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Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle: There's nothing stronger than the heart of a volunteer.

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When the film was shown in Japan, certain scenes were omitted (an example is the showing of geishas) and anti-Japanese slurs were not translated into Japanese. See more...

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Pearl Harbor (2001) - 177 mistakes

Directed by Michael Bay, starring Alec Baldwin, Ben Affleck, Cuba Gooding Jr., Jon Voight, Josh Hartnett, Kate Beckinsale (add more)

Genres: Action, Drama, Romance, War

Most mistakes in this film are fair game, but Disney's said numerous times that it's meant to be a love story, and not historically accurate in every detail. Therefore please don't send me historical inaccuracies, including the colour of the planes, etc.

Mistakes
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Other: In the scene where Danny and Evelyn are flying in a plane to watch the sunset their hairs don't move an inch and stay brushed and perfect all the time, even after the plane makes a 360º turn.

Edit Submitted by Sacha
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Factual error: In the RAF squadron scene, the lined up Spitfires are the wrong mark for the period. For early 1941, the correct mark would have been a mark V. The Spitfires are later, as they have six exhaust outlets per side, and several have four-bladed propellers, neither feature being present on mark V Spitfires.

Edit Submitted by Bronzewing
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Factual error: When Rafe comes to England he gets a damaged Spitfire to counter the Luftwaffe. If you ignore the fact that he should at least make some flying hours in a Spit before going into combat, no one had to fly a shot-up Spit during the Battle of Britain, since Spitfire production could quite well keep up with the war losses. It was lack of fighter pilots that almost caused Britain's defeat.

Edit Submitted by burgardus
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Continuity: During the attack on the smaller airfield where Rafe and Danny are, the photographer who dove in the back of the car gets shot, falls and drops the camera. When it lands it's filming his face, and there is something on the ground right in front of his face, but in the following shot nothing is there.

Edit Submitted by The-Immortal Time
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Continuity: When we see the Navy Department's "vacant sea map", there is a guy holding a cane and explaining what it means. He walks around the globe in the middle of the room holding onto the side of the globe with his left hand, but in the following shot his left hand is on the cane.

Edit Submitted by The-Immortal Time
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Revealing: When the dead nurse's body (Betty I think her name is) is being placed on the pile of dead people, she blinks and twitches her face as the person carrying her puts her down.

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Continuity: When Rafe is in the plane trying to get Zeros off his tail he says, "Son of a bitch" and he is very sweaty. In the next shot he's not half as sweaty as the shot before.

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Factual error: Towards the end of the film, when the United States launches an attack on the Japanese ammunition factories, the planes fly over Japan and show shots of geishas to establish the country. Japanese geisha communities were shut down by the Japanese government at the beginning of World War II.

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Continuity: In the scene where Roosevelt is delivering the "Day of Infamy" speech to Congress watch the microphone placement. The MBC microphone likes to move around from left to right.

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Continuity: In the scene where Rafe gets his medical check, he has problems reading. But in a later scene, he has no problem writing letters to Evelyn, and has no problem reading them.

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Continuity: When Danny and Evelyn are starting to make love, Evelyn touches Danny's chest and after it she pulls her hand back and grabs his necklace (and dog-tag) way too fast.

Edit Submitted by nagyszabolcs
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Factual error: The USS Hornet, a Yorktown-class aircraft carrier launched in 1940, is played by a much more modern Kitty Hawk-class carrier. The B-25s also take off from a steel deck instead of a historically accurate wooden deck.

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Revealing: When the kids are playing around with the plane and make it move along the grass field, tracks from previous takes are visible in front of the plane. When the angle changes the tracks are gone.

Edit Submitted by Sacha
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Factual error: During the Air raid scramble of the RAF squadron, one pilot behind the RAF mechanic can be seen to be boarding a Hawker Hurricane, not a Spitfire. As far as I am aware, Hurricanes and Spitfires were never operated in mixed units. Squadrons had one or the other.

Edit Submitted by Bronzewing
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Continuity: When Rafe's Spitfire crashes into the water, the preceding shot shows it to be diving nose first, In the next shot however, it lands virtually flat.

Edit Submitted by GalahadFairlight
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Factual error: In the scene showing the bomb on its way down to destroy the USS Arizona, the bomb is a conventional aerial bomb purpose-built for anti-ship use. Historical records state that the Japanese had no armor piercing bombs ready for the attack, so they modified conventional battleship shells with wooden fins instead.

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Visible crew/equipment: As the US pilots run out of the tower of the aircraft carrier (alarmed by transmitting japanese outpost boat which uncovered and endangered "Operation Dolittle"), in one scene you're able to see a guy with sunglasses standing absolutely calm besides the tower and doing even a step backwards - impossible on an aircraft carrier ready for battle. (accurate time: 2:25:47 to 2:25:48).

Edit Time
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Visible crew/equipment: Ben Affleck's character takes his fiance to the beach in his car. When they are both standing in front of the vehicle, the film crew can be seen in the reflection in the car's bumper.

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Continuity: When Red and his army friend pull up next to the four nurses at the side of the road, Red asks Betty if she wants to come for a ride. Red leans forward and puts his hand on the steering wheel, but in the following shot he is leaning back with his elbow on the top of the door.

Edit Submitted by The-Immortal Time
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Continuity: When Rafe meets Evelyn outside the hospital with a bottle of wine, he accidentally hits his nose with the cork and lays his head on Evelyn's lap. Her right hand is holding some ice, but her left hand is nowhere to be seen, but in the following shot her left hand has appeared on Rafe's chin and cheek.

Edit Submitted by The-Immortal Time