Corrected entry: When Odysseus goes down to see his ruined ship at Circe's island, he is wearing a tunic. But he comes back in armor.
Twotall
20th Apr 2005
The Odyssey (1997)
20th Jan 2005
The Godfather: Part III (1990)
Corrected entry: After Vincent kills the would-be assassins in his apartment, Michael is upset with him indicating that the assassins had only knives. This is at odds with the previous scene where the blond assassin fires several shots into his bed. (00:34:10 - 00:36:45)
Correction: After Vincent wrestles the gun away from the blonde, they are only armed with knives. What Michael is upset about is that Vince didn't hold them at gunpoint and call the police, which he could have done after taking the gun. Instead, Vincent breaks the law himself by shooting them, thereby drawing unwanted attention to himself and the Corleone family.
23rd May 2005
Spaceballs (1987)
Corrected entry: When Lone Star and Barf are carrying Princess Vespa and Dot Matrix respectively in the desert, just after Lone Star and Vespa collapse in the sand, they fall with their faces looking at opposite sides. And seconds after, when the small guys come to help, Vespa's head is looking at the same direction than Lone Star. This couldn't be possible if she was unconscious.
Correction: We do not know how much time passes before the little "dinks" arrives at the scene. After Lone Star falls, the movie cuts and we are shown the little guys walking through the desert. It is entirely possible that more time than the second shown on screen passed, and if Vespa regained some consciousness or semi-consciousness in this time, she could have turned her head.
13th Jun 2005
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991)
Corrected entry: The Sheriff of Nottingham refers to swords being forged from Spanish steel shortly before stabbing his cousin. After the stabbing he again says, "This is good steel." Steel wasn't invented until the 19th century.
Correction: Rubbish. Steel was first produced in Cyprus around 1100 BC (as far as we know. It could have been invented earlier, but the oldest surviving artifacts are from this age). This was a very inferior carburized iron, but the principal technique spread and by the year 900 AD Middle Eastern smiths could make "Damascus steel", which is said to be ideal for swords. The "Spanish Steel" the Sheriff talks about probably mean that the blade was made in Toledo, a city famous for making excellent swordsteel since the early Middle Ages.
5th Jun 2005
Halloween: Resurrection (2002)
Corrected entry: Michael Myers manages to walk around the house without even being noticed, plus someone would see him putting Bill's body in the attic or hear the attic open.
6th Jun 2005
The Simpsons (1989)
Last Exit to Springfield - S4-E17
Corrected entry: When we see a flashback of Mr Burns' ancestor in 1909, he looks at atoms from someone's pocket. Actually, atoms are smaller than microscopic so it would have been impossible for him to see the atoms through a magnifying glass.
Correction: That is what is technically known as the joke... Or, to be more specific, it is obvious that the elder Burns have no idea what he is talking about, or for that matter what nuclear science is about (seeing how he has men trying to split atoms with sledgehammers). Then, when he discovers crumbs or regular pocket lint in the employee's pocket, he believes that this is the miraculous "atoms" he has heard about and assumes that this working-class lowlife has been stealing from him. Ridiculous, as everybody who knows the first things about atomic science knows, but that's what is funny in the scene.
9th Jun 2005
Lost (2004)
Corrected entry: How did Boone know where to find Shannon in Sydney, Australia? She never mentions over the phone on where she is.
Correction: There are plenty of possible explanations to this. She could have called again on another occation, she could have left her adress with a friend or family member, he could have tracked her through a detective agency, he could have found out that the call came from Australia and then tracked her through official registries etc. After all, some time passes between the two scenes of Shannon calling and Boone showing up in Australia.
4th Jun 2005
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Corrected entry: At the end of the film, when he is off to find Andy, Red expresses the belief that the authorities won't care all that much about him breaking the conditions of his parole. He could not be more wrong. In the US in the Sixties he would be considered an escaped prisoner if he broke his parole, and considering he was inside for murder he would be regarded as dangerous. This is not a trivial matter and his breaking parole would be taken very, very seriously indeed. Crossing a State line would be a federal offence, bringing the FBI into play, and the US border patrol would be alerted. In short, every law enforcement agency in the country is going to be on the lookout for him, and when he tries to cross the border into Mexico he'll be arrested on multiple charges. Welcome back to Shawshank, Red.
Correction: What Red means, is not that they won't be looking for him, but that they will put in less of an effort in tracking him down than, say, a twenty-five year old serial killer. He is after all an old man who has done his time for one single offense, and had expressed sincere regret for it. The FBI would know of him, sure, but he would not rank high on their priority list. As for crossing the Mexican border, well, hundreds of people cross it undetected every day (in the opposite direction). It is not exactly air-tight. Especially in that era, before computers or similar, processing paperwork and the like would certainly allow him a window to be long gone before his absence was noticed, or certainly before that absence could be communicated to anyone likely to be in a position to stop him.
Correction: Making a second error doesn't mean the first is invalid. Red had no chance of getting to Mexico. Given the circumstances of his breaking parole, the fact that he was in prison for murder and his crossing a number of state lines he would be arrested long before he even got to the border. The original posting is correct.
This is simply untrue. There are numerous documented cases of wanted criminals crossing the country and making it into Mexico or Canada with relative ease. Red wasn't a wanted criminal, he was a parolee, and in the 1960s it would have been just a matter of a little luck for him to make it to Mexico.
Correction: Since we see him reunited with Andy at the end of the film, he obviously wasn't arrested at the Mexican border.
29th May 2005
Police Academy 6: City Under Siege (1989)
Corrected entry: When Jone's goes into the comedy bar he uses a microphone to amplify his voice, but if the power to the city has been cut off, then how did the microphone work?
Correction: Throughout the series, Jones has always carried his own battery-operated microphone that's connected to a tiny amplifier on his belt, for use in times like this. The designs of these gizmos vary, but it is always the same basic set-up. Even if using the stage mic, they could easily have a generator so business can continue even when the power goes out.
28th May 2005
Rocky III (1982)
Corrected entry: Before the fight between Rocky and "Thunderlips", Thunderlips is announced as "standing nearly seven feet" and "weighing 390 pounds". By every factual account, Hulk Hogan (who played Thunderlips) is only 6'6 and at his peak, barely weighed 300 pounds even.
Correction: True, but Sylvester Stallone is only 5' 10''. The filmmakers would have portrayed "Thunderlips" as being seven feet tall in order to make Rocky appear to be taller as well. When you hear that "Thunderlips" is 6'9'', and then see Rocky reaching to his chin, it makes you believe that Rocky is about 6 feet tall. Their weights had to be adjusted accordingly, or else it would give away the illusion. Given we don't actually see them against a measuring tape or on scales, we can't make assumptions based on the actors' own stats.
27th May 2005
Predator 2 (1990)
Corrected entry: In the original movie the Predator, takes off his mask for the first time before kicking Arnold's butt, he removes a hose type attachment from each side of the mask before he takes it off. In this film, Danny Glover's, character only takes off the hose from the right side of the Predator's mask.
22nd May 2005
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)
Corrected entry: When Mace Windu and Palpatine are fighting, Mace knocks Palpatine's lightsaber out of his hand and it goes flying out the window where the glass used to be. However, Palpatine has it later when he fights Yoda.
20th May 2005
Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Corrected entry: The 2004 DVD edition had a different scene where Vader confronts the Emperor in the hologram (The Emperor is replaced by Ian McDiarmid) There a new point where the Emperor identifies the new Enemy as "The Son of Anakin Skywalker". What makes no sense is that Vader responds with "How is that possible?" yet he already knew the Identity of the "new enemy" well early into the movie, whats even more confusing is that he knew (following the events of Episode 3) that Padme had at least one baby.
Correction: He was told Padme was dead at the end of "Revenge of the Sith", and so naturally assumed her baby was dead in utero. He never knew she was delivered of her babies before dying. He did know the identity of Luke before speaking to the Emperor, that is true, but he had a hard time explaining why the baby Luke had lived, when he had seen Padme die. That is why he asks the Emperor how it is possible that his son lives.
17th May 2005
UHF (1989)
Corrected entry: Al goes to visit his Uncle Harvey who just bought "a little TV station at the edge of town". We know that it is close by because Al still has the same uniform on from earlier in the day when he was fired from the burger joint. It is also made clear that RJ is Al's cross-town rival who is trying to take over the UHF station. So why is it when, later in the film, when Uncle Harvey goes to meet RJ about selling the station, he has to take an airplane to do it? We even see RJ meeting Uncle Harvey at the airport. Did he really need to take a plane to go across town?
Correction: As George and Teri are driving to the Channel 62 building for the first time (the night they meet Philo), George says that Uncle Harvey is "going to California and doesn't want to be bothered with it." He was at his seasonal/vacation home in California when RJ called him and had to quickly fly back.
Correction: Just because Al lives close by the TV station, it does not mean that Uncle Harvey does. In fact, he lives out-of-state, and bought the station from there (Notice how Al always talks to his uncle on the phone, never in person?). When RJ propositions him with a business deal, he finds it important enough to fly in in person to negotiate.
First, he didn't buy the TV station. He won it in a game of poker. He had a pair of 6's, he was bluffing. Second, saying Uncle Harvey lives out of town doesn't change the fact that George is still in his Burger World uniform and also went to Terri's house for dinner in the same clothes on the same night. I always understood that the party took place at a second home, but what do I know.
13th May 2005
The Truman Show (1998)
Corrected entry: In the movie there is an aerial shot of what the fake town looks like, it is completely covered by a dome like structure and apparently can be seen from space, however soon after we see that a man tried to sabotage the show by parachuting into the town. There is no possible way he could have done this.
Correction: Of course there is. Inside the dome there are, as we can see, loads of mechanical devices to simulate things like weather change, light change, the sun rising and setting, etc. This equipment must be possible to access by maintenance crews, and the parachutist simply used one of their access ladders/elevators to the top, climbed to the inside of the dome and jumped.
29th Apr 2005
Star Trek: Generations (1994)
Corrected entry: At the very beginning of the movie, we see a bottle of champagne flying in space and crashing upon the hull of the Enterprise-B. Champagne is squirting around. Well, as Khan said, it's very cold in space. The champagne should be frozen and be shattered into little pieces.
Correction: Even today, they make special (read: cheap) champagne to be used when launching ships that is never intended for drinking. In the future of Star Trek, the need to have a "champagne" that will survive a few moments in space has arisen, so if the champagne is still the same not-intended-for-drinking special brand, it would be conceivable that they added some heavy-duty anti-freeze.
Correction: No atmosphere in space means no convection or conduction to carry away heat. Radiant heat loss is slow, and the specific heat of water is high, so not enough time for a bottle to freeze anyway.
28th Apr 2005
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004)
Corrected entry: At the beginning of the movie, the robot assassin is shown crossing off the names of its victims on a paper list. A robot really wouldn't need a handwritten piece of paper to remember its targets.
Correction: No, but an android who was designed to appear completely human would also be programmed with completely human behaviour, such as making check lists. After all, the best cover story is something you practice all the time and in minute detail.
23rd Apr 2005
Scream (1996)
Corrected entry: In the scene where Dewey and Gale are entering the house where the party takes place he talks to Sidney and says anything like "Hey Sidney" and she replies something like "Anything new about my father?". This is really strange because Dewey dropped Sidney and Tatum at the party about only 5 minutes ago. The conversation gives the impression that they have not talked to each other for a much longer time.
Correction: The reason she asks about her father is BECAUSE Dewey dropped them off five minutes earlier. He drops them off, then leaves (at least, Sidney thinks he leaves), and so when she sees him returning so soon she assumes some urgent news has come up.
She just saw him arrive being Gale Weathers' chaperone and acting all smarmy, if anything you could argue that she's being passive aggressive asking "Have you found my father?" (because that is the actual quote), as in "Why are you wasting time here then?" but that's not how the scene plays out either. The dialogue feels pointless and forced as the original entry described, in particular because she then asks "Should I be worried?", which is definitely a question that does not match the context.
26th Aug 2003
The Mummy (1999)
Corrected entry: At the beginning of the film, Imhotep gets mummified alive. In one shot, all of his nose is covered up. In the next shot, if you look carefully, you can notice that his nostrils are uncovered. (00:05:55)
Correction: The first shot is when the embalmers first cover his nose with bandages. The next shot is a little while later, as they lower him into his casket. It is both possible and believable that in between these shots they cut holes in the bandage for him to breathe, seeing how they wanted him to be tormented and buried alive. Not much point if he suffocates before the casket lid is put on.
16th Apr 2005
The Matrix (1999)
Corrected entry: If Tank can generate all sorts of guns and other weapons in the Matrix, (i.e. right before Trinity and Neo try to rescue Morpheus) why on earth doesn't he generate some sort of bullet-proof vests or body armor. It would be a lot safer, but no one ever has any. (This is especially obvious when Neo fights Smith in the train station.).
Correction: Quite simply, because there would not be a point in wearing them. The agents can also generate other weaponry and ammunition in the Matrix, so they would just get themselves armor-piercing rounds or heavier weapons. Body armor would just be bulky and in the way when fighting.
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Correction: He got the armor from his ship, of course. At this point he realized that Circe was holding him back, and perceived her as an enemy, so he armed himself from the ship's storage.
Twotall