johnrosa

20th May 2008

Apocalypse Now (1979)

Apocalypse Now mistake picture

Visible crew/equipment: As the boat crew steps ashore to find Kilgore, the obvious shadows of two crew and their equipment are seen moving across the backs of the soldiers and then the raised netting slightly further away. This isn't the documentary crew they meet shortly afterwards, who are further onto the mainland. (00:27:20)

johnrosa

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

Suggested correction: In this scene, the boat crew immediately encounter a camera crew filming the soldiers. This is their shadows.

While they do encounter a documentary film crew, this does not happen until a few seconds after the mistake occurs. The shadows of the film crew are shown when they are walking onto shore, whilst the documentary film crew are shown more onto the main land. Plus, it seems a little weird Francis Ford Coppola would decide to randomly include shadows of a documentary film crew when the cameo doesn't happen until a few seconds later. Clearly this is the shadow of the camera and cameraman cast on them, and is a valid mistake.

Casual Person

20th May 2008

The West Wing (1999)

Life On Mars - S4-E21

Continuity mistake: Newly hired Assistant White House Counsel Joe Quincy is looking over his new "office". He's told it is the office traditionally given to newly hired lawyers, and is known as the "Steampipe Trunk Distribution Venue". In prior episodes, Ainsley Hayes, the previous Assistant White House Counsel, was also given this office, but this space is significantly altered in size from the earlier appearances. Essentially, the length of the space has been cut in half and the intervening wall with door is gone. Yet the room is not newly remodeled. It's a basement space with old pipes and walls, etc. The makers simply shrank the set without explanation. (00:06:30)

johnrosa

20th May 2008

The West Wing (1999)

Twenty Five - S4-E23

Other mistake: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Admiral Fitzwallace tells Bartlet that he wants to attack targets in Qumar. The first he mentions is "the Bahji C3I" which he explains is "Communications, Command, Control and Intelligence." The explanation shows the actor John Amos flubbed his line and should have said "the Bahji 3CI", as in "C.C.C.I" or "Triple-C I." This is common governmental and military abbreviation jargon, much as the show often uses "D-triple-C" to mean the D.C.C.C. (Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee). (00:16:50)

johnrosa

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

Suggested correction: C3I is similar to C2, pronounced "C two" and commonly used in military to refer to command and control.

20th May 2008

Titanic (1997)

Titanic mistake picture

Continuity mistake: The design of the ship's bow changes significantly while at sea. The white form on top of the bow used for mooring first does, then doesn't have an indentation on top, possibly with a bolt in the center. The point where the curved railing meets the straight side railings either is or is not connected by a top horizontal bar, and the gap between the vertical posts changes size. Another mistake on this site mentions the anchor design change, but also the metal walkway is made of tubular metal bars -or- flat bars that are more numerous and closer together. (00:30:15 - 01:21:00)

johnrosa

20th May 2008

The West Wing (1999)

What Kind of Day Has It Been? - S1-E22

Other mistake: I call this one an "Escher Mistake". As Donna and Josh near the end of their chat about the chair that needs repairs, they pass an office door on their left (Nancy McNally's office) just before going through another doorway. The camera that follows them passes "through" a solid wall and emerges in an office, facing a hall and stairwell as Josh and Donna enter from our left as if this has all been a continuous shot. But the camera-through-the-wall moment is actually a cut so that the actors can be on a totally different part of the set. This would be fine, except the staircase they are about to turn left to and climb only rises up about 3 feet, then the user turns left again and heads to our left - but that sends the user into McNally's office, and does so 3 feet off the floor, yet they are seen entering the press room instead. (00:11:50)

johnrosa

20th May 2008

The West Wing (1999)

19th May 2008

The West Wing (1999)

Angel Maintenance - S4-E19

Factual error: The fighter jet alongside Air Force One has "NY" tail markings which designate it's with the 174th fighter wing, with a home base of Syracuse, New York. Surely, in this emergency over Washington, DC, jets from a more local base (like the 113th's F-16s at Andrews AFB) would have been dispatched to aid the President's plane. (00:13:05)

johnrosa

19th May 2008

The West Wing (1999)

19th May 2008

The West Wing (1999)

Inauguration: Over There - S4-E15

Continuity mistake: When the guys arrive outside Donna's building, Josh wears a tux and a long black coat with a white scarf. After Josh says, "The buzzer's not working", a few quick camera cuts occur, and as he says "Nah, I know women-" and turns, the scarf is missing. It is back as the cameras cut again and he says, "I know what they like." (00:33:30)

johnrosa

19th May 2008

Full Metal Jacket (1987)

Continuity mistake: As the men get out of bed to attack Pyle, a close-up of Cowboy shows him looking to Snowball. Both are in bottom bunks. Between them we see a pair of legs lower and hang from a top bunk. The shot changes to a more distant angle and the legs repeat the motion. (00:28:50)

johnrosa

18th May 2008

Godzilla (1998)

Godzilla mistake picture

Continuity mistake: As Godzilla is about to step on Animal, we see two cars are directly behind Animal (a yellow taxi and a gray car). Each shot of Animal from the front as the monster approaches (and he's trying to get the tape locked into the camera) shows portions of the cars. But in the side shot of the foot as it lands, no cars are right behind Animal at all. (00:29:50)

johnrosa

18th May 2008

Godzilla (1998)

Revealing mistake: When Godzilla's foot steps "around" Animal, then lifts, the large wall of windows in the background has no reflection of the foot, leg or any portion of the monster, yet our viewing angle would require it. (00:30:00)

johnrosa

18th May 2008

The West Wing (1999)

Debate Camp - S4-E5

Continuity mistake: In season one, CJ's office was right next to Josh's office, but from season two on, it was at the opposite end of a long walkway that runs between several glass cubicles (one of which Donna uses). The later location for CJ was the press room for season one. The differences are not furniture, etc, but wall and door locations have been revised. This season four episode features a flashback where Donna visits the White House prior to Bartlet's inauguration, and she is led to her future cubicle. In this scene, we see the floorplan is not the earlier version, but the newer version. While the between-season changes can be excused as 'remodeling' that took place off-screen, this episode's arrangement can't make sense. (00:09:20)

johnrosa

15th May 2008

The West Wing (1999)

100,000 Airplanes - S3-E12

Plot hole: Joey and Kenny are led to the Oval Office by Charlie through the Presidential Secretary's (and his own) office. Charlie ends the scene saying, "Okay, you're in the Oval Office" as he sends Joey and Kenny that way. Charlie always knows the President's whereabouts and schedule. Yet moments later, Josh arrives in Leo's office where others have gathered to await the start of the same meeting - and Joey and Kenny are also here. Then everyone goes into the Oval Office to await the arrival of the President. It is as if the makers forgot Charlie led Joey and Kenny here moments earlier.

johnrosa

15th May 2008

The West Wing (1999)

15th May 2008

The West Wing (1999)

H. Con-172 - S3-E11

Audio problem: Toby enters the Oval Office at the end of a meeting the President is holding with about a half-dozen people. The meeting breaks up and Toby follows Bartlet toward the desk as the others meander toward the door. A few seconds after the camera pans away from the others, we hear the door close and the room is now silent as Toby and Bartlet begin to converse. But the door closing happens way too soon for all those people to have gotten out of the room. Two men are especially just standing there, looking as if they aren't planning to leave at all. The other doors aren't used nor heard. (00:14:15)

johnrosa

14th May 2008

Lethal Weapon 2 (1989)

Plot hole: During Riggs' last fight with Adolph, Adolph holds the knife in his own hand as Riggs forces him to stab himself very slowly. At any point, Adolph could simply have let the knife fall or just tilt down before that happened. Nothing Riggs is doing is making such impossible. "Locking" his wrist does not prevent him from letting go of the knife. It only prevents him flexing his wrist. And this guy is a trained killer, fighting for his life. Better to battle for control of the knife than just let it kill you.

johnrosa

14th May 2008

The West Wing (1999)

Gone Quiet - S3-E7

Factual error: Hal Holbrook's character is called in to assist in solving an incident where a US sub has gone missing in hostile waters. Despite being elderly, he is considered an expert in such matters, and is advising the President in that capacity. Yet while relating similar historical submarine incidents, he makes two significant errors. First, he describes the "Glomar Explorer" and the K-129 Russian sub as "two subs", but the Glomar was a surface ship, not a sub (See http://www.espionageinfo.com/images/eeis_02_img0482.jpg). Then he states the USS Gudgeon was trapped by Russian ships for four days, but the entire incident took 30 hours. He is never challenged on these facts, and his advice is unquestioned. Rather than character mistakes, as the character's meant to be an expert, this is more likely bad research and embellishment by the writers. (00:28:00)

johnrosa

14th May 2008

The West Wing (1999)

In the Shadow of Two Gunmen: Part II - S2-E2

Factual error: Sam says the "state-of-the-art" oil tanker he recommends can carry 2.2 million gallons of oil and weighs 308,000 tons. The Exxon Valdez could carry over 60 million gallons (1.48 million barrels) and weighed only 211,500 tons. The writers mistakenly swapped 'gallons' for 'barrels' so that this enormous tanker carries very little oil. It would actually carry 2.2 million "barrels", which equals 92 million gallons.

johnrosa

13th May 2008

The West Wing (1999)

Bad Moon Rising - S2-E19

Continuity mistake: As Jed and Leo pass through a doorway, the left door is open toward the camera while the right door is opened away. But as the camera angle shifts, the left is opened the same as the right. (00:03:25)

johnrosa

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.