliens rummage through Ogilvy's cellar, Ray and Ogilvy have a tense, silent tug-of-war with Ogilvy's gun, and their arm and hand positions differ between consecutive shots. (01:27:15)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: In Ogilvy's cellar, in the close-up of Ray's hand, he holds it up to the red mist blowing through the two broken windows. In the next shot however, as Ray looks at his hand and realizes it's blood, the right window is suddenly blocked with a broken shutter and two pieces of wood. (01:29:15)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: When Ogilvy shouts, "Ray! Ray! Ray..." in his cellar, Ray runs to him and there's blood splattered all over Ogilvy's face, but in the next shot the amount and pattern of the blood differs. (01:29:30)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: When Ogilvy shouts Ray's name half a dozen times, Ray runs to him to quiet him down. The broken cellar window behind Ogilvy has shards of glass and red roots growing on it. Then in the next exterior shot, the shards of bloody glass are different size and shape, and the roots differ as well. (01:29:35)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: When Ray tries to quiet Ogilvy, and then decides to kill him, the pattern and size of the sweat stain on Ray's shirt differs repeatedly in the following shots. (01:30:45)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: In the scene right after Ray kills Ogilvy, Rachel finishes singing her song and as she's taking off her blindfold you can see that her hair is all messy and dry. In the very next shot her hair is all wet and neat. (01:33:00)

Continuity mistake: Ray leaves Ogilvy's house to search for Rachel and soon runs into the pickup truck, just before the tripod's tentacle lifts it. The massive red roots growing all over the pickup are very different in the next shot, as it's lifted in the air. (01:36:20)

Super Grover

War of the Worlds mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When the tripod tosses the pickup truck, with Ray in it, it lands upside down and the windshield shatters. The size, shape, and characteristics of the hole and breakage greatly differ between shots. (01:36:25)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: Whilst Ray is trapped in the upside down pickup, he looks through the windshield hole directly at Rachel, who stands on higher ground. In the next shot from behind Rachel, the landscape, wood fence, etc., to her sides are entirely different from the previous shot. (01:36:35)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: As the tripod is attempting to have Ray sucked up, the soldier begins pulling Ray's arm down, trying to free him while he himself is being raised in the air. In the following shots, Ray's rescue is shown from three different angles, and each angle is distinctly different from the others. (01:40:00)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: While up in the tripod's "holding cell" for humans, Ray spits the circular grenade pins into his hand, and their positions on his palm differ between the two consecutive close-ups. (01:40:15)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: In Boston, when Ray breaks off a piece of the dried up root from the statue, the piece he holds in the next shot is completely different. (01:41:35)

Super Grover

War of the Worlds mistake picture

Continuity mistake: In Boston, Ray and Rachel discover dead red weed on a statue. If you look behind them, you can see a space between two buildings that is clear, only sky. In the next shot, when the crashed tripod is being shown, the spot where there was just sky now has the tripod legs. Compositors forgot to add the tripod in the previous shot. (01:41:55)

Continuity mistake: When Ray finally arrives at his ex in-laws' house, in the shot from behind Mary Ann, Ray passes the two cars on his right and is near the corner, but a few shots later, when Ray puts Rachel down, he is standing beside the first car, back up the street. (01:46:55)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: When the ferry casts off in the wideshot, there are only six people hanging off the outer edge of the ramp as it's being raised. When Robbie and another gentleman help these people over, in the close-up one of them wears tan pants, a long blue coat and knit hat, but this person was not amongst the six in the previous shot. (01:01:55)

Super Grover

More mistakes in War of the Worlds

Ray: Can you think of a plan that doesn't involve your 10-year-old sister joining the army?

More quotes from War of the Worlds

Trivia: When a group of aliens are exploring in the cellar, one of them spins the wheel of an overturned bicycle, and all are startled when the bicycle falls, making for a moment of comic relief. There's more to it, though. The H.G.Wells book mentions that the aliens probably had no concept of the wheel, as not a single rotating part was found inside the captured tripods. So an upside-down bicycle must have puzzled them a great deal.

More trivia for War of the Worlds

Question: I'm still a bit confused on the tripods' actual height. I can't find it anywhere and I just wanted to make sure how tall the tripods are. Preferably in meters but any measurement is fine.

Answer: They're reported to be about 100 feet tall.

Which is about 30.5 meters.

lionhead

They definitely seemed a lot taller than 100ft in the movies though that's for sure. I would have guessed maybe a few hundred feet.

Answer: In this film, their height is about 150 feet.

Bishop73

More questions & answers from War of the Worlds

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