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Sherlock Holmes: You have the grand gift of silence, Watson. It makes you quite invaluable as a companion.

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Watson points out that one of the vials of liquid in Holmes' possession is "used for eye surgery". In the late 18th century, cocaine was used as a form of medicinal treatment for multiple eye injuries and diseases. In the novels, Holmes is in fact, a cocaine addict. See more...

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Sherlock Holmes (2009) - 23 mistakes

Directed by Guy Ritchie, starring Eddie Marsan, Jude Law, Mark Strong, Rachel McAdams, Robert Downey Jr. (add more)

Genres: Action, Adventure, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller

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Continuity: As Holmes and Watson walk down a street after they've seen Blackwood's grave, we can see a man walking behind them, carrying something over his head. As the shot changes we see him passing them on the left side of Holmes. However when the shot changes again (Holmes says "Inevitably one begins to twist facts.") the man is turning right, behind Watson.

Edit Submitted by Ivan-sama Time
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Continuity: In the scene where Watson is moving his things out of the room and Holmes is examining a body, Holmes walks and goes to get a book once he returns, and Watson says "it will probably be a factory by the river" when the camera cuts back to Holmes one side of his shirt collar is down, although both sides were popped just seconds before, and seconds later the collar goes back to being popped.

Edit Submitted by moveaddict Time
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Revealing: The film is set in 1891. After Holmes escapes from Parliament, Thomas Thornycroft's statue of Boadicea on the Thames Embankment next to Westminster Bridge can be seen, even though it was not completed until 1905.

Edit Submitted by Nick Cooper Time
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Continuity: In the scene where Holmes is jumping from the office in the Houses of Parliament, the camera shot from the inside of the office as he jumps out of the window shows that his body is not fully out of the window as he falls down (his legs are still in the room). However, the view outside of Parliament shows Holmes jump clear of the window before he descends to the river.

Edit Submitted by eatrob Time
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Visible crew/equipment: When Holmes and Watson are in jail, close-ups of Jude Law reveal a hearing aid in his left ear.

Edit Submitted by Ivan-sama
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Continuity: In the scene where Watson and Adler are laying out the map, they place two objects on the map to hold it down. In the very next clip where it shows Holmes talking, you see Watson and Adler placing those same objects on the map.

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Continuity: At the graveyard scene, when Holmes borrows Lestrade's pen you can see that he has unbuttoned cuffs, and a pair of cuffs underneath. When he takes off his hat and scratches his head in the very next frame, he has just bare skin under his unbuttoned cuffs.

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Continuity: When Holmes and Watson get off the boat onto land, they wade through water for a short distance. But in the next shot when they're inside, neither of them have wet clothes.

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Revealing: When Holmes is looking at the white mark on Watson's fiance's ring finger in the restaurant, shortly afterwards a blue flashing light goes past the window.

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Factual error: Holmes and Watson's first encounter with the French giant results in a large steel ship, still under construction, being prematurely launched and then sunk. As it sinks, this ship, which is more than 30 meters long, stands on its bow. There is absolutely nowhere in the River Thames near London where the water is that deep.

Edit Submitted by Bruce Trestrail
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Other: When Holmes searches for hidden door after St. Thomas' death he bumps the door and it moves before he knocks on the wall to find out which side seems to be a door.

Edit Submitted by Tfan
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Character mistake: When Holmes is being chased through the boatyard by the giant, he trips over the ship's mooring chain. The links are over a foot long, and should weigh 100 pounds each, yet the whole chain jiggles like it's made of Styrofoam.

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Factual error: Hangings in England of this film's period were done using a white head cover and a rope passed through a simple eyelet. The coiled noose and black head shawl seen at Lord Blackwood's execution were only utilised in America.

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Character mistake: In the scene showing the outside of the hotel the British flag is flying upside down. The wider white band on the white X has to be top left next to the top of the flag pole. It is at the bottom, which is a universal distress sign.

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Continuity: During the boxing match, Sherlock claps at his opponent and stands up to see the handkerchief. After he gets punched, the scene that shows him falling to the ground does not display the white handkerchief, 10 seconds later when he stands up it is back on the rail again.

Edit Submitted by Shifty54
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Character mistake: Near the start, Sherlock reads a newspaper dated Friday November 13th 1890 - that day was actually a Thursday. About an hour later he reads another newspaper dated Friday November 19th 1891. If a week had gone by it should have read the 20th - a year could have gone by, but that date was again a Thursday.

Edit Submitted by digger
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Factual error: In the scene where Holmes is defending himself with some sort of electrical prod, it's clear that the tips of the prod have the same electrical potential (they are connected to the same metal). Subsequently, this device could never be used to shock anyone unless they were standing on a metal plate that was connected to the opposite electrical pole of the prod tips. If it had a Leiden-Jar type power source, it would have been expended after the first jolt.

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Factual error: When Holmes electrocutes the French giant, he jumps back at least 10 feet each time. Electricity doesn't do that to you. It causes your muscles to contract, which, if anything, would only cause you to jump forward,but never more then three feet.

Edit Submitted by Friso94
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Plot hole: Sherlock Holmes explains how the American ambassador burst into flames, how the fuel was applied, and what caused the ignition, yet nothing in the movie ever indicates, he had never been to the scene, or he even knew that the Ambassador had been killed.

Edit Submitted by Ivan-sama
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Continuity: When Irene Adler turns up at Holmes' apartment, Holmes lifts her necklace and we see the Maharaja's diamond hanging off it. When Watson asks Holmes to explain why he jumped through the window after her, when she leaves, we see another shot of her necklace, meant to be the same shot as before. But in the first shot, the diamond is hanging slightly to the left, and in the second, the diamond is perfectly centred.

Edit Submitted by benjyrabbit