Corrected entry: What suddenly makes Elizabeth the great expert on nautical affairs when they are being chased by the Black Pearl? I know it's to involve the actress in the scene, but really this is just silly.
Tailkinker
25th May 2004
X-Men 2 (2003)
Corrected entry: When Wolverine is shot in the head, his Adamantium skull blocks the bullet, which means he only has a simple flesh wound. Based on this and on how fast he heals from far worse injuries, it shouldn't have taken him so long to heal, and it shouldn't have knocked him out in the first place.
Correction: The wound doesn't heal as fast because the bullet is lodged in place - it's only once it's been worked loose that the healing can take place, and, as we see, this is exactly what happens. It's also reasonable that Logan should be knocked out - his brain is effectively encased in a metal casing, which has just been hit, at extremely high velocity, by another metallic object. It's like standing inside a bell when it rings - the vibrations are more than enough to make you dizzy - this would be far worse. The shockwaves running through his brain would be more than enough to knock him senseless.
26th May 2004
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Corrected entry: The journey from Osgiliath to Minas Tirith is about 15-20 miles. Faramir and his men were able to make the journey within a couple of minutes. This would be physically impossible for horses to do (even Shadowfax couldn't make the journey within a couple of minutes.)
Correction: Their journey is shown using an absolutely standard cinematic technique of time compression, intercut with Pippin singing for dramatic effect - it's not meant to imply that the journey takes that length of time.
25th May 2004
Minority Report (2002)
Corrected entry: It was a real nail biter when Anderton and the pre-crime squad was pressed for time to figure out where Howard Marks was going to murder is wife and his wife's lover, but wouldn't it be a simple task to look up Howard Marks' address in a world where computers can convert brain waves into images?
Correction: They look up all the men named Howard Marks in the area, only to find that the right one has moved house in the last week and his address hasn't been updated in the databases yet - hence having to use the images to locate the right house. All this is stated quite specifically.
1st May 2004
Pitch Black (2000)
Corrected entry: How can Riddick possibly examine a skeleton and determine how the sensory system of a completely alien lifeform works enough to discover a binocular blind spot in a predator's vision? Bad enough that a predator wouldn't be able to see something directly in front of it (a massive hole in its hunting ability), but anyone not a trained biologist shouldn't be able to diagnose this from a few minutes with a skeleton.
Correction: He's playing a hunch, nothing more, nothing less. It's not unreasonable to assume that he could make a guess of this nature - given the protrusions on the side of the head, it's a reasonable guess that they might contain sensory organs. And, with regards to their blind spot, you're a predator, too, and you can't see the small area directly in front of your mouth either.
16th May 2004
Speed (1994)
Corrected entry: How did Dennis Hopper get fooled by the "loop" video, when that was just one of the screens he was monitoring at home? He was also watching multiple other screens, that included other cameras and live news feeds. There is no way he could have missed what was actually happening.
Correction: All the news feeds have been shut off. The bus is now in the airport - restricted airspace, so the news helicopters can't get too close, and we see the police telling the ground-based camera crews to stop filming - an instruction that undoubtedly also went to any news helicopters filming from a distance. As such, at that time, the images from his camera on the bus are his only method of monitoring what's going on.
12th May 2004
Aliens (1986)
Corrected entry: When the marines first arrive, the dropship lands for a few seconds, long enough for the APC to drive off, and no alien jumps on. When Hicks calls Ferro down again, we can see that the dropship is back in the transport's hanger. How did the alien get on board?
Correction: They are not back on the Sulaco. Putting aside the tactical lunacy of having their only means of getting off the planet up in orbit, you actually see the dropship taking off from a landing field next to the colony - other than a metallic surface, it bears no resemblance to the Sulaco docking bay.
16th May 2004
The Fifth Element (1997)
Corrected entry: It's impossible for Leeloo to learn how to say "Please help" by reading the sign in the back of Korben's cab. She doesn't understand more than a word or two of spoken English, which doesn't prepare her for interpreting graphic symbols and the sounds they represent. (00:35:15)
Correction: I don't think it's possible to state categorically what a supreme being is or is not capable of. Given her 5000-year slumber and the huge change in language in that time period, it would make sense for her to have been given some method to figure out elementary communication as soon as possible.
7th May 2004
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)
Corrected entry: Qui-gon says to Watto, "My ship will be the entry fee." How does he know for sure that the people in charge of registration for the pod race will accept a damaged ship? I realize it's a moot point, since Qui-gon talked Watto into supplying the entry fee.
Correction: These are Hutts we're talking about - they'll likely accept just about anything of sufficient monetary value.
29th Apr 2004
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
Corrected entry: After beaming down to Ceti Alpha V (thinking it is C.A VI) and entering the cargo hold, Chekov notices the words "Bottany Bay" on one of the straps. This means that they are actually in part of the ship that Kahn and his followers were found in. How? That ship was ditched in the episode Space Seed well before they decided to drop Kahn and his followers off at the planet.
Correction: Khan and his followers would need resources to build their new life on Ceti Alpha V - what remained of the Botany Bay would be an obvious candidate, with the added advantage of not providing Khan with any up-to-date technology. Kirk could have taken the Enterprise back to retrieve the ship for this reason.
29th Apr 2004
Star Trek: Generations (1994)
Corrected entry: When Picard and Kirk are fighting Soran to stop him from launching the rocket that will destroy the planet's sun, what was the big hurry? If they fail, they will be absorbed in the Nexus. Guinan, in the Nexus, said a person leaving the Nexus could time travel to any time period he/she wanted. They could simply keep leaving the Nexus to the same point in time until they destroyed the rocket.
Correction: Starship captains NEVER think in terms of failure.
22nd Jan 2004
Angel (1999)
Corrected entry: Considering that Spike never visited Sunnydale or L.A. during Wesley's tenure in either place, and Wesley was in England before that, how does Wesley recognise him straight away? Even if he's heard about him from Angel or in books why would he assume that this is him? Some people suggest Wesley found a picture of Spike while researching Angel's past, but Giles conducted a similar investigation in season 1 but had never even heard of Spike in 'School Hard', let alone know his image well enough to recognise him on sight. Unless Wesley is a substantially better researcher (unlikely, given Giles' experience) he shouldn't know him so well.
26th Apr 2004
Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade (1989)
Corrected entry: In the library scene, the Grail Protectors hit Marcus in the head and drag him. What kind of spies/soldiers/agents are they if they didn't find the grail diary on Marcus's pocket? Surely the book would be interesting to them, since it contains lots of directions to find the grail...
Correction: The Protectors have a much higher priority - eliminating Indy and Ilsa before they can find the directions to the Grail. They've got no reason to search the unconscious Marcus - it would simply waste time. There's no indication that they know about Henry's Grail diary, so they wouldn't know to look for it.
20th Apr 2004
Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987)
Corrected entry: A transporter accident transforms Picard, Ro Laren, Guinan and Keiko O'Brien into small children who appear to be about 12 years old. Picard is 30-40 years older than Ro and Keiko. Guinan is over 500 years old. Why are they all returned to the same age?
Correction: Simple - their bodies have all been 'reset', as it were, to the same stage in their lives - apparently just before the onset of puberty. Therefore, they all appear to be the same age.
19th Apr 2004
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
Corrected entry: In every battle that results in major ship damage getting warp drive back on-line is always a priority. If it was so easy for Spock (in the sense that he did not need any tools and not easy in the sense that he died) to get warp drive back on-line why didn't somebody else (with full protective gear) do exactly what he did a lot earlier? Also, what did he do?
Correction: Spock is faster and more intelligent that anyone else on the ship - what he does to the warp drive is a very quick and dirty fix to get them moving. Had anyone else tried it, they would undoubtedly have got it wrong, resulting in the destruction of the ship - remember that the Enterprise is largely crewed by trainees at this point. The only other person who might have pulled it off, namely Scotty, is out of commission, leaving Spock as the only one left to do the job.
Correction: Sorry, I kinda disagree with this as Spock's solution/fix is just to open the top of the warp drive, swirl out a load of sparkly, floury gunk, and replace the lid on. How hard would that have been for ANYONE to have done?
Warp drive isn't real. We don't see exactly what Spock does, but we must assume it was a complex repair. The fact that Leonard Nimoy just appears to take the lid off and swish his hands around is due to the fact that the prop is just a plastic bowl with a light bulb and a fog machine inside. Suspension of disbelief. Also, the issue was the entire compartment was flooding with radiation, and there wasn't time to put on a full safety suit AND make the repair.
14th Apr 2004
Predator 2 (1990)
Corrected entry: In the scene in the slaughterhouse, after Danny Glover removes the predator's mask, the shots from the predator's point of view are still in thermal vision. It was seen in the first movie that it is the predator's mask (controlled by its computer on its left arm) that allows it to see like this and that without it it sees in a different red vision. This was stated on the audio commentary on the newly released special edition of 'Predator'. (01:17:45 - 01:18:55)
Correction: The Predator always sees in thermal vision - in the first film, the mask acted to make the temperature gradients more obvious - the jungle being so hot that the Predator has a certain difficulty seeing normally. In Los Angeles, even with the heatwave, it's not quite as hot, so the Predator has less problems.
You should also remember that Danny Glover took the Predator's mask off when they were in a freezer, so the Predator's vision would not be impaired.
10th Apr 2004
Star Trek: Nemesis (2002)
Corrected entry: At one point Data comments that Reman is a difficult language, and we see several examples of Reman language and writing, so why is it at the end, when Picard is aboard the Reman vessel, all of the announcements are in English?
Correction: Picard's universal translator is translating them for him (and, by extension, us).
6th Apr 2004
Minority Report (2002)
Corrected entry: Danny Witwer tells Anderton: "I spent two years in Fuller seminary before becoming a cop. My father was very proud ... he was shot and killed when I was fourteen on the steps of our church in Dublin." 1st of all, Fuller is Lutheran, but Danny carries a Catholic medallion. 2nd, he must have either attended a college-level seminary at fourteen or have contact with his dead father.
Correction: The Catholic medallion might be a family thing, not connected with his time in Fuller, or changes in the religious landscape in the fifty years between now and the events of the film may explain this. Obviously Danny would not have attended the college-level seminary at 14, nor could he have had contact with his dead father - his statement that his father was proud is intended to be ironic, and to show that he has lost someone to violence as well.
6th Apr 2004
Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002)
Corrected entry: Take a look at Obi-Wan's lightsaber. The hilt is exactly the same as it was in The Phantom Menace. ALL hilts are different. If Obi-Wan lost his saber in The Phantom Menace (and believe me, he couldn't get it back after it fell that far) how can he still have the exact same hilt?
Correction: Jedi build their own lightsabres and make their own choices about appearance and so forth - Obi-wan has no reason to change, so he's simply built a new one identical to his previous one.
2nd Apr 2004
Phone Booth (2002)
Corrected entry: At the end, the Caller walks off holding a large duffel case which ostensibly holds the rifle he was using. But when the officers break into his apartment, they find the dead pizza guy - and the rifle still on its stand. The Caller couldn't have possibly gotten back into his apartment and dismantled the rifle with all the cops there, and there's no way he had the time - after realizing he'd been had - to kill the pizza guy, disassemble his rifle, assemble a new one and set it up, aim it perfectly, then get out of there. So what's he carrying at the end?
Correction: The Caller had to anticipate that he might be discovered, so he had the decoy rifle - the one he left behind - already assembled, on the stand and aimed in roughly the right direction. He killed the pizza guy and left the apartment, presumably running up the stairs away from the police, with his actual rifle hidden as best he could under his coat. Once out of sight, he would have time to disassemble his own rifle and stow it in the case.
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Correction: Rubbish. Elizabeth has lived around a port and ships for at least half her life - there's every reason to expect that she'd be familiar with nautical affairs, particularly as it seems likely that Norrington has been a frequent visitor to the Swann household and would no doubt relate tales of his misadventures. And note that the real sailors on the crew do point out that her ideas are pretty out-there - sailing into dangerous areas and dropping the anchor while at full sail are not the suggestions of an experienced sailor.
Tailkinker ★