War of the Worlds

Continuity mistake: When Ray steals the van the front windshield is dirty and has water spots all over. Then in the following shots, it alternates between being entirely clean, or clean only in the area that wipers swipe clean. (00:30:10)

Super Grover

Other mistake: In the scene where the aliens appear to throw the Bayonne Bridge off its pylons and the eighteen-wheeler crashes on top of the apartments, look closely on the far right. There is a red car, and right above it is a round black object above the hedge. As the scene continues, it starts to fade away into the red house behind it.

Continuity mistake: In the end of the movie before his son runs to him Tom Cruise is standing in the sunlight. In the next shot there is no direct sunlight. (01:48:00)

????

Continuity mistake: When Ray runs across the street shouting, "Manny! Manny!" a guy with a hat and plaid jacket passes by, as the shot ends. At the start of the next shot, the same guy is now near Manny's garage door and air hose. (00:18:55)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: After their long drive into the country, Robby and Ray begin arguing at the side of the road. In one shot as Robbie waves his arms, Robbie's blue boxers and pants are on so only the boxer's red waistband is seen. In the next shot, as Robbie still waves his arms, both the pants and boxers are pulled higher up, so now only a bit of the blue boxers are seen. (00:49:20)

Other mistake: When Dakota Fanning and Tom Cruise are in the house being searched by the alien probe, they use a mirror to shield themselves. We can see a diverging beam of light coming off of the probe, and therefore we should be able to see a related beam coming off of the mirror, widening even further. No second beam is visible.

Continuity mistake: When Ray is taking the van he's having a heated exchange with Manny, and Robbie's window is closed. However, just as Ray anxiously speeds away Robbie's window is wide open, for the dramatic close-up on Robbie's side view mirror, showing Manny's vaporizing demise, and when Robbie ducks his window is closed again. (00:31:10)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: When they leave Mary Ann's house in the minivan, Ray has Rachel in his arms, and the pink cord on Rachel's sweater disappears between shots. It's hanging on her arm, under Ray's chin, the first time he tells his son to get in the van, but it's not there the second time, and it's back on the third. (00:46:00)

Continuity mistake: In the van, when Ray says to Manny "Get in, or you're gonna die," the next shot shows Rachel's face with tears in her eyes saying "What do you mean?" with a very distressed look. In next shot from the left side of the van, you can see Rachel on the right side of the screen with a different expression on her face, looking more calm, yet, in the next shot the look on her face is distressed with the look of crying again. (00:31:00)

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: 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: After Ray walks out of Mary Ann's destroyed house, he sees Max on the airplane wreckage. In the first shot Max's body faces out, towards Ray, as he drags the food locker, but in the next overhead shot Max's body faces the seats. His position and things on the plane also differ. (00:42:40)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: Ray places the box of groceries down on the island counter in Mary Ann's kitchen. In the following shots the box (and goods inside), ceramic pitcher with utensils, tray of napkins, peanut butter, bread and bag, repeatedly, and very noticeably, change positions. (00:35:50)

Super Grover

Visible crew/equipment: During the ferry disaster, while Ray, Robbie and Rachel are in the water, when the car heads toward them a vertical cable is visible at the left side of the car, beside the side view mirror. (01:03:30)

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: After Ray finds out that Robbie took the car, he runs into the street. In the first shot he stops at least 6-8 ft away from the solid double street lines to turn, yet in the next shot he's standing right on the double lines. (00:13:25)

Super Grover

Continuity mistake: Just before the first alien tripod breaks free from the ground and cracks are appearing in the street, the front of the church cracks, and rocks away from its second half. In that shot, in the view from behind Ray, he places his right foot on the curb, while his left foot is on the road. In the next shot facing Ray, both his feet are on the curb.

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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