Grumpy Scot

Trivia: Not exactly a mistake, but when the Vulcans land, Cochrane says "My God, they're really from another world!" I guess no one mentioned to him that the lady he tried to seduce and has been helping him the whole time is too. Though her father was human, Troi was born and raised on Betazed.

Grumpy Scot

By Inferno's Light - S5-E15

Continuity mistake: When Bashir goes to let Garak out of the crawlspace, he pulls the prying tool from under the end of the bunk mattress closest to him. But in the scene before a Romulan prisoner had put it under the opposite end of the mattress.

Grumpy Scot

Stupidity: Reliant's prefix code is 16309. This code prevents an enemy ship from ordering a friendly ship to lower its shields or something similar. Five digits with no symbols. We know that symbols and letters aren't used since Spock uses a 10 digit set of switches to input the code. This is ludicrous. In 2016, a high powered server could crack a 6 digit password in approximately 0.0224 seconds (at 100 billion guesses/second). Any starship computer would have to far more processing power then a 2016 server. The prefix code protecting a starship from cyber attack would have to be insanely complex in order to be useful.

Grumpy Scot

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: Keep in mind the era that this movie was made in. This movie was made before PCs really existed. Computers at this time were typically huge devices or box like containers. Their data storage capacity was minuscule and there certainly wasn't any form of AI logic programs built to "hack" passwords. I know this movie is about space and set in the future but there's a lot of stuff in Star Trek movies that based on our technology or development currently, we would expect something bigger, smarter, etc. We still have problems today with people using archaic password structures like 1.2.3.4. or actually using the word password for/in their password. Back in '81-'82, I'm sure that most people would not have thought about codes being hacked. This is not to mention that in many movies, which I don't know if there is a specific reason for using 16309, codes, passwords, numbers for addresses/apt#/room#/etc and other info frequently come about as tribute, honoring, or coming from something in the lives of a film's director/producer/actor/etc! So sure with today's technology, which could have been accomplished more than 10 years ago as well, using a single string of numbers as security measures for anything is foolish and can be hack by a self running password-like cracker program... But they made this "code" back in the very early 80s when computer hacking was barely unconscionable (MAYBE) so unless these #s were a tribute or to honor something, I'm pretty sure no one was even thinking of hacking back then... We all aware of today... all about the hacking threats and YET we still have people using 1.2.3.4., the word password, or other horrible predictable password choices that can easily be broken by a password cracking program... And we know that there's a huge hacking threat requiring strong security measures but don't do so while back then, there was little awareness of the threats of hacking much less the concept of hacking altogether.

OR... in this future they have limited the number of password attempts to one a day and the ship automatically goes to red alert after a failed attempt until the right code is entered. That way it would take 7,327 years or so to try all the codes with the crew on notice and plenty of time to address the threat.

27th Feb 2016

Explorers (1985)

Factual error: When the aliens first take over the Thunder Road, Wolfgang says that he will reverse the "x-axis diode" to make the computer think they are traveling in the opposite direction. However the outside view shows them moving up and forward at a steep angle, ie moving up on the Z axis and forward on the X axis. If they X axis diode was reversed then the Thunder Road would still be ascending at the same rate, simply in the opposite direction (basically changing from moving forwards and climbing to moving backwards and climbing) . To make them descend, he would have to reverse movement on the Z axis. Considering it's shown on screen that Wolfgang designed the interface to make the sphere move on XYZ coordinates, he would know this.

Grumpy Scot

27th Feb 2016

The Martian (2015)

Other mistake: When Watney is in zero-g there are loose bolts floating around him. There is no way he would have left loose pieces in the MAV's cabin. Things left unsecured in microgravity tend to float around and damage delicate electronics. If something is not being used it's lashed down or secured in a cabinet. He has one chance to to get rescued and he wouldn't risk dying after over a year of surviving on Mars on something so foolish as unsecured equipment in the MAV cabin. He would have cleaned out every last bit of loose gear before launch.

Grumpy Scot

19th Oct 2015

The Martian (2015)

Factual error: Lewis replaces Beck on the EVA to rescue Watney. On a NASA mission, each crewman is a specialist in several areas. While all of the crew have trained on EVA, Beck is the specialist for Ares III meaning he practiced EVA protocol and maneuvers 2-3 times as much as any other crew member. So while it is a nice dramatic moment for Lewis to replace him, a real mission commander would trust the best trained personnel to do their jobs, as she is actually lowering the chances of success by replacing Beck.

Grumpy Scot

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: The Hermes missions are much more long term than any current NASA missions. In this fictional future, we have no evidence that Beck is the only one qualified enough to carry out this rescue. Additionally, Lewis has the emotional connection, having been the one to instruct them to leave Watney on Mars.

11th Oct 2015

The Martian (2015)

Deliberate mistake: The atmosphere on Mars is only 1% as dense of that as Earth, so 175kph windstorms would feel like a light breeze. They would have very little effect on the astronauts or MAV. The writers of the book and the film were aware of this, it was a small cheat to let the rest of the story unfold.

Grumpy Scot

6th Jul 2015

Defiance (2013)

Relics - S6-E4

Other mistake: When Scotty goes to the holodeck to visit the original Enterprise, the computer tells him there are 5 Federation vessels with that name. (NX-01 served before the founding of the Federation so this is technically correct.) Scotty specifies NCC-1701, "no A, B, C or D." The computer then tells him the program is ready. The computer should have asked him if he wanted pre or post refit NCC-1701. The ship we see in the Original Series was rebuilt/refit into the ship we see in The Motion Picture.

Grumpy Scot

10th Mar 2015

MythBusters (2003)

Duct Tape Canyon - S11-E8

Revealing mistake: When Jamie sits down after rappelling down the canyon wall you can see that he has climbing rope attached to his harness. It's wrapped in duct tape to look like its the rope he and Adam made of duct tape. This may just be a safety line to support his weight if he duct tape rope snaps, but the Mythbusters usually point out any backup safety systems and explain that they are there for caution and don't contribute to the test. (This was explained in the aftershow. It was a safety line required by the shows insurers).

Grumpy Scot

2nd Feb 2015

Explorers (1985)

Continuity mistake: Wolfgang removes his oxygen mask just before shutting off the field surrounding the Thunder Road. When the field goes off he can be seen through the front window still wearing it.

Grumpy Scot

21st Oct 2014

Mallrats (1995)

Trivia: "Walt Flanagan's dog" is mentioned in this movie and referenced in other Kevin Smith productions. When filming Mallrats, Walt Flanagan (an actor and friend of Kevin Smith) had just gotten a rambunctious puppy that destroyed Flanagan's hotel room while he was on set. It amused Kevin Smith, so he began using it as an in-joke.

Grumpy Scot

Character mistake: When Sean and Hank are trying to get to the Nautilus, they swim right through a big school of jellyfish. Seems really unlikely that Sean, raised by a scientist and Hank, an ex Navy man would do this, considering how many species of jellyfish can give a sting ranging from agonizing to deadly. And, while they have a limited oxygen supply in this scene, and time is a factor, the scene shows there is room to swim under them. They actually pause in the middle of the school to grin at each other. There would have been sufficient time and oxygen to avoid the school.

Grumpy Scot

Revealing mistake: Just before Michael and Ellie get out of his car, a fire extinguisher is seen mounted above the dash. Michael opens the hood and the engine begins smoking. Michael reaches into the car for the extinguisher. You can see through the windshield that he is handed another extinguisher instead of removing the one from its mounted spot. The mounted extinguisher is still visible in its holder. Likely done to preserve pacing so he doesn't have to fumble with the clamps on the mounted one.

Grumpy Scot

6th Dec 2013

Stargate (1994)

Continuity mistake: When O'Neil activates the nuke he flips up a red protective cover and then flips the switch to the up position. Later when he attempts to deactivate it, he flips up the same red cover and flips the switch to the up position again.

Grumpy Scot

The Cushion Saturation - S2-E16

Factual error: Leslie Winkle takes shelter with Howard in the middle of a paintball game. Her gun has no hopper for paintballs and thus no ammo, so it's useless, despite her apparently using it outside seconds earlier. This isn't a model with an internal magazine - the port to attach the missing hopper is plainly visible.

Grumpy Scot

Factual error: Carver tells Stamper to be sure and use the correct ammunition when shooting the British sailors. Stamper then uses an M60E3, an American light machine gun firing 7.62x51 mm ammo. To properly frame the Chinese, he should have used a weapon firing 7.62x54R mm, 7.62x39 mm or 5.45x39 mm ammo.

Grumpy Scot

13th Mar 2013

Boy Meets World (1993)

Trivia: Topanga was named when the production staff called the show's creator Michael Jaobs and asked him for her name. He said "Topanga" since he was driving past Topanga Canyon at the time. (From Danielle Fishel's Maxim interview).

Grumpy Scot

18th Feb 2013

Castle (2009)

After Hours - S5-E8

Plot hole: Beckett and Castle lose their cell phones and wallets and are being chased by the mob. Beckett steals a cell phone from a car but can't use it, since it is locked and then shut off remotely. Any cell phone can always dial 911, whether locked or blocked from service.

Grumpy Scot

The Offspring - S3-E16

Other mistake: One of the physical appearances Lal considers adopting is an Andorian female with green skin. In the Trek universe, Andorians invariably have blue skin (the Aenar are a variant of the Andorian race but are depicted with bluish-white skin, still not green). And while other humanoid races have been portrayed with different skin tones, there are some races that have only one skin hue. (ie, Andorians are always blue, Orions are always green, Ferengi are always light orange.) It is highly unlikely she or Data designed it with different skin as Data wants her to fit in, and Troi makes no mention of it.

Grumpy Scot

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