Best movie factual errors of all time

Please vote as you browse around to help the best rise to the top.

Unstoppable picture

Factual error: In the yard scene when Dewey tries to change the switch, the throttle lever slips from idle to full power. This would not have been possible. Throttle levers are notched, and require significant force to move.

More Unstoppable factual errors
Olympus Has Fallen picture

Factual error: Near the finale, Kang sends a command to all US based missiles to self-destruct in their silos, thereby detonating their warheads. Ignoring for the moment why "self-destruct in silo" would ever be a desirable scenario programmed into ICBM protocols, detonation of a nuclear warhead requires an extremely precise sequence of events, none of which would include a nearby, conventional explosion. (01:38:20)

stevewaclo

More Olympus Has Fallen factual errors
More Spinning Man factual errors
The Mummy picture

Factual error: It is roughly 120-135 dB inside of a C-130, especially one that hasn't been specifically modified. It is so loud that it is painful to be in the cargo hold without hearing protection (besides it being outside of military regulations) and you certainly couldn't have a normal conversation while it was in flight.

More The Mummy factual errors
Independence Day picture

Factual error: There is a shot of the Imperial Valley at night with the edges of the Los Angeles destroyer spinning over the mountains. The center of the destroyer is hovering over downtown LA. Imperial Valley is over 200 miles away from downtown LA, and the destroyer is no more than 20 miles in diameter. There would be no way the edges of the destroyer would extend far enough to be seen from Imperial Valley as shown unless it was over 100 miles in radius. The ship does not even hover over Steven Hiller's house which is in LA, it can nearly be seen whole from there. The destroyer would be obscured by the mountains and from 200 miles it would appear much smaller.

More Independence Day factual errors
Leap! picture

Factual error: In the movie, we see the Statue of Liberty with its current bluish-green color. The statue only got that color over time, and as it was still being built, it should be its original brown.

More Leap! factual errors
The Informant! picture

Factual error: The movie takes place during the 1990s, but throughout the movie cars are shown with Illinois license plates with "Illinois" written in cursive. These plates were not introduced until 2001. (00:24:45)

illiniman14

More The Informant! factual errors
The Outsider picture

Factual error: At the point where Jared Leto is released from prison he is picked up in a 1960 Black Chrysler Imperial. As the camera rises it shows the date as 1954. The car is used a few more times in the movie.

More The Outsider factual errors
Hobbs & Shaw picture

Factual error: The grenade booby trap in Hattie's flat gets triggered, with the pin coming out and lever comes off. Once that happens the fuse is set and there's no way to stop it exploding, but Shaw puts the pin back in and renders it inert again. (00:25:50)

More Hobbs & Shaw factual errors
Bird on a Wire picture

Factual error: Mel and Goldie board a ferry. A visible sign states 'Detroit-Racine Ferry'. Detroit is on the east side of the state of Michigan but Racine, Wisconsin is west of Michigan, across Lake Michigan. The only water route to get from Detroit to Racine would be to circumnavigate the entire state of Michigan.

More Bird on a Wire factual errors
The Dark Knight picture

Factual error: After escaping the hospital, Harvey Dent wears the same charred suit he was wearing when he was brought to the hospital. That suit would not have been neatly taken off and left intact. It would have been cut off with shears so as not to accidentally remove any damaged skin and flesh when pulling the pants and shirt off. The blazer might still be intact but certainly not the pants and shirt.

BaconIsMyBFF

More The Dark Knight factual errors
Terminator 2: Judgment Day picture

Factual error: The truck that the T-1000 uses to try and run down John in the overspill, is a Freightliner FLA 9664, which uses a diesel engine - it does not use petrol. Diesel is much harder to combust in comparison to petrol/gasoline, and the spark from the battery cables on the spilt diesel would absolutely never ignite under those circumstances. (00:37:55)

GalahadFairlight

More Terminator 2: Judgment Day factual errors
More V: The Final Battle factual errors
Halloween picture

Factual error: There's no way that the knife that killed Bob was long enough to go through his body and impale the wall behind him. And a butcher knife cannot "pin" a human body to a wall and just stay put, they aren't strong enough.

More Halloween factual errors
The Godfather picture

Factual error: In the scene when Michael visits his father in the hospital in 1945 there's a NYC Fire Dept. Sign on the wall with the name of the Commissioner, Robert O. Lowery, who was commissioner from 1966 to 1973.

Ray Palermo

More The Godfather factual errors
Kingsman: The Secret Service picture

Factual error: When the barracks are completely flooded, Eggsy uses his bare fist to punch through a large two-way mirror to escape. The fact is that any glass (or plexiglas) thick enough to contain hundreds (or thousands) of tons of water without bursting would be as impenetrable as concrete to Eggsy's bare fist. He would need a chisel-tipped jackhammer to penetrate such a mirror.

Charles Austin Miller

More Kingsman: The Secret Service factual errors
Panic Room picture

Factual error: After the intruders flood the panic room with propane, Jody Foster's character gets a lighter and ignites the propane causing it to burn along the ceiling. This would be impossible as propane is heavier than air and would sink to the floor rather than rise up to the ceiling. Lighting a flame in that room should have caused anyone in the room and on the floor to be engulfed in flames almost instantly.

More Panic Room factual errors
The Expendables 3 picture

Factual error: Their 'spot' for drinking is apparently in the French Quarter because of the street signs. That said, they are drinking Budvar beer. If you know about Budvar, it is the original Budweiser beer from the Czech Republic. Budweiser sued Budvar and won, preventing them from using the name 'Budweiser', even though Adolph Busch came up with 'Budweiser' after going to Pilsner, Czechoslovakia. Budweiser being the bully, and their lawyers and all, won the lawsuit. So now the beer is sold as 'Czechvar' in the US and 'Budvar' everywhere else, meaning they couldn't be drinking it in the USA.

22theman

More The Expendables 3 factual errors
The Meg picture

Factual error: Our heroes find a boat belonging to shark poachers, smashed to pieces by the Meg. Floating about in the debris are the bodies of a number of dead sharks. Sharks do not have swim bladders and dead sharks do not float - they sink.

More The Meg factual errors
More Bumblebee factual errors

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.