Best drama movie factual errors of all time

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High School Musical picture

Factual error: In the scene where Taylor is trying to prove to Gabriella that Troy is a dumb jock who doesn't care about her, Troy is in the locker room with his friends. Troy's friends are recording Troy on a camera attached to a PC, and the image is seen on Taylor's PC. The message on Taylor's PC says an incorrectly spelled 'Recieving WiFi Signal' instead of 'Receiving'. (01:00:55)

marfbody

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Eternals picture

Factual error: Druig leads several warriors outside Tenochtitlan as it was sacked by the Spanish conquistadores, and they live peacefully in the nearby forest, for 500 years. The forest is of course the virgin Amazon forest, as captions say. Small problem; Tenochtitlan was in Central Mexico.

Sammo

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Suggested correction: It never says that the people who live with Druig in the Amazon in the present day are descendants of the people from Tenochtitlan. Nor does it ever say that the forest outside Tenochtitlan is the Amazon. He's probably been moving around for the last five centuries just as the other Eternals have.

Necrothesp

Never ever? He literally says "Do you remember this forest? Beautiful. It's the last place we all lived together. I've protected these people for 20 generations." They split after their argument during the sack of the town. If their base of operations exterminating the mutant space dogs in Mexico was in the Amazon forest, their logistic could use some work.

Sammo

Just because the last time they fought together was in Tenochtitlan doesn't mean that was the last time they lived together. They may have spent some time living peacefully in the Amazon before moving north to do their business in Tenochtitlan. And just because he's protected the people for twenty generations doesn't mean they're descendants of the people from Tenochtitlan. He may have found them later. We don't know every detail of the Eternals' history. You're just making assumptions.

Necrothesp

You are assuming the presence of a third party stranded for 500 years that the movie never showed before, different from the people that he led out of the city and that we have then to postulate he let go, in a location far off from the one of their last encounter. It's an assumption on entirely new details that you had to make up. My only assumption is to think that what is shown in the movie had purpose and fits, and someone just borked a caption.

Sammo

Who says they're stranded? He just said he had protected them for twenty generations. They'd probably always lived there. You're making the assumption that they must be the same people because nobody said they weren't. But nobody said they were either. Nobody in the film ever made a connection between the people in Tenochtitlan and the people in the Amazon. No mistake has therefore been made in either the dialogue or the captions.

Necrothesp

I noticed the same problem, the scene indicates the location as "Amazon" (it could be any of the Spanish speaking countries that have part of this forest), but then, Druig comes with the affirmation you pointed. It's obviously a geographical inaccuracy.

They don't speak Spanish in the Amazons.

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Lord of War picture

Factual error: When Yuri is narrating about selling weapons for the US government (this was around the scene when he sells M-16's by the kilo), he mentions Lieutenant Colonel Southern. However, when you see the him, he has Colonel rank, which is a silver eagle. The Lieutenant Colonel rank is a silver leaf, not an eagle.

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Anastasia picture

Factual error: In the beginning of the film, the Dowager Empress Marie states that the year is 1916 and that they are celebrating the 300th anniversary of their family's rule. The 300th anniversary actually took place in 1913. (00:01:05)

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More American Graffiti picture

Factual error: During the drag racing part of the film, they show an orange Plymouth lining up to race a red 57 Chevy. When the back of the Plymouth comes into view you can see a Direct Connection license plate with a Mopar logo on it. Chrysler's Direct connection line didn't exist in 1964, and the red white and blue Mopar logo wasn't around until 1972.

demodon

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Knives Out picture

Factual error: Opening the blank envelope, Marta finds the fragment of the toxicology report. It is signed "Office of the chief medical examiner, Norfolk County, Massachusetts." But then it writes also the address of said office, which is in Marlborough. Marlborough is also the city when Marta resides, and where the lawyers' letters we see come from. But Marlborough is also a city in the Middlesex county, not Norfolk. (01:28:25)

Sammo

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Phantom Thread picture

Factual error: When Reynolds is pulling up to the gas station headed to the countryside, you see a blue Michelin sign on the left against the gas station's building. The 'Michelin Man' logo style seen on the sign was not in use until the 2000s. The movie takes place in 1950s. (00:11:50)

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Frequency picture

Factual error: A ham radio requires the person to hold down the button while talking. Numerous times in the movie they are talking without pushing the button.

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Suggested correction: This is actually subtly addressed in the film. The magic which allows the radio to work across time also allows the two men to speak without pressing the button. There is a moment where Frank wonders what is going on with the radio and presses the button a few times to talk but then notices that he doesn't have to press the button to be heard.

BaconIsMyBFF

If that was true, then it wouldn't make sense for them to continue to show Frank and John hitting the squawk bar throughout the film.

Bishop73

That is a separate issue. The mistake entry states that you need to hold the button to talk on a ham radio, which is true, but the magic ham radio in the film doesn't require it. If the actors continue to occasionally press the button that could be considered a character mistake but it could also simply be a force of habit by the characters.

BaconIsMyBFF

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Dawn of the Planet of the Apes picture

Factual error: When Koba steals an Armored Security Vehicle class M1117A Guardian, he kills the gunner from the turret and then somehow manages to use the 240B attached to the turret. First, it takes three men/apes to operate the ASV, and second, the ASV cannot be operated from the turret. In that scene, it is assumed that Koba is operating the entire vehicle, something most humans cannot do or do not know how to do. Let alone a 240B, MK19, or .50 Cal M2 Browning. The ASV turned in the direction of the wall, which was the only way that the Apes were able to breach the city walls. This is also kind of an important plot hole blunder too because if it were not for the breach from the ASV, the Apes would not have won. The other blunder from this is that the gunner would not have been exposed from the hatch, since the ASV was using .50Cal and MK19. No need to use the 240B.

Bradley Holmes

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Where Eagles Dare picture

Factual error: The Germans in the castle are using Bell 47 helicopters which a) were American, not German, and b) weren't even in operation until 1946.

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Anna and the King picture

Factual error: The movie is set in the 1860s. During a performance for English guests, Anna has the King's children perform "Bicycle Built For Two". That song, otherwise known as "Daisy Belle" was written by Harry Dacre in 1892. (00:57:50)

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Monster picture

Factual error: This movie takes place in 1990, but that big 'Welcome to Daytona Beach' sign was not built until 2001. (00:21:05)

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Mystic River picture

Factual error: In the scene at the beginning of the movie as the 3 youths walk up the street, you can see current MA license plates, although the action should have taken place many years earlier. (00:01:30 - 00:05:50)

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Airport 1975 picture

Factual error: The scene in which the Beechcraft Baron hits the Boeing 747 in flight plumbs new depths in cinematic absurdity. Assuming both aircraft are at their normal cruising speeds - they appear to be - and the Beechcraft has half a fuel load left, it will hit with the same energy as 7,700 kgs of TNT. The Beechcraft Baron weighed 3,200 kg and the two aircraft would have a closing speed of something like 700 kmh. Even a glancing blow would tear the entire front half of the 747 to bits - there would be virtually nothing of the fuselage left intact all the way back to the wings, and the film shows the two aircraft on course for a head on collision.

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Suggested correction: What matters is how much of the small plane's kinetic energy was deposited in the 747's structure. A glancing blow would deliver less energy than a head-on collision, because it lessens the total time interval of the impact. Another important thing is if the small plane shattered or stayed largely in one piece during the collision. If it promptly shredded on impact, then each little fragment carried away its portion of the total energy. Smaller pieces of something as light as that plane would immediately get caught in the powerful airflow and be diverted around the 747.

Absolute rubbish. Airliners do not survive mid air collisions.

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Definitely, Maybe picture

Factual error: In the scene where the camera shows Times Square, visible on the right of the screen in the front of the shot is a poster for the Broadway show "The Lion King". The Lion King just celebrated 10 years on Broadway and was not playing in 1994.

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Mommie Dearest picture

Factual error: When Christina mixes a drink for one of Mommie's "guests" she bends down behind the bar to put a bottle back. Sitting on top of the bar is a Trigger Sprayer bottle of "Fantastick" - a spray that did not come out until the late 60's.

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Dirty Harry picture

Factual error: When Harry is confronting the bank robber and the robber says he has to know if Harry had any shots left, Harry cocks the hammer which rotates the cylinder. If you watch closely when he pulls the trigger the cylinder rotates again. This can happen only when the trigger is pulled in double action mode (hammer down). (00:14:00)

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Almost Famous picture

Factual error: This is a wardrobe error... in the next morning scene after William has been deflowered, he is still in his Fruit of the Looms, which have the name printed on the elastic waistband. Fruit of the Loom did not print their name on waistbands like this until the 90s, in the 70s they just had single blue and yellow stripes. (01:08:27)

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Happy-Go-Lucky picture

Factual error: In the title sequence, Poppy rides her bike down Kingsway, along the Strand, and south over Blackfriars Bridge. The next shot of her shows a street with an EC1 postcode (north of the river) and the following shot an SE1 postcode (south of the river again).

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Far from Heaven picture

Factual error: At the art exhibition, Eleanor wears a plastic name badge which looks rather modern for this period. (00:36:15)

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