Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

Revealing mistake: When the movie starts, there's an aerial view of London's rooftops. The smoke coming out of the very first chimney doesn't move, revealing it's a painting.

Sacha

Revealing mistake: During the shootout at the German arms factory, one guard is firing an M1888 Mauser rifle at Holmes, Watson, etc. However, when he fires it, the bolt handle is up, but we still see a muzzle flash from the rifle. This would indicate the muzzle flash to be computer generated and not a blank from the rifle.

Matdan97

Factual error: In the scene straight after the opening credits we are taken to Baker Street where construction work is being done. This work is identified by a sign with a logo as being for the underground line. The logo type face was developed by a Mr. Edward Johnston for London Underground from 1913 but the distinctive typeface used in the film was not in place until 1919. This is obviously long after the 1891 setting of the film.

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Trivia: The final chess match between Moriarty and Holmes is based loosely on a famous chess match between chess masters Bent Larsen and Tigran Petrosian. The match involved the sacrifice of a queen and a surprise checkmate, thus mirroring Holmes' apparent sacrifice of himself to stop Moriarty.

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Question: Why would Meinhard need to have been shot if the bomb would have taken everyone in the room out? The only reason I can think of is that Moriarty has considered the possibility of Meinhard surviving and has thus ordered Moran to shoot Meinhard to give him no chance of surviving whatsoever. Can anyone kindly confirm this or give a better explanation?

Answer: That sounds entirely right. Bombs are potentially unreliable; it's possible, albeit unlikely, that Meinhard could have survived the blast, so by getting Moran to shoot him dead first, then covering up the true cause of death (and thus who the real target was) using the bomb, it ensures that the job gets done.

Tailkinker

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