lionhead

29th Oct 2018

Common mistakes

Factual error: Often a person on the run will scale a fence quickly and get over it with little problem. And usually this fence has coils of razor wire or barbed wire at the top, and yet they show no sign of injury. This razor wire would cut you and your clothes to shreds. That's the whole point of it.

Quantom X

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

Suggested correction: I don't agree it's common to see people jump barbed wire fences without injuries. Its more common to actually show cuts and torn clothes, as that adds drama.

lionhead

I'm referring to the countless times these are not shown.

Quantom X

The problem with "common" mistakes is that they are supposed to be easy to recall. From the top of my head I can't think of a movie scene where someone jumped over a barbed wire fence and got off without injuries. How common is it really?

lionhead

Have the same problem with the nuclear explosion one, can't think of any movie where people looked at a nuclear explosion without properly guarding their eyes.

lionhead

I can see what you mean about the barbed wire fence then. I know I've seen it in several films and even CinemaSins has pointed it out a few times... but I can't recall specific titles. As far as the atomic explosions one... The Wolverine, Dark Night Rises, Sum of all Fears, Godzilla 2014 (There's even a dumbass watching the explosion through binoculars), The Crazies, and The Divide to name a few.

Quantom X

Alright for the nuclear explosion, although in some of the movies you gave an example it's simply not true (Dark Knight Rises, Sum of All Fears and Godzilla nobody is watching the flash, Godzilla is even historical footage), it does happen often. So I'll thumb it up.

lionhead

In Dark Knight Rises, Joseph Gordon-Levitt's is standing on the bridge watching Batman fly away. He's staring out at the ocean and watches as the explosion goes off.

Quantom X

No, in the next scene you see he actually fully turned his head to cover his eyes. A group of people are seen ducking too but you don't know they can see the flash directly.

lionhead

Question: When the clones arrived at Geonosis, why didn't Palpatine just execute Order 66 there?

DFirst1

Answer: Palpatine had a clear, detailed plan mapped out. First he was to become Chancellor by sympathetic vote after the invasion of Naboo. Then he would instigate the Civil War with the Seperatists in order to install himself as a lifelong Emperor while using Order 66 to wipe out the Jedi. Finally he would completely dissolve the Senate, leaving no-one left to challenge him. He needs the Jedi to fight in his proxy war with the Seperatists to dwindle their numbers and give the illusion that the clones are fighting for the Republic, when in reality they are fighting for him. When Palpatine finally does execute Order 66, it is after the war has left both sides crippled, with the Jedi at the weakest they've been in ages.

BaconIsMyBFF

Answer: He might not have had such a plan in place at that time. He also wanted Anakin to eventually become his new apprentice, so he wouldn't want to risk him being killed by ordering the Clone Army to execute all the Jedi.

Phaneron

Oh he did have a plan, but I agree the biggest reason was that Anakin was still a Jedi and he couldn't execute the order until he had turned Anakin to the dark side.

lionhead

He had a long-term plan to wipe out the Jedi, yes, but at this point I don't think he had any plan to kill them all from a logistical standpoint, especially given that he had just barely received the Clone Army.

Phaneron

The Sith ordered the clone army to be made and they were made specifically with order 66 in them, and Palpatine knew it from his former master (who manipulated Jedi Sifo-Dyas to place the order). It was always the plan to kill the Jedi. He just had to wait.

lionhead

Question: Why would Harry say Voldemort killed Cedric? Obviously it was Wormtail.

MikeH

Answer: Wormtail was acting on Voldemort's order. Voldemort ordered Pettrigrew (Wormtail) to, "kill the spare," meaning Cedric.

raywest

With Voldemort's wand even.

lionhead

Answer: Peter Pettigrew was believed to be dead by the entire wizarding world. The only witnesses are Lupin (a werewolf), Sirius, who is still on the run, Harry, Ron and Hermione. No one believed him about Voldemort returning, as they thought he was only seeking attention. Its safe to assume everyone would also think the same about Pettigrew being alive.

4th Aug 2010

Pearl Harbor (2001)

Factual error: As the Japanese fleet steams toward its launch point, there is a close up of the nose of a B5N1 Kate torpedo bomber with its distinctive two-bladed propeller. Trouble is, the Kates used against Pearl Harbor were B5N2's, with a two row radial and 3-bladed prop.

goofyfoot

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

Suggested correction: The B5N1 also used a three-bladed prop. The two-bladed prop aircraft in the movie is a Kate replica (a modified AT-6 Texan). All Kates used at Pearl Harbor were B5N2's.

I think the point is that the B5N2 also came with 2 bladed propellers. Whether or not they were used during the attack on pearl harbor is something for a real expert to say.

lionhead

28th Jun 2009

The Shining (1980)

Chosen answer: There are two possibilities: Most likely, Jack's soul is forever linked to the hotel, and every once in a while, he is reborn into the world, only to return to it, and instigate more killings. Basically, he is constantly resuming his duties as the caretaker of the spirits in the Hotel. That, or every time someone dies at the hotel, their soul becomes linked to it, and the photo at the end changes to illustrate that link. However, if that theory were true, then the cook would also be in the photo.

The cook would not be in the photo, as he was not succumbing to the Hotel, he died fighting it, and therefore his soul does not "belong" to the Overlook.

Jack is never reincarnated. Period. The hotel decides that Jack will become the next caretaker in the afterlife when he attends the initial interview! Therefore, when he dies, he becomes part of the ghosts in the hotel and immortalized in the infamous group photo on the wall! And he will make his presence known to the next victim.

Answer: I always believed, as have others, that anyone who is "killed" by the hotel has their soul added to the hotel which materializes as them being added to the picture.

Yeah, but it seems kinda weird he is in the middle of the picture with everyone around him even though he was added last. And the ghost calling him "the caretaker" suggest he is the caretaker in that picture too, so the same person as the original one who was caretaker all that time ago.

lionhead

Answer: The point of the picture at the end is to show Jack has indeed been at the hotel before. This explains the deja vu he feels upon entering the hotel. Notice none of the other ghosts, such as Delbert, the twins, Mrs Massey, etc. are visible in the photo. That's because they were at the hotel after 1921. The answer that says his soul has been around a long time is correct.

21st Oct 2018

Common mistakes

Corrected entry: Despite being a lawyer, architect or whatever, the male character will have a garage filled with high end, spotlessly clean tools.

The_Iceman

Correction: Several issues with this entry being a mistake: - first, how often do we actually see this? If this has happened in some shows, perhaps it would be better expressed as a mistake in those specific shows, instead of 'common'. - second, why a male character? Can't female characters have tools in a garage? - third, the writers may have given the character shiny tools for a reason: the character is wealthy but still handy; they feel they needed to buy the tools to project an image even if they don't use them; they like buying shiny toys (the character does the same with the kitchen or home cinema); somebody else in the family uses them; the character has a hobby or a long term DIY project, etc.

To me, it's a mistake because it almost always feels out of place for the character, their life, lifestyle etc.

The_Iceman

Again, do you have an example?

lionhead

Correction: How is that a mistake?

Ssiscool

A garage full of top of the range, specific, expensive and spotlessly clean tools? How many lawyers, office executives etc do you know who perform sophisticated diy projects on a regular basis to need a whole garage full of tools like that?

The_Iceman

My brother is a CFO and he built a treehouse for his kids by himself. He has a garage full of nice tools which are kept clean. Clean tools are long lasting tools.

Bishop73

Can you give an example?

lionhead

21st Oct 2018

Venom (2018)

Plot hole: At the angle of descent and the speed it was traveling (still burning from reentry even), when the space shuttle crashed in the opening of the film, it would not have left much of anything behind. The kinetic explosion that would have resulted would have downed the forest around it for a good distance leaving a crater, and the clean up crews would have been lucky to find any piece of the ship itself still intact bigger than a football. Much less been able to find any discernible remains of the crew. Yet bodies were being taken out in still relatively good condition. And probably most unbelievable is that the glass containers holding the Symbiotes were not even broken.

Quantom X

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

Suggested correction: Since this is in the Marvel universe the capsule could have at least partially been made of Vibranium or Adamantium.

lionhead

Adamantium is exclusive to the X-Men films which for the time being are under Fox, and Vibranium is exclusive to films within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This film is part of neither. There were rumors and speculation prior to this film's release that it would be adjunct to the MCU, but there are things within the film that contradict it. Particularly Eddie Brock being dismissive of the symbiote being an alien life form. An alien invasion was one of the major plot points of the first Avengers film, so an alien being wouldn't be something people would be skeptical of going forward.

Phaneron

Like Phan said. But also, i'm referring to the glass of the container staying in tact. Those two super metals don't make glass.

Quantom X

I just thought that although there can't be a mention of Vibranium, it doesn't mean it's not there. What I mean is if Vibranium softens the bow of the impact the glass containers would stay intact. But I suppose if it's not allowed to exist for the films, then I guess it doesn't exist. The glass can be nanotechnology though.

lionhead

I see what you're saying, but that wouldn't mater with an impact like that. Space Shuttles are even made of Titanium, and would still be smashed to millions of little pieces from a reentry impact like that. The momentum and resulting kinetic explosion would devastate everything around it and level the forest for a good distance, leaving a massive creator, possibly as big or bigger than a football field. We are talking a few megatons of force.

Quantom X

This movie is not set in the Marvel Universe. It has been confirmed by the film crew that Venom is a standalone movie so it doesn't take place in the MCU at all.

I didn't say MCU, I said Marvel Universe. Some Marvel Universe anyway.

lionhead

There's only the MCU and since this movie doesn't take place in it, the ship is probably only made from the materials that most rocket ships are constructed from.

7th Sep 2017

Labyrinth (1986)

Question: The ancient Aramaic or Minoan looking script on the shields of the four lying/truth-telling guards: does anyone know what it says or what language it is in?

WingedSunSerpentInfinity

Answer: What I have been able to decode is "one question. One answer. Tricks and challenge. And one says "lies" while the the other says "truth."

What did you use to decode it with? I have been over several pages of Khuzdul language and was only able to decipher what is written up there "Vzhklaiheaksh." That's the best I could figure it out.

lionhead

Answer: It's Runes, but I'm not sure which, there a few alphabets.

Answer: Its Tolkien dwarvish, the Khuzdul language. But i'm guessing its just gibberish. What it says on the bottom left part of the left shield is "Vzhklaiheaksh." Which means nothing.

Try with theban runes. They are often mistaken for tolkiens.

Answer: It looks like Tolkien's Runic language. As to what it says, there are translators online that may help.

27th Jun 2009

Independence Day (1996)

Corrected entry: The humans are shown attacking the alien destroyers with AMRAAM air-to air missiles, which are shown both times to do virtually no damage to it. AMRAAMs are designed for fast moving air-to air targets, like the alien fighters. Yet, the humans do not see a need to fit their fighters with more powerful weapons, such as bunker busters, cluster bombs, nuclear bunker busters or tactical nukes, that would easily cripple or outright destroy the alien saucer. Instead, they resort to firing countless AMRAAMs at a 15-mile wide destroyer, which amount to pinpricks and cause needless deaths.

Razvaluha

Correction: The AMRAAMs do not do "virtually no damage". They do absolutely no damage. The humans don't upgrade their munitions because there's no point to it.

Phixius

Missile hitting the armor leave sparks flying, and glowing hot metal. I'm not sure if you would call that missiles doing absolutely no damage.

Still, that sounds like throwing pebbles at an elephant. They can hurt him but cannot kill him.

Actually the missiles do damage the alien ship. Just not serious damage.

The point is they didn't know how much damage they would do. The first time they tried they hit a shield and no damage was done. They had hoped they would do damage. Next to "bunker busters" and any other type of armor piercing warheads (which I doubt can be fitted onto air-to-air missiles) they had little choice in weapons types. Nukes won't work if you are dogfighting alien fighters close to the target, you'd destroy all your own planes, next to that you'd again destroy whatever city you were flying above just like Houston.

lionhead

Correction: I believe you are making the assumption that after the Aliens attacked the Military bases, as stated in the film before the city attacks (In a report by General Grey), that there are still a large supply of "bunker busters, cluster bombs, nuclear bunker busters or tactical nukes" available for the planes to have them fitted before the final attack.

Next to that, they probably have the AA missiles loaded primarily to fight the fighters coming at them, not to damage the big ship directly. What else they had planned is never stated though. Perhaps they had hoped killing the mother-ship would make the destroyers retreat and they were simply delaying its attack.

lionhead

Corrected entry: Throughout the movie the cars and building are shrunk down to size and carried by people. Though the size has changed, their mass hasn't. In this and the original film it is specified that the Pym Particle works by reducing the distance between atoms. That's absurd, but in the context of the film that is what happens. This means that a human reduced to the size of an ant would have an unimaginable density, and thus his mass and weight would stay the same. There's no way the characters could carry those things with little or no effort, they would weigh as much as they did before they were shrunk.

mikelynch

Correction: While it's easy to miss, there actually is some brief dialogue in the first film when Scott is learning about the suit that establishes the rules. In addition to shrinking and growing, things like mass, energy and weight are also affected by the Pym-Particles. Sure, perhaps it's not 100% realistic, but the films do address these issues and offer explanation. Hence people can carry around shrunken buildings, tanks, cars, etc.

TedStixon

In this, and the previous film, it is specified that the Pym particles work by reducing the distance between atoms. That is utterly impossible, of course, but in the context of the film that is what happens. This means that shrunken or expanded articles or people retain their mass and weight. This is an inescapable mistake for both films, and the original posting is correct.

Here's the problem with this reply - the first film specifically states that it's not just the distance between particles that's being altered - other properties change along with them as a result of the Pym particle. The fact of the matter is yes, you can try to apply real-world logic to it and pick it apart, but the films do an adequate job explaining why it's possible to do things like carry buildings or tanks around so long as they are shrunken down, or for a plastic children's toy to become a destructive object when enlarged, as they are effected by the mysterious properties of the Pym particle. Hence, it shouldn't be considered a mistake unless a specific scene contradicts something else shown earlier in the film.

TedStixon

The shrinking works differently on inanimate objects. It's the suits that let the person being shrunk to maintain its mass, anything else being shrunk loses its mass. Blowing stuff up works differently though, the technology to do that is just different. The way Pym particles work is one thing, but how all of the technology involved works is a totally different thing.

lionhead

Correction: This isn't a mistake so to speak. The abilities of Ant-Man and the whole shrinking and growing thing is very much a comic book thing. And the only way these movies even work at all is through the suspension of disbelief.

Quantom X

Maybe, but in the first film they explicitly state that even though the shrinking technology makes objects sizes' smaller, it doesn't change their mass.

Friso94

5th Oct 2018

Aliens (1986)

Question: How did all the colonists get relocated to where the queen is? Do the aliens paralyze them when interacting with them? I can't imagine Hudson going there to be cocooned without struggling.

Answer: In the original script, yes the aliens have a barb at the end of their tails which is used to sting their prey and paralyze them. This was deemed unnecessary, however and the idea was dropped. We are shown an alien grabbing Dietrich and carrying her away and they do indeed just seem to strong-arm their victims and carry them, kicking and screaming the whole way. Bear in mind that a xenomorph is considerably stronger than an average human. It doesn't appear to be any more difficult for them to carry an unwilling human than it would be for a parent carrying a toddler throwing a tantrum.

BaconIsMyBFF

Could be even more than that, they could concuss their captives or release some sort of odour that causes sleepiness. Could be anything. The captives always wake up cocooned before being impregnated so they are anesthetized at some point. We know the facehuggers anesthetize their victims, so the fully grown xenomorphs must have still have the same chemical compound as well.

lionhead

The comic books and novels go into great detail regarding the chemical the facehuggers use to put people to sleep. It has a name and everything. This chemical is what causes some people to have nightmares while they are subdued. Curiously, I've never noticed them saying the adult xenomorph also uses the chemical but like you say, it stands to reason that they do. Why the movies and novels etc. ignore this element entirely is anyone's guess. It seems like an interesting element that has been consistently left out and, like you also say, people just seem to "wake up" after being cocooned but before they are impregnated so obviously they were put to sleep at some point.

BaconIsMyBFF

Answer: Didn't think he had to.

Answer: While it's purely speculation, here are few ideas: 1. He didn't think he needed to. He now possesses the most powerful weapon in the universe and thought hitting Thanos in the chest would be enough. 2. He may have aimed for the head, but Thanos was trying to repel the axe, which caused the aim to be off. 3. He wanted Thanos to die slowly so that he could deliver his "I told you..." line.

Plus, he didn't know Thanos already had all the gems.

lionhead

Or just because the head is a much smaller target and Thor was pretty far away, even when throwing a magic axe.

Friso94

Stupidity: When the Keymaker is closing the door to the room that leads to the Source, he stands in the doorway resulting in the multiple Agent Smiths gunning him down. He could have easily closed the door without standing in the doorway and consequently would have lived.

Phaneron

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

Suggested correction: Who says the door was bullet proof and the Keymaker couldn't have been shot through the door?

Having just viewed the scene on YouTube to verify, the door is definitely bulletproof, as the bullets only produce dents in the door and there are no visible holes from the other side of the door when it is closed.

Phaneron

The point of the stupidity is that he shouldn't have been in the doorway at all, even if the door wasn't bulletproof, there was no need for him to even stand behind the closed door. He could have pushed the door closed from the side.

Bishop73

It seems to be a heavy door, he simply couldn't close it with just his arm, thus he had to move his body forwards in order to close it. In that brief moment he got shot before the door closed. He could have for example kicked the door shut but he simply didn't think of that at that moment, also not knowing the Smiths were about to fire a volley of bullets at them.

lionhead

Question: At the end of the film when Marty sees Doc get shot at the mall the second time why is he crying when he runs over to check Doc? Couldn't he have just grabbed the plutonium that was sitting next to Doc's van, run back to the Delorean with it and travelled back much earlier to warn Doc?

Answer: Technically he could have done so, but that doesn't make it any less distressing to see his friend murdered.

Next to that he doesn't know how the DeLorean works, he doesn't know how to put the plutonium in (or doesn't want to risk using it wrongly, having only seen it loaded once) and he and Doc from 1955 have tampered with it to have it be powered by lightning so it probably wouldn't work properly anyway.

lionhead

Not to mention that when he came back, the DeLorean conked out and wasn't working.

To add, Marty believed he was watching Doc being murdered again, unaware that he was now wearing a bullet proof vest. Seeing Doc lying there not moving made Marty to upset to do anything at that moment.

20th Sep 2018

X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)

Corrected entry: The film starts out showing a large pyramid in Egypt and puts the date at 3600 BC. The oldest pyramids weren't built till about 2630 BC, a thousand years later.

Quantom X

Correction: The oldest known pyramids were build then, this one was destroyed and buried beneath the sand completely, lost in time. Basically the entire civilization that worshipped Apocalypse disappeared.

lionhead

What you're saying would make sense if not for the 1000 year time gap here. The pyramid that Apocalypse and his civilization were building more closely resembled later pyramids like Abu Rawash. The early pyramids were a much different look. The precursors to the pyramids were mastabas which over time were the building blocks to creating the first pyramids, still hundreds of years after the events that we see in the film. This would mean that an entire civilization was wiped out with an advanced pyramid and nothing else dating older than it, and it not be found. And then a thousand years later Egyptians created the mastabas that led to them discovering how to make pyramids just like Apocalypse's. It doesn't add up.

Quantom X

The technology to build the pyramid was lost as well obviously, the builders died no records of it. Perhaps it was only rediscovered 1000 years later. How and Why the civilization that worshipped Apocalypse knew how to build pyramids like that isn't told but I bet it has something to do with Apocalypse and his closest followers being mutants with extraordinary powers that they used to build or make people build it.

lionhead

I don't really have any other arguments to make against your points that hold enough weight, so I concede to the correction. ^^.

Quantom X

5th Jan 2005

The Incredibles (2004)

Corrected entry: In the scene where Mrs. Parr goes to see Dash's principal she walks into his office alone. In the car after leaving you can see and hear Jak Jak in the back seat. They are on their way to pick up Violet so was Jak Jak left alone in the car?

Correction: This isn't technically a movie mistake, more of a responsible parenting mistake.

Correction: Or they left him with the secretary?

dizzyd

This is probably most likely.

lionhead

2nd Dec 2004

The Incredibles (2004)

Corrected entry: Nothing was explained where super-villains go when the superheroes were retired. Presumably the government could not just herd them up with the heroes - if it could, the government have just used the same technique to arrest them all for being villains. It is a very bad plot hole because, if there had been other villains around, Syndrome could have fought them to gain recognition as a hero rather than devising his evil plot.

Moose

Correction: Realize first that it's been about 20 years, counting the trials, since the superheroes have been allowed to save people. So, guys like Bomb Voyage may have retired for various reasons (no challenge anymore, too old, etc.). Also, some of them are dead, again for various reasons (showdowns with the government, rogue heroes that didn't listen to the government, etc.). Also, we don't know that Syndrome tested his Omnidroids exclusively on heroes; he may have "hired" a few villains for the project. Finally, guys like the Underminer and anyone else that would emerge were probably too young to become villains when all of the trouble started at the beginning of the film.

This seems all strangely convenient. Superheroes pop up, super villains do too. Then super heroes disappear and the super villains disappear too? I don't think so.

lionhead

Correction: Or they are confronted by superheroes at the very instant they appear, the way the Omnidroid was (technically) confronted by Frozone?

dizzyd

24th Feb 2014

RoboCop (2014)

Chosen answer: He most likely has an artificial heart or some type of system that circulates his blood, this system doesn't necessarily have to take the shape of a typical human heart. However if his biological heart is still functional, it may be behind the lungs.

Answer: Watch again the scene (s), especially close to the end when his armor is reverted to silver and just between his lungs; his heart is just behind his lungs and beating, though if you blink you might miss it.

Erik M.

Except the heart is located in front of the lungs, not behind them.

lionhead

Why Murphy's heart isn't where it should be in a normal human is up to speculation-perhaps the transformation into a cyborg necessitated it's being repositioned, perhaps. The heart is there, though.

Erik M.

3rd Sep 2018

X-Men (2000)

Question: Victor/Sabretooth, Wolverine's brother (we later find out) - where does he go after this movie?

Answer: It is deliberately left ambiguous. He most likely survived.

Answer: I think the sabretooth in this movie is not Wolverine's brother at all. I also think this sabretooth died from being blasted by Cyclops and falling off the statue of liberty.

lionhead

For all intents and purposes, they are the same Sabretooth.

Phaneron

Well they don't seem to recognize each other.

lionhead

Wolverine doesn't remember his past, and anything could have happened to Sabretooth between movies that made him forget as well. Plus, the X-Men movies aren't exactly great at keeping the continuity in the overall narrative consistent.

Phaneron

Its possible I guess, but there is no real evidence. The idea of having them be brothers only came up in the first Wolverine movie.

There's no concrete evidence, but nothing to really contradict it either. Similar to "X-Men: First Class" making Mystique Xavier's adopted sister, it was a questionable decision but nothing in the previous movies flat-out contradicted it. Sabretooth's obsession with Wolverine in this movie and taking his dog tags at the least suggests a shared history between them.

Phaneron

3rd Sep 2018

Dune (1984)

Question: At the end Paul makes it rain on Arrakis - wouldn't this harm the sandworms? If so, it seems like a mean move on his part, especially considering the role they played in his coup.

Answer: Arrakis did, at one time, have lakes and oceans, and the Fremen (desert people) have an ongoing secret project to restore the surface water of Arrakis (they have multi-million-liter water reservoirs all over the place beneath the planet's surface). Additionally, in the first novel it is mentioned that attempts to drill wells on Arrakis fail because they are inexplicably "plugged up" soon after they start producing water. All of this implies that the Fremen and the worms are working together to protect and hoard a great deal of the water that already exists on Arrakis. If this is the case, then the worms may value the return of surface water as much as everyone else.

Charles Austin Miller

Later on in the Dune universe the worms are limited to a large desert on the very fertile world of Arrakis, where they still produce the spice.

lionhead

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