Factual error: The river that Ottway jumps into is filled with water from snow runoff, and as such it is barely above freezing temperature. Under those conditions, most people might have a few minutes to live before hypothermia and death. When Ottway gets out of the river, he isn't even shivering.
Phaneron
12th Jan 2013
The Grey (2011)
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Suggested correction: This is a follow-up question for this entry and not a correction, but since we can't comment on entries, this is how I have to do it. Ottway has been in the freezing Alaskan wildness for at least a couple days at this point, so his body's core temperature would have gradually dropped in that time. With that in mind, is it possible he could have emerged from the river without being cold enough to shiver? Wikipedia even lists the symptoms of moderate hypothermia as "no shivering, increased confusion."
10th Nov 2003
In & Out (1997)
Corrected entry: Obviously done deliberately to show how ridiculous the Oscar-winning film is, but it's not likely that the last scene of a film would be show at an awards ceremony. It would be a bit of a spoiler.
Correction: Not really. For a film to be eligible for an Oscar nomination it has to have been on general release during the previous year. While it is true that some films get round this by being shown in December this is still three months prior to the ceremony.
Correction: When Christoph Waltz won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for "Inglourious Basterds," the clip from the film that was shown before the winner of the award was announced was the scene towards the end in which Hans Landa berates Aldo Raine for violating the terms of Landa's surrender, which would be a spoiler for anyone that hadn't seen the movie yet.
12th Sep 2019
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Corrected entry: At the harbour Pippin shouldn't be wearing a leaf pin, as he dropped his to help Aragon and the others to track him and Merry.
5th Sep 2019
Common mistakes
Corrected entry: Whenever a character comes home at night to their house or apartment, every single light has been left on.
Correction: I wouldn't really call this a mistake. Especially depending on the area they live. Often times people leave their lights on when they are away to make it appear that people are still home so it's less likely they get broken into and robbed.
Agreed. My family frequently left lights and/or the TV on when we were away when I was growing up.
Yes, leaving lights on in your home when you're away is normal, but it seems that every single light in every room is a common occurrence in movies and TV shows.
Could you give some examples? I don't remember ever seeing this happen. It certainly doesn't happen every time.
30th Aug 2019
Dark Phoenix (2019)
Corrected entry: In the labs, the Beast is looking at colour LCD monitors, they weren't available in 1992.
Correction: They weren't available in the real world in 1992. This is science fiction though, and there are mutants both in the films and the comics they are based on that are extremely intelligent and innovative. The character Forge for example, who does not appear in the films but may exist offscreen, has the mutant ability to basically invent anything. Beast is also intelligent enough to invent LCD screens a lot sooner than we had them. He did create Cerebro in the early 1960's after all, which is a piece of technology that we in the real world to this day do not possess.
Next to that the first LCD screens came at the end of the 80's though in low quality and small. By 1992 they were very expensive but a lot better. The actual invention of the LCD technology was as far back as the 1960's.
Agreed that the Beast had the smarts to develop LCD screens but the story should be based on reality. For example if the Beast had pulled out an iPhone, it wouldn't fit the narrative, but the Beast would easily be able to construct such a device should he wish to.
Why should the story be based on reality? The movie doesn't take place in the real world. Should the president in the movie be George Bush since that would have reflected reality? The LCD monitors serve a purpose for the scene. While it technically wouldn't have been a mistake for Beast to have in invented one, an iPhone wouldn't serve any purpose for any of the scenes in the movie.
30th Aug 2019
Spider-Man 2 (2004)
Corrected entry: Doc Ock robs a bank to get funds to rebuild his machine. He seems to take only three or four bank bags, which, given the size of the machine, doesn't seem like enough to buy all the parts to rebuild it.
Correction: Let's say it wasn't enough, perhaps because Spider-Man intervening prevented him from taking more. He could have robbed another bank or an armored truck offscreen. Showing that, however, would just drag the movie down. Since he has all the equipment he needs, we have to accept that he acquired enough money to pay for it all.
Correction: Just because it "doesn't seem" like enough doesn't make it a plot hole.
Yeah you don't really know what is inside and what seems to be inside are golden coins which are probably worth quite a lot more than bank notes would. There could even be jewellry inside.
27th Aug 2019
Batman Forever (1995)
Corrected entry: Batman convinces Robin not to kill Two Face, but when he throws those duplicate coins later he knew Two Face would try to catch his and fall to his death. (00:56:55)
Correction: Since this is technically the same Batman that was also played by Michael Keaton in the Tim Burton films, Batman has already killed people before. He knows the heavy price that comes with it, which is why he wants to spare Robin from it.
23rd Aug 2019
Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)
Stupidity: Assuming that Stark had absolute faith in being able to bring Peter back (otherwise, not much point making a dead person his heir), he had an army of killer drones standing by in space, but he made no use of it during the dramatic battle against Thanos, when you'd expect he'd use every resource available.
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Suggested correction: Besides the fact it's a possibility these killer drones (or the satellite) were not yet ready when Thanos attacked, since Tony likes to have his new gadgets be build autonomously, I think it's safe to assume that during the time Thanos' spaceship was in the air the drones had little chance to impact the battlefield as that thing had excellent AA as proven when Captain Marvel came in from orbit. Once the spaceship was destroyed however I'd take it Tony was kinda busy with fighting Thanos and keeping him from the gauntlet to be thinking about any drones or any other protocol he had in space (I doubt he had only 1 satellite with weapons technology on board). Next to that I doubt the drones would have any use keeping Thanos away from the stones anyway, and them fighting the rest of Thanos' army was only second priority (and they were winning).
I actually agree (and upvote) the consideration that there's no hard evidence that the drones were fully operational before the event of Endgame, as I figure that the orbital facility should have some in-built technology to replace any drone lost. He can build new armors in minutes, drones should be assembled quite readily, so the 'big' part would have been designing the 'ship', but I won't get into speculations about the logistics involved, it'd be a wild tangent. I maintain that in this movie we're introduced to quasi-instantaneous anywhere-in-the-world tactical intervention capabilities Stark seemingly had, being presented as his heritage. You postulate that he could have even more space weaponry lurking around, and it wouldn't be out of place since this movie makes the reach of his technology appear truly global in a much different way than it was before, where we saw armors pieces fly from his Malibu garage or something. So, if he was too busy dealing with the messy fight on the ground to be bothered sending an order to the huge swarm of expendable decoys and hunter-seekers he (likely) had at the ready, well, he was surely under-utilizing them (hence the 'stupidity').
Perhaps I was a bit too generous when I said he had plenty of other weapon equipment in orbit. Ever since Iron Man 3 Tony hasn't been building a lot, nothing too elaborate anyway and after infinity war you gotta remember he has been living quietly and peacefully with his family the past 5 years without building anything probably. Even though he was pissed off they didn't build the shield around the earth he was just too tired and depressed to be the guardian, also believing I think that Thanos was right in some way and the dangers for Earth were over, so there was no need for The Avengers. Once he decides to help bring everyone back (and thus Peter) he must have ordered EDITH to build the satellite as a last bit of useful tech to leave his succesor in the case of his death. Last point I want to make which is a bit of a stretch but when Thanos' ship arrives it arrives high in the air and starts and attack on the ground. It's a good possibility the attack was directed at any threats in orbit as well.
Suggested correction: Using hundreds of weaponized drones in that battle would actually be an awful strategy, as the battlefield was so densely packed that almost any member of the Avengers or their sorcerer, Asgardian and Ravager allies could have been accidentally killed by one.
With the huge caveat that this entry is simply "stupidity" and not a legitimate plot hole because it involves a character decision, he could have used them to temporarily distract Thanos during their 3 on 1 battle, attack his ship, provide cover and tactical support during the chase for the gems and whatnot, his software is more than capable of providing valid targets.
12th Aug 2019
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018)
Stupidity: This film reveals that the theme park was built upon a dormant volcano. This means that John Hammond either neglected to do a geological survey when picking a location for his park, or simply ignored it and foolishly gambled that the volcano would never erupt.
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Suggested correction: Lots of people live right next to dormant volcanos. It can be thousands of years before a dormant volcano erupts. Might be a risk, but not as much as lets say living on a tectonic boundary or in tornado alley.
There's a difference between assuming the risk of living in an area prone to a natural disaster versus building a theme park that's completely reliant on tourism revenue in an area prone to a natural disaster. If a person's home is destroyed by a volcano, they can eventually get a new home, even if it takes a year or two. If a multi-billion dollar theme park is destroyed by a volcano, it's not something that can be replaced so easily, especially since no insurance company in their right mind would cover any of it. Additionally, the island in this film is fictional, which means the writers deliberately chose for a volcanic eruption to be the reason for the evacuation, when they could have just as easily made it so that the military decides to carpet-bomb the island or send in ground troops to gun down all the dinosaurs.
A dormant volcano is a dormant volcano, no reason to think it will erupt only years after you build a theme park on it. The area is not "prone" to a natural disaster. The eruption is a total surprise. Vesuvius erupts once every 2 decades or something and a lot more than a simple theme park is inside its destruction zone (red zone), including 800,000 people. And that is an active volcano. Take a look at Carney Park, a military recreational facility on top of a dormant volcano. Stupid?
Also, the examples you gave are areas with civilian populations that rely on those types of attractions to help stimulate the local economy. Isla Nublar is a privately owned island with no civilian population to speak of, other than park employees, meaning it is 100% reliant on tourism for its revenue.
How many theme parks are built in California, which is severely prone to earthquakes?
That's not an apples to apples comparison. California has a heavy civilian population and theme parks help contribute to their economy. Jurassic World is located on an isolated island with no civilian population and has to rely completely on tourism to stay in business.
3rd Aug 2019
The Simpsons (1989)
Character mistake: When Chief Wiggum shows up to arrest Nelson during the game at the end of the episode, Bart goes with Wiggum instead while pretending to be Nelson. Even a cop as incompetent as Chief Wiggum would not have mistaken Bart for Nelson since he'd had numerous dealings with both before this episode; Wiggum may not be particularly bright, but he knows who's who in Springfield.
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24th Dec 2004
Blade: Trinity (2004)
Corrected entry: In the scene where Blade's base is blown up, there is a shot of Blade being thrown into the air. This is not CGI or even wirework. When the director asked the pyrotechnicians to rig the warehouse, they decided to make the explosion bigger - without telling anybody. The resulting explosion threw the stunt double three metres into the air and nine metres backwards.
Correction: It's just plain false.
Simply saying "It's just plain false" is not a valid correction. You need to provide more detail, such as the stunt coordinator, director, script supervisor, etc. stated in the interview that what is stated in the original entry is not how it happened.
MythBusters Episode 186: Bouncing Bullet - The shock wave from an explosion can propel a jumping person to a distance far beyond what he could achieve on his own. Busted.
19th Jul 2019
The Simpsons (1989)
Character mistake: Burkina Faso is listed as being among the Southern Hemisphere locations Bart called when Homer is looking over the phone bill; since Burkina Faso is completely within the Northern Hemisphere, it would have made no sense for Bart to call there.
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Suggested correction: It may not make sense, but Bart isn't exactly the sharpest tool in the shed. In this same episode, he looked at his globe and thought Rand McNally was a country and was convinced by Lisa that the citizens there wear hats on their feet and that hamburgers eat people. Additionally, he could have just decided to prank call someone there if for no other reason than he thought the name of the country was funny.
Entirely possible, but since Bart had a globe right there to refer to, even someone with his limited geographical knowledge would have been able to tell that Burkina Faso is in the Northern hemisphere, unlike the other locations he did call as depicted in the montage (Antarctica, Argentina, unspecified South American nation, etc).
19th Jul 2019
Spaceballs (1987)
Corrected entry: When President Scroob is beamed to the next room, his head is on backwards. When he pulls away the back of his coat and says, "Why didn't somebody tell me my ass was so big?", his hands are angled like they are backwards as well. His palms are pointing towards his back. They should be facing the other way, as well as his thumbs being reversed.
Correction: The crew remarks that his head is on backwards. It doesn't mean his entire torso can't also be backwards.
To be fair, they even admit this was a mistake on the Blu-Ray edition of the film. (There's a special feature that points out various flubs.) It was really only meant to only be his head that was reversed.
Well, I think you could argue that it may have been a mistake as far as the filmmakers' intent was concerned, but it doesn't necessarily translate to mistake with respect to the scene itself. Technically, Skroob's head was on backwards. Nothing any of the characters said contradicted that.
24th Aug 2017
Game of Thrones (2011)
Corrected entry: Jon sends a raven to Daenerys in Dragonstone, and Gendry runs back to Eastwatch, reporting their dire position. Both of them get there surprisingly quickly, and then Daenerys manages to fly to them in basically no time at all, despite them being at least 1,500 miles apart, according to previous distance implications.
Correction: This is explained numerous times by un-synced timelines. This is not an error.
While there are numerous examples of un-synced timelines in this show, this is not one of them. Jon and crew are stranded on the island of ice for a couple days at most, and it would take at least that long for a raven to fly from Eastwatch to Dragonstone, and at least another day for Dany to fly from Dragonstone to Eastwatch. This doesn't even include the time it would take for Gendry to run back to Eastwatch and get the message out in the first place. Even by conservative estimates, Dany's arrival happens too quickly. This is just one of many times in the last couple of seasons where the writers threw logic out of the window in favor of rushing through the story.
1st Jul 2019
Common mistakes
Corrected entry: When men wake up in the morning they often look clean shaven.
Correction: Also, key word is look. Some men have light colored facial hair that doesn't reveal itself to the eye. But can to the touch.
1st Jul 2019
Forrest Gump (1994)
Corrected entry: After Forrest stops running and says that he'll go home to Alabama, he turns and walks west. Alabama is east of Monument Valley. (01:53:00)
Correction: Aside from Forrest not being very intelligent, he may be heading back towards Monument Valley so he can stop at the visitor center and arrange for transportation (such as calling for a taxi to take him to the St. George Municipal Airport), as he stated himself that he was tired and undoubtedly had no intention of walking or running all the way back to Alabama.
29th May 2019
Avengers: Endgame (2019)
Corrected entry: Peggy should be around 50 years old when Steve sees her through the window in the 70s at the secret base, because she was born in 1920-21. She looks exactly the same as in the first Captain America movie and Agent Carter.
8th Jul 2011
X-Men: First Class (2011)
Corrected entry: Xavier and Magneto attempt to recruit Wolverine but, in the first X-Men movie Xavier has no prior knowledge of Wolverine, despite the fact that it is in the future.
Correction: Xavier apparently knew of Wolverine in the first X-Men movie but chose not to say anything about their meeting in 1962. He knows that Wolverine is very distrustful of anyone from the time before he lost his memory; telling Logan that they had met sometime in the past would only raise suspicions.
7th Jun 2019
Dark Phoenix (2019)
Continuity mistake: Despite having the Phoenix power at the end of X-Men: Apocalypse, which manifests around her as a Phoenix firebird and she uses to defeat the titular villain, Jean Grey doesn't actually get merged with the entity until 9 years later in this movie.
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Suggested correction: Jean used her full psychic powers in the previous film, not the Phoenix Force. Even without the Phoenix Force she was an incredibly powerful, Omega Level mutant.
The Phoenix firebird is literally shown to be emerging from Jean's body when she kills Apocalypse. She can't both have the Phoenix firebird already within her and then somehow also have it invade her body in this film. The mistake is valid, and I would argue it should be listed as a plot hole more than a continuity error.
8th Jun 2019
Iron Man (2008)
Factual error: A tank's main gun could not blast Iron Man out of the sky, as depicted in this film, and the "lucky shot" theory holds no water. In military history, there are only a couple of instances of tanks using their main guns to shoot down aircraft by chance, and those involved tanks repeatedly firing their main guns on known flight paths until an aircraft literally ran into a tank round. However, in this movie, Iron Man comes out of nowhere on no known flight path, he's not recognizable as an aircraft, he's traveling at hundreds of miles per hour, and he's only airborne for about 4 seconds before he's hit with a tank round. The tank gunner could not possibly identify Iron Man as a new target, elevate the main gun, track him and fire in 4 seconds. Modern tanks do not have the ability to acquire and track fast-moving targets with the main gun, nevermind fast-moving aerial targets.
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Suggested correction: All that might be true in the real world but in this movie we know that the forces of the Ten Rings have been supplied with advanced weapons from Stark Industries. A retrofitted tank weapon that can engage a superhero in a flying suit is no more fanciful than a hand held paralyzing noise device or an arc reactor.
Yes, it's a fantasy film. You could even fairly say that no fantasy film can be in error by virtue of its fantastical premise. That does not negate a factual error.
Tony Stark is an extremely intelligent inventor that makes advanced weapons for the military. A targeting system for made for tanks lies entirely within the realm of possibility presented within the world of this franchise.
And, yet, it is established in this first movie that the Ten Rings terrorists only possess as much Stark technology as Obediah Stane allows them (which isn't much). Obviously, the tank is not very advanced technology, as Tony merely sidesteps the second tank round and he utterly destroys the tank with a wrist-rocket. There is no indication in the film that the Tank is advanced Stark technology.
No one is saying that the tank itself is Stark technology, only that it's weapon can be retrofitted with a targeting system. It wouldn't be much different than retrofitting an older model car with a GPS system. The reason Iron Man is able to sidestep the second shot is because he's expecting it, and even then, he barely dodges it.
No way the single-shot main gun of ANY style tank would be "retrofitted" to track and fire on high-speed aerial targets. Any refit would require rebuilding and automating the tank and turret and replacing the main gun (which fires only single rounds) with an automatic repeating cannon, essentially turning it into an advanced mobile anti-aircraft platform. The tank in the movie is recognizable as a standard, slow, single-shot British Chieftain MK10, so it's not Stark industries.
Well you definitely know a hell of a lot more about tanks than I do, so I concede my previous points.
It takes a man to admit he's wrong. I doff my cap to your courage.
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