Best action movie factual errors of all time

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National Treasure: Book of Secrets picture

Factual error: Ben, Abigail and Riley arrive at the Library of Congress to take the President's Book very late at night. However the Library of Congress, despite being shown as open, consistently closes at 5 PM.

Darius Angel

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Prometheus picture

Factual error: The type of surgery shown made by the machine transversely cuts the rectus abdominis muscles. Besides not being a standard surgical incision in order to "remove a foreign body" as stated, it seriously damages important muscles of the abdominal wall making any immediate active mobilization of the trunk virtually impossible, even under strong analgesia.

Manuel Correia Ramos

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The Transporter Refueled picture

Factual error: At the beginning, the film is set in 1995 only for a brief few minutes. Then, it goes on to say "15 years later." This brings us to 2010. In 2010, the latest iPhone was the 4. However, throughout this film, nearly every iPhone shown (quite a few) appears to be an iPhone 5s. This is obvious by the rectangular body with fingerprint sensor. In addition, in some places the latest iPads are used, the iPad Air 2 and the iPad mini 3 - These were released in 2013 and beyond. Finally, although I am not 100% sure, towards the end of the film as the woman steps in to the car for the final time on the hill next to the boat, it appears she is wearing a gold Apple Watch or other smart-watch which was released later than 2010.

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Red Tails picture

Factual error: The German fighters depicted in the film are Messerchmitt Bf 109 G-6s, and every single one of them is using the Rüstsatz VI gun pod, that is, 2 extra 20mm Mg 151 cannons. The Luftwaffe only equipped their Bf 109s with the gun pods when they were going to intercept bombers. In this movie, even on the fighter vs fighter missions, they have these gun pods, which is inaccurate, because the gun pods dramatically reduced the turning performance of the Bf 109s.

André Vinícius

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Captain Phillips picture

Factual error: In the scene where the Navy Seals are riding in the cars, the VA state vehicle inspection can be read from behind. It read "6 13" for June 2013. This would have been correct for the period the film was made, but not for the time of the incident.

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A Bridge Too Far picture

Factual error: Most of the parachutes are PX type. These came out in the 1960s. They only used X type during the war - only a few of those are seen in the film. (00:07:00)

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Cloverfield picture

Factual error: During the scene where everyone runs outside, the Statue of Liberty head crashes into the street. The head is scaled too small and its size can be compared to the people taking pictures. In real life the statue head is large enough for people to walk into (17' from chin to cranium).

frecklejam

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Top Gun picture

Factual error: Tom Cruise says of the song 'Sitting on the Dock of the Bay' "my folks loved it". However, his father died in 1965, his mother died "shortly after him", and the song wasn't written until 1967.

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The Book of Eli picture

Factual error: The type of book that Eli is protecting would actually be just a fragment. The complete Bible, in braille, occupies as many as 18 volumes.

eirik

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Godzilla picture

Factual error: In the cardiac resuscitation scene with Brian Cranston, someone says "he's in atrial fibrillation... Give him 1 milligram of epinephrine." Wrong drug, in fact one that would very likely kill him immediately (maybe that's why he didn't make it!).

Terry Fotre

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2012 picture

Factual error: In the poster shot and in the film, the wave from the Atlantic carrying the carrier JFK into a collision with the White House comes crashing in from the west because the south portico of the White House is seen. The Atlantic Ocean is east of Washington, so the wave should come from the other direction. And even a wave coming from the east could not have made the JFK (CV-67) crash into the White House because the carrier was retired in 2005 and is berthed in Philadelphia, which is northeast of Washington DC. (01:30:10 - 01:30:40)

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Air Force One picture

Factual error: The plastic explosive used on the cockpit door was C-4. When shot (as shown), C-4 does not explode; it requires the use of a detonator.

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Suggested correction: You can see him applying a detonator prior to him shooting it.

If he applied a blasting cap (detonator) he should have used it then. Just putting a detonator into C-4 doesn't all the sudden make it vulnerable to being shot, he would have to actually hit the blasting cap's wire, which is about 5mm thick and relatively short (and it would have to be one that's sensitive to gunfire). Not a very probable shot, even less so when he doesn't even look when he shoots.

Bishop73

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The Hunt for Red October picture

Factual error: When the USS Dallas submerges to attack the Red October, they rig for battle stations as well as rig for red. On a submarine, rig for red is only for periscope depth operations at night, to allow control room watchstanders eyes to adjust to the darkness topside. No other area on the boat rigs for red. Throughout the movie the lights darken along with battle stations. No naval ship would reduce visibility on purpose in a heightened state. (01:31:00)

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Thor: The Dark World picture

Factual error: In the final fight scene with Malekith, Thor falls through a portal that brings him to Charing Cross station, where the lady on the train tells him he has to ride 3 stops to get to Greenwich. Charing Cross is not on the Jubilee Line and so not directly connected to Greenwich - even then it's a lot more than 3 stops. (01:33:45)

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Die Another Day picture Die Another Day mistake picture

Factual error: During the scene in which Bond escapes from MI6 custody, after inducing a drop in heartbeat, he seizes the defibrillator paddles and uses them to shock the two male orderlies. However, only one of those paddles would have administered a shock. The other one is only there to form a circuit for the electric charge. Therefore, at best, it should only have shocked one of the orderlies. (00:25:15)

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Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning picture

Factual error: Gabriel kills the engineer and sets the train to full speed, then locks the control room. Without the engine being resupplied with coal it would lose power and stop before too long, never getting as far as the bridge.

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Suggested correction: It is known for firemen to fill the loco up to allow it to run for 15-20 minutes without new coal. However, it could not run that long at that speed without the boiler being refilled with water, so the boiler would have exploded well before the fire reduced.

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Pacific Rim picture

Factual error: The coastal wall in Sydney is shown as being inside the Sydney Harbour (right next to the Opera House). But Sydney Harbour is not on the Pacific coast but a part of the Parramatta river, several kilometres from the ocean (where the wall should have been). So the wall is either not shielding the northern part of Australia or (more likely) the producers decided that the audience cannot tell that it is Sydney unless we see the Opera House.

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Ocean's Eight picture Ocean's Eight mistake picture

Factual error: Rhianna is watching a live feed of a man's office via webcam. We see a closeup of the screen. At the top it shows the filename being a ".jpeg." Jpegs are still image files, not movies, let alone live streams.

manthabeat

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Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings picture

Factual error: Although it's a commonly used movie trope, cutting the brake lines on a bus would not produce the effect seen in the movie. Buses use air brakes, which by design, can operate even with substantial loss of pressure and often engage automatically if there is too much pressure loss.

wizard_of_gore

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Suggested correction: I don't know what air brakes you have used but the very nature of air brakes means that low pressure means they can't work. If you have no pressure in them, how are you supposed to press the brakes? I have personally driven hundreds of vehicles with air brakes (I am a truck driver by trade) and can tell you this is a fact. All that happens when air brakes lose pressure is a warning light on the dash and an alarm sounding in the cab, one must manually slow down the vehicle at that point.

I respect the fact that you drive a truck, but my dad has been a master mechanic for more than 50 years and he is the one who pointed this out to me. Depending on the system, there are various fail-safe systems that will engage the brakes during an emergency loss of pressure. Plus, a simple Google search led me to several examples of these systems.

wizard_of_gore

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